07 The Lullaby

CHAPTER 7 THE LULLABY Tag awoke and rubbed his eyes. Something strange is definitely going on! he thought. Blaze and Skyla were asleep again. "Blaze! Skyla! Wake up!" Tag yelled. "Huh?!" Skyla jumped up and grabbed her slingshot. "Did you see the stone?" Blaze asked.

"No," Tag said. "I saw golden lights in the water again and heard a strange song. Then I fell asleep." Skyla's eyes grew wide. "I heard music, too!" "So did I!" Blaze added. "I'm not sure what's happening. But we have to keep trying to reach our stone," Tag said. "Thorn will be back soon." HAAAA! HAAAA! HAAAA! The friends heard a slow laugh. "Look up!" Blaze said.

A hairy, gray sloth was hanging from the tree branches above. "You can keep trying," the sloth said slowly. "But you will just end up right back where you started." Skyla aimed her slingshot at the sloth. "Do you work for Thorn?" she asked. Tag peered at the sloth's eyes. They were brown. "He's not one of Thorn's spies," he whispered. Skyla lowered her slingshot. "I'm Skyla. This is Tag and Blaze." "I'm Stanley," the sloth said. "Pleased to meet you."

"So, Stanley, what makes you think we'll end up back here again?" Skyla asked. "You are being tricked by the nixies," Stanley said. "What are nixies?" Blaze asked. "Water fairies," Stanley replied. "They protect the lake." "We don't want to harm the lake. We are searching for something that fell in there," Skyla explained. "We need to get it back right away." Tag remembered seeing their stone glowing on the lake bottom.

Their stone glowed when the next piece was nearby. That must mean that the new piece was also underwater! He turned to the sloth and asked, "Was there a magical stone in the lake before we arrived? Is that what the nixies are protecting?" Stanley shook his head slowly. "All I know is that the nixies sing when they sense danger. Your stone will be safe in the lake. Nobody can resist their song—not even Thorn's spies." The lake began to sparkle. A lullaby drifted across the water. Stanley yawned. "Not even me..." he added.

Tag's feathers drooped. Now we'll never get our stone back. And we'll never find the next peace... The friends gave into the music and their eyes closed.