‘He – he’s with us!’ I stutter in shock. ‘Rhydderch and Muirgen are fighting on our side.’
A Guardian looks up from the rubble and our eyes meet. He shouts something at several others, who run towards me.
‘Viv!’ Marquis screams.
He and the others have already reached the workshops and Gideon and Serena are dragging open the tall wooden doors to one of them.
Atlas pulls me by the hand and I tear my gaze away from Rhydderch.
‘Not much further now,’ Atlas breathes.
I wipe sweat from my brow as we run and cough through a cloud of black smoke. Atlas’s hand is hot in mine as we skid to a halt in front of the workshop. There’s a huge crashing sound, followed by a rumbling like thunder. Across the grass, a dragon I don’t recognise has smashed the entrance gates down. They land on the gravel of the courtyard and hundreds of people burst through. Soldiers and civilians holding guns, batons and knives.
‘Down with the government!’ they scream.
‘Down with Wyvernmire!’
‘The Coalition,’ I whisper. ‘They’re actually here.’
Atlas’s eyes glitter as he watches. The Guardians pursuing us fall back, redirecting their attention to the incoming invasion. And then come the dragons. They fly through thesmoke from across the lake, a kaleidoscope of colours, their wings shielding the rebel humans from bullets as they swoop like birds of prey. We step inside the workshop, which is filled with rows of motorcars and Guardian trucks on each side. And in the middle, surrounded by tarpaulin sheets and tools, is a fighter plane.
‘You built this?’ I ask Marquis.
‘Serena did most of the building,’ Marquis says. ‘Karim and I did the wiring and the engine. And,’ he says, pulling down the steps and clicking them into place, ‘Karim made this.’
The metallic steps are covered in a blue fabric across which dance hundreds of tiny silver dragons.
‘It’s beautiful,’ I say.
‘Yes, absolutely gorgeous,’ Atlas mutters impatiently. ‘Now get in.’
Serena climbs into the cockpit and Gideon and Dr Seymour follow her up the metal steps.
‘Wait,’ I say. I look at Marquis and Ursa, their faces black with smoke.
‘I can’t leave Sophie here,’ I say.
‘What are you talking about?’ Atlas growls.
I spin round. ‘Did you think I was just going to climb on to this plane without her?’
Why did I think that she’d be here, waiting for us? Where is she?
‘Viv,’ Marquis says slowly, ‘I told Sophie to get out if she couldn’t find me. She’ll have escaped by now, up through the forest.’
‘And we’re just meant to assume that, are we?’ I say.
‘Yes!’ says Atlas fiercely. ‘Viv, you’ve done everything you can. You destroyed your translations, and the glasshouse is gone. It’s time to go now, to get away with both your cousinandyour sister. This is what you came to Bletchley for.’
I shake my head. ‘I can’t abandon Sophie,’ I say. ‘Not again. After everything I told you, can’t you understand—’
‘I’llfind her,’ he says.
‘You?’ I say incredulously. ‘But you’re coming—’
A shadow falls across the workshop, and the first shaft of daylight peeking through the slats in the wooden roof is extinguished. Outside, the sky has gone dark, as if the moon has eclipsed the rising sun. The shooting and roaring stop as I run to the door. Then suddenly the dim light returns.
And the formation of Bulgarian dragons above us breaks apart.
