12 Betrayed!

CHAPTER 12 BETRAYED! The vulture laughed a horrible, cruel laugh. "No!" cried Skyla. "Yes!" Thorn said. "I followed you through the portal into the Cloud Kingdom. I knew I couldn't reach the Land of the Firehawks without you, so I pretended I was Claw. You took my Shadow from me, and now I have taken something from you."

He reached into his sack and pulled out a firehawk egg. A stolen firehawk egg! "All firehawk eggs are magical in some way. This egg will help me get my evil powers back. And you three helped me do it!" He gave them a slow, twisted smile. "We trusted you!" Blaze shouted. Her feathers lit up one by one, and she held out a glowing fireball. "Give us the egg back, Claw," Tag said. "Please." The vulture frowned. "I told you," he said. "I am not Claw. I am Thorn." Tag took a step closer to Thorn.

"Why did you help us?" Tag asked. "You saved us from the croco-dragon. You saved Skyla from the poisoned flower. You helped Blaze find her family, and us to find a way home." Thorn shook his head. "I needed you to trust me so I could get the egg. That's all." Skyla stood beside Tag. "You didn't have to save me, though," she said. "You didn't need me in order to find the egg." Blaze lowered the fireball. "You were our friend," she said sadly.

Grey held up his sword. "Thorn is nobody's friend. Owls of Valor, attack!" Grey and the Owls of Valor swooped toward Thorn. Skyla and Blaze looked at Tag. "What should we do?" they asked. "I don't want to hurt a friend," Blaze said. "He's not our friend anymore. And we have to get that egg back!" Tag said. He pulled out his dagger and ran at Thorn. Thorn glared at Tag. Twirling, swirling black smoke circled him, and then POOF! He was gone.