6 Chapter 6

6 Just then, Naomi heard a humming sound. When she turned, she saw a familiar bright blur of

feathery colors. "Unichick!" she cried in delight. "How did you find us down here?" "I will always find you, wherever you are!" chirped Unichick in her cheery singsong voice. "And right now, I have an urgent message. Time is running out, Glitter Dragons. The sun is setting fast, and the Shadow Sprites are getting longer and stronger by the moment. You must find the third ingredient as quickly as possible. If you don't, all the good work you three have done so far will be for nothing." "Oh, don't go!" hissed the snakes. "Thanks, but we really can't stay," Naomi said. "We must stop the Shadow Sprites before they destroy the Magic Forest." The snakes hissed approvingly. "Yesssss! We sssssupport you." They started up a chant. "Ssssnakes for dragonsss! Ssssnakes for dragonsss!" Naomi shook her head and smiled. This was not an experience she'd forget in a hurry!

She tried to recall the final clue. Sweetness is held within my skin. But I am protected by many a pin. Naomi felt her chest tighten. "I'm not sure about the final clue," she admitted to her friends. Sometimes, when Naomi's dad gave her a puzzle to solve, she found that thinking out loud helped. "Sweetness held within a skin," she murmured. "What is sweet and has a skin?" Something jumped into her mind. "Fruit!" she cried. Willa nodded excitedly. "Of course! That makes perfect sense!" "But which fruit?" Azmina wondered. "I bet there are thousands of fruit trees in the Magic Forest." Naomi turned her thoughts to the second part of the puzzle. What kind of fruit was protected by many a pin? "BERRIES!" Naomi yelled the word so loudly that everyone jumped, including the snakes and poor little Unichick. "Blackberries and raspberries

have prickles!" She turned to Unichick. "Is there a place where we can find berries growing?" Unichick fluttered her feathers even faster. "The Berry Dale!" she trilled. "I know a shortcut. Follow me!" Unichick zoomed out of the snake den. Azmina and Willa followed. Naomi turned to the snakes and bowed. "Thank you for your help," she said. "We couldn't have done this without you."

"Our pleasure, pretty glittery one!" hissed the snakes. "Back before the Shadow Queen started causing trouble, sssnakesss and dragonsss were friendsss in the Magic Foressst. We would like it to be that way again." Naomi nodded. "You can count me as a friend! Goodbye and thanks again." With that, Naomi raced off to catch up with the others. Unichick led the Dragon Girls through a winding series of tunnels. This wasn't easy. Sometimes the tunnels were so narrow the Dragon Girls had to wriggle along on their bellies. "Right now I feel more like a Worm Girl than a Dragon Girl," Azmina joked. Naomi laughed, then let out a quick glittery roar. "Naomi? Everything okay?" Willa called.

"Just showing the Shadow Sprites we're not afraid of them!" Naomi called back. The tunnel had grown very narrow—so narrow that the dragons could barely squeeze through it at all. "What's that?" Naomi yelped in surprise, looking up. Something had just dropped on the top of her head and dribbled down her face. Naomi looked up. Liquid was dripping down from the earth above her. What was it? Unichick's melodious voice rang out. "Don't worry—it's berry juice. We're just below the Berry Dale now. Here's the passageway that takes us up into the middle of the dale. Keep a lookout for Shadow Sprites, though!" Naomi watched as first Unichick, then Willa and Azmina disappeared up through the passageway. "Oh WOW!" she heard her friends exclaim. "This is AMAZING! Naomi, get up here quick!"