Power of the Fire Dragon: A Branches Book (Dragon Masters #4)
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Worm, can you hear me?
Are you okay?
Worm didn’t answer.
Suddenly, Drake didn’t feel scared anymore.
He felt angry.
“Leave Worm alone!” Drake yelled.
Maldred laughed. “You do not even know
how truly powerful this dragon is. I have
known since the day I sent my spy orb into
your castle. I saw his powers then. I knew he
was the only dragon I would need to carry
out my plan.”
“Worm is
my
dragon!” Drake called out
bravely. “How can you control him without
a Dragon Stone?”
Maldred held up the red stone. “This is a
red Dragon Stone. Created by magic. Dark
magic. With this stone, I can make any dragon
follow my orders.”
Drake looked at the red glaze in the hydra’s
eyes.
Of course! Maldred must have captured
the hydra, too! And he’s making it attack us.
What kind of bad things will Maldred make
Worm do?
Drake got a bad feeling in his stomach.
“What do you need Worm for?” said Drake.
“You already have a four-headed dragon by
your side!”
Maldred grinned. “She is powerful, but not as
powerful as Worm,” the wizard replied. “Worm
can move mountains. Worm can move armies.
He can even make the earth shake. With this
red Dragon Stone and Worm by my side,
all
kingdoms will bow down to me!”
“They’ll never bow to you!” Drake yelled.
But his whole body was shaking with fear.
Where
is
everybody?
Unless help came fast, Maldred would win!
W
orm! Can’t you do something—anything—
to stop Maldred?!
Drake thought. But Worm
didn’t answer.
“He's not yours! You can’t take him!” Drake
shouted at Maldred.
“Just watch me do it,” Maldred said with
an evil grin.
ROri tO TH
e ReScue
Drake watched helplessly as Maldred pulled
on the hydra’s reins. The hydra turned away
from the tower. The wizard began to fly off,
with Worm floating beside him.
Then Drake heard a loud roar. Vulcan came
speeding through the air with Rori on his back.
They had circled the castle!
Vulcan stopped at the tower.
“Climb on!” Rori yelled.
Drake swiftly got on the saddle behind
Rori. He put his arms around her.
“Hurry!” Drake yelled as Vulcan took off.
Drake’s stomach jumped. When he looked
down, the ground was spinning.
“Vulcan, stop Maldred!” cried Rori.
Vulcan soared until he caught up with the
hydra. Maldred slapped the reins against the
hydra's back, spurring her to go faster.
But Vulcan was fast, too. He flew over the
hydra’s head.
Then he made a big upside-
down loop in the air.
Drake gripped Rori
and closed his eyes
tightly.
When he opened them, Vulcan was head-
to-heads with the hydra.
Maldred glared at the Dragon Masters.
“You children are annoying me,” he said.
“Hydra!”
All four heads snapped to attention. Then
all four mouths opened. Drake could see a
green tornado swirling inside each one.
“Vulcan, fire!” Rori yelled.
“Make it big!” Drake added.
Before Vulcan could attack, Maldred pointed
a finger at the dragon. Sizzling red lightning
shot out and zapped Vulcan. The dragon froze
in midair.
“Vulcan, fly!” Rori pleaded. But the dragon
was like a big statue, floating in the air.
Drake looked down. He and Rori couldn’t
jump. They were too high up.
“Hydra, attack!” yelled Maldred.
T
he hydra aimed all four heads at Drake
and Rori.
The poison will hit us!
Drake thought.
It
melted stone!
He shivered.
TH e Red
dRagON StONe!
Suddenly, a bright, white light filled the air.
Drake had to shield his eyes. He could hear
the hydra squealing.
The light faded, and Drake looked up.
Ana and Kepri swooped down from the sky!
Kepri was shining a sunbeam on the hydra.
The four-headed dragon thrashed around,
confused. The poison tornadoes shot sharply
to the left, missing Drake and Rori. Maldred
lost his hold on the reins and scrambled to
grab them.
Poof!
Diego appeared on the tower.
“Diego! You did it!” Drake said happily.
“We came as fast as we could!” Diego said.
Then Shu swept in, carrying Bo and Griffith.
She flew to the tower and Griffith jumped off
to join Diego.
Shu can cure dark magic spells!
Drake
remembered.
She cured Emperor Song back
in Bo’s kingdom.
“Bo, Maldred used dark magic on Vulcan!”
Drake yelled. “Shu can heal him!”
Bo nodded and steered Shu down to Vulcan.
The hydra was still squirming under the light of
Kepri’s sunbeam. Maldred struggled to control
her. He couldn’t stop Shu.
Bo whispered in Shu’s ear. A misty blue
cloud floated from her mouth. Then a light
blue mist rained down on Vulcan’s head. The
mist shimmered in the air.
When the mist settled, Vulcan began to
flap his wings.
“Vulcan, you’re okay!” Rori cried.
Over on the tower, Diego and Griffith
faced each other. Lightning shot from their
fingertips, and a ball of blue energy began to
form between them.
“We can defeat Maldred, but we need time!”
Griffith called up to the Dragon Masters.
“Don’t let him get away!” added Diego.
Maldred grabbed one of the reins. With his
other hand, he shot a red beam at Kepri. Ana
steered Kepri away, and the attack missed. But
her sunbeam stopped, and the hydra started
to calm down. Maldred held up the red stone.
“Rori, can you steer Vulcan next to the
hydra?” Drake asked. “If we can destroy the
red Dragon Stone, I think Worm and the hydra
will be back to normal!”
“No problem!” Rori said. She steered Vulcan
sharply to the left.
Maldred held out the red Dragon Stone. A
beam shot out, headed right for Vulcan.
“Rori, look out!” Drake warned.
R
ori pulled hard on Vulcan’s reins, pulling
him straight up. Drake’s stomach lurched. The
red beam zipped past them.
Vulcan dove back down like a hawk diving
for prey. He flew so fast that Maldred couldn’t
have hit him if he tried.
“Now!”
Rori yelled as they sped past Maldred.
Drake reached out and smacked the red
Dragon Stone out of Maldred’s hand. It flew
through the air.
POOf!
“No!” the evil wizard cried.
The Dragon Stone hit one of the towers
and shattered into pieces.
“Yes!” Drake cheered.
Pop!
The red bubble around Worm vanished.
The red in his eyes slowly changed from red
back to green. Drake glanced at the hydra. All
eight of her eyes looked normal, too.
Worm turned to face Maldred. The dragon’s
eyes glowed green. Then his whole body began
to glow.
Maldred floated up off the hydra’s back.
Worm used the power of his mind to keep
Maldred floating in the air!
“Stop! I command you!” the wizard screamed
as he dangled in midair.
The hydra’s four heads looked around,
confused. Then she flew away.
“The spell is ready now!” Griffith yelled.
“Everyone get away from Maldred!”
The Dragon Masters quickly flew out of
the way. The blue ball of energy between
Griffith and Diego was the size of a small
boulder. The wizards’ hair stood on end.
They moved their arms, pushing the energy
toward Maldred. The evil wizard looked
angry as the ball of blue energy raced closer
to him.
“This is not over! Nothing can hold
me
!”
Maldred yelled. And then . . .
Poof!
He disappeared.
Everyone moved to the tower. The dragons
hovered above the two wizards.
“Did Maldred escape? Where did he go?”
Drake asked.
“He did not escape. We sent Maldred to the
Wizard’s Council prison. It is quite magic-proof,”
Diego explained.
“I am very proud of all of you,” Griffith said.
“Drake and Rori especially. You defended the
castle. King Roland will be told of your bravery.”
“Oh, no! King Roland!” Ana cried. “He’s
going to be angry that we left
ueen Rose’s
festival in such a hurry.”
“That is true,” Griffith agreed.
“Worm can get us there quickly!” Drake said.
Then he paused. “That is, if Worm and Vulcan
are invited now.”
Griffith smiled. “Everyone touch Worm!”
he said.
The Dragon Masters reached for Worm.
Diego and Griffith touched him, too.
“Worm, take us to
ueen
Rose’s castle!” Drake said.
Worm’s body glowed
green again.
Whoosh!
They all disappeared.
T
he Dragon Masters, wizards, and dragons
appeared in the courtyard of
ueen Rose’s
castle. Drake’s eyes got wide as he took in the
amazing sight.
King Roland and
ueen Rose sat at a head
table. People from the Kingdom of Arkwood
sat at other tables — all piled high with food.
Everyone gasped at the sight of the dragons.
Then they began to clap and cheer.
THe Queen'S
SurpRiSe
“How wonderful!”
ueen Rose cried as
she stood up. “You tricked us, King Roland. I
thought your dragons had left us. But that was
just part of the surprise. They have returned
with two
new
dragons!”
King Roland coughed. “Yes, that is exactly
what I planned,” he said. “Griffith, why don’t
you introduce our new dragons?”
Griffith stepped forward. “This is Worm,” he
said, pointing to the brown dragon. “Worm may
not look strong, but his mind is powerful. He
is the one who transported us from Bracken
to here — all in the blink of an eye!”
Everyone clapped. Drake could hear the
crowd whispering.
“And this is Vulcan,” Griffith said, pointing.
“Rori, show us what Vulcan can do — safely.”
Rori nodded. “I can do that,” she said, but
her voice was shaking. Drake guessed she
was nervous that Vulcan might not listen.
Suddenly, her Dragon
Stone began to glow.
Rori closed her eyes. “I
can hear Vulcan’s voice
in my head!” she cried,
smiling. “It’s happening!
We’re finally connecting!”
Vulcan slowly stepped
into the center of the courtyard. A thin flame
streamed from his nostrils. One by one, he lit
up the candlesticks on each table.
ueen Rose clapped. “Wonderful! You are
lucky to have such amazing dragons, King
Roland. Thank you for sharing them with us
today.”
King Roland smiled. “They
are
amazing,”
he said proudly.
The Dragon Masters looked at one another
and smiled.
Now everyone knows how special you
are,
Drake told Worm, and his dragon smiled.
T
he next afternoon, the Dragon Masters
went to the Valley of Clouds for flying practice.
Before they could begin, King Roland marched
in with his guards.
“I must have a word with you all,” he said
in his gruff voice.
a New dRagON?
Oh, no!
Drake thought.
Is the king mad
about us bringing Worm and Vulcan to see
the queen? But he seemed so happy with us
last night!
“Griffith has told me of a great battle that
happened yesterday,” the king said. “A battle
against a dark wizard and a four-headed beast.”
“It wasn’t a beast,” Rori piped up. “That
dragon didn’t do anything wrong. The wizard
made
it attack us.”
“Still, it was very brave of you all,” the king
said. “And I am grateful.”
Drake could not believe his ears.
Is this really
happening? Is the king
thanking
us?!
“Tonight, I am throwing a big feast in your
honor,” King Roland went on. “Drake and Rori,
I understand you have family in our kingdom.
They will be invited.”
“Yay!” Drake and Rori cheered.
“I may even invite
ueen Rose,” the king
added. His cheeks got a little red. He coughed.
“Since she is very fond of the dragons.”
He turned to Griffith. “And you may invite
that little round fellow who comes around.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty,” Griffith said.
“Diego will be pleased.”
“Yes, thank you!” the Dragon Masters said.
The king left, and everyone started talking
at once.
“A feast!” cried Bo.
“I'll get to see my mom!” Drake cried.
“And my dad!” added Rori.
Suddenly,
Bo pointed up to the sky. “What
is that?”
The hydra was flying across the forest on
the other side of the valley. The four-headed
dragon swooped down and landed nearby.
“Oh, she looks sad,” Ana said.
“Ana is right.” Griffith said. “Come, let us
see if the hydra needs our help.”
Together, they slowly approached the
dragon. Worm slithered ahead of everyone.
He stood in front of the hydra for a moment.
Then Drake heard Worm’s voice in his head.
She is far from home,
he said.
But her home
is not safe. She would like to stay here.
“Worm says she needs to stay with us,” Drake
told everyone. “Where she’s from isn’t safe.”
“Worm told you all that?” Griffith asked.
Drake nodded. “Yes. I knew that Worm could
talk to other dragons. But this is the first time
he’s shared their thoughts with me.”
“So can the hydra stay?” Rori asked.
“Of course,” Griffith said. “We will give her
a cave of her very own.”
The hydra slowly raised her four necks and
stared at the Dragon Masters. Her eyes were a
pretty yellow color.
Ana approached her and gently stroked
her neck.
“I wonder what her name is?” Ana asked.
Griffith smiled. “That will be for her new
Dragon Master to choose.”
“A new Dragon Master!” said Drake. “Really?”
“Yes,” Griffith said. “The Dragon Stone will
choose one for us soon.”
“I wonder who it will be?” Bo asked.
Drake smiled. “I can’t wait to find out!”
TRaCey WeSt
was born with
red hair like Rori's, and she can be just