02 Enemies

CHAPTER 2 ENEMIES The friends flew on. Tag felt the air grow colder. He could see The Shadowlands up ahead. As they reached the edge of Thorn's home, the midday sun moved behind some gray clouds and the sky above went dark. There was no sign of light or of the clear blue sky. It was almost as black as night.

Tag shivered. "I guess now we know why this part of Perodia is called The Shadowlands," he called to his friends. "I don't like the look of this one bit," Skyla added. "It's so creepy." Tag and Blaze flapped their wings harder. Below, the land was grey and dusty. There was no color at all. The only plants Tag could see were dead trees and thick, twisty bushes with thorns as long and sharp as a tiger bat's beak.

"We're almost across!" Tag yelled to his friends. With her long wings, Blaze could fly much faster than Tag. Usually she flew beside him, but The Shadowlands had scared them all and she started to fly ahead. Skyla held on tight, trying not to look down.

"Hurry, Tag!" Skyla called behind her. Tag focused ahead. He could see the sun again, peeping out along the edge of Valor Wood. He flew faster and caught up to Blaze. But in the sky, at the far edge of The Shadowlands, was a dark, fuzzy cloud. And it was heading right for them. What is that? Tag wondered. He narrowed his eyes, trying to see the cloud more clearly. Soon, Tag realized it wasn't a cloud after all. It was glowing. He gasped. Thorn's spies! "We have to turn back!" Tag shouted. Hundreds of tiny orange eyes sped toward them.

"Locusts!" Blaze yelled over the buzz of the flying creatures. Tag squinted. The locusts were small and green with clear wings. They look like flying grasshoppers, but grasshoppers are friendly creatures, Tag thought. These locusts are not. "We've flown so far already!" Skyla cried. "We can't go backward!" "Where else can we go?" Blaze asked. Tag glanced down at the thornbushes below. There was only one choice. "We have to get out of the sky," he said as the locusts zoomed toward them. "Into The Shadowlands!"