Chapter 2

2 Hana blinked, letting her eyes adjust to the gloom. Thunder rolled again. But it sounded different this time. Was it closer or farther away? Hana couldn't tell. Light filtered through the willow branches. Except—how odd!—the tree had changed. It was

covered in sweet-smelling purple flowers. Surely they hadn't been there a moment ago? Something strange was going on. The light grew brighter as Hana pushed her way through the leaves. She stopped in surprise. The neat and orderly garden around the banquet hall had vanished. In its place was a wild forest. Tall trees with rough bark stretched toward the sky. The smooth lawn had been replaced by mossy rocks and colorful shrubbery. A little creature hurried past. The animal looked like a rabbit… but it had a neon-pink tail. Hana blinked again. I'll go and find Mina, she decided. Her twin would figure out what was going on. Mina was lightning fast at solving mysteries. Then Hana noticed two things. Two very impossible things. The first was that the entire banquet hall had vanished. There was no sign of it at all!

The second was that her legs had disappeared. Well, not disappeared exactly. But they had changed. A lot! Her normal legs had been replaced with powerful limbs covered in gleaming scales. The new shoes Hana's mom had bought her for the party had also vanished. Now her feet were huge paws with sharp claws. Mina and Zora always teased Hana that when she got excited or frustrated, she would roar. Now Hana opened her mouth, and the sound that she made was most definitely a roar! It felt amazing. "Am I dreaming?" she wondered aloud. "If you're dreaming, then I must be, too," said a growly voice. A fluffy bear cub strolled toward her. "Um, did you just speak?" Hana asked. She was feeling a little dazed. There was a lot of strange stuff happening! The bear cub climbed onto a nearby rock. "Technically it's more like growling than speaking," the cub said cheerfully. "But yes, I

did." He had a surprisingly deep voice for such a cute little thing. "I'm Beebi, by the way. You must be Hana. Tell me, have you tried out your wings yet?" "I have wings?" Hana looked over her shoulder. Sure enough, a magnificent pair of wings sprouted from her back! She looked at Beebi. A few minutes ago, asking an animal a question would

have seemed weird. But now it seemed perfectly normal. "What exactly am I?" "You're a Storm Dragon," Beebi said. "That's why you have a storm cloud on your forehead." Hana grinned. She somehow felt like a dragon —strong and full of power. It also explained the claws. And Hana loved storms, so that felt doubly right! Thunder rolled again. The sound seemed to trigger something in Hana. A tickling feeling, like a cough rose inside her. She opened her mouth and another roar burst out, even louder than the last one. Now that she thought about it, her roars sounded a lot like thunder. "You've certainly got the roaring part figured out," Beebi commented. "But I guess that makes sense. You're the Thunder Dragon, after all. You have a special connection to loud, powerful sounds."

This made Hana laugh. Her sister and cousin would certainly agree! Suddenly, she felt a little pang. If only Mina and Zora were here to share this amazing adventure with her. "Give those wings a try," Beebi instructed. "We have places to be." Hana stretched out her wings and gave them a test flap. The action felt strange, but also perfectly natural. She flapped again, with more force this time. She rose a couple of inches off the ground. "That's it!" said Beebi. "Try again."