08 Magic

CHAPTER 8 MAGIC The friends all hugged each other. Claw joined in too, even though he hated hugs. Skyla whooped and jumped up and down. Tag could see tears in her eyes. "Should we try to open a portal now?" Tag asked.

Blaze looked at the magic swirling inside the egg and inside the Ember Stone. "I'm not sure," she said. "I almost lost control when I used the Ember Stone to defeat Thorn. And this egg could be even more powerful than the stone. What if something goes wrong?" Skyla held Blaze's wing. "Blaze is right. We should tell Talia what we've found. She will know what to do." A small beam of light lit the path ahead. "I think that light might be a way out," Charlie said. Charlie started to follow it. They followed after him until the light became very bright and they found an opening in the wall. "Thank you, Charlie," Tag said. "You saved my life." He gave Charlie a hug.

Charlie grinned. "Maybe you can come back and visit me someday?" he asked. "We'd like that," Tag said. He waved as Charlie wriggled back into the maze. The friends stepped out into bright light. The sun shone above them. "We're back on the beach!" Skyla said. She pointed to their hut ahead of them. Tag watched the baby firehawks playing on the sand. Claw walked away down the beach, past a nest of new firehawk eggs.

"I'll miss this place," Tag said. Skyla nodded. "Me too," she said. "Let's find my mom," Blaze said. They raced off and found Talia walking along the beach. She laughed when they all started to talk at once. "Slow down!" she said. "Tell me what has happened."

"The first egg," Blaze puffed. "We found it... in the maze." Talia blinked. "What maze?" "The egg is... down the closed path," Tag said. He stared at the sand. Talia was quiet for a moment. "Well," she said finally. "What you did was very dangerous. You could have been hurt." She gave them a stern stare. "But I'm glad you found the egg. I always thought it might be hidden somewhere in the Land of the Firehawks. And with the egg, you are no longer trapped here."

"So we can open a portal?" Blaze asked. "My friends can go home?" Talia smiled, then nodded. Blaze looked at Tag and Skyla with tears in her eyes. "Why are you sad?" Talia asked. Tag sniffed. He knew how Blaze felt. He didn't want to say goodbye. "Wait!" Skyla said. "The book from the library said that the egg could open a permanent portal!" Blaze jumped up. "We could open a door between here and Perodia that stays open forever!"