9 Ch9-The Earthquake Dragon

CHAPTER 9 THE EARTHQUAKE DRAGON Uri and Zelda began to chant. "Naga-avadi. Naga-avadi. Naga-avadi. Naga- avadi." "Uri! Zelda! Don't listen to him!" Drake yelled. "I don't think they can help it," Darma said. "The keys' powers are very strong." "Well, we are strong, too," Jean said. She ran over to Maldred and drew her sword.

"Stop this right now!" she cried. Maldred waved his hand, and the sword flew out of hers and stuck into the temple wall. "The Earthquake Dragon is coming!" Maldred crowed. "Nothing you do now will stop that from happening!" Drake knew that the Naga had caused earthquakes when he first hatched. He remembered what Griffith had told him. He brought down mountains. He caused great floods.

"We can't let Maldred control the Naga!" Drake said. He closed his eyes. Worm, what can we do? Worm replied: To stop Maldred, you must stop Uri and Zelda. Drake turned to Jean and Darma. "Worm says we need to stop Uri and Zelda in order to stop Maldred," Drake told them. "How can we do that without hurting them?" Jean asked. She eyed her sword stuck in the wall. "We can't," Darma said Uri and Zelda continued to chant. "Naga-avadi. Naga-avadi. Naga-avadi. Naga- avadi." As they chanted, rows and rows of scales slid past the round door opening. Finally, a huge yellow eye appeared.

Drake gasped. "The Naga is... is enormous!" he stammered.

"Yes, he is," Maldred said, with glee in his voice. He made a circle with his hands, and an image of a dragon curled up inside the earth appeared in the air. Energy lines extended from the dragon to every part of the planet.

"The Naga's energy is connected to every place in the world," Maldred said. "When the Naga turns his eye to a place, the earth there shakes." Then he clapped his hands, and the image vanished. "What shall we ask of the Naga?" the twins asked. Maldred cackled. "Tell the Naga to turn his eye to the Kingdom of Bracken!" he commanded.