6. A SURPRISE IN THE SHADOWS

CHAPTER 6 A SURPRISE IN THE SHADOWS Zera sang a calming, peaceful tune. The guardian yawned and its eyes began to droop. It struggled to stay awake.

"Begone..." The griffin began but trailed off. "...zzzzzzzzzzzz." Petra put a finger to her lips and Zera stopped singing. Then she motioned for Drake and Worm to follow her. They tiptoed past the sleeping beast and continued toward the marble temple. "That was incredible," Drake said, looking over his shoulder. Petra patted the book. "I read more while you were in Sindhu. That song will keep the griffin asleep for a day and a night." "We are lucky to have a singing dragon with us!" Drake said. He looked up at the sky-shadow. "We should summon the Star Dragon now. We will need time to explain everything to Stella and Nova before Aruna and Chaya get here."

Petra handed the book to Drake. "Can you please hold this open for me while I play the notes?" Drake opened it to "The Song of the Star Dragon." Petra raised the Star Flute to her lips and began to play. "Oops!" said Petra. "My hands are shaking a little and I played a wrong note. Let me start over."

Suddenly, a dark, swirling portal appeared overhead in the sky-shadow. Drake looked up hopefully. Is the song working before Petra has even finished? A dragon flew out of the portal—a dragon with gray feathered wings, long white tusks, and glowing red eyes. His Dragon Master had gray hair, and her eyes glowed red, too.

Drake gasped. "Chaya and Aruna! They got here faster than I thought they could!" Petra stopped playing the flute and stared at the Shadow Dragon. Then Drake noticed something—Darpan was hanging from Chaya's taill Chaya landed on top of the marble temple. Darpan jumped down and ran over to Drake. "I'm sorry!" Darpan said. "I didn't know that Chaya could create portals to travel through the sky-shadow. There was no way to warn you we'd arrive so soon!" Worm and Zera faced Chaya, ready to spring into action.

Aruna glared at her brother. "Darpan!" she snapped. "Why are Drake and these dragons here? Where are the wizards you told us about?" Darpan stammered. "I—I..." Drake stepped forward. "Darpan just wants to help you," he said. "We can summon a Star Dragon to this temple. If you could listen—" Chaya flew down to the temple steps and roared. RAWWWWWWWWWWWWWR!