02 Into the Dark

CHAPTER 2 INTO THE DARK The rustling sound continued. "Do you hear that?" he whispered to Skyla. She stopped walking and turned back toward Tag. "Hear what?" Skyla asked. Tag looked around, but he couldn't see anyone in the nearby trees.

Skyla held up her slingshot. "What's wrong?" she asked. "The black smudge is back on the map," he whispered. "I heard something in the trees. I think we are being followed." Tag thought about the dark figure he thought he had seen when they'd arrived in the Cloud Kingdom. Skyla narrowed her eyes and looked toward the trees. I don't see anyone," she said. "It's probably just the wind." Tag was sure that he had heard something, but Skyla was right. There was no one in the trees.

Maybe that strange dark smudge on the map is just making me feel jumpy? Tag thought. "Let's stay on our guard," he told Skyla. "We don't know what new dangers we might discover." As they walked, the path became wider and wider. Tag noticed that the ground was becoming damp and muddy. "Watch out," Skyla called from a little way ahead. "There are some big puddles." The farther they walked, the wetter and muddier the ground became. Their feet squelch, squelch, squelched in the mud. It came up to their ankles. "This must be the swamp," Tag said.

"I wish Blaze was here, so she could fly me over this. I really hate getting wet," Skyla grumbled. She held her tail in the air to keep it dry. "Me too," Tag said. "I'm too small to carry you on my back, but we'll walk through it together—" He stopped suddenly.

Just a moment before, they had been walking in the sun. But now, it was as if someone had turned out the lights. Skyla noticed too. "Tag! It's so dark!" "What just happened?" Tag asked. "It was daytime just a second ago."

Skyla pointed to the sky. Tag gazed up. A huge silver moon shone above. It was twice the size of the moon in Perodia. It was like a shiny coin in the sky.