3 A Thief in the Castle!

CHAPTER 3 A THIEF IN THE CASTLE! The Dragon Masters gasped. "What happened?" Rori asked. "I always protect the stone with magic charms," Griffith explained. "These charms cannot be seen. But they form an invisible net around the box that holds the Dragon Stone. And they can only be broken with a magic spell."

"So how do you know someone tried to steal the stone?" asked Drake. "This morning, I found that something had upset the magic of the charms. They were not broken, but I could tell that someone had tried to break them," Griffith answered. Ana gripped the stone around her neck. "If somebody steals the main Dragon Stone would our smaller stones lose their powers?"

"No," the wizard replied. "But someone could use the main stone to control the dragons. Or even to form a dragon army." "Isn't that what King Roland is doing?" asked Drake. "King Roland wants to use the dragons for good. I have known King Roland since he was a boy. He is a good man at heart. And as long as the stone is in my care, I can keep it safe. Safe from people like Maldred..." He shuddered.

The Dragon Masters looked at one another. "You mean Maldred the dark wizard? Is he the one who tried to steal the Dragon Stone last night?" Drake asked. The Dragon Masters all knew that Maldred had tried to get to their dragons before. They had never seen Maldred. But already, his dark magic had caused a lot of trouble. Griffith shook his head. "No," he said. "Maldred would not have been so careless. He would have broken the charms using a spell. Our thief clearly did not know about the charms." Drake glanced at Bo. His friend kept looking nervously over his shoulder.

"To protect the Dragon Stone, I must find a better hiding place for it," Griffith continued. "I will leave the castle right away to look for one." "So there's no riding practice today?" Ana asked. She looked at the finished saddles. "You may go outside and have a free day. But the dragons must stay inside," he said. Then he hurried out of the room. "What do we do now?" Rori asked. "Well, we can still spend the day with our dragons," Drake replied. "We can hang out with them in the caves." "I— I must go," Bo said. "There is something I must take care of."

"What—" Drake began. But Bo was already rushing off. "He's acting strange," Rori said, with her hands on her hips. Ana nodded. "Yes, he seems quieter than usual today." "I think something is worrying him," Drake said, remembering the black feather. "Maybe he's worried about the Dragon Stone," said Rori. As they headed to the Dragon Caves, Drake kept looking behind him. Was the thief still in the castle?