Free The Topaz Quest by Gill Vickery Page A

and tossed through the air like a rag. He’d dropped her and only just managed to scoop her up again before she crashed to the ground. She shivered at the memory and hugged her DragonBrother even harder. He shook her off.
    â€˜It’ll be quite safe,’ he insisted. ‘I’m very good at disguising myself now.’
    It was true. Finn could change his colour to match his surroundings perfectly. Not even the spell could ‘see’ him when he did that.
    Finn stubbornly stuck to his plan and finally Tia agreed.
    â€˜All right, that’s what we’ll do. When shall we go into Stoplar?’
    â€˜At night time – it’s easy to make myself the colour of shadows,’ Finn said.
    Tia looked up at the dusky sky. ‘Shall we spy out the lie of the land by daylight first, to find the best way in?’
    Her friends agreed and they settled down for the night.
    By the time the stars were out Finn and Loki were sound asleep but Tia was wide awake. Thoughts of flying drifted through her mind: how she hadn’t been afraid high in the sky and how the wind whistled and blew around her; how warm drafts of air lifted her up as easily as a dry leaf and how much she could see looking down from the sky.
    She saw herself as a dragon. She couldn’t help it; it was what she wanted more than anything else in the world. When she was very little she’d used a piece of old rope as a tail and flapped her arms pretending they were wings. The dragonets had laughed at her, especially the bully, Torkil. ‘You’ll never be a dragon – witch brat!’ he’d jeered.
    Tia snuggled closer to the comfort of her DragonBrother’s warm, soft hide.
    When she was in Kulafoss she’d discovered that Torkil was right – she was a witch child. She could raise fire and see spells sparkling in the air. It wasn’tfair! She didn’t want to be a witch – she wanted to be a dragon.
    She touched the opal lightly and made up her mind. She’d sneak away before dawn while Finn and Loki were still asleep and turn herself into a dragon. They would never know because she
wouldn’t
start using the opal all the time as they feared. She could stop whenever she wanted. And anyway, it was all right for them to talk – they could fly.

Chapter Two

Dragonchild
    Tia crept out of the clump of trees, taking care not to wake her friends, and scrambled quickly up the lower slopes of the mountain to a big, flat-topped shelf of rock. It was harder to reach than she’d thought and by the time she clambered onto it the moon had disappeared and a few rays of amber and gold light were spreading over the horizon.
    She walked as close to the edge of the big rock as she dared and looked down. At once her head swam and she began to tremble and sweat. Being a falcon hadn’t got rid of her fear of heights: human-Tia was just as afraid as ever.
    She stumbled backwards and leaned against the wall of the mountain where she waited until the trembling steadied and her heart stopped pounding like horses’ hooves.
    As soon as she was calm she touched the opal and thought of dragons. Images flashed through her mind – red, blue and green dragons, roaring, flying, snorting smoke and breathing fire. In an instant she changed. Her skin became scaly, her nails grew into claws and wings sprouted from her back. She was a dragon.
    She roared in excitement and smoke poured from her nostrils, fire from her mouth. It was hot! She hiccupped and the smoke went backwards into her throat, making her cough until her eyes ran.
    When she could breathe properly again she strode towards the edge of the rock. It didn’t seem at all strange to be walking on four limbs. And when she looked down to the land below, her dragon self wasn’t in the least bit afraid.
    She shook out her wings and flapped them gently. She felt a press of air beneath them lift her slightly. At that moment the sun slid over the horizon