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travelling six days or sixty for all he could remember. The journey was a blur of mounting and dismounting, frantic flying and breathless rest
stops.
    Shadow was nearly as tired as he was. He could feel her fatigue through their bond. She had pushed herself to the limit. But the weather had been kind -the prevailing westerly wind had aided
them all the way and they had gained back the entire day they had lost after his fall. So long as they secured the orb quickly and set a steady pace on the return journey, they should make it
within the fortnight.
    For the first time since he had left Elian and the others, Pell suddenly wondered what he would do if he could not find the orb. What if it was not at the enclave, but in some distant corner of
the world? He shook off the thought. The dying Oracle had given them the rhyme to guide their path to the orbs:
    Release the dark orb – death brings me life.
    Take brave ones’ counsel, ’ware ye the knife.
    Exercise caution, stay pure and heed,
    Yield unto justice: truth will succeed.
    The meaning of his verse seemed clear. The ‘dark orb’ must be the orb of the night dragons. He was to seek the counsel of the ‘brave ones’. Who could
that be, if not the leaders of the night dragon enclave? He felt sure the verse did not refer to anyone from the day dragon enclave, no matter what the other riders had said. He was supposed to
come here. He could feel it. He was following his destiny.
    The mountains loomed ahead of them; purple-grey with majestic white caps. They were taller and altogether more imposing than the mountains of central Orupee. Excitement warred with nervousness
within Pell’s chest as they drew ever closer. Shadow turned slightly south towards the pass they would need to enter to reach the enclave.
    ‘The watch dragons have seen us,’
she announced.
    ‘Already?’
Pell said, more than a little surprised.
‘But we’re still leagues away!’
    ‘They are ever vigilant. Segun would have them severely punished if they are found to not be so.’
    Ah, yes! Segun, he thought to himself. Self-styled, yet accepted, leader of the night dragon riders. Just the thought of him sent a shiver down Pell’s spine that was half fear, half
excitement. The man had a reputation for being both brilliant and ruthless. The senior riders were all loyal to him. He had long since ejected from the inner ring of power any who disagreed with
his thinking. He was not a man to cross. Well I’ve no intention of annoying him, Pell thought. I’m here to impress . . . and to find the orb, of course.
    Squinting upwards, he could just make out the watch dragons sitting on rocky outcrops high up on the shoulders of the mountains that towered into the sky on both sides of the pass. Quite why
Segun felt it necessary to guard the passes into the range, Pell could not begin to imagine. There was no power in Areth strong enough to assault the stronghold of the night dragons, except maybe
the entire enclave of day dragons – but that would never happen. The day dragons were too wound up in their sense of nobility to attempt a sneak attack. If they ever did challenge the night
dragons, they would do so openly.
    As Shadow drew parallel, the two dragons launched, stooping like giant falcons from above. Pell could sense Shadow’s nonchalance through the bond, so he felt no real concern as the two
dragons dived towards them in a coordinated mock attack.
    ‘Ignore them. They’re just showing off,’
Shadow said, her tone derisive.
‘They are fools. To attack like that for real would invite disaster. They have
generated too much momentum to change their attack path now. A simple tight turn would throw their little game into chaos.’
    ‘Do it then!’
Pell urged.
    ‘No. Don’t react. Just keep looking forwards.’
    The two watch dragons whistled past them, each giving a bellowing roar as it dived with talons extended. Shadow continued to fly ahead, not deviating so much as a