04 The Portal

CHAPTER 4 THE PORTAL Skyla pulled the three golden feathers out of her armor. The clearing sparkled with glittering light. "Look!" Blaze shouted, pointing behind Tag. "The circle of tall rocks that Thaddeus told us about is right there!"

Tag gasped. "Blaze, your eyes!" Blaze's eyes were sparkling gold, just like the feathers! "What's happening to your sack?" Skyla asked, pointing at Tag's sack. Pale sparkly light shone out of it. Tag quickly opened his sack. The Ember Stone shone as bright as the moon. "Be careful, Tag," Blaze warned. "It might be hot." Tag gently touched the stone. "It's cold," he said. "That's strange," Skyla said. She wrinkled her nose. "The Ember Stone usually burns hot and purple when it shines." "Maybe it uses a different kind of magic to open the door," Tag suggested.

Blaze nodded and picked up the stone. "I think one of these tall rocks might be the portal," she said. She moved away from the circle of rocks. As she did, the light in her eyes flickered, and the light of the feathers and of the Ember Stone grew duller. Skyla gasped. "I think you're right!" "Move closer to the rocks," Tag said. Blaze hopped closer, and everything grew brighter. "See? The feathers are showing us the way!" she said.

She stood in the center of the rock circle and slowly turned to face each one. "If one of these rocks is the portal, then it should light up," she said. When Blaze faced the final rock, the Ember Stone and the three feathers grew so bright that Tag and Skyla had to shield their eyes. The light made an outline of a doorway on the rock.

"The magic portal!" Tag said, jumping up and down. A loud scraping sound filled the air as the tall rock began to tremble. It started to crumble away, turning to dust. And there, in the middle of the clearing was a sparkling staircase.

Tag gazed into the portal. The stairs seemed to wind up and up and up, as far as he could see. He thought about the dark figure again, and shivered.