02 The Mission

CHAPTER 2 THE MISSION Tag bounced happily. "Our first mission for the Owls of Valor!" he said. "Where are we going?" Skyla asked. Her tail curled excitedly. "Fire Island?" Tag said. "Or maybe the Howling Caves?" "What about the Crystal Caverns?" asked Skyla. "Are the ice leopards causing trouble?"

Maximus shook his head. "There have been some strange reports," he said. "You are to go on patrol at the edge of Valor Wood with Bod and look out for anything unusual." Bod stood beside Maximus and gave Tag a small smile. Tag frowned. "We don't need Bod to come with us," he moaned. Skyla crossed her arms and nodded. She didn't like Bod, ever since he'd stepped on her tail the first day of training. "Bod has been training for longer than you two," Maximus said. "But we've been on dangerous missions," Skyla protested. "We found all the pieces of the Ember Stone!"

"And we found the Land of the Firehawks," Tag said. And we stopped The Shadow!" Skyla added. Bod stared at Skyla. "I thought your friend Blaze did all that?" he said. "You couldn't have done any of it without a firehawk." Skyla growled and took a step forward, but Tag held her back.

"That's enough!" Maximus said. "You are going on this mission together. Teamwork is an important part of being an Owl of Valor." He flew off. Bod sneered at Skyla. "Maybe you should stay here?" he said. "After all, you're not really an Owl of Valor, are you? You're just a squirrel." Skyla scowled at Bod and stomped away. Tag went after her. I wonder what strange things have been happening in the wood, he thought. Maybe this mission will lead to our next big adventure?