Chapter 6

6 As the little group approached the gate, a narwhal swam up from the other side. It was pale purple, with a long twirly horn. It stuck its horn through the bars of the gate and stared at the Sea Dragons suspiciously. "What kind of fish are you?" the narwhal asked.

"We're not fish at all," Sofia explained. "We're Sea Dragons." The narwhal narrowed his eyes. "Are you sure you're not those nasty hot fish that have been swimming around here lately? You don't look the same, but maybe you are in disguise." "We're definitely not Fire Sparks," Grace assured him.

"Good. But even so, we're not letting in any strangers," the narwhal said. "One of our community, Nara, has gone missing, and we're all very, very upset!" The narwhal's voice quivered. "We're actually here to help find her," Zoe explained. "Well, in that case, what are you waiting for? Come right in!" the narwhal said brightly. "Maybe you could open the gate?" Sofia asked politely. "Of course! Silly me," the narwhal said. He tried to swim to the left but had clearly forgotten his long horn was sticking through the bars of the gate and clunked it against a rail. Then he swam to the right and clunked it against a different rail. The Sea Dragons tried not to laugh. Finally, the narwhal swam backward and managed to undo the gate's latch with his horn. "Welcome to the Narwhal Kingdom! I'm Toothy," he said as the gate swung open. "Where can I take you?"

"We're looking for the best friend of the narwhal who disappeared," Sofia said. "Can you take us to his house?" "No problem," Toothy said. "Follow me." Toothy tossed his head, slicing through some nearby seaweed strands with his horn. Then he swam off down a pathway lined with tall columns. The Sea Dragons quickly fell in behind him, swishing their tails to keep up. On either side of the path were elegant buildings. They all seemed to be made from mother-of-pearl, and each had an extremely pointed roof. "This is a very grand kingdom," Zoe commented as they swam. "It's also a very pointy kingdom!" Grace added. Sofia couldn't help noticing that there were lots of scratches and holes in the beautiful buildings. She got the feeling that narwhals often forgot they had superlong horns stuck to their foreheads.

"Where are all the narwhals?" Zoe asked Toothy. "Your kingdom is deserted." "And what's that sound?" Grace asked. There was a wailing, moaning noise coming from some of the buildings. "That is the sound of narwhals crying," Toothy explained, his voice trembling again. "Since Nara was taken, we've been beside ourselves. We narwhals are very close. Many of us haven't left our homes for days." "Don't worry," Sofia said kindly. She hated the idea of a whole kingdom being sad, especially a narwhal one. "We will find her." "I am so relieved to hear that," Toothy said, and Sofia had to jump out of the way of Toothy's horn as he swung around to give her a grateful look. "And here we are. This is where Nara's best friend lives." Sofia looked up and gasped. The building was spectacular! Instead of having one or two pointy towers like many of the other narwhal buildings

they'd passed, this one had countless towers. And each one was topped with gold. A little way off were several burly-looking narwhals, guarding what appeared to be the entrance. "This looks like a palace!" Grace remarked. "That's because it is a palace," Toothy said. Grace just managed to somersault away from Toothy's horn as he turned to her. "Princes always live in palaces, don't they?" "Yes, but hang on," Zoe said. "Are you saying that Nara's best friend is the prince of the Narwhal Kingdom? Why didn't you tell us?" "You didn't ask!" Toothy said. "Come on, let's go inside." Sofia stared at the narwhal in surprise. "We can't just walk into Narwhal Palace," she reminded Toothy. "There are guards out front, for one thing." "Silly Sea Dragons! We can go inside," Toothy said, swimming toward the entrance. "I think I'm allowed inside my own home."