9 Chapter 9

9 A slow smile spread across the figure's face. She began to move forward. As she did, Shadow

一个缓慢的微笑从那个人的脸上掠过。 她开始往前走。 就像她那样，影子

Sprites slid from the darkness and wrapped themselves around her like elegant scarves. "Very good, Dragon Girl," the Shadow Queen said softly. It felt like her words were being whispered right into Naomi's ear. "The Tree Queen chose you three well. You have outsmarted my sprites. But you won't outsmart me." She stretched out a long, thin arm. "Give me that potion, Dragon Girl." "Don't do it!" Willa called. "No way," Naomi said. But she noticed that her arm didn't seem to be listening to her. In fact, her arm seemed to want to give the potion to the Shadow Queen! "Never," Naomi said firmly. She was talking to her own arm more than to the Shadow Queen. She forced herself to put the lid back on the apple and tuck it into her bag. It was like dragging herself out of bed early for gymnastics training. It took a lot of willpower, but once the potion was safely

精灵从黑暗中溜出来，像优雅的丝巾一样把她团团围住。 “很好，龙女。”影子女王轻声说。 感觉她的话就在娜奥米耳边悄悄响起。 “树后选了你们三个很好。 你比我的精灵更聪明。 但你不可能比我聪明。” 她伸出一条又长又细的胳膊。 “把药水给我，龙女。” “别这么做!”威拉。 “不可能，”娜奥米说。但她注意到她的手臂似乎没有在听她说话。 事实上，她的手臂似乎想把药水给影子女王!“从来没有，”内奥米坚定地说。 她与其说是在跟影子女王说话，不如说是在跟自己的手臂说话。 她强迫自己盖上苹果盖，把它塞进包里。 这就像早早地把自己从床上拽起来参加体操训练一样。 这需要很大的毅力，但一旦药水安全了

away, Naomi felt stronger. "We know what you want to do. You want to make the forest gray and shadowy all the time." The Shadow Queen's eyes glittered like flint. "I suppose the Tree Queen told you how terrible we shadows are. But we're not so awful, you know. Everyone looks for us on a hot day when they want to escape the sun. You can tell what time of

离开后，内奥米觉得自己更强壮了。 “我们知道你想做什么。 你想让森林一直都是灰色和阴影。” 影子女王的眼睛像燧石一样闪闪发光。 “我想树后告诉过你，我们这些影子是多么可怕。 但我们没那么糟糕，你知道的。 每个人在大热天想要躲避太阳的时候都会来找我们。 你可以知道时间

day it is simply by looking at us. And tell me, haven't you made shadow puppets against the wall with your hands?" "Shadows are not all bad," agreed Naomi. "But we don't want the Magic Forest covered in them all the time. We like the sunshine and bright colors, too." "Well, I don't agree!" thundered the Shadow Queen. The whole forest seemed to quiver with fear. "Now, give me that potion." She lunged at Naomi, who neatly somersaulted out of the way. The Shadow Queen tried again and failed again. Now she looked really angry. "Shadow Sprites! Come one, come all!" she called in a voice that was somehow very soft and very loud at the same time. Suddenly the sky was full of shadows, zooming in from every direction. The arrival of their queen had made them stronger and faster. The Dragon Girls launched into the air to face the swirling mass of Shadow Sprites. One Shadow

一天，它只是简单地看着我们。 告诉我，你不是用手在墙上画过皮影吗?”“阴影也不全是坏事，”内奥米同意道。 “但是我们不希望魔法森林总是被它们覆盖着。 我们也喜欢阳光和鲜艳的颜色。” “好吧，我不同意!”影子女王吼道。 整个森林似乎都因恐惧而颤抖。 “现在，把药水给我。” 她扑向娜奥米，娜奥米灵巧地翻了个跟头闪开。 影子女王又试了一次，又失败了。 现在她看起来真的很生气。 “影子精灵!来吧，来吧!”她用一种既轻柔又响亮的声音喊道。 突然间，天空布满了阴影，从各个方向急速逼近。 王后的到来让他们变得更强壮、更快。 龙女们腾空而起，面对着成群的暗影精灵。 一个影子

Sprite broke away from the pack and dive-bombed Azmina, who swished it away with a powerful wing. Another one flew toward Naomi, who quickly somersaulted out of reach. Willa roared away a particularly cheeky sprite who was circling Unichick. Naomi's stomach clenched tight with worry. The Dragon Girls were wet, tired, and outnumbered. How long could they hold off the sprites? The Shadow Queen swirled overhead, directing her Shadow Sprites like an army general.

雪碧从人群中挣脱出来，向阿兹米娜俯冲，阿兹米娜用有力的翅膀把雪碧甩了出去。 另一只飞向娜奥米，她迅速翻了个跟头，够不着。 威拉咆哮着赶走了一个围着尤尼克转的特别厚脸皮的精灵。 娜奥米担心得肚子紧绷着。 龙女们又湿又累，而且寡不敌众。 他们能抵挡精灵多久? 暗影女王在头顶盘旋，像将军一样指挥着她的暗影精灵。

Naomi tried to focus. There had to be a better way out of this than fighting. She watched as Willa shook her glorious, wet wings, flinging water into the air. The droplets of water shone as they caught the last glimmers of light in the sky. Naomi stared at the droplets. Her heart began to beat very quickly. She had an idea. She pulled out the magic apple and took off the lid. The potion inside swirled like a kaleidoscope. "Give that to me!" shrieked the Shadow Queen, lunging toward it.

娜奥米试图集中注意力。肯定有比打架更好的办法。 她看着威拉抖动着她那湿漉漉的翅膀，把水甩向空中。 当水滴捕捉到天空中最后的微光时，它们发出了光芒。 娜奥米盯着水滴。 她的心跳得很快。 她有了一个主意。她拿出神奇的苹果，摘下盖子。 里面的药水像万花筒一样旋转着。 “把它给我!”影子女王尖叫着，扑向它。