by Katie Tsang
‘I always knew children would be my way into the mountain,’ he said. ‘After all, who has a braver heart than a child? So brave. And so foolish.’ Old Gold moved closer to the portal. ‘Why do you think I wasted all that time setting up a ridiculous culture and language camp? I got as close as I could to the entrance. Oh, yes, I knew about Dragon Mountain from the oracle bones. It took me decades to work out what those bones said. And, when I did, I tried everything. But I still couldn’t get in! That infernal tiger kept chasing me away. And, even when I realized it wasn’t real, I couldn’t get past it. But I knew I was close. I needed –’ his lip curled – ‘four hearts. But that wasn’t all. No, it was a matter of finding the right combination of hearts. The strange alchemy that would match all the desired traits of these dragons. The ones who would break the curse. But I had my own bits of magic, scavenged over the years. How do you think I found you brats in the first place? All it took was a little persuasion to convince your nitwit parents and teachers to send you to my camp.’
Old Gold looked directly at Ling-Fei. ‘I’m glad I kept you alive all this time, although I’ll admit I never thought you would be such a key part of this. Thank you for opening the mountain.’
Old Gold surveyed the dragons surrounding them. ‘I will be the one to bring the Great One back. I will succeed where you have failed. I will not be denied. I have seen what glory the future holds for her and any others by her side, and I will stop at nothing to fulfil the Great One’s vision. I will be the one to win her favour. I will be the one by her side when we rule both realms. All of you will bow to me. And the only being I shall answer to will be the Great One herself.’
‘You fool,’ said Dimitrius, who was still hovering above. He seemed to be watching all this with amusement, Billy thought. ‘You need a dragon to travel through that portal.’
Old Gold laughed again and flashed a vial of golden liquid in the hand holding Dylan. ‘And I do. I have the blood of the Great One herself, and it will take me straight to her! The portal may be too damaged for the Great One to return now, but we will return. Be prepared for the reckoning.’
Old Gold still had the ball of purple electricity pressed against Dylan, whose face was frozen in terror. Billy willed him to fight back, to use his power against Old Gold, but Dylan appeared to have gone into shock. Billy wanted to rush forward and grab his friend, but he was terrified that if he got too close Old Gold would carry out his threat and kill Dylan instantly.
‘This one will come in handy,’ Old Gold said, jerking his head towards Dylan. ‘You brats and your hearts seem to be good for opening doors. Who knows what else I can use him for?’
‘No!’ shouted Billy, a sickening realization dawning on him. But, before he could do anything, Old Gold jumped into the portal, pulling Dylan with him. The portal closed behind them and disappeared.
The Promise Of A Dragon
Billy stared at the ground where Dylan had been moments before.
A loud howl went up from Dimitrius. ‘Idiot human! He closed the portal! All our efforts for nothing! He will pay. You will all pay! I will find the Great One. I won’t be stopped.’
Over a hundred good dragons, ones who had been caged, closed in on the nox-wings and Dimitrius. Bitter rage flashed across his face and he flew high into the sky. The red dome had disappeared along with the portal. ‘You may outnumber us now, but this is not over,’ he roared. ‘Noxious! To me!’ With that, he and the rest of the nox-wings flew away.
Billy almost didn’t hear any of it. He couldn’t stop staring at the place where Dylan had disappeared with Old Gold. How could this have happened? He felt a stab of guilt as he remembered that Dylan had wanted to turn back and Billy had convinced him to keep going. With everything they’d gone through together, Dylan had become one of Billy’s closest friends. And now he was gone.
Billy squeezed his eyes shut, unable to face it all. He felt a nudge on his shoulder and opened his eyes. It was Spark. She had shrunk to her usual size. ‘I am so sorry, Billy.’
Billy looked back down at the ground where Dylan had disappeared.
‘We’ll find a way to reopen the portal, right? We have to get him back.’ He looked around and realized the sun was shining. The dark clouds had cleared, revealing a bright blue sky. The three moons still sat above the oval sun. Vibrant green grass was beginning to sprout rapidly from the earth, and the foliage at the edge of the clearing turned from deep shades of purple and black to a full range of greens, blues, reds and yellows.
Billy didn’t care about any of that. He only cared about his friends. Ling-Fei and Charlotte ran up to him. Ling-Fei had tears streaming down her face. Charlotte held Ling-Fei’s hand. She was trembling with rage.
‘I can’t believe it,’ said Ling-Fei. ‘Old Gold really was like my yeye. I never even met my real yeye, because… because…’ She couldn’t even say the words.
‘At least your yeye isn’t a murderer,’ said a familiar voice from behind the trees. Billy spun round. It was JJ.
‘What are you doing here? Were you helping Old Gold?’ Billy wanted to shake JJ to get answers. He wanted to blame him for Dylan being taken. Deep down, he knew he wasn’t being rational, but he didn’t care. Billy hurt too much to be rational.
JJ stared at him with a dazed expression. ‘I don’t even know where I am right now! Nothing seems real.’
‘JJ! Tell us what happened!’ said Billy. The more information they had, the better chance they had of saving Dylan.
‘We’re listening,’ said Ling-Fei, wiping a tear from her cheek. ‘Please help us, JJ.’
JJ took a deep breath, composing himself. ‘After you all ran off, my yeye started acting strangely. He kept talking about dragons. And then he brought me to the mountain. He said he might need my heart, and I thought he meant he might need my help getting around or climbing over rocks. I didn’t realize he literally meant my actual heart. He didn’t tell me where we were going or what we were doing until we were in this place, and then he used some… some… sort of magic to get us from Dragon Mountain to here.’
JJ looked around, fear all over his face. Billy suddenly remembered how terrified he’d been when he first saw their dragons. At least he’d had his friends with him. JJ had only had Old Gold, who had just jumped into a time portal and abandoned him. He must be even more frightened than Billy had been. Billy tried to swallow his anger and frustration. JJ really did seem to be completely unaware of Old Gold’s evil plan.
‘I feel as if I never even knew him,’ JJ said. ‘He’s turned into a different person.’
‘Do you think he’ll hurt Dylan?’ asked Billy.
JJ looked down at the ground again. ‘I don’t know,’ he said. ‘He really wants to find that dragon he keeps calling the Great One. I think he’d do anything to get to her.’
‘Well, we’re going to find Dylan, and you are going to help us,’ said Billy fiercely.
‘Billy is right,’ said Xing, who had flown over. The rest of the recently released good dragons gathered close, surrounding the children.
‘They will not get away with this,’ said Tank.
‘We will find a way to save Dylan,’ said Spark. ‘I promise. And the promise of a dragon is an unbreakable thing.’
One of the dragons at the back gave a supportive roar. Others followed.
Soon, all the dragons in the clearing were roaring in unison. When they finally quietened down, a long serpentine dragon approached Billy and Spark. The dragon looked very similar to Xing except its scales were gold instead of silver. ‘All is not lost. Thanks to you, we are free and the life force that was being used to open the portal has flowed back to us and the land. With your help and your bravery, we have reclaimed the Dragon Realm and restored it to health. You can see that everything around you is turning back to its original form right before our eyes. And now we will have enough power on our side to defeat Dimitrius and the nox-wings. Dimitrius tricked us and used dark magic to trap us, but now we are free, and we will not be
fooled again. We owe you a great debt.’
Billy found he didn’t care. They’d lost Dylan. That was all that mattered now. ‘Then you’ll help us find Dylan?’ asked Billy. He couldn’t imagine how scared Dylan must be, how alone he must feel. He knew in that moment he’d do anything to save his friend. To bring him back.
‘Of course,’ said the gold dragon. ‘It is the least we can do.’
‘Then it is settled,’ said Tank. ‘We will find a way to track down Dylan and Old Gold.’
‘I know how to find them,’ said a morose voice from behind them. It was Buttons.
‘Buttons!’ said Billy, running to him. He knew Buttons must be in agony at being separated from his human. As painful as Billy found Dylan’s kidnapping, it would be much worse for Buttons. ‘Are you all right?’
Buttons closed his eyes and his face drooped. ‘It feels… as if I’ve been sundered in two. As if a piece of me is missing.’
‘Buttons, if you can feel the pain,’ said Spark gently, ‘that is a good sign.’
‘Yes, I know,’ said Buttons. He opened his eyes to look at the children. ‘It means Dylan is still alive. And that the bond is able to stretch through time itself.’
A slow understanding dawned on Billy. He looked up at his friends, and at their dragons.
‘We’re going to have to go through time to save Dylan,’ he said. ‘And to stop the Dragon of Death.’
‘It will be hard,’ warned Tank.
‘And dangerous,’ added Xing.
‘It doesn’t matter,’ said Billy, his exhaustion and fear giving way to a burning determination. ‘It’ll be worth it. No matter what it takes.’
Ling-Fei stepped forward. ‘I’m in,’ she said.
‘Me too,’ said Charlotte.
Billy picked up Dylan’s backpack and put it on. ‘Let’s go and find Dylan.’
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We are so grateful to the whole Dragon Dream Team who helped us make Dragon Mountain a reality!
Our guiding star is our incredible agent, Claire Wilson, who could definitely open the mountain because she is loyal, strong, brave and true. Thank you, Claire, for all of your faith in Dragon Mountain and in us. You are both a legend and a hero! Thank you as well to Miriam Tobin and Sam Coates at RCW for the support.
To our reigning Dragon Queen, the one and only Rachel Denwood. Thank you for believing in Dragon Mountain and seeing something special in it. We are so proud to be published by you and so thrilled to have the opportunity to work with you. It is genuinely an honour to be your first fiction acquisition at Simon & Schuster. Thank you for everything you have put into this book. We are so glad to be on this journey with you at the helm.
Thank you to our amazing editor, Lucy Rogers, who must have magic in her fingertips and a pearl power that gives her the gift of super editing – thank you for helping us make Dragon Mountain the very best book it can be. We love working with you and are so excited for all the adventures to come.
We would also like to thank wonderful Ali Dougal and Jenny Glencross on the editorial team. Jenny, thank you for your support. Ali, we are so excited we get to continue working with you – what joy!
To our copyeditor, Catherine Coe, who is as kind as she is eagle-eyed; we love working with you! Thank you as well to Jane Tait for a top-notch proofread. The small details and fixes made the book shine like gold in a dragon’s hoard.
A dragon-sized thank you to the superstar team behind the cover and the look of the book. Brilliant Jesse Green at Simon & Schuster who came up with the overall concept, the incredibly talented illustrator Petur Antonsson who brought our dragons to life and design genius Tom Sanderson who created the gorgeous lettering and branding for the book.
Just like dragons need wings to fly, a book needs marketing/sales/PR support to soar out into the world, and we couldn’t have asked for a better team to launch Dragon Mountain! Thank you to the whole Simon & Schuster sales and marketing teams, especially sales wizard Laura Hough, marketing extraordinaire Sarah Macmillan, and fabulous publicists Eve Wersocki Morris and Olivia Horrox.
An audiobook brings a book to life in a very special way and we are so happy that readers can listen to the world of Dragon Mountain thanks to Dominic Brendon at Simon & Schuster and our phenomenal narrator, Kevin Shen.
We would also like to thank our US publishing team at Sterling Books, especially editors Christina Pulles, Rachael Stein and Ardi Alspach.
We are very lucky to be part of an incredible author community, both in London and across the globe. This book has had so much support from authors we admire. We are forever grateful to Kiran Millwood Hargrave, Samantha Shannon, Catherine Doyle and Roshani Chokshi for their generous and wonderful quotes. Such a dream come true to have quotes from such brilliant writers. Cat didn’t have much of a choice as she’s soon to literally be family when she marries Katie’s brother, but that doesn’t take away how great the quote is.
Special thank you to our MG writer crew for their cheerleading, excellent company and wonderful books – Kiran Millwood Hargrave, Tom De Freston, Anna James, Kate Rundell, Abi Elphinstone, Cerrie Burnell and Katherine Woodfine. And shout-out to Dhonielle Clayton and Patrice Caldwell across the pond for being excited about this book from the very start. Come visit London again soon.
Thank you to Alwyn Hamilton who gave us the idea for a dragon to hoard buttons, which led to Buttons. Rosi Crawley, Ben O’Donnell, Nina Douglas, Laure Eve, Holly Bourne and Krystal Sutherland all reassured us at various times that we really did have a good idea, and believed in the book, which means the world.
We are tremendously grateful to booksellers around the world for supporting us and our books. Special thank you to Queens Park Books, Chicken and Frog and Waterstones Piccadilly. Holly Davies and Dan Bird, you may no longer run the Waterstones Events but we’ll always be Team Holly and a #DanFan. Thanks for everything.
To the original Hong Kong crew and our own dragon clan – Dyna and Kris, Jeni and Maarten (and Matilde!) – we love you guys.
Jessica and Allen, thank you for always being so excited about our next book. We are so lucky to have you (and Poppy) in our lives.
Thank you to Kevin’s childhood friend Nathan Bell for inspiring the last name ‘Bell’ for Charlotte. And thank you to Katie’s childhood friends Fay and Janou for all the hours and hours (and years) of imaginary games and playtime. We hope that Diego is a dragon fan when he is older and has just as an imaginative childhood as we did.
We finished copyedits on this book in the midst of the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic, so we want to take an opportunity to thank all the healthcare and key workers for keeping us safe and fed in this time, with a special thank you to our friend Dr Thomas Getreu (and shout-out to his two adorable kids, Carson and Cameran).
And finally, to our wonderful family across the globe. Thank you to all the Tsangs, Webbers, Hoppers and Liu’s for their incredible support. We love you all so much. We’d like to especially thank our parents, Rob and Virginia Webber, and Paulus and Louisa Tsang.
Stephanie and Ben, thank you for always being happy to chat dragons with us, and of course for Evie’s epic dragon suit! Cat, thank you not only for the quote but for talking us through various plot points and for your belief in the book. Jack, thank you for the excellent inspiration in the form of D&D games and for excellent dragon feedback. Janie, thank you for all the awesome playlists and gifs and making us laugh. We truly have the best family ever.
To our nephew, Cooper, we love you and hope you enjoy discovering dragons when you are older.
And to our own baby dragon Evie, this book is for you. We started writing it while we were pregnant with you, and now you’re here to celebrate the publication with us. We love you always. You are our favourite adventure.
Keep reading for a preview of
Dragon Legend
by
Katie Tsang and Kevin Tsang
The wind whipped around them, cutting through their protective suits. The suits had not
been made to withstand the icy temperatures of the Frozen Wasteland.
Spark, Billy thought. Can you hear me? I don’t know if we can do this.
Silence was the only response. Billy closed his eyes and hunched his shoulders against the stinging cold. And then a small burst of heat, no bigger than a candle flame, rushed through him. But it was enough to warm him just a little. It had to be Spark sending hope, sending warmth, through their bond.
It was the motivation Billy needed. He rolled his shoulders back and faced his friends.
‘Ling-Fei, I believe in you. I know you’ll sense the pearl. I believe in all of us. The dragons do too,’ he said. He hoped his friends didn’t notice his teeth chattering in the cold. ‘We can do this.’
Another gust of wind flew at the group, so strong it threatened to send them crashing into the Blood Strait. Ling-Fei stumbled, and Charlotte grabbed her arm, pulling her up the bank. It was slippery, but she dug her heels in, securing both herself and Ling-Fei.
‘Let’s move away from here,’ said Charlotte, eyeing the Blood Strait uneasily. ‘I don’t want to freeze to death, but I don’t like the idea of being boiled in hot blood either.’
The group slowly moved further up the banks of the Blood Strait, heads down, pushing against the wind. Their feet scrambled for purchase on the icy ground. Then they were up on the plateau, and the Frozen Wasteland opened up in front of them.
Billy stared at the wide expanse. It was unlike anything he’d ever seen. The land looked like a thrashing ocean that had frozen in place at the height of a hurricane. Everywhere Billy looked rock formations rose out of the ground like huge, curling waves. Wind howled across the land, kicking up billows of ice and frost that swirled through the air like tornadoes. Strange, cloud-like blobs floated up above in a dark grey sky.
Billy felt as if he had stepped into a horror movie, and for a brief moment he thought they might’ve been better off staying with the fish and going back empty-handed. He shivered and pushed the thought out of his mind.