14 The Next Piece

CHAPTER 14 THE NEXT PIECE Blaze hopped up and down. "The Ember Stone!" she said. A glass case sat on a table in the middle of the room. It held a small, jagged piece of the stone. "This is the new piece we've been searching for!" Tag exclaimed.

"As I've already told you, you may not have it," King Nidus said firmly. "I promised the firehawks I would guard our piece with my life." Blaze stepped forward. "I am a firehawk," she said. "The Ember Stone belongs with me." The king paced up and down, thinking about what Blaze had said. Tag could tell that the king felt a duty to keep his piece of the Ember Stone. "Um..." Skyla said, breaking the silence. "Where is our stone?"

Nova opened a large wooden chest from beneath the table. Then she helped her father lift out a crystal box bigger than the two of them. Both pieces were glowing brightly from being so close to each other. "When your stone dropped into the lake, we brought it here," Nova told them. "Thank you for keeping it safe," Tag said. Skyla gently nudged Tag. "We really need to put these stones together to see if we have all the pieces now," she whispered.

Tag nodded, then turned to the nixie king. "King Nidus, I have an idea. I think we can prove to you that these two pieces are meant to be together—and that Blaze was meant to have them." The king frowned. "How?" he asked. Tag pointed at the glass case. "Let Blaze hold the stones." The king shook his head hard. "They are very hot! Our piece started to glow when your piece was brought into our kingdom. We are using our strongest magic just to keep them from burning down the palace," he told them. "The stones can't hurt me," Blaze said. "Pieces of the Ember Stone glow when they are close to one another—or to Blaze," Skyla explained.

The king lifted the cover off the glass case, as Tag opened the crystal box. Warm purple light filled the room. Blaze lifted the smaller piece and placed it next to their stone on the table. Both pieces began to shake. Then a loud humming sound filled the room as they wobbled across the table toward each other. With a burst of bright purple light, they joined together and became one stone.

"Look!" Tag cried, pointing to a small jagged space at the edge of the stone. "There is only one piece left to find!" Blaze and Skyla jumped up and down excitedly.