14 The Cry of the Firehawk

CHAPTER 14 THE CRY OF THE FIREHAWK Tag reached for his dagger as the leopards leaped through the hole in the wall. One landed right in front of Tag. Tag could feel the leopard's hot breath on his feathers as the dark creature snapped at his wings.

Skyla shot acorns at the other ice leopard, but they bounced off its thick, spotted fur. Skyla was cornered. "We're doomed!" Coralie cried. She dove beneath a large mound of snow. Tag looked at Blaze standing beside him. I have to keep her safe! he thought. But before Tag could do anything, Blaze moved toward the leopards. "SKRAAA!" Blaze cried. Her wings glowed as she ran at the ice leopards.

The leopards yelped and fell to the ground as Blaze screeched again. "SKRAAAAA!"

The ice leopards' icy teeth shattered. They broke into hundreds of tiny pieces that fell onto the snow beneath their paws. The leopards scrambled to their feet and ran away. "That was awesome!" a voice boomed behind them. Tag, Skyla, and Blaze turned around. Gilbert stood on a snow mound, clapping his flippers together.

Another seal popped his head out of the snow—then another, and another. "You did it, Blaze," Tag said. "Your cry saved us!" "Coralie? Is that you?" A seal shuffled across the ice to where Coralie hid beneath the snow. "Mama?" Coralie cried, as she lifted her head from the snow. The seals hugged each other. "My baby!" Coralie's mom cried.

Gilbert turned to Tag. "We can't thank you enough. If you and your friends ever need help, the seals are on your side." He pointed a flipper to the black, cracked ice. "We've seen the damage Thorn can do." "Come visit us again," Coralie told her new friends. The friends said good-bye and the seals settled down beneath their snow mounds. Tag checked their supplies.