his golden eyes. “We call this next portal the Armory.”
This portal was made of charred wood, and it opened to Fluke’s touch with a long, loud creak. They peered in and saw heaps of weapons lying on acres and acres of ocean floor.
“Doesn’t look like a good place for a dragon nursery to me,” Daisy whispered to Jesse.
Yar said, “This portal is my personal favorite. I’ve been known to while away hours here. One hasonly to touch a relic to relive some of the most rousing sea battles of all time: Young Caesar battling pirates in the Med, Nelson on the bounding Main, U-boats in the North Atlantic. Good show!”
Under other circumstances, Jesse would have loved to stay here and “relive” a few great sea battles. But he wasn’t here for his personal amusement. Then he spied it, a pile of barnacle-covered Revolutionary War solid-shot cannonballs. It struck him that each one was the approximate size and shape of the missing Thunder Egg.
Daisy, thinking the exact same thing, had already swum through the portal and was digging through the pile of cannonballs in search of one with golden speckles.
Suddenly, her left arm started to tingle and heat up. She stopped what she was doing, shoved up her sleeve, and stared at her arm. Each of the hundreds of fine white hairs had a little tiny flame on it. It still worked, even in the water! Her Fire Arm—a war wound sustained in a battle in the Fiery Realm—only acted up when Emmy needed her or was in trouble.
Daisy looked around for Emmy. The dragon hovered in the open portal. Her red scales had faded to pinkish gray, her mouth was full of foam, and she was making a harsh hissing sound.
Daisy dropped the cannonball she was holding and swam back out of the Armory to Emmy’s side, where Jesse was already tending to her.
“It must be all the iron in there,” Jesse said.
Daisy said to their hosts, “Can you please shut the Armory door? Our dragon fish is highly allergic to iron.”
“You don’t say?” said Yar.
“I thought only dragons were allergic to iron,” said Fluke.
“Well, one learns something new every day,” said Yar, closing the door tightly. “So sorry, all! I trust the little duffer will make a full recovery?”
Emmy was already beginning to look better. And the flames on Daisy’s arm had died down.
“Let’s move on, shall we?” Fluke said.
Jesse whispered to Daisy, “They’d never be stupid enough to hide the egg in the Armory.”
“You
hope
,” Daisy whispered back.
The next portal was painted bright blue with a picture of a polar bear balancing on a red ball while juggling pins. It proved to be the polar bear tank of a large zoo. Through the murky, fishy-smelling water, enormous gray-white bears glided as gracefully as bulky ballerinas. Beyond a rail, they could make out the feet of the visitors, women and children and stroller wheels, gathered around the pool.
“They join us up on deck now and then, the polar bears,” Fluke explained.
“We provide them with a bit of relief from always being in the public eye,” Yar said. “Helps them cope with being in captivity, don’t you know?”
Jesse cocked an eyebrow at Daisy. They both shook their heads, silently agreeing that this would be a very poor place to hide a dragon egg. What if the zookeeper found it while he or she was cleaning the tank?
“Ot ere,” said Emmy with an impatient shake of her head.
“No, it’s not here. But we have to exhaust all the possibilities,” Daisy said.
“Aste of ime,” Emmy said.
“It may be a waste of time,” said Jesse, “but it’s the best we can do.”
The next portal was an ordinary gray door in an office building. The plain block letters on it spelled out LOST AND FOUND.
“Things are looking up,” Jesse said, rubbing his hands together.
“Why so?” Daisy asked.
Jesse explained. “We
lost
our egg, didn’t we? So we might
find
it here.”
The three of them swam through the officedoor after Fluke and Yar. They set
This portal was made of charred wood, and it opened to Fluke’s touch with a long, loud creak. They peered in and saw heaps of weapons lying on acres and acres of ocean floor.
“Doesn’t look like a good place for a dragon nursery to me,” Daisy whispered to Jesse.
Yar said, “This portal is my personal favorite. I’ve been known to while away hours here. One hasonly to touch a relic to relive some of the most rousing sea battles of all time: Young Caesar battling pirates in the Med, Nelson on the bounding Main, U-boats in the North Atlantic. Good show!”
Under other circumstances, Jesse would have loved to stay here and “relive” a few great sea battles. But he wasn’t here for his personal amusement. Then he spied it, a pile of barnacle-covered Revolutionary War solid-shot cannonballs. It struck him that each one was the approximate size and shape of the missing Thunder Egg.
Daisy, thinking the exact same thing, had already swum through the portal and was digging through the pile of cannonballs in search of one with golden speckles.
Suddenly, her left arm started to tingle and heat up. She stopped what she was doing, shoved up her sleeve, and stared at her arm. Each of the hundreds of fine white hairs had a little tiny flame on it. It still worked, even in the water! Her Fire Arm—a war wound sustained in a battle in the Fiery Realm—only acted up when Emmy needed her or was in trouble.
Daisy looked around for Emmy. The dragon hovered in the open portal. Her red scales had faded to pinkish gray, her mouth was full of foam, and she was making a harsh hissing sound.
Daisy dropped the cannonball she was holding and swam back out of the Armory to Emmy’s side, where Jesse was already tending to her.
“It must be all the iron in there,” Jesse said.
Daisy said to their hosts, “Can you please shut the Armory door? Our dragon fish is highly allergic to iron.”
“You don’t say?” said Yar.
“I thought only dragons were allergic to iron,” said Fluke.
“Well, one learns something new every day,” said Yar, closing the door tightly. “So sorry, all! I trust the little duffer will make a full recovery?”
Emmy was already beginning to look better. And the flames on Daisy’s arm had died down.
“Let’s move on, shall we?” Fluke said.
Jesse whispered to Daisy, “They’d never be stupid enough to hide the egg in the Armory.”
“You
hope
,” Daisy whispered back.
The next portal was painted bright blue with a picture of a polar bear balancing on a red ball while juggling pins. It proved to be the polar bear tank of a large zoo. Through the murky, fishy-smelling water, enormous gray-white bears glided as gracefully as bulky ballerinas. Beyond a rail, they could make out the feet of the visitors, women and children and stroller wheels, gathered around the pool.
“They join us up on deck now and then, the polar bears,” Fluke explained.
“We provide them with a bit of relief from always being in the public eye,” Yar said. “Helps them cope with being in captivity, don’t you know?”
Jesse cocked an eyebrow at Daisy. They both shook their heads, silently agreeing that this would be a very poor place to hide a dragon egg. What if the zookeeper found it while he or she was cleaning the tank?
“Ot ere,” said Emmy with an impatient shake of her head.
“No, it’s not here. But we have to exhaust all the possibilities,” Daisy said.
“Aste of ime,” Emmy said.
“It may be a waste of time,” said Jesse, “but it’s the best we can do.”
The next portal was an ordinary gray door in an office building. The plain block letters on it spelled out LOST AND FOUND.
“Things are looking up,” Jesse said, rubbing his hands together.
“Why so?” Daisy asked.
Jesse explained. “We
lost
our egg, didn’t we? So we might
find
it here.”
The three of them swam through the officedoor after Fluke and Yar. They set
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