Free The Sapphire Quest by Gill Vickery

Chapter One

The Avenue of Beasts
    Tia and her DragonBrother sat on a sloping hill of plumed cottongrass and scanned the skies. Finn’s sharp dragon eyes were the first to spot a black dot high above the plain stretching away in front of them.
    â€˜There he is!’
    Tia shaded her eyes with her hand and made out a jackdaw flying swiftly in their direction. He landed with a bounce on the grass.
    â€˜Well?’ Tia demanded.
    â€˜Don’t be so impatient,’ the bird said and started to preen his feathers.
    â€˜What did he say?’ the little copper-coloured dragon asked.
    â€˜He told me not to be impatient.’
    Finn laughed and puffed out a smoke ring at Loki.
    The bird shook his wings. ‘That’s better.’ He cocked his head at Tia. ‘I suppose you want a report?’
    â€˜Yes, please, Loki.’
    The jackdaw flew onto Finn’s shoulder so that he was eye to eye with Tia and said, ‘To the west of Iserborg town there are a few big hills. They look as if they’re covered in snow and ice but it’s dust from the white stone that people quarry there.’
    â€˜That must be marble – you remember Luona’s palace was covered with it?’
    â€˜Skadi’s castle is grey stone but there are marble statues all over it.’ Loki shook his wings. ‘They’re of horrible, ugly monsters. The castle’s in the middle of the town and it’s got a moat. There’s a bridge at the front and a watergate at the back. The town’s surrounded by a wall with two gates. Big stone avenues lead up to them, only...’
    â€˜Yes?’ Tia prompted.
    â€˜There are more of those marble statues – huge ones – standing on each side of the avenues. I didn’t like them.’
    â€˜Why not?’
    But Loki wouldn’t explain any further, except to say they looked bad and made him feel strange.
    Tia told her DragonBrother what the jackdaw had said.
    Finn’s smoke rings came faster. ‘I don’t like the sound of those statues.’
    â€˜Neither do I,’ Tia said, ‘but I have to steal that sapphire from Skadi and I’d better get going.’ She picked up her backpack. ‘It’s late and I want to get there before the town gates are closed at nightfall.’
    Finn nudged Tia with his muzzle. ‘I can disguise myself and take you part of the way.’ He looked across the plain. ‘I wonder where the spell boundary starts.’
    Tia’s witch powers meant she could see the spells that kept dragons away from the lands of the six towns. This one sparkled like frosted spider silk right around the plain. But she couldn’t say so. She had to keep her powers secret from Finn because she didn’t want him to know she was a ‘witch-brat’. That was what the dragonets at Drakelow had called her.
    â€˜I think you ought to disguise yourself right away, just in case the spell’s close,’ she said.
    Finn’s skin rippled and turned to the colour of the cotton grass he was lying on. He picked Tia up and sprang into the air, changing into the colour of the evening sky as he flew.
    They landed a safe distance away from Iserborg town, which was dominated by Skadi’s squat, looming castle. Tia threw her arms around Finn’s muzzle and told him to stay safe.
    â€˜I will,’ he promised. ‘And I’ll be waiting for you when you get back.’
    â€˜I’ll bring the sapphire with me.’
    â€˜You won’t be tempted to use it?’
    She shook her head vigorously. ‘No!’ She’d learned that the jewels were much too powerful for her to control safely, except for the emerald which she kept on a chain tucked safely away under her shirt. Finn kept the opal and topaz for her. She wouldn’t risk using the sapphire, no matter how tempted she might be.
    She gave Finn one last hug before he flew away then set off towards the town. Loki flew on ahead. The