8. THE SHADOW PHANTOMS

CHAPTER 8 THE SHADOW PHANTOMS The Shadow Dragon reared back his head. Drake tensed. What is Chaya going to do? he wondered. A low humming noise came from the dragon as wispy shadows flowed from his mouth. The shadows quickly took shape into creatures with arms, yellow eyes, and creepy mouths.

Drake and Jean sprang into action. "Worm, freeze those shadow phantoms!" Drake yelled. "Argent, use your shine!" cried Jean. The phantoms zoomed forward, extending their wispy arms. Drake felt a cold chill as they got closer.

Worm closed his eyes, and a green light spread across his body as he concentrated on freezing the phantoms. Then he shook his head. I can't freeze them! he told Drake. Suddenly, Argent let out a piercing shriek. He started to flap his wings.

A bright silver shine flowed from Argent's wings, pushing back the creatures. Drake had seen Argent's shine power before. He could reflect any dragon's attack. Now the shadow phantoms slammed back into Chaya. But the dragon simply gobbled them up! A burst of red light shot from his eyes.

"Fools!" Aruna cried with a wicked grin. "You have only made Chaya more powerful!" Our dragons' powers aren't working against Chaya, Drake thought. What can we do? There was no time for a backup plan. Chaya flew toward them. He flapped his wings, and a thick black shadow moved toward Drake, Jean, Worm, and Argent.

Goose bumps popped up on Drake's arms as he felt a cold chill again. The black shadow transformed into an eerie gray fog... When the fog lifted, Drake, Jean, and their dragons were no longer on the temple steps. They were in some kind of desert, and everything around them looked gray. The sand and sky were gray, and there were no buildings, only strange gray plants. Then Drake heard a voice behind them: "Welcome to the Shadow Realm."