“Um…thank you,” said Sarah, curtsying the way her mother had taught her. She didn’t think her mother expected her to use those manners in a situation like this, though. “But I hope you don’t mind if I ask where we are? You see, we need to get traveling again, and…”

It didn’t take long for Sarah to realize that Azal wasn’t listening to her. In fact, he expected he probably couldn’t even hear her small voice, considering how high up his ears were. In another moment, he began calling out in a sound that Sarah first mistook as a roar. It wasn’t quite a roar, though. It was something more intelligent than that, with a purpose that she almost understood but didn’t quite capture. It was a language, ancient and wonderful: the secret language of the dragons themselves.

“What’s he saying?” she asked Keeley, who had finally stopped chatting with her uncle and had landed on Sarah’s shoulder again. The tiny white dragon only shook her head and made a shushing sound.

“Don’t worry,” she said, “it’s good news.”

A growl and then a roar answered Azal’s call. It was soon followed by another one, and another one. In less than a minute, the deep mountain cave had filled with the animal-like but nonetheless melodic calls of the dragons. The ground began shaking with the footfalls of at least a dozen of the great beasts. One by one they appeared in front of the group, studying the companions curiously, as though none of them had ever seen a real live human before.

The dragons didn’t look quite like Sarah had expected. They weren’t all lizards like Keeley and Azal. Like the fey, each one had its own unique features. One of the dragons seemed to be made of stone, with large patches of green moss covering its rocky hide. Another one had feathers, like a giant bird. Others crawled on their bellies like great winged snakes, or trotted along on two large hind legs like ostriches. Most of the dragons were enormous, though few were anywhere near as big as Azal. The smallest ones were about the size of grown horses. Poor Keeley was still little more than a gnat compared to even the tiniest of her cousins.

“What is it, Azal?” asked one of the larger dragons, a green-skinned creature with long, crocodile-like jaws. “Why have you woken me from my slumber?”

“It’s not all about you, cousin Grimjaw,” replied Azal. “In fact, you could have stayed sleeping for all I care. I called everyone here because we have some new visitors. They were having difficulties with the trolls at the top of the world, and so they have found themselves down here with us.” Finishing his speech, Azal waved his claw toward the ground, showcasing the dazed companions. Keeley flew off of Sarah’s shoulder to circle her uncle’s head. If the rest of the dragons noticed one so small, they didn’t show it.

“Well, things are looking up indeed,” grumbled Grimjaw, clacking his sharp teeth. “You’ve brought us a tasty set of humans. But so few…are we going to have to play rocks to decide who gets the first bite?”

“Quiet, you,” snapped Azal, emitting a growl that echoed through the mountain caves. “They aren’t here to eat. They’ve returned one of our own to us. Keeley, come forward please.”

With a cry of glee, Keeley darted forward, flying through the mass of gathered dragons. Some of them had to squint to see her. A murmur rippled through the gathered crowd, and many different dragons spoke in their varied voices. “Is that really Keeley?” “I thought for sure she had been caught by a hunter somewhere.” “She has grown quite a bit, hasn’t she?”

“Bah,” said Grimjaw, silencing the other dragons. “I can barely tell the details on someone so small. More likely they’ve just splashed some white pain on a parakeet and are trying to fool us. Why have you really brought them here, Azal? We know all humans work for Baelan. They’re a danger to us, unless we decide to turn them into a tasty meal.”

“That’s not true!” shouted Kay, standing as tall as he could. “We’re running from Baelan!”

Grimjaw gave a snort. A small burst of green fire came out of his nostrils as he did. “A likely story. We also know humans have a history of lying to us…as do the fey. How do we know this isn’t some sort of trick?”

A black snake-like dragon slithered through the sky and then winged its way up toward Sarah. It flickered its forked tongue at her, almost touching her hair with it. Surprised, Sarah jumped back and nearly fell.

“They smell like fey,” said the serpentine dragon, flying back toward the others. “I’m with Grimjaw. I don’t trust them.”

All at once, the companions shouted their protests over this latest judgment. Even Keeley tried to speak the truth, although she sounded like nothing more than a mouse in the enormous cavern. Any arguments in support of the companions, though, were quickly drowned out the dragons who had decided to take Grimjaw’s side.

“Humans are the reason we have to live under the mountains.” “Baelan’s men slayed my brother and stole his hoard.” “Why trust them at all when we can grind their bones into our meat pies?”

“Silence!” Azal’s shout rattled the mountain. Even Grimjaw bowed respectfully at the great dragon’s outburst.

When things had quieted down, Azal continued. “I did not bring these people here so they could be threatened. I know the smell of a lie, and I know I don’t smell it on them. They’ve spoken the truth, when they’ve been allowed to speak. And I know the look of my dear niece, tiny though she may be. These are Keeley’s friends, and they are my guests. If anyone wants to make a meal out of them, they’ll have to answer to me. Is that understood?”

No dragon dared speak against the largest of them all. A few who disagreed with him snuck backwards into the shadows, disappearing deeper into the mountain. But no one argued with his decision – not even Grimjaw.

Azal craned his neck down toward his guests. “Please excuse my brethren,” he whispered, trying not to startle them any further. His whisper reminded Sarah of a car running without a muffler, though. “We’ve been in these caves so long that some of us have forgotten our manners. Please, look around and don’t be afraid.”

The cavern was enormous. Sarah had to wonder if the mountain was hollow. She certainly couldn’t see the roof of the cave in the darkness, and it was wide enough to include at least a dozen different dragons of all sizes and varieties. Even with Kay, Dax, and Keeley at her side, Sarah had never felt so small in her entire life.

“You’ll get a different view of dragons here than what you might be expecting, I assure you,” said Azal, keeping his head about five or six feet away from the companions. “Most humans think we fly around eating damsels and terrorizing the countryside, or some stupid thing like that. To tell the truth, we usually don’t go beyond our caves at all anymore. If those trolls hadn’t made such a racket, we would have let you wander on by without even seeing us.”

“I don’t know how we could have missed seeing you for very long,” said Dax. “Even if my old eyes are going, I’m sure you’re large enough to notice.”

“Well, when you’re as deep underground as we are right now, it’s very easy to hide, even if you’re large like me. But that’s not important right now. What matters is that you are in Dragonhome now, and I plan to make sure you are shown every bit of hospitality while you are here. Erm…how long are you going to be here, anyway?”

“Um…I don’t know, exactly,” said Sarah. “See, we’re sort of lost right now. We were trying to find out way to Castle Greystone, and—”

Another murmur from the gathering of dragons cut Sarah off. Even Azal looked concerned. He reared up on his hind legs and waved his claws, trying to quiet his kindred down.

“If it’s Castle Greystone you seek, I’m afraid we dragons can’t help you.”

Sarah blinked, wondering what could worry dragons so much – besides people, that is. “Why not?”

“We choose not to speak of it,” answered Azal. “If you wish to stay here for a while, I can make sure you are comfortable. But none of us will be able to bring you to the castle. Not even Keeley.”

At this, Keeley gave a squeal of dismay. Sarah waved a hand to quiet the tiny dragon.

“It’s okay,” she whispered in a voice quiet enough that she hoped the large ears of the bigger dragons wouldn’t be able to hear. “We won’t let our band be split up, no matter what.”

If Azal heard the whisper, he paid it no heed. “Anyway, I’ll have one of our smaller wyrms bring you somewhere comfortable. We don’t have much that’s fit for humans to eat, but I’m sure we can find something. Never let it be said that a dragon is inhospitable!”

“Not so fast, Azal. I would like to speak to our visitors alone.” The chamber fell quiet again, and even the great black dragon took a step back and bowed his massive head to the voice which came from the back of the cavern. The newcomer’s voice was female, and every bit as loud and commanding as Azal’s. Sarah thought she recognized it from somewhere, but couldn’t quite put her finger on where.

Azal kept his red eyes fixed on the ground as he spoke to the newcomer. “With all due respect, Adlin, I don’t think that’s necessary.”

“I’m afraid I disagree,” said the voice. The dragons parted as the newcomer strode through the cave on all four legs. She was a dragon, too, but she stood out from all the others. Her skin was neither scaly nor rough, but instead shined like a coat of silver. She towered over Sarah and the humans easily enough, but wasn’t nearly as big as Azal or some of the other dragons. Sarah thought she could maybe fit in the garage at home. Her legs and wings looked powerful, but held a different kind of strength than the other dragons. Instead of tight muscles and a tough, scarred hide, this silver dragon looked more like a cat. Her strength was combined with grace, and she seemed in control not only of her own actions, but of the actions of everyone else in the chamber as well.

Azal remained silent, as did everyone else in the chamber – including Sarah and her friends. The silver dragon came to a stop a few paces away from Sarah. She craned her long neck toward the companions, examining each one closely with large purple eyes.

“Yes,” she muttered to herself. “There can be no doubt.”

“No doubt about what?” asked Sarah.

The dragon didn’t answer. Instead, she rose up on her hind quarters and gestured deeper into the tunnels with one claw.

“Azal, please extend out hospitality to these humans. I would like to talk to each one in private before the night is done…starting with this one.” As she finished, she gestured toward Sarah.

Kay pushed his way past Sarah and raised a threatening hand toward the dragon – not that he could have done any good, even with his spells. “She’s our companion, and we won’t let her be separated from us,” he said. “We’ve been through too much together for me to let her get turned into some dragon’s bedtime snack.”

Adlin watched Kay calmly, despite the outburst. Her serpentine lips curled into what looked like a smile. “Calm down, human. None of you will be a snack for anyone – not even Grimjaw here. You will see that dragons treat their guests with the utmost respect. But I will need to speak to your companion here. If you don’t let me, I’m afraid I can’t treat you as guests.”

Kay didn’t move from his stance.

“I’ll be fine, I think,” whispered Sarah. “If they wanted to eat us, I’m sure they would have done just that by now.”

“It’s best to do what they want,” said Dax. “Otherwise, they’ll squash you and leave you as nothing but a stain on the ground. If there’s one thing I hope to leave behind when my old body finally gives in, it’s an attractive corpse.”

Finally, Kay stepped down. Adlin nodded approvingly.

“Azal, please take our guests to whatever quarters you can find. Sarah, please come with me.”

The dragons in the chamber dispersed, going their own separate ways deeper into the mountain. Azal let Kay and Dax climb back into his hand, and began carrying the humans away. Adlin turned and began walking her own way, toward a tunnel that seemed to glow with a fire of its own. She swished her tail behind her, beckoning Sarah to follow. As Sarah did, it occurred to her that she hadn’t mentioned her name to any of the dragons. How then, did Adlin know who she was?