8 Chapter 8

8 Delphina swam along beside Willa as they headed up. She looked at Willa anxiously. "Are you okay?"

Willa shook her head. She was almost out of breath, and the surface looked like it was a long, long way away. "Wait here," instructed the dolphin. "I'll get help." Willa hated to see her little companion swimming off, but she had no choice. She needed air. Delphina had only been gone for a few moments when Willa saw her heading back down toward her. Willa's heart skipped a beat. Following close behind Delphina were two shapes. Could it be … ? Yes! It was Azmina and Naomi! Her friends were swimming toward her, huge grins on their faces. They were wearing what looked like diving helmets. Azmina had an extra helmet tucked under each arm. "That was so fast, Delphina!" Willa whispered, almost out of breath entirely. "They were already on their way down," chattered the dolphin happily.

"Here, put this on," instructed Azmina, holding out one of the strange helmet things. "It's full of air." Willa took the object cautiously. It looked like a large fishbowl. But this was no fishbowl—it was soft and strangely squishy to the touch! "How do I put it on?" she asked. "You just pull it over your head," explained Naomi.

Willa did so, and gratefully gulped in the fresh air. "What are these things we're wearing?" she asked. "And where did you find them?" "Don't you recognize them?" Azmina grinned. "They're bubbles from your magic roar!" "We were on our way down to find you," explained Naomi, "when we heard you roar. We figured something bad must have happened. We were so worried!" "But then," said Azmina, "these huge, silvery bubbles starting floating by. We knew right away that they came from you. They were still echoing your roar." "One got stuck on my head," Azmina laughed. "Before I could pull it off, I realized I could breathe with it on. My ears stopped hurting, too." "My roar made these?" Willa marveled. "Amazing!" "Have you found the last ingredient?" asked Naomi.

Willa made a face. "No. Maybe we should look somewhere else." But where? The river was long and deep. Just then, Willa noticed that Azmina was looking at her strangely. She thinks I've let them down, she thought. Willa felt awful. But Azmina was pointing over Willa's shoulder, her eyes very wide. "Um, guys? What is that?" Willa and Naomi turned to look. Willa gave a yelp of surprise. Floating, right there, was an enormous squid! Its tentacles were as thick as pythons. Its eyes were the size of car wheels, and they were fixed on the Glitter Dragons. "It's a giant squid!" Willa stage-whispered. "Giant is the word," Naomi whispered back. The huge squid began to move slowly toward them, its tentacles outstretched. "There's no way we can outswim that thing. Can we roar it away?" whispered Azmina. "Let's try. One, two, three!" called Willa.

Together, the Dragon Girls roared. But they'd forgotten they had bubble helmets on! Their helmets filled with swirling glitter. Willa felt like she was trapped inside a snow globe. The giant squid gave a yelp and released a squirt of silvery ink into the water. "Argh! It's attacking us!" Azmina cried. The Dragon Girls grabbed paws and moved back.