Dragon Rider

The three friends leave the mountains at nightfall and fly south toward the Mediterranean. At one point, Ben noticed a raven with a tiny figure on its back. He points it out to Sorrel, who is unconcerned. She says that elves sometimes like to ride birds and fly in the moonlight. They only need to be concerned if they see a raven by itself.

Before long, they run into a storm. As the storm worsens, the wind blows them off course. They are near the coast of Egypt, which is full of dangerous yellow patches, but they have no choice but to land and wait out the storm. They accidentally land near a large human encampment, which Ben thinks might contain archeologists. They agree that Firedrake and Ben should keep moving and find a place to hide. Sorrel will stay behind to erase their tracks.

Firedrake and Ben find a cavern in the foothills. Curiously, the walls are covered in strange writing. When Sorrel does not arrive, Ben leaves to search for her. Before long, he finds signs of a struggle and tire tracks: The humans have caught Sorrel.

Ben slips into the human camp and finds a group of men standing around cages. The largest cage holds Sorrel. The men speak many languages, but two speak English, and Ben listens. One insists that Sorrel must be a mutant monkey. The other, Professor Greenbloom, explains that she is a Spotted Forest Brownie from the Scottish Highlands. The first man scoffs, despairing that a “professor of archaeology, a doctor of history and ancient languages” would spout such “ridiculous theories” (112).

Sorrel shouts insults, in the form of various mushroom names, and Greenbloom smiles, clearly understanding her. Then, they look at another cage, which holds a tiny humanoid creature with red hair and very thin limbs. Greenbloom explains that this one is a homunculus they found fallen in the bushes. It is not a “natural creature” but rather “an artificial being” (114) likely made by a medieval alchemist. The men leave, still arguing.

Ben rushes in but cannot unlock Sorrel’s cage. The homunculus says that his lock is easier to break, and if Ben releases him, he will help release Sorrel. Sorrel objects, but Ben releases the homunculus, who introduces himself as Twigleg. Twigleg, true to his word, helps unlock Sorrel’s cage. Then they run from the camp, Twigleg riding atop Ben’s head.

Once they are safely away, Sorrel tells Twigleg they should part ways. But Twigleg claims that he has no home because he ran away from a cruel master only to be snatched by a raven, who dropped him during the storm. Ben offers to take Twigleg with them. Sorrel finds Twigleg’s story suspicious, but Ben ignores her.

Firedrake sleeps in the cavern. Suddenly, a creature that looks like “a gigantic cockerel with yellow feathers and broad, spiky wings” (123) attacks. The creature says that Firedrake’s presence woke it. It stares at him with red eyes, and Firedrake freezes.

Professor Greenbloom appears, holding a large mirror. He tells Firedrake to get out of the way while he points the mirror at the creature. Firedrake moves away, and the creature stares at its own reflection, bursting into pieces.

Professor Greenbloom tells Firedrake he specializes in fabulous creatures. The monster was a basilisk, whose eyes can kill a mortal with a single look. Professor Greenbloom has studied fabulous creatures most of his life, but he has never seen a dragon before. He came to Egypt in search of the winged horse, Pegasus, and found this basilisk cave by mistake. His research indicates that fabulous creatures attract one another and usually sense each other’s presence in the form of tingling or itching, which is how Firedrake’s presence woke the basilisk. Firedrake did not know this, having lived among other dragons so long that the constant sensation was unnoticeable.

Professor Greenbloom deduces that the brownie caught in the camp is the dragon’s friend. He plans to release her as soon as everyone else is asleep. Just then Sorrel, Ben, and Twigleg arrive. The professor offers to bring them supplies before they fly away at nightfall, and leaves promising to return.

At sunset, the professor returns. He regrets that his wife cannot be there, as brownies are a special interest of hers. The professor adds that he has a daughter, Guinevere, who is about Ben’s age. He asks about Ben’s family and, learning that Ben is on his own, invites Ben to visit him and his family any time he wants.

Before they leave, the professor gives them information. He and his wife, Vita, once went searching for the Rim of Heaven but failed. However, a colleague of his, Zubeida Ghalib, is an expert on dragons and is studying in Pakistan near the Himalayas. He recommends they visit her. She recently wrote in a letter that she discovered something that can mimic the power of the moon, which might allow Firedrake to fly without moonlight. She also found a village where dragons visited 150 years ago to swim in the ocean until a monster emerged and attacked them. The dragons narrowly escaped and never returned.

Professor Greenbloom also shares rumors about a djinn with 1,000 eyes, who is said to know the answer to any question. However, they must meet three conditions: “[F]irst, a human being has to ask the question. Second, the djinn must never have been asked that question before. […] And third, […] the question must be asked in exactly seven words, no more and no less” (149).

They agree that the djinn may be their best hope for finding the Rim of Heaven and agree to go. The professor shows Ben the route to the djinn on their map. Meanwhile, Sorrel notices that Twigleg has disappeared.

Twigleg hurries away from the group, rushing to the beach to report to Nettlebrand about the professor and the djinn. Nettlebrand orders Twigleg to follow the group and find out what the djinn tells them. Once Nettlebrand has the location of the Rim of Heaven, he can beat them there.

Twigleg is still on the beach when Firedrake and the others approach. Professor Greenbloom instructs Ben to follow a ravine and look for a particular sign written in Arabic. There, he will find an abandoned car that the djinn stole from a sheikh. The professor warns them to avoid sand-elves, who swarm at night.

Professor Greenbloom gives them a bag of supplies, a book about other fabulous creatures, and a golden scale. He explains that he found two golden scales on a dig in the northern Alps. He does not know what creature they came from but believes they are made of false gold: They are cold to the touch, even when heated by a fire. Twigleg knows it is one of Nettlebrand’s scales. He crawls into Ben’s bag just before the group flies away.

The group travels south, following the coast. During the day, they hide in the ruins to sleep. When the others are asleep, Twigleg sneaks out of Ben’s bag. He finds an entry in the professor’s book about homunculi and is horrified to learn that homunculi live almost indefinitely unless they develop “a strong affection for a human being. In such cases, the homunculus dies on the same day as the human to whom it has given its heart” (171-72). Twigleg says he must be careful to keep his heart to himself.

The day before they are due to reach the djinn’s ravine, Ben and Sorrel discuss how to phrase their question. Sorrel digs in Ben’s bag for a mushroom and finds Twigleg hiding. Twigleg claims that he wanted to join them but feared Sorrel would not let him, so he stowed away. Ben accepts this and says he trusts Twigleg, and Twigleg calls him “young master” (176). Then Twigleg says he would like to take a short walk to stretch his legs. Ben is concerned for his safety, and Twigleg feels guilty as he walks away to make his report.

Twigleg finds a water cistern to make his report to Nettlebrand. Along the way, his raven reappears, saying that he could not get close to the group for fear of being seen. Twigleg makes his report to Nettlebrand, who is happy that the human boy is doing all the work of finding the Rim of Heaven for him. He reminds Twigleg to tell him the instant they get an answer from the djinn so that he can beat the group to the location. Twigleg asks how he could do this since he cannot fly, but Nettlebrand says it is a secret. Then Twigleg mentions that Professor Greenbloom has one of Nettlebrand’s scales, and Firedrake has another. Infuriated, Nettlebrand orders Twigleg to steal the scale back from Firedrake. He will deal with the professor himself. He adds that he will eat the boy, Ben, as well.

Sorrel walks into view, asking to whom Twigleg was talking. Twigleg says he was talking to himself, but Sorrel is still suspicious.

Professor Greenbloom packs his bags, preparing to leave the Egyptian campsite to join his wife and daughter on their mission to find the Pegasus. He visits a nearby well but hears a strange noise, like the scrape of metal on stones. He knows he should run, but his curiosity gets the better of him. He waits and watches as an enormous golden dragon climbs out of the well.

The gold dragon bellows that the professor has something that belongs to him. The professor realizes the creature means the golden scale. Nettlebrand orders the human to hand the scale to his dwarf, who climbs down from Nettlebrand’s head. Professor Greenbloom dives beneath the dragon’s body and climbs onto his back leg, where the dragon can neither see nor reach him. He asks if the dragon is Nettlebrand, of whom he has heard many stories. Nettlebrand confirms.

Nettlebrand orders Gravelbeard to go after the professor, but the professor bribes Gravelbeard with his gold wedding ring, knowing that dwarves love gold. Gravelbeard takes it and tells Nettlebrand that the human disappeared into thin air. Furious, Nettlebrand heads back toward the well. At the last moment, the professor drops from his leg and rolls into the tall grass. Nettlebrand disappears back down the well, and the professor goes to warn Ben and others.