13 Escape

CHAPTER 13 ESCAPE SCRITCH! SCRATCH! The ice leopards scraped and dug at the snow pile with their claws and teeth. "Do something, Tag!" Skyla cried. Tag flew to the top of the huge snow pile. Two large orange eyes peered back at him. The ice leopard swiped a paw at Tag. Tag fell to the ground, knocking open his sack.

Berries, nuts and acorns, and Grey's magical map slid across the ice—along with the two pieces of the Ember Stone! Skyla picked up the pieces. They were glowing. "They're still warm," she told the others. Tag noticed Skyla's paws trembling. "Are you okay?" Tag asked her. "It's not me—it's the stones! They're shaking!" Skyla said. She lifted the stones to her ear. "And they're humming!"

"Be careful," Tag warned. "The Ember Stone is filled with powerful magic—who knows what those pieces could do." Skyla put the pieces on the ground. Tag watched with wide eyes as the stones shook faster and faster. The stones hummed louder and louder, like a thousand buzzing bees. Suddenly, the two pieces of the Ember Stone slid toward each other. There was a flash of blinding, purple light. When Tag looked again, there were no longer two pieces of stone, but one.

"Whoa!" Tag said. "Did you know that would happen?" Skyla asked Blaze. Blaze shrugged. "The firehawks were the guardians of the Ember Stone," Tag told her. He reached for the stone. "Ouch, it's hot!" He dropped the stone to the ground. SCRITCH! SCRATCH! Another chunk of snow crumbled off the pile. "The ice leopards are getting closer," Skyla said. "We have to hurry!" "Look!" Coralie said, pointing at the stone. It had made a puddle of melted ice.

Tag grinned. "Blaze may be too tired to use her fire power, but we can use the Ember Stone to melt the ice! It must be more powerful now that the two pieces have joined together. Hurry, before it loses heat!" Skyla frowned. "The stone is too hot to hold..." "Not for a firehawk!" Tag said. Blaze picked up the Ember Stone in her beak. She held the glowing stone up to the ice wall behind them.

It melted the ice until there was a hole big enough for all of them to fit through. Sunlight shone into the cavern.