“I wish I knew,” replied Firedrake, looking up at the white peaks. “I thought of nothing else on our way here. Suppose I fly home and find that the others don’t want to come back here with me after all?”

Ben looked at him in surprise. “Why wouldn’t they? I thought they had to leave? You told me human beings were going to flood your valley.”

Firedrake nodded. “Yes, but when I left, the others wouldn’t believe it might really happen. They wanted to try driving off the humans. The way the fairies do, you know. Fairies know how to prevent humans from building roads over their fairy mounds.”

“They do?” Ben stared at Firedrake. “How?”

“They sprinkle magic dust on the engines that work the machinery,” replied the dragon. “They pinch and nip, they blow itching powder into safety helmets and up noses, and they conjure up so much rain that the humans and their machines get stuck in the mud. Fairies are so tiny they can even make themselves invisible for a moment or so. Humans can never catch them. It’s different with us dragons.”

“It is indeed,” murmured Ben, admiring Firedrake’s silver scales. He still never tired of gazing at the dragon. As far as he was concerned, there was no creature in the whole world more magical.

“What do you advise?” asked Firedrake, looking at the boy. “Shall I just stay here? Or shall I fly back all that way, back to the others who may not want to come? Who may just think I’m a young fool?” At a loss, Firedrake shook his head. “Perhaps they won’t even believe I’ve found the Rim of Heaven.”

Ben leaned against Firedrake’s warm scales and looked down at the lake.

“I think you’ll have to go back,” he said after a while. “Or you’d always be wondering what happened to them. Whether the humans destroyed them. Whether they would have followed you here. It would always be going around in your head, driving you crazy.”

Firedrake said nothing for a long time, then he nodded slowly. “You’re right, dragon rider,” he said, nuzzling Ben affectionately with his nose. “Yes, you’re right. Much as I like it here, I must go back. And it will be best if I set off this very night.”

He rose, shook himself, and looked around once more. “I’ll tell Sorrel and the others. What about you? Will you come with us, or shall I take you to the monastery? The Greenblooms will be there.”

Now it was Ben who was stuck for an answer.

“I don’t know,” he said. “What would you do?”

Firedrake looked at him. “I’ll take you to the Greenblooms,” he said. “You need human beings the way I need the other dragons, the way Sorrel isn’t happy without other brownies to quarrel with. Without human beings, you’d start to feel very lonely.”

“I’ll feel lonely without you dragons, too,” said Ben, looking away from Firedrake.

“No, no!” Firedrake rubbed his head very gently against the boy’s. “Believe me, we shall meet again. I’ll visit you as often as your short human life allows.”

“Oh, yes, please,” replied Ben. “Visit me often.” And he put his arms around the dragon’s neck and hugged him as if he would never let him go.

56. The Way Back

The moon had risen over the valley when Firedrake emerged from the Dubidai tunnel with Ben and Sorrel on his back. Lola’s plane was whirring around the dragon’s horns, and Twigleg was sitting on the backseat. He and Lola had been inseparable ever since the rat saved him from Nettlebrand’s jaws.

Maia had Burr-Burr-Chan on her back. She was planning to accompany Firedrake to the monastery. By now Gravelbeard’s hammer had brought two more dragons back to life, and they, too, came out with Shimmertail to say good-bye to Firedrake and Maia, and to set eyes on the moon again. Only Gravelbeard had stayed in the cave. He was so busy tapping away that he just nodded when the dragons said good-bye to him.

“Come back soon,” Shimmertail told Firedrake as they stood at the entrance to the tunnel. “And bring the others with you. This valley is much too large for just us, even if the dwarf does wake all the others.”

Firedrake nodded. “I’ll try to bring them,” he replied. “And if they don’t want to come, I’ll fly back on my own.”

He looked around one last time, taking in the white mountains and the black lake, and then gazing up at the starry sky. Then he spread his wings and took off from the rocky slope of the mountainside. Maia caught up and flew beside him until they reached the pass that Firedrake had crossed so recently and yet so long ago.

He enjoyed flying through the mountains with another dragon beside him. Sometimes, when he was not sure of the best way, Maia flew ahead with Burr-Burr-Chan so that the Dubidai brownie could guide them. But most of the time, the two dragons traveled side by side. Firedrake flew more slowly than usual so that Maia could get used to the winds.

As they soared above the mountain with the monastery on its steep slope, they saw the dull gleam of the river Indus below. The rat was first to land in the courtyard outside the prayer hall.

This time, there was no one waiting for them. But before they set off for the Rim of Heaven, Ben had made a special promise to Barnabas Greenbloom and the lama. No sooner had Firedrake folded his wings than Ben jumped off his back and ran over to a long row of bells swaying gently in the wind beside the flight of steps leading to the Dhu-Khang. Then he rang the largest of them. Its deep, full sound echoed through the night, and soon doors and windows were opening everywhere, and the monks came pouring out of their little cells.

They surrounded the two dragons, all laughing and calling out at once. Ben could hardly manage to get back to Firedrake through the crowd. When he had finally made his way over to the dragon, he quickly climbed on his back again to keep watch for the Greenblooms.

Maia was staying very close to Firedrake’s side. Her ears twitched nervously as she looked timidly down at the thronging humans. Burr-Burr-Chan patted her scales soothingly.

At last, Ben saw the professor and his family, together with the lama, hurrying toward the dragons. Guinevere was waving wildly. Ben waved back shyly.

“Welcome!” cried Barnabas Greenbloom. “My word, are we glad to see you!”

He was so excited that he almost fell over a couple of young monks who were standing in front of Firedrake, beaming up at him. When the lama whispered something to them they nodded and busily set about clearing a path for the dragon up the steps to the Dhu-Khang. First Barnabas Greenbloom flung his arms around Firedrake’s neck, then he shook Sorrel’s furry paw, and finally he grinned broadly up at Ben.

“Well, dragon rider?” he shouted above the hubbub of voices. “Shall I make a guess? Between you all you did it, am I right? You defeated Nettlebrand, the Golden One!”

Ben nodded. What with all this excitement, he couldn’t get any words out. The little monks — the youngest was perhaps just half Ben’s age — had made a way through the crowd for the dragons, and the lama himself led them up the wide flight of steps to the prayer hall. Maia was glad to disappear into the cool darkness. The lama said a few more words to the monks who suddenly stood quite still down in the moonlight. Then he closed the heavy door behind the dragons and turned to them with a smile.