The Opal Quest

To the DragonTwins, Issy and Ellie

Map

The Story So Far…

Chapter One The Mines of KulaFoss

Chapter Two The Rescue

Chapter Three The Crystal Shaper

Chapter Four Yordis

Chapter Five Into KulaFoss Castle

Chapter Six Chimneys

Chapter Seven The Secret Passage

Chapter Eight The Crystal Cavern

Chapter Nine The Water Traders

Chapter Ten The Opal

Tulay was a peaceful land until a family of High Witches stole the DragonQueen's necklace, set with six jewels of power. The High Witches divided the jewels between themselves and used their power to drive the dragons away.

In revenge, a dragon took the youngest witch's daughter, Tia. Raised by dragons, Tia now wants to prove she is a true DragonChild by recovering the jewels and returning them to the DragonQueen. Her DragonBrother, Finn, is with her on the quest.

Tia and Finn first stole back the emerald, which grants the power to talk to animals, from the High Witch Malindra who ruled the town of Drangur. Now they are on their way to recover the opal, which grants the power to shapeshift. The jewel is kept by the High Witch Yordis in the town of Kulafoss.

Tia and Finn had been walking from Drangur for three days.

‘Those valleys and mountains don't look any closer to me,' Tia grumbled, staring at the horizon where the hills rolled away in a blue haze. She was very tired after walking through endless grassland.

‘They are, really,' her DragonBrother said. ‘We should reach Kulafoss by nightfall.'

‘We'd get there a lot quicker if I could ride you,' Tia said.

As she knew he would, Finn stopped in his tracks and glared at her.

‘I'm a dragon, not a horse,' he said. ‘I'll carry you in an emergency and that's all.'

Tia patted his soft hide. ‘I know.' He'd rescued her when she'd fallen from the top of Drangur castle
and flown her to safety. It hadn't been easy; he was only a small dragon, though strong.

Tia knew she shouldn't tease him. ‘I'm sorry,' she said. ‘I just need to rest a bit.'

They sat on the grass and Tia flopped against him. ‘Tell me about Kulafoss.'

Finn had been there when he was very young, before all the dragons had fled to Drakelow to hide from the High Witches. ‘At the end of a valley is a cliff and a
huge
waterfall plunges down it – it's the biggest in the whole island. The water comes from snow-melt off the Eldkeiler Mountains.' Finn sounded wistful: the mountains had been his home until the witches drove the dragons away.

‘Where's the castle?' Tia asked.

‘It's carved out of the rock half-way up the cliff-face. The waterfall is right next to it. The castle's ugly but
very
impressive.'

Tia jumped to her feet. ‘Let's go – the quicker we start, the quicker we can see it.'

Finn puffed out a few smoke rings. ‘I've been saying that for ages,' he objected.

‘Come on then!' Tia strode ahead as if she'd never complained of being tired. Finn followed, smoke streaming from his nostrils.

By the time they arrived at the open end of the valley it was night. Moonlight shone on the river flowing down it, and on the grassy slopes scattered with rocks and scree. There were trees growing further down the valley, though it was hard to see them properly; it was very dark in there.

‘Shall we stop here until it's light?' Tia asked.

Finn agreed but as they made their way towards the valley entrance Tia began to feel uneasy.

‘I think the spell to keep dragons away will cover the whole valley. You ought to change yourself so the spell can't see you,' she told her DragonBrother.

Instantly his hide rippled with shadows that matched the darkness they had walked into. ‘It'll be hard work to camouflage myself all night. Let's go above the valley and sleep there. If you think it's outside the spell boundary,' he added.

‘That would make sense, wouldn't it?' she said. She didn't tell Finn that she could see, from the corner of her eye, a faint shimmer like a gossamer thread running round the rim of the valley. When she looked at it straight on, it disappeared. She didn't
want to tell Finn because she feared he might tease her and say she could only ‘see' the spell because she was a witch-brat: that was what the other dragonets had called her, and she was afraid it might be true.

They settled in a dry hollow a short distance from the edge of the valley and Tia leaned against Finn's warm hide.

She was dozing off when he sat up suddenly, and she slithered down with a bump as he pointed to the other side of the valley. ‘What's that?'

Tia peered into the darkness and saw a line of wavery yellow lights.

Dragons had sharper eyes than humans and Finn soon saw what the lights were. ‘They're lanterns – people are coming this way.'

As they got closer Tia could make out a group of women walking in a straggling file. She and Finn watched as the line came to a halt and the women held their lanterns up high. The lights illuminated a dark hole in the hillside framed by thick wooden beams. ‘What's that?' Tia said.

‘There are crystal mines here,' Finn said. ‘I think that's the entrance to one.'

‘Look, someone's coming out of it.'

There was a murmur of excitement from the group as the first miner emerged.

‘It's a child!' Tia said.

More and more children stumbled out and were hugged by their mothers.

‘They look very tired,' Finn said.

‘It's not right!' Tia said. ‘How can their parents allow it?'

‘Perhaps the witch makes them do it with the power of the opal,' Finn said.

Tia thought about that as the filthy, exhausted children were collected and led away down the valley. She clenched her fists and vowed that she would not fail to steal the opal and set the children free.

A horrible grinding noise made her jump, and she looked across at the mine entrance. Rocks were sliding down the slope towards it.

One woman still waited there. ‘Magnus!' she called. ‘Where are you?'

A little boy appeared. He was so tired that he swayed and rested against the wooden frame. His mother ran forward to help but before she could reach him, a shower of rocks and boulders tumbled over the entrance with a horrible rumbling.

‘Magnus!' the woman screamed. ‘Magnus!'

The little boy was trapped inside the mine.

The boy's mother pulled frantically at the rocks piled up in front of the mine entrance. The other women and children ran back to help her.

‘We've got to do something!' Tia said to Finn.

Finn didn't argue. He grasped Tia in his claws, changed his skin to the colour of night and flew across to the other side of the valley. As they landed, Tia said, ‘I'll go down and help. Wait here.'

She scrambled off along a path winding down the rocky hillside, her feet slithering on loose shale. She reached the mine and started to help pull away the smaller rocks. Everyone was too busy to ask who she was. Soon only one huge boulder was left, wedged up against the entrance.

‘Magnus!' The little boy's mother beat her hands against the stone.

‘Mama!' a tearful voice called faintly from inside.

A big, strong woman put her arm round Magnus's mother. ‘Now, Solay,' she said, ‘let's all push together and see if we can move this rock away.'

The women and children arranged themselves around the boulder and put their hands on it. ‘Push!' Solay shouted. Everyone heaved at the rock but it wouldn't budge. They pushed and pushed until they were exhausted. It didn't move an inch.

They stopped and stood, panting. ‘It's no good,' Solay sobbed.

Tia looked up to the top of the valley and could just make out Finn amongst the shadows. ‘We can do it,' she said. ‘Let's have one more try.'

Now the women and children looked at her curiously. ‘Who are you?' Solay said.

‘I'm Nadya. I'm a Trader. I got lost during a fog and I'm searching for my people.' Tia had used this story before. ‘I saw what happened and came to help.'

‘A little slip like you!' said the big woman who'd comforted Solay.

‘Leave her be, Halla,' Solay said, choking back a sob. ‘At least she tried to help.'

‘I'm sure I felt the rock move, just a little bit,' Tia said. She smiled at Solay. ‘Let's try again.'

Halla shook her head. ‘It won't move.'

‘We have to try,' Solay said and braced herself against the rock. One by one all the women and children joined her. Tia made sure she was last. As Solay shouted, ‘Push!' Tia waved at Finn, in a gesture that meant,
Come and help
.

He glided down on silent wings, hovered and dug his claws into cracks in the stone. He pulled hard just as everyone pushed. The rock swayed to one side.

‘Push again!' Tia shouted. They heaved, and Finn strained at the boulder tugging as hard as he could. He flapped his wings fast for balance and a whoosh of air swept over the group round the boulder. Some people looked up, startled, but then Solay shouted desperately, ‘Push!' and the strange draft of wind was forgotten as shoulders and hands shoved at the stone. With a mighty effort Finn wrenched it away, and Magnus tumbled out into Solay's arms. Finn let go of the great rock and soared up to the top of the valley, out of Tia's sight.

Halla clapped Tia on the back, almost knocking her over. ‘You were right, Trader girl – thanks to you, we got Magnus out.'

‘It was working together,' Tia said. That was true, but only because Finn had been on their team.