3. THE SHADOW DRAGON

CHAPTER 3 THE SHADOW DRAGON The wizard frowned. "I'm not sure what is happening. Let us go to my workshop, where I can look for answers," Griffith said. A royal guard galloped into the valley. "Sire, angry villagers are surrounding the castle!" he announced. "Humph!" King Roland huffed. "Any time something out of the ordinary happens, the villagers storm the castle. I'll deal with them."

He glared at Griffith. "And you, wizard, will solve this problem before things get out of hand." Griffith bowed. "Yes, Your Majesty." King Roland and the guard rode off. Drake and the others walked toward the castle. "It's nice to finally meet you," Ana told Jean. "I'm Ana." "Nice to meet you, too," Jean replied. She turned to Drake. "Where is the silver sword I gave you?" "Um, I don't usually carry it with me," Drake admitted. "I need that sword-fighting lesson you promised me." They all traveled through the long tunnel that led to the Dragon Masters' Training Room.

"Wait here while we go into Griffith's Workshop," Drake told Worm, and Jean told Argent the same. Inside the wizard's workshop, the shelves were filled with jars of liquids, herbs, and other spell ingredients. Griffith walked to a large, clear glass ball and waved a hand over it. Magical light sparkled inside the ball, and a scene appeared.

A gray dragon stood on top of a temple with many towers. The dragon had two curved tusks and a long nose. That dragon reminds me of an elephant I saw once, Drake thought. The dragon's trunk-like nose pointed up, and a dark shadow streamed out of it and into the sky. Next to the dragon stood a girl wearing a green, glowing Dragon Stone. She looked to be eight years old, but her long, braided hair was gray. Her eyes, as well as the dragon's eyes, shone with red light.

"A Shadow Dragon?!" Griffith cried. "But a Shadow Dragon shouldn't be able to create such a massive sky-shadow. This dragon's powers must be supercharged somehow." "Look! The eyes of that dragon and Dragon Master are glowing red," Rori pointed out. "Red is the color of evil magic!" Drake added. "Griffith, where is this Shadow Dragon? Do you recognize that temple?" Before Griffith could answer, the light inside the gazing ball fizzled and popped. Then it went dark. "It is what I feared," Griffith said. "My magic is not working, and this Shadow Dragon has something to do with it!"