Chapter 9

9 While she roared with her friends, Sofia thought about all the adventures they'd had in this beautiful, magical place. She thought about meeting the Shiver Sharks on their first trip, and the surfing seals on their second. She thought about the turtle hatchlings and the smart fish and

the narwhals. There were so many amazing creatures that lived in this sea. And the Fire Queen wanted to destroy them all! The more Sofia thought about it, the more powerful her roar became. The Dragon Girls' combined roars created multicolored bubbles that swirled in the water, so thick that for a moment, they couldn't see anything. But Sofia could hear the furious screeches of the Fire Queen. There was a strange fizzing sound, and suddenly the water felt cooler. "Stop it!" yelled the Fire Queen, but her voice sounded small and weak. "It's working!" JellyJo cooed, floating next to Sofia and waving her tentacles excitedly. Sofia held back her roar for a moment. Grace and Zoe followed suit. As the bubbles cleared a little, they saw something surprising. "Am I imagining it, or is the Fire Queen smaller?" Grace asked. She sounded like she could hardly believe it.

"Lies!" screamed the Fire Queen, swimming around in a rage. "Your roars do not affect me at all!" "She's definitely smaller," Zoe stated. "And she's changing color!" It was true. Normally, the Fire Queen was so blindingly hot that she looked almost blue. But now the Fire Queen's flaming hair and gown had a red tint. It reminded Sofia of when an open fire was reduced to red embers at the end of the night. She noticed something else, too. Little sparkles were rising from the queen as she swirled and screeched in fury. "The waterproofing spell she cast over herself must be waning," JellyJo explained. "Your roar weakened her so much that her magic is less powerful." "Wrong! You'll never destroy me!" the Fire Queen insisted. But even her sparks were shrinking.

Energy surged through Sofia. It was working! She and her friends roared again. Soon the Fire Queen would vanish forever! But then Sofia had a thought: Was that really such a good idea? There were lots of good things about fire after all. Having bonfires on the beach with friends. Cooking over an open flame with her grandpa. And fireworks bursting into the night sky was always a magical sight. Sofia reminded herself that without the fiery power of the sun, life was not possible. Sofia realized that they did not want the Fire Queen to burn out completely. The queen floated near the three open clamshells. Impulsively, Sofia flipped around and thumped at the water with her tail and wings, whipping up a current. The water surged, catching the queen and making her tumble head over heels. Zoe and Grace stopped roaring when they saw what Sofia was up to. Soon all three Sea Dragons were working the water with their powerful tails and wings, pushing

the Fire Queen closer to the open clamshells. "Attack them, Fire Sparks!" screamed the queen in her croaky, weak voice. But it was too late. With one more tail thump, the Sea Dragons sent the Fire Queen tumbling into one of the shells. The shell promptly snapped closed! For a moment, no one said anything. The Fire Sparks stopped buzzing and everything was still. As they watched, the shell with the Fire Queen inside began to shrink. It became smaller and smaller, until it was no bigger than any ordinary seashell. The narwhals erupted into loud hoots of joy and clinked horns. "You did it, Sea Dragons!" Prince Toothy cheered. Sofia tried to speak, but the cheering noise was so loud she could hardly hear herself, let alone be heard by everyone else.

"Hey," exclaimed Grace, giving Sofia a nudge. "Look who's here!" Sofia spun around. What she saw made her laugh with delight. The crowd of narwhals had been joined by the Shiver Sharks and the Diamond Dolphins. Even the laid-back seals who loved surfing had come. The tiny turtles had also arrived, with the Sea Keeper turtle leading the way. The hatchlings clapped their little flippers together and did joyful somersaults when they saw the Sea Dragons.