Chapter 5

5 The giant gull laughed. "Good luck with that, Sea Dragons. That wave is very unusual. It's not going to be easy to surf." "We'll be fine," Zoe said quickly. She didn't want the gull to scare her friends. "Thanks so much for your help." "No problem!" the gull squawked. He flapped his huge wings and flew away. "Do you really think we'll be fine?" Sofia asked. "Grace and I have never surfed normal

waves before—let alone magical ones going the wrong way!" "And what about the baby turtles?" Grace added. "We can't just leave them here." Zoe scanned the ocean again. It was mostly calm. But she could see something odd. Close to the shore, the water was beginning to rise. Big waves usually formed far out at sea, not near the shoreline. Even stranger, this wave had a fiery glow to it. It has to be the Wrong Way Wave! Zoe thought. She knew she had to act fast. Waves waited for no one! Quickly, Zoe flew back to the baby turtles. "If you thought rolling down a sand dune was fun, wait until you try flying!" she said. "Climb onto my back." Squealing with excitement, the hatchlings began scrabbling up onto Zoe's back. It was not easy for the little creatures with their stumpy legs. Luckily, Grace and Sofia were there to help nudge them up.

Once they were all safely on board, Zoe flew high into the air once more. "Hold on tight!" she warned the turtles, who yelled joyfully. "You look like a ride at a fairground!" Grace laughed, flying alongside Zoe. "You really do!" Sofia agreed, coming up on the other side. "I feel like one!" Zoe said. "And you have no idea how ticklish it is to have a bunch of baby turtles on your back." Luckily, it was only a short flight from the sand dune to the edge of the sea. As Zoe approached the shore, she flew low, just skimming the water. Zoe flew to a safe part of the shore. It was far from the strange wave that was starting to form. "Jump off now!" she instructed the turtles. At first the turtles did not want to jump into the sea. But then one baby slid into the water. "It's great in here!" it called to the others. "Even better than the sand!" With that, all the hatchlings leapt from Zoe's back and into the water. Soon they were all splashing about happily.

"Come and swim with us, Sea Dragons!" they called. "Another time!" Zoe promised. Swimming with baby turtles would be fun. But Zoe also knew there was no time for fun right now. The swelling she'd spotted was rapidly turning into a wave. It was not curving toward the shore like a normal wave. Instead, it was facing the deep water and the horizon—the wrong way! And, just as the gull had said, the wave was crested with fire. It was a very strange sight. A beautiful blue wave tipped with bright red flames instead of white foam!

Zoe took a deep breath. It was not going to be easy to ride this thing. But that made it more exciting. "Follow me," Zoe called to her friends. "We can do this, I know it. The main thing is to stay just ahead of where the wave is breaking." Zoe led the way over to the remarkable wave. Fiery drops cascaded down from its edge, sizzling as they hit the water. Expertly, Zoe bodysurfed

within the curl, so that she was just resting on the water. Grace and Sofia did the same, right behind her. "You guys are natural bodysurfers!" Zoe called. "Now, stay calm, and use your wings for balance!" Zoe had surfed some big waves in her time. But she had never surfed a wave like this. Most waves moved at a steady pace. But this one was fast one minute, then slow the next. Even stranger, the wave seemed to be twitching. It twisted back and forth, stopping and starting. "I'm not sure how much longer I—" Sofia was cut short. The wave had suddenly shot high into the air! Then the massive wall of water began to shake and twist back and forth. It was like a wild horse trying to buck off the Sea Dragons! Fiery sparks rained down around them, hissing as the water evaporated. Then the wave crashed, dunking Zoe and her friends into the sea. Zoe had wiped out many times. It was a normal part of surfing. But this was