Azmina the Gold Glitter Dragon

  For Madeleine and Asmara

  Contents

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Sneak Peek

  About the Authors

  Copyright

  Azmina lay on her stomach in her brand-new backyard. The weather was warm for fall, but Azmina didn’t feel the sun on her skin. She didn’t notice a dog barking nearby. She didn’t even hear her mom singing as she unpacked boxes in the house they had just moved into.

  A strange sound had caught Azmina’s attention. The sound blocked out everything else. It was as if someone was whispering the first line of a song.

  Magic Forest, Magic Forest, come explore …

  Through a gap in the back fence, Azmina could see the edge of a forest. Was the music coming from there?

  Azmina wasn’t used to lying around on the grass, admiring trees. She thought of herself as a city girl, through and through. Well, she used to, anyway. She wasn’t quite sure who she was in this new place yet. Back in the city she was always on the go: Singing lessons, playing soccer with her friends, organizing sleepovers.

  But now, there wasn’t anyone to organize sleepovers with. Everything had changed when she and her mom moved. Azmina liked the kids at her new school, but she didn’t have any besties yet.

  In school, she had been assigned to a table with two other girls named Willa and Naomi. Somehow Azmina just knew that she was meant to be friends with them. She could feel it, fizzing like bubbles in a soft drink, deep in her stomach. But she wasn’t quite sure how to make it happen.

  Azmina sighed. She knew that friendships took time, but she hated being the new girl.

  Magic Forest, Magic Forest, come explore …

  Azmina sat up. The singing was clearer now. It was definitely coming from the forest! But it was different from any music Azmina had heard before. The melody was like the songs of a thousand birds and the babble of a river all mixed together with the rustling of leaves.

  Azmina jumped up and ran to the back fence. She leaned over to get a closer look. Because she was from the city, she’d never seen a real forest up close before. She couldn’t take her eyes off it! The leaves had turned the colors of fall. These were Azmina’s favorites—brilliant red, fiery orange, and best of all, bright yellow. The forest floor looked like it was covered with treasure.

  There was one tree that caught Azmina’s attention. It was the tallest of all, with long and graceful branches. The tree’s leaves shone as if they were made of pure gold. Azmina felt a little shiver of excitement run up her back. There was something special about that tree. Something magical.

  As she gazed into the forest, Azmina realized there were other curious things about it.

  “I can smell flowers,” Azmina muttered to herself. “But that doesn’t make sense! Most of the flowers are gone now that it’s fall.”

  But that wasn’t even the strangest thing. Azmina thought she could smell pineapples and mangoes. Azmina didn’t know much about forests, but she was pretty sure pineapples and mangoes didn’t grow around here!

  Now that she was closer, Azmina could hear more singing coming from the forest.

  Magic Forest, Magic Forest, come explore.

  Magic Forest, Magic Forest, hear my roar!

  Hear my roar? What could that mean?

  Azmina repeated the words out loud, softly at first: “Magic Forest, Magic Forest.” But each time she said them, her voice got louder. One of the golden leaves on the tallest tree spun up into the air. It danced through the sky, swishing this way and that, leaving a glowing trail behind it.

  Azmina watched as the leaf looped its way closer. When the leaf was above her, she leapt up and grabbed it. It was warm from the sunlight. Azmina’s fingertips tingled.

  Suddenly, she knew just what to do. Her voice rang out strong and true as she began to sing:

  Magic Forest, Magic Forest, come explore.

  Magic Forest, Magic Forest, hear my roar!

  Instantly, a hot gust of wind swirled around her. Azmina closed her eyes as she was whooshed up into the air, spun around, and then dropped down onto the ground again. It took only a few seconds, but Azmina knew something amazing had happened. Something life-changing.

  Azmina opened her eyes to see that she was no longer in her backyard. Instead, she was standing in the middle of the forest. Up close, it was even more beautiful than it had seemed from her yard. Vines twisted around tree trunks, heavy with fruits Azmina had never seen before. Flowers of every possible color covered the ground like a carpet. Birdsong filled the air around her.

  Azmina noticed a tiny, fuzzy pink ball attached to a nearby vine. As she watched, the ball began to grow—right before her eyes! Within seconds, a perfect, ripe fruit had formed. It looked like a peach but smelled like raspberries. Azmina couldn’t resist picking it and taking a bite. To her surprise, it tasted exactly like chocolate!

  What was this place?

  The tropical smells tickled her nose, and soon Azmina felt a sneeze building up. Azmina opened her mouth, threw back her head, and … ACHOO! She just loved sneezing! It always felt like scratching a troublesome itch.

  Golden sparks fluttered down around Azmina. She looked at the glittering mist in surprise. Had she done that with her sneeze?

  Azmina’s heart pounded wildly. Something amazing was going on. But what, exactly?

  Through the trees, Azmina spotted a shimmering lake. Azmina decided to check it out, and started to jog toward it. She had always been a fast runner, but today her legs felt stronger and faster than ever before. Soon, she was sprinting through the trees at top speed. She reached the lakeshore in no time.

  Skidding to a stop at the lake’s edge, Azmina peered in. What she saw in the water made her gasp. Staring back at her from the watery surface was some kind of magnificent creature.

  Azmina leapt away from the lake. She whipped around to face whatever it was that was standing behind her. But she was all alone. She looked from left to right. Nothing. Maybe the creature was under the water? Or maybe she’d imagined the whole thing? Azmina crept back to the lake and looked in once more.

  There it was again! It was covered in golden scales that sent tiny circles of light across the water’s surface. Two elegant golden ears twitched on top of its head. Around its eyes were swirling patterns.

  It was a dragon!

  “Um … hello?” said Azmina, because she wasn’t quite sure what to say to a dragon. As she spoke, Azmina saw the dragon’s mouth move at the same time.

  Azmina stared at the dragon, her thoughts whirling. She moved her head, and the dragon’s head moved, too. She stuck out her tongue, AND SO DID THE DRAGON!

  Azmina looked down at her feet … except she didn’t have feet anymore. She had big golden paws and powerful golden legs.

  In surprise, Azmina stepped backward and promptly fell over. She turned to see what she had tripped on and spotted an enormous golden snake, gleaming in the sun.

  “Ahh!” she cried in alarm, scrambling to get away from the snake.

  But the snake followed her!

  That was when Azmina realized it wasn’t a snake at all. It was a tail. But was it attached to her? Azmina tried to twitch it. Yes! The tail swished through the air in a satisfying way, leaving a ribbon of glitter that sparkled for a moment, then faded away.

  Just then, a roar came from over near the bushes. Without thinking, Azmina threw open her mouth and roared back. She was so loud, the trees swayed! And once again, specks of glitter swirled in the air.

  Azmina looked over at the bushes. What had roared at her? Something peeked its head out from behind a fern. Was it a tiny lion cub? Or a baby leopard? The cub had soft golden fur like a lion, but was also dotted all over with spots. And these weren’t just any regular spots. They were neon yellow!

  “Hello there, you little cutie!” said Azmina. She tried to whisper, but it turns out it’s hard to speak softly when you are a dragon!

  The cub didn’t seem scared. He bounded toward Azmina like a puppy. As he got closer, Azmina saw he had beautiful wings, patterned like a butterfly’s.

  Azmina chuckled as the strange little creature nuzzled into her leg. She reached down to pat him, but with a powerful flap of his wings, the cub lifted into the air. He hovered just above Azmina’s head, doing midair somersaults with a cheerful look on his face.

  “Hey, come back, you little butterfly-cub thingy!” cooed Azmina. “I wonder what I should call you. How about Buttercub? Like buttercup, but with a B at the end?”

  Buttercub gave a rumbly purr and flew over to press his cheek against Azmina’s. His little whiskers were tickly.

  Azmina laughed. “I’ll take that as a yes!”

  As Azmina reached up to give Buttercub a pat, she felt herself lift off the ground. A whooshing sound filled the air. Her stomach lurched, like she was in a very fast elevator or on a roller coaster.

  Excitement thumped in Azmina’s chest. She knew what was happening. Sure enough, when she looked over her shoulder, she saw two huge, gorgeous wings sticking out from her back. They looked like they were made of pure gold, and were etched with delicate patterns. Each time she flapped her wings, she sent glowing, glittering dust into the air.

  Azmina grinned with
delight. She was flying! She couldn’t believe this was happening. Her favorite dreams had always been about flying. And every birthday, when she blew out the candles on her cake, her wish never changed: I wish I could fly …

  Buttercub butted her chest with his head, then flew a little way off.

  “Want me to follow you?” asked Azmina, hovering on the spot.

  The little animal nodded and let out a noise that sounded a lot like yes.

  “Hang on, did you just speak?” cried Azmina.

  “No,” purred Buttercub. “You just imagined it.”

  “Wh-what?” stuttered Azmina. She was very confused.

  But before she could ask anything else, the little cub whooshed off. He looked over his shoulder, checking to see if she was following.

  “I’m coming!” called Azmina. “But I won’t be as fast as you. I’m new to this flying business, remember.”

  With each beat of her wings, Azmina was getting better at flying. All the same, she stayed fairly close to the ground, just in case she fell. Buttercub zoomed around her, twisting and looping.

  “Quit showing off!” Azmina laughed. “I’ll be as good as you with practice, just you wait.”

  It wasn’t long before they came to a place where the trees grew too thickly to fly between. Buttercub dropped softly to the ground and scampered over to a narrow gap in the thicket. Warm honey-colored light filtered through the space.

  “Do we go through here?” asked Azmina, bumping down clumsily beside Buttercub. She was going to have to work on her takeoffs and landings!

  “You must go on without me. But I’ll see you again soon,” Buttercub purred.

  “Ha! You can speak!” exclaimed Azmina.

  Buttercub gave a furry kind of laugh. “Of course I can. All animals in the Magic Forest talk, if you know how to listen.”

  “Really? That’s so cool,” breathed Azmina. Somehow, this was almost as exciting as discovering she was a dragon.

  Azmina felt sad to leave Buttercub, but she was very curious to see what lay beyond the trees. She gave him a thank-you scratch between his ears, took a deep breath, and squeezed through the gap. It was a tight fit and the branches scratched her, but Azmina pushed on. What would she find on the other side?

  As Azmina pressed through the very last bush, she tripped on a tree root and fell flat on her face. If that weren’t bad enough, she also gave a loud hiccup. Azmina often got the hiccups, but this was the first time she’d ever hiccuped out a little golden flame!

  Letting out another fire hiccup, Azmina picked herself up and looked around. There was something strange about the air. It was shimmering—like air does on a really, really hot day. But it felt lovely and cool under the trees.

  Azmina reached out to touch the shimmering air—and her paw disappeared! Quickly, she jerked backward, and her paw reappeared.

  Was this some sort of portal? Or maybe a force field? It was all very strange, but Azmina didn’t feel afraid. Buttercub had led her here, and she trusted him.

  Taking a deep breath, Azmina stepped into the twinkling air. She felt a slight whooshing sensation and found herself in a light-filled glade. Sweet-smelling grass was cloud soft beneath her paws. Bell-shaped flowers tinkled as they swayed in the breeze. Butterflies circled the air, humming delicate melodies as they flitted about.

  In the middle of the glade stood a single tree. Its glossy branches were covered in rustling golden leaves. Azmina’s heart skipped a beat. She was sure this was the beautiful tree she’d seen from her backyard!

  Hovering in midair beside the tree was a gorgeous multicolored dragon. In shape and size it was similar to Azmina, but its markings were different. This dragon had bright purple scales and rainbow stripes covering its wings and body.

  “Um … hi!” said Azmina. “I know I look like a dragon, but I’m actually a girl.”

  The rainbow dragon puffed multicolored glitter from her nostrils. “You must be a Dragon Girl, like me,” said the dragon. She had a human-sounding voice, only much louder. She also sounded familiar. “You’re Azmina, right?”

  Azmina stared at her. “How did you know?” To herself, she thought: What is a Dragon Girl?

  The rainbow dragon puffed more glitter into the air. “We were told you were coming. We wanted to tell you at school, but we promised to wait.”

  Azmina felt really confused now. “We? There’s more of us?”

  “Yes! The third one is—“

  Before the rainbow dragon could finish, a whooshing sound filled the air, and another dragon pushed through the shimmering force field, snout first.

  Azmina gave a little roar of surprise, flapping her wings. She rose up off the ground, did a wonky spin, and crash-landed. Butterflies scattered in all directions.

  The new dragon was a dazzling silvery blue color with sparkling green eyes. She held out a paw to help Azmina up, laughing kindly. “Don’t worry. When I flew for the first time yesterday I went splat into a tree.” She turned to the rainbow dragon. “Heya, Naomi. You got here quickly!”

  Azmina spun around to face the rainbow dragon. “Naomi? From school?”

  “Got it in one!” The rainbow dragon smiled as the silver dragon laughed again. Azmina had heard that laugh before. “Willa!” she cried.

  The silver dragon nodded, her eyes twinkling. “Yup, it’s me! Wild, isn’t it? I still can’t quite believe it. And Naomi and I have had twenty-four hours to get used to the idea.”

  Azmina didn’t usually struggle to find things to say. But right then, she was speechless.

  “I know this is a lot to take in,” said Naomi, as though she could read Azmina’s mind. “But just go with it. There’s going to be a lot more to find out today. Like, why we’ve been summoned here.”

  “We’ve been summoned?” asked Azmina. She thought back to the chant she’d heard in her backyard. It all made sense now. The forest had been calling to her!

  “It’s the only way into the Magic Forest,” explained Willa. “Just like you can only enter this special glade if you have good intentions. The Tree Queen explained yesterday. If you were a baddie, that shimmering air would be as hard as concrete.”

  “Who’s the Tree Queen?” asked Azmina.

  Willa breathed out a puff of silvery smoke as she laughed. “You’re about to find out. Tree Queen? We’re all here!”

  Azmina looked around. As far as she could see, there was no one else in the glade. But as she watched, the tall tree in the center began to sway back and forth. It almost looked like it was dancing.

  Gradually, the lower part of the trunk became a flowing gown, moss green in color. The branches transformed into elegant arms. A face framed by long flowing hair became clear against the top of the trunk.

  “Thank you for coming, Glitter Dragons,” the tree person said. Her voice was warm and firm. “And welcome, Azmina, the final member of the glitter group. I am the Tree Queen of the Magic Forest. I am the one who called you here today.”

  “We’re Glitter Dragons?” Azmina grinned. That would explain the sparkles in the air every time she moved. Or sneezed, hiccuped, or roared!

  The Tree Queen swayed and smiled. “Yes! Willa is the Silver Glitter Dragon, and Naomi is the Rainbow Glitter Dragon. And you, Azmina, are the Gold Glitter Dragon. You’ve joined us just in time. We need your help.”

  Azmina felt a shot of energy run through her. She hoped that whatever help was needed, it would involve lots of flying.

  “The Shadow Sprites have returned,” said the Tree Queen. She suddenly sounded very serious.

  “Shadow Sprites?” repeated Azmina. “Are they bad?”

  “I am afraid so,” said the Tree Queen grimly. “Long, long ago, the Magic Forest was ruled by a cruel and terrible queen. The Shadow Queen. The Shadow Sprites were her helpers. Back then, the forest was a wild and scary place. It took many, many years, but we finally defeated the Shadow Queen and her sprites. We thought they were banished for good. But they have been spotted again, here in the forest.”

  The Tree Queen let out a deep sigh. “I fear that the Shadow Sprites are planning to take control of the forest so the Shadow Queen may return. Azmina, if we don’t act fast, your first trip to the Magic Forest might be your last.”