She sat next to him and dug him in the ribs with her elbow. ‘If you go near him I will set Vrod onto you,’ she whispered from the corner of her mouth.

Vrod's ears waggled. ‘Simesian actors make good stew,’ he mused, smacking his lips. When Fontagu shuddered, the troll grinned at Tab. Tab smiled back, but inside she shuddered too.

Verris steered the small craft down below the cloud layer and then began searching for the gouging trail left on the surface by the mighty anchor on their last visit.

Tab leaned her chin on her elbows. As they passed over a vast desert there was not much to see except undulating dunes. Tab squinted ahead. Beyond the dunes was the shimmering savannah, similar to the place Tattoo had shown her in her vision. She watched as the distant objects on the surface changed from faint blotches of colour to recognisable shapes.

She spied a dark lump half-buried in the sand.

‘What's that?’ she asked Verris.

He shrugged and handed her the spyglass. She placed it to her eye and swung it this way and that, trying to find the shape again.

When she found it she wound the focusing ring, and when she had it trained on the dark-coloured mound, she gasped and dropped the spyglass. It clattered as it rolled across the floor. The two equens started at the sound. Tab sat down quickly and tears sprung into her eyes.

‘What is it, Tab?’ Philmon asked.

‘It's…’ She tried to speak through the lump in her throat. ‘It's Melprin.’

Tab jumped out of the vessel before it had even landed. Her feet sunk into the soft surface. When she sprinted across the sand she swung her arms, trying to haul out her half-buried feet with each step. Warm sand slid over the tops of her boots and slipped in between her toes.

Tears poured down her cheeks. She grunted, trying to breathe, but her chest felt full and heavy.

As she drew nearer she could see two shapes. The larger was Melprin, but tucked in underneath the dragon's wing Tab could see the hatchling. It trilled a welcome in her mind, but she could feel that it was weak. The trip to the world below had taken a lot of energy. It rested its head on its mother's shoulder so affectionately that Tab almost choked on her tears.

There was a spear through Melprin's neck, and several arrows buried in her rump. Tab knelt down next to her friend, trying to blink away her tears so that she could see.

She looked over her shoulder to see Verris approaching cautiously. Back in the vessel the others waited and watched. Verris drew his sword.

‘Put that down!’ Tab shouted. ‘How could you?’

‘Dragons are hard to kill, Tab,’ he said gently. ‘And if she isn't dead…’ He paused. ‘Maybe it would be better for her if she were.’

‘Get away!’ Tab screamed. ‘I won't let you!’ She fell to her knees and collapsed into sobs.

Melprin's scales were warm under Tab's fingers. She pressed her cheek against the dragon's side. She should have come down here sooner. All this time her friend, who had saved her life three times now, had been lying in the sand, alone and slowly dying. Tab had done nothing to help. She'd been having a picnic and gorging herself with thickleberry tarts. It was all her fault. She had been selfish.

›››Not

Tab sat up. ‘Did you say something?’ She put her hand on her friend's side and felt it rise a little.

›››Not alone. Hatchling… most beautiful

Tab laughed. ‘You're alive!’ She called over her shoulder. ‘She's alive!’

›››Name her

‘Her?’ Tab called over her shoulder again. ‘The hatchling! It's a her! A she. I mean, it's a girl!’

›››You really want me to name her?››Goodness! I don't know. It needs to be something strong. Let me think

›››Don't think

›››Aventurine

›››Aventurine

Melprin rolled ever so slightly.

‘I can take those arrows out,’ Verris said. ‘But it will hurt. At least it would hurt a human. Can you tell her that?’

Tab translated Verris's offer.

Melprin inclined her head.

Verris put his sword back in its scabbard and drew out his dagger. He reached into his waistcoat and pulled out a flask, pouring the alcoholic liquid onto the blade. ‘She'd better not torch me,’ Verris added.

Tab crawled around to the front of Melprin and placed her sand-encrusted snout on her lap. ‘There now. If anything happens it will happen to me.’

She looked back over the sand to where her friends stood next to the scout's vessel. Fontagu was gesturing wildly, hopping up and down. Eventually Amelia punched him in the arm. Tab faintly heard her shout, ‘Fontagu! Shut up!’

Verris crouched down over Melprin's wounds. He started to press and dig, gingerly at first but then with more vigour. Melprin's breath was hot on Tab's arm, making her sweat. The dragon made the sound like glass in a barrel again, which Tab remembered meant that she was hurting.

‘Let me tell you about when Aventurine hatched,’ she began. Then she told Melprin about how the roofie had caught the egg and taken it to the council chamber. She laughed out loud when she thought the part about Tash Morley scrambling away as the egg rolled toward him.

Tab felt a rumbling in Melprin's throat. She hoped she was laughing too. Verris had extracted one of the arrows. He was examining the tip. Blood dripped from his hands and down Melprin's side.

‘Now I know how the arrowheads are shaped the next one will be easier. It should not hurt as much.’

›››Are you ready?

›››Do it

Tab nodded to Verris. He doused his dagger again and slid it under Melprin's scales.

Tab told Melprin about being thrown into the dungeon – about how little Aventurine had punched through the wall. She talked about the Loraskian attack, the screeching, and how they looked like giant moths.

Verris placed another of the arrows on the ground.

Next she explained about how Aventurine had scampered through the Barrenlands and escaped over the Drop-off.

A third and a fourth bloody arrow now lay on the sand.

›››You're doing very well››He's nearly finished

Tab felt the rumble again and this time a plume of smoke emerged from one of Melprin's nostrils.

‘Last one,’ Verris said, holding up the nasty looking arrow. His face was glistening with sweat. He shuffled around so that he could see the spear through Melprin's neck. First he inspected the spearhead, then he pressed at the wound. He wiped his face with his sleeve, panting. ‘We will have to break the spearhead off, and then slide the shaft back through the wound. I can't do it by myself, but Vrod should be able to split it. It will really, really hurt. Can you explain that?’

›››Do it

Verris called for Vrod. When the troll approached, Verris explained what he wanted.

Vrod knelt down. He took the spear in his two massive hands, poking out his tongue as he focused. His knuckles went white.

Snap! The spear broke in two. Melprin's head jerked and Tab gasped. She looked down to see blisters bubbling on her arms.

›››You burned me!

›››Trying to hold it inside. I couldn't

‘Tab! You're burnt!’ Verris said, moving around the dragon's body.

‘We can fix it later,’ she said. ‘We must help Melprin first.’ She winced against the pain, feeling a cold sweat spring up on her forehead, and a sick churning in her stomach. ‘Besides, it doesn't hurt that much,’ she lied.

Verris and Vrod discussed how to draw the shaft of the spear from Melprin's neck, their faces grim with concentration. Verris looked at Tab, frowning. ‘We're set to go.’

›››Are you ready?

Melprin still had her eyes closed. Verris and Vrod grasped the shaft. Tab felt herself tense. If Melprin burned her again she wouldn't be able to stay conscious. It might even kill her, but she didn't want to abandon her friend either.