Where we last left off, Ben, Firedrake, Sorrel, and Twigleg were traveling to see the djinn. However, however when they finally find him in a deserted jungle ravine, he does not answer them directly. He shows Ben several pictures and adds a prophecy to it:
"Enter the palace on the mountainside
and break the moonlight on the stone dragon's head.
When that day comes, twenty fingers will point the way to the Rim of Heaven,
and silver will be worth more than gold."
Then, the djinn disappears.
One of the cool things about this part in the book was watching the prophecy unfold. The "palace on the mountainside" turns out to be a monastery, but before the four travelers reach it, they stop at a small city. The people, who believe dragons bring good luck, welcome them, and, even better, Professor Greenbloom is there, too. He has more news of Nettlebrand, who has found out about the two scales Greenbloom found from Twigleg. He knows now that Nettlebrand can travel very quickly through water, and that the golden dragon is following them. When Ben, Sorrel, and Firedrake puzzle over how Nettlebrand could know where they are and what they are doing, Twigleg confesses. He tells them that he has been Nettlebrand's spy, reporting to him on all they do. However, Twigleg also tells them more about Nettlebrand.
Nettlebrand was created by an alchemist hundreds of years ago. The alchemist had discovered that ground up dragon horn was the essential ingredient in gold; therefore, he created the fake dragon to catch and kill other dragons for their horns. Twigleg was created by this alchemist to serve the golden dragon, but when many dragons disappeared, Nettlebrand got bored and ate his creator.
Although Sorrel is disgusted by his story and disbelieves it, the rest have another idea. Twigleg agrees to continue acting like Nettlebrand's servant, but really he will be helping the travelers. Then, they travel to a monastery far away. Here the second part of of the prophecy comes true: "break the moonlight on the stone dragon's head." In the monastery, where many monks live, there are two stone dragons; the monks also have several sacred stones called moonstones. Ben brings down one of the moonstones on the first stone dragon's head to break the moonlight. Out of a crevice in the rocks comes another brownie, but this one has four hands. This fulfills "twenty fingers," and indeed, the brownie does lead them to the rim of heaven, but only to find Nettlebrand there in hiding. Lola Graytail, a relative of the rat who sold them the map, helps to create a diversion with her small aircraft. With eyes only for the annoying airplane, Nettlebrand forgets about Firedrake, who with Ben and the two brownies, is able to truly enter the rim of heaven.
There he does not find what he expected. The dragons who used to live there were very afraid of the golden dragon, so much so that they stopped flying outside of their cave. They forgot what moonlight was like. They ate lichen instead of light. They turned into stone. Only one is left alive. Her name is Maia.
Maia has dreamed of fighting the golden dragon ever since she heard the stories of how he hunted and killed her kind. Until now, she has never had a chance to do this. Now, she and Firedrake, along with the brownies, Lola the rat, and Twigleg devise a clever plan that just might fulfill the last part of the prophecy: "silver will be worth more than gold." But will it?
To find this out, you will have to read the book. You will not be disappointed.
I read. It is a simple fact about my life. I love to read. One of the authors I have been reading lately is Cornelia Funke. She is a German writer who has written such chilren's books as Inkheart, Inkspell, Inkdeath, The Thief Lord, and, of course, Dragon Rider. I first picked up Dragon Rider because someone else had recommended it and because of its eye-catching cover. As I began to read it, it seemed to me much the same as many other fantasy books I had read. The first chapters seemed slow to me; however, as I read on, I found that I could not put the book down.