01 The Shifting Sands

CHAPTER 1 THE SHIFTING SANDS Tag pulled the magical map from his sack. He looked at a glowing spot on the paper. "We need to head west," Tag told his friends Skyla and Blaze. "The next piece of the Ember Stone should be at a place called the Whispering Oak." Blaze peeped.

第一章流沙塔格从口袋里掏出那张神奇的地图。 他看着纸上一个发光的点。 “我们得往西走，”泰格告诉他的朋友斯凯拉和布雷兹。 “下一块烬石应该在一个叫呓语橡树的地方。” 大火里。

"We have to move fast to stay ahead of Thorn and his Shadow," Skyla said, looking to the sky for The Shadow's dark cloud. The sun was slowly rising above the trees. Blaze leaned over Skyla's shoulder to look at the map. "Shifting Sands!" she said. "We have to cross that?" Skyla asked, pointing to a large sandy desert. Tag nodded. "Grey once told me that the Shifting Sands are full of swirling sand tornadoes." Skyla shivered. "We're going to have to be really careful?" she warned as Tag put the map away.

“我们必须快速行动，赶在索恩和他的影子前面。”斯凯拉说，望着天空寻找影子的乌云。 太阳从树上慢慢升起。 布雷兹靠在斯凯拉的肩膀上看地图。 “流沙！”她说。 “我们得穿过那条河？”斯凯拉指着一片大沙漠问道。 标记点了点头。“格蕾曾经告诉我，流沙里到处都是旋转的沙子龙卷风。” Skyla颤抖。“我们得非常小心了？”泰格把地图收起来时，她警告道。

The three friends set off. Tag and Blaze flew overhead while Skyla raced through the trees below, zipping up and over branches in a blur of grey fur. The farther west they traveled, the warmer it became. "Phew!" Skyla said as they rested by a small stream. "It's getting hot." Tag's feathers ruffled in the warm breeze. "It's getting windy, too," he said. Blaze pointed her wing ahead. "Shifting Sands," she said. Tag flew above the trees and saw that Blaze was right. The trees thinned out and beyond that, as far as Tag could see, was the desert.

三个朋友出发了。 泰格和烈焰在头顶飞过，斯凯拉在下面的树林里奔跑，拉上拉链，越过树枝，灰色的皮毛模糊了。 他们越往西走，天气就越暖和。 “唷!”他们在一条小溪边休息时，斯凯拉说。 “天气越来越热了。”泰格的羽毛在暖风中飘动。 “风也越来越大了，”他说。 布雷兹把翅膀指向前方。 “流沙，”她说。 泰格飞过树林，看到火焰是对的。 树木渐渐稀疏，塔格所能看到的就是沙漠。

Blaze peeped at Skyla, turning so Skyla could climb onto her back. "Great idea, Blaze," Skyla said as she climbed on. "Yes," Tag agreed. "We can move way faster if we all fly." They took off, soaring over the trees toward the sandy desert. The closer they got to the desert, the stronger the wind blew.

布雷兹瞥了一眼斯凯拉，转身让斯凯拉爬到她背上。 “好主意，布雷兹。”斯凯拉一边爬上去一边说。 “是的，”泰格同意了。“如果我们都能飞，我们就能走得更快。” 他们起飞了，飞过树林，飞向沙漠。 他们越接近沙漠，风就刮得越猛烈。

Suddenly, Tag was blown out of the sky, onto the soft sand at the edge of the desert. Blaze and Skyla landed beside him. "The wind is too strong!" Tag yelled, spitting sand from his beak. "We'll have to walk through the sandstorm!" The wind whirled around them, sending sand flying into their eyes and beaks. Tag used the dagger that Grey had given him to cut three strips from the top of his sack. He tied one over his beak to keep the sand out. He handed the other two to his friends, who did the same.

突然，塔格被吹出了天空，落在沙漠边缘柔软的沙滩上。 布雷克和斯凯拉降落在他身边。 “风太大了！”泰格大叫着，嘴里吐着沙子。 “我们得穿过沙尘暴了！”风在它们周围旋转，把沙子吹进它们的眼睛和嘴里。 泰格用格雷给他的匕首从他的麻袋上割了三条。 他在嘴上绑了一个以防沙子进来。 他把另外两张递给他的朋友，他的朋友也这样做了。

Tag dragged his feet across the desert, pushing against the wind and sand, Skyla and Blaze followed. The wind blew stronger still. The strips of cloth flew from their faces, and the sand shifted beneath Tag's feet. All of a sudden, the sand began to move across the desert like waves. Up and down. Higher and higher.

泰格拖着脚穿过沙漠，顶着风沙前行，斯凯拉和布雷兹紧随其后。 风刮得更大了。 他们脸上的布条飞了下来，泰格脚下的沙子在移动。 突然，沙子开始像波浪一样在沙漠中移动。 上上下下。越来越高。