06 Four Feathers

CHAPTER 6 FOUR FEATHERS The temple was still and silent. "It didn't work," Tag said. His head drooped.

"There are four stones with pictures on them," Claw said. "We must need a fourth feather to open the portal." "But we only have three," Blaze said. "Maybe there is one hidden here?" Skyla suggested. "Like the one we found in the Howling Caves." "I know every nook and cranny of this temple," Winnie said sadly. "If there was a golden feather here, I would have seen it." Tag sighed. "What now?" he asked.

"I'm sorry," Winnie said. "I wish I could help you. But I have to go. My mom is calling me. Skyla sank to the floor. "We can't give up!" Blaze cried. "We don't have enough feathers to open the portal," Tag said. "We're going to be stuck in the Cloud Kingdom forever." Blaze's eyes filled with tears. "I will never find my family."

Skyla gave her friend a hug. Claw looked to Tag. "If only we had another magical object," Claw said, raising an eyebrow. "We could try to place that on the fourth stone instead of a golden feather." Blaze glanced at Tag. Tag's tummy twisted. Can we trust Claw enough to tell him about the Ember Stone? he wondered. "Grey did say that any magical object could open a portal," Skyla said. Tag sighed and opened up his sack. There's no other way, he thought. "We have this," he said, holding out the Ember Stone. It felt cold and heavy in his wing.

Claw gasped. He reached out a wing to touch it, but the Ember Stone flared red hot! Tag dropped it to the ground. "Ouch!" Claw cried. The Ember Stone had been too hot for Thorn to touch, too, Tag remembered. "Heat can't hurt me," Blaze said. She picked up the stone with her beak and placed it on the fourth flat stone. Suddenly, the ground beneath them began to shake. Tag held on to Skyla's paw and Blaze's wing. All around them, the stone walls began to crumble.

The three golden feathers lit up, and the Ember Stone glowed purple. A bright swirling light appeared in the temple floor. "The portal!" Claw shouted. He jumped and disappeared into the light. "I hope this portal takes us to the firehawks," Tag shouted. He looked at his friends. "Ready?" Skyla and Blaze nodded. Then they took a deep breath, and jumped!