Dragon rider (Cornelia Funke)

After learning that humans are headed toward his hidden home, Firedrake, a silver dragon, is joined by a brownie and an orphan boy in a quest to find the legendary valley known as the Rim of Heaven, encountering friendly and unfriendly creatures along the way, and struggling to evade the relentless pursuit of an old enemy.

"Ben and the Greenblooms must protect a mythical new creature rising from the ocean -- a creature who can bring either light or darkness to whoever it first meets. Now not even baby dragons can keep Ben and the Greenblooms from heading to California where the vast, mythical Aurelia will appear. It's a race against time to protect it, for if the Aurelia is hurt, all fabulous creatures will vanish from Earth. In the end, though, it may take the arrival...