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Unlike the rest of the dragons Scorag can only blow cold air. Ridiculed at school and by Trantor his father, he develops an individuality that is eventually recognised by the Community Elders when they need someone to deal with fires that threaten their existence.
He doesn’t appreciate the real dangers of his profession until he has to deal with a recurrent fire at a Stink-Pool in the swamp. Accompanied by friendly Seed-Crackers, Theo and Jude, he puts the fire out and they bring back the cause, a sun refracting crystal uncovered by the recent earthquake.
They are tasked by the Council to seek out the legendary Keros Grove which if found would provide an unlimited source of the fire-producing supplement to the community diet.
After an encounter with giant vultures and an erupting volcano they are pursued by a stream of lava into the Far Forest, home of their mortal enemy the python.
Scorag uses his ability to cool the hot stream and discovers that it carries another crystal sharp enough to cut rock.
Their journey takes them across a fast-fllowing river where Scorag apparently falls prey to a monster crocodile. Grief-stricken Theo and Jude continue along a dark forbidding path without food or water to a secluded valley. There they meet up with Scorag who survived his encounter by sacrificing part of his tail. They discover new, more comfortable caves, surrounded by a bountiful food supply and close to the Keros trees.
This children’s novel of 18,000 words contains elements of Chemistry, Physics and Geology and targets a reading age of 8-11 years.
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