He didn’t have the heart to ask how she’d protect him against adults, be they dragons or humans. So he quickly shed his clothes, shivered at the cool rain, and then closed his eyes. He imagined his arms and legs growing into limbs, wings sprouting from his back, and his face elongating into a snout. After years of practice, he was pretty good by now. However, faster than ever before, he stood in his dragon form. Quickly he tapped Daisy’s shoulder with his tail.
She spun around and smiled. “That was really fast! Definitely a new record.”
His dragon snapped its wings, and Daisy laughed before saying, “You should be proud. But we can celebrate later. Come on. I’m impatient to see what’s under that hatch!”
After walking back to the hatch, Freddie’s dragon used his front talon to hook the ring.Ready?
Yes. Let’s do it!
His dragon lifted, bit by bit, and the hatch started to give way. When it was finally free of the ground, he tossed it to the side. Hopefully, he didn’t have to try and put it back later.
But as he noticed the stairs going into the ground, he wanted to roar. This was their first bunker to explore, and he’d been the one to reveal it for Daisy.
Speaking of which, she now stood next to him and leaned against his dragon. “You did it! But I don’t think your dragon form will fit inside there, so you should shift back and get dressed. I promise to wait for you and not enter on my own, too.”
Considering Daisy from even a year ago would’ve dashed inside without thinking, Freddie realized she was growing up too, but just in different ways from a dragon-shifter.
Daisy moved away and turned her back.
Freddie took it as his cue and focused on shifting back into his human form and getting dressed.
Daisy shiftedfrom one foot to the other, impatient to start exploring. But she’d promised Freddie to wait, and she would.
When he finally whispered, “Come on, Daisy. Let’s go,” she whirled around and dashed over.
Freddie held his lantern over the entrance, and the metal stairs were dirty but solid-looking. “How far down do you thinkthey go? Is this bunker like that sprawling one in London that my mum took me to once?”
“I don’t know, which is why we need to be careful and take it slowly. It might be better to record video as we go, so if we need to leave, we can still study it later for clues.”
She beamed up at him. “That’s a brilliant idea. See, us working together is always the best.”
He shrugged, and for a second, she wished Freddie would be a little more enthusiastic.
And yet, she knew that was his way—always the calm, more level-headed one. Which was probably a good thing, since if left on her own, she’d be in constant trouble.
Before she could stop herself, she blurted, “I’m glad you’re my best friend, Freddie. We’re so different, but together we’re perfect.”
“Um, sure.” He glanced at her and looked away. Before she could apologize for blurting out her thoughts, he took her hand and motioned his head toward the stairs. “Come on. It’s getting late, and we need to get started. Take out your phone and start recording.”
He released her hand, and for some reason, Daisy had the urge to take it again.
Brushing off the impulse—she always had them, and couldn’t always act on them, like her mum told her—she took out her mobile phone and started recording.
Freddie took the lead with the lantern, and they descended underground.
At first, it was just a lot of metal stairs. But then they finally reached the ground, which had to be at least four or five of her height deep, and she gasped.
They stood at the beginning of a long hallway, with doors upon doors running down it. “It’s massive.”
“Your map made it seem small.”
“Well, that makes sense, though. I mean, if you have buried treasure, you don’t make it super obvious on a map.”
“There might not be any buried treasure.”
“I want to believe there is. The only way to find out is to look into all the rooms. Well, as many as we can today because there are so many! And even if there’s no treasure, maybe there are other interesting things here. Stuff that Stonefire thought they’d lost long ago.”
“Right, well we’ll start with the closest and alternate sides. That way we can keep track easier.”
