07 Trapped!

CHAPTER 7 TRAPPED! Tag gulped and looked at his friends. Skyla's eyes were wide with fear. But Blaze looked angry. Blaze stamped her feet. She ran at the wolves before her friends could stop her. The wolves leaped aside.

"Use your firepower!" Skyla called. Blaze narrowed her eyes. Her feathers began to light up, one by one, glowing with red, gold, and orange flames. The wolves backed away, watching her bright wings. Tag pulled out his dagger and grabbed Skyla's slingshot from the nearby bush. He tossed it to her. Skyla shot acorns at the wolves' heads, but the acorns bounced off their fur. Blaze shot a fireball at the wolves, but it hit the wolves' fur and then exploded on the ground. The wolves laughed.

"Firehawks are not the only creatures with magical powers," the white wolf said. "Our fur is thicker than any armor—and it's fireproof! That's why Thorn sent us to find you." "And you are not the only ones with magical friends," the gray wolf added. He looked up and shouted: "Spiders!" A big, hairy, black creature dropped suddenly from a branch above. Another spider followed, then another. Skyla shrieked as a spider crawled over her. The eight-legged creature quickly tied her paws together with its web.

Another did the same to Tag so he could not move his wings. Blaze tried to use her powerful cry, but the orange-eyed spider was faster. It spun a thick, silver web around Blaze's beak and wings. The gray wolf grinned. "You are in The Shadowlands now," he said. "Thorn's spies are everywhere. You will never escape." The white wolf took Tag's and Skyla's weapons. Then they pushed the three friends through the forest of dead trees, deeper into The Shadowlands.

"Tag," Skyla whispered as they trudged along, "where is the Ember Stone?" Tag shook his head. He looked back, trying to figure out what might have happened to his sack. Blaze tried to tell him something by pointing her beak at the ground. "I don't understand," Tag said. "Be quiet!" the gray wolf growled.

The group arrived at two large cages. They were made from dead tree branches and twisted together with thick vines. The wolves pushed Skyla and Tag into one cage and Blaze into the other. The white wolf tossed the friends' weapons aside. "Welcome to your new home," the gray wolf snarled.