Chapter 8

After breakfast the next morning, Drake went back underground with Griffith and the other Dragon Masters.

"Why do we train all the way down here?" Drake asked as they walked.

“Don't you know?" Rori said. "We're a secret. No one knows the dragons are here. No one knows the Dragon Stone is real. And no one knows about us."

Drake looked at the wizard.

"It is true," Griffith said. "The king does not want others to know about the dragons."

"Because he's building a dragon army?" Drake asked.

"That is the king's business, not ours," said Griffith. He opened the door to the hallway of dragon caves. "Collect your dragons. We are going outside today."

"Hooray!" yelled Ana, Rori, and Bo.

“But won't someone see us if we go outside?" asked Drake.

"No, we'll be hidden in the Valley of Clouds," said Ana. "Hurry, go get Worm!"

Drake ran through the winding hallway to Worm's cave. Worm raised his head and looked at him. It reminded Drake of his nightmare. He shivered.

"Come on, Worm. We are going outside," Drake said, as he opened the gate.

Worm crawled out of his cave.

Griffith led them all down a dark tunnel.

The tunnel opened up into a bright field of grass. Tall hills rose up on all sides.

"The sun!" cheered Ana. She twirled around.

Drake looked up at the sun and smiled.

"So what do we do out here?" he asked.

Ana grinned. "We fly," she said. She patted Kepri on the head. "Show him, girl."

Kepri raised her long neck and flew straight up. She looped and swirled in the air. Drake watched her, shading his eyes from the sun. He had never seen anything like it.

“Wait till you see Vulcan fly," Rori said. "Vulcan! Circle!"

Vulcan flapped his big, red wings. He flew up into the sky and circled the field.

"Wow!" Drake said.

He looked over at Bo.

"Your dragon doesn't have wings, but can she fly, too?" he asked.

Bo nodded. "She does not need wings," he said. "Shu, please fly." Shu floated up off the grass.

“It's like she's swimming through the air," Drake said

"Yes," said Bo. "How Shu flies is very much like how one swims. She can ride the winds."

Drake looked at Worm. His tiny wings did not look like they could lift him. "What about you, Worm?" he asked. "Can you fly, too?"

Worm just stared at Drake. He didn't flap his wings. He didn't even move.

"It's okay," Drake said. He thought of how scared Worm had been in the nightmare. "We can watch the others."

Drake sat on the grass. He put a hand on Worm's back. The dragon moved a little closer to him.

Suddenly, the Dragon Stone felt warm on Drake's skin. He looked down. It was glowing! Drake looked around. Griffith was standing over with the other Dragon Masters. None of their stones were glowing.

Why is my stone glowing? he wondered. Am I doing something wrong?

Drake quickly tucked his Dragon Stone inside his shirt. Then he went back to watching the other dragons fly across the sky.