The group walked back through the tunnel in silence. Six of the king's guards were waiting for them in the Training Room. One stepped forward as soon as they entered the room.

"King Roland wants a report!" he barked.

The Dragon Masters all looked to Griffith.

He cleared his throat. "Please tell King Roland that everything is fine," he said. "The dragons tried to escape. But the Dragon Masters stopped them."

"But -" Drake started to speak, but something about Griffith's look told him to stay quiet.

The soldier nodded to Griffith. "Very well," he said. Then the soldiers and Simon left.

Drake turned to Griffith. "But the dragons didn't do anything wrong," he said.”

Rori stepped forward. "Drake's right. This was my fault. I wanted to take the dragons outside," she said. She turned to the Dragon Masters. "I'm sorry. It was a bad idea."

"Agreed," said Griffith. "Now tell me: How did you all get out of the collapsed tunnel?"

"Worm saved us!" Rori cried.

Ana nodded. "He glowed all green. It was amazing!"

"And he turned the rocks to dust!" Bo added.

The wizard's eyes lit up. "That's excellent!" He grabbed Drake by the shoulders.

"I knew you could bring it out of him, Drake!"

"Earth Dragons have great power," Griffith said. "Worm has been hiding his power. Until now. He glowed because he was using it."

"Is that why my Dragon Stone glowed, too?" Drake asked.

"No. The stone glows when you have a strong link with your dragon," Griffith said. "The link is strong when you and your dragon can read each other's thoughts. It will happen to the other Dragon Masters, too, in time."

Drake remembered the words he had heard in his head.

"Thank you, Worm," he said, stroking him. "You really saved us today."

"Wait! We forgot to tell you about the red ball of light," Rori piped up. "That's what scared Vulcan. When it flew into the tunnel, he panicked and made the tunnel collapse."

A cloud came over Griffith's face. "Are you sure that you saw a red ball of light?"

All four Dragon Masters nodded.

“This is serious," Griffith said. "Danger may be heading our way."

"Danger?" Bo asked

Griffith patted Bo's head. "For now, we are safe. Let's all get some sleep."

As Drake led Worm back to his cave, he felt a strong connection to his dragon. He wasn't going back to the onion fields. This was his life now - a life full of dragons and magic and danger.

He was a Dragon Master.