12 Home

CHAPTER 12 HOME It had been a long time since Tag had been home, but he still remembered every path, every tree, and the way to Grey's tree. "We need to find Grey," Tag said. "He'll know what to do next." "We need to find the last piece of the Ember Stone first," Skyla argued.

"But we don't know where to look," Tag said. "That's why we need to find Grey." Blaze nodded, and the friends hurried on. Tag stopped suddenly and sniffed the air. Something was burning. Small puffs of smoke were coming from his sack. He reached inside, then—

"It's hot!" he cried, dropping the sack. Blaze took out their piece of the Ember Stone. It was glowing bright purple and it was hot. Very hot. "The last piece must be close by!" Skyla exclaimed, jumping in the air. Blaze jumped up and down, too. Then she raced down a path through the trees. "Blaze!" Tag called. "Wait for us." "She must know where the last piece is!" Skyla shouted. She followed Blaze, leaping from tree to tree in the branches above. The friends sped on until they reached a clearing with three large, creepy caves. The wind blew in and out of the caves, making a howling sound.

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! "Tag!" Skyla cried, jumping down from her branch to land beside him and Blaze. "Those are the Howling Caves!" Tag looked at Blaze. She stood in front of the mouth of the biggest cave, holding the Ember Stone in her beak. It glowed brighter than ever.

"This is where we found Blaze's egg," Tag said. "It's where our adventure began." "Blaze," Skyla said, "is the last piece of the Ember Stone inside one of those caves?" Blaze nodded. "We should try the one where we found your egg, Blaze," Tag suggested. "Last time we were here, the caves were filled with tiger bats," Skyla whispered. "Do you think there are still some in there?" "They will be with Thorn's army now," Tag said as Blaze headed into the cave.

Tag and Skyla hoped there really were no spies inside. They followed Blaze into the mouth of the cave.