12 The Shadow Moves Closer

CHAPTER 12 THE SHADOW MOVES CLOSER The sky kept growing darker as the friends stood on top of the hill. They could see the Whispering Oak far away in the distance. Tag sighed. He turned to his friends. "We must head back to the Whispering Oak," he said.

"Thorn could be here at any moment," Skyla argued. "Why won't the bears just give us the stone. We did help them fight the tiger bats!" Tag looked around at the dry land. "Thorn destroyed this hillside. There is hardly any food left," he replied. "I think Hank and Herbert really need the honey?" "Well, then we'd better hurry," Skyla said, climbing onto Blaze's back. The three friends glided over the hillside of dead trees. The sky was even darker when they arrived back at the Whispering Oak. The Shadow was moving closer.

"Bees!" Blaze called gently. "Grumblebees!" Tag called, joining in with Blaze. The tree's branches swayed gently as the grumblebees rose from them. The bees buzzed around the three friends. "Did you find the next piece?" the smallest bee asked. Tag nodded. "Yes, but the bears won't give it to us," he said. The bees buzzed loudly.

"The bears have again asked for your honeycomb in exchange for the stone," Skyla told them. The bees buzzed even louder. "We only have one piece left and we need it!" the small bee told Tag. "When The Shadow destroyed our home, all the flowers were destroyed, too. We used to collect nectar from the flowers and put it inside our honeycomb. That's where we store our honey. But without those flowers, we cannot make any more honey. This piece of honeycomb holds the only food we have left."

The honey in that honeycomb is the only food left for the bees and for the bears, Tag thought. What can we do? "Shadow!" Blaze called, pointing her beak to the sky. It was almost as black as night. "Please!" Tag begged the bees. "Thorn and The Shadow will be here soon. Then all of Perodia will be destroyed. Even the Whispering Oak!" Tag looked to Skyla for help, but she wasn't paying attention. She was digging around inside her armor. Skyla, what are you doing?" Tag said. "I need your help here!"

Skyla smiled as she pulled out the sparkly purple flower she had picked in the meadow. The grumblebees hummed excitedly. They had caught the flower's sweet scent right away. "What if I told you that there are still flowers close by?" Skyla asked the bees.