Aisha the Sapphire Treasure Dragon Read online

  The pink sheep were all pushing and shoving at one another, bleating mournfully. “I’ve always wanted lovely fleece. But mine is just all wrong!”

  “Mine is far too thick and woolly. I want to shave it all off right now,” baaed another sheep.

  “What about me? I can’t believe how pink I am. It clashes horribly with my eyes. I wonder if I should dye my fleece?”

  “At least you can fix your problems,” cried another sheep. “I can’t seem to remember anything. Do you know what we’re all even doing here?”

  “What’s going on?” whispered Quinn.

  “I’ll see if I can find out,” said Aisha.

  She flew into the air and hovered over the fluffy pink sheep. The sheep were so distracted, they didn’t even notice a Dragon Girl hovering above them. It was hard to see exactly, but there seemed to be something in the middle of the field. Whatever it was, the sheep kept jostling to get closer, bleating grumpily at one another. Aisha caught a quick glimpse of the thing—was that a frozen puddle?

  But why would the sheep want to look into that? It didn’t make sense.

  Aisha flew so low that she was almost touching the fluffy pink sheep. Now she could see for sure—that wasn’t a frozen puddle at all. It was something far more exciting! Quickly, she flew back to her friends. “I think they’ve got the Magic Mirror!” she told Mei and Quinn.

  “How can you tell?” asked Mei.

  “It has a beautiful gold frame,” Aisha explained. “With the shapes of vines and flowers carved into it. But mostly it’s because I can feel it’s different. Just like the Tree Queen said. And it’s obviously affecting the sheep.”

  “If you’re right,” said Mei excitedly, “then this is going to be the easiest quest ever!”

  “Hmm, maybe not,” said Quinn, tilting her head. “The Tree Queen warned us that the mirror was very powerful.”

  “Good point,” said Mei. “So how do we get it back?”

  “Let’s try talking to the sheep,” Quinn said.

  Aisha nodded, and flew back over to the huddle of pink sheep.

  “Hello there! What’s going on?” Aisha asked a tiny pink lamb, who was wobbling on his skinny legs near the edge of the group.

  “The grown-ups have found a mirror. Now all they want to do is stare at themselves,” bleated the lamb, rolling his eyes. “We’re Sunset Sheep, so we should be busy forming clouds with our wool and sending them up into the sky, ready for when the sun goes down. But since the grown-ups found that mirror, all our cloud work has stopped.”

  “They’re just staring into the mirror?” asked Aisha.

  The lamb nodded. “Boring, huh? The worst part is, it makes them so unhappy. They only see what’s wrong. They can’t seem to find anything good about themselves! My sisters and I have decided not to look.”

  “Good thinking,” Aisha said to the little Sunset Lamb. She turned to Mei and Quinn. “It’s got to be the Magic Mirror, right?” she said.

  “Definitely,” agreed Mei and Quinn.

  Aisha still didn’t know how they were going to get the mirror back. “I’m going to just try asking them,” decided Aisha.

  She hovered above the flock. “Sunset Sheep!” she called. “Please move away from the mirror. It is dangerous! We are Treasure Dragon Girls, and we have come to take it back to the Forest Vault, where it belongs.”

  The sheep paid no attention at all. They didn’t even look up!

  Quinn joined in. “You have to stop looking into the mirror,” she urged. “It just shows you what you’re worried about. You don’t really look like that.”

  “That’s right!” added Mei. “You are all fluffy and adorable and totally gorgeous. Please go back to work. The sunset won’t be the same without your woolly clouds!”

  “You’re just saying that,” bleated one sheep. “We can see how we really look now.”

  “We can’t possibly create sunset clouds at the moment. We can only do that when we feel happy. If we tried, the clouds wouldn’t float up. They would be gray and heavy, like rocks,” baaed another.

  “That mirror is making them so anxious that they can’t move.” Quinn sighed. “Now I understand why the Tree Queen said it was dangerous.”

  “Maybe we just grab it and fly off?” Aisha said, thinking hard.

  “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea,” Quinn said.

  “I know. But we have to do something!” Aisha insisted.

  She was so frustrated! She drew in a deep breath and let out a roar. Startled, the sheep looked up. Aisha zoomed down toward the mirror. She grasped hold of the mirror’s gilt frame with her strong talons. Yes! But as she tried to lift it up and away, the Sunset Sheep started batting their hooves at Aisha.

  “Oh no you don’t!” they baaed furiously. “The mirror stays with us!”

  “It’s bad for you! Can’t you see that?” called Mei.

  “It’s not baaaad! We need it!”

  Aisha could feel her talons losing their grip on the slippery mirror. “Mei, Quinn! Help!” she called.

  Her friends soared over, ready to help. But the Sunset Sheep were stronger than they looked. They tugged on the mirror and it fell from Aisha’s grasp. As it landed, it hit a rock jutting out from the snow.

  Then, with a terrible sound, the Magic Mirror cracked in two.

  “Oh no!” Aisha groaned as she landed heavily on the ground.

  She couldn’t believe it! Treasure Dragons were meant to protect the Magic Forest’s precious objects, not break them! What would happen now that the mirror was broken?

  “Aisha, it wasn’t your fault,” said Quinn quickly.

  “It could’ve happened to any of us,” agreed Mei.

  Aisha nodded but didn’t reply. Her friends were being nice, but she felt terrible. And she was worried, too. What were they going to do?

  Just then, Aisha felt a nudge. PlushyPup! “You must get the pieces of mirror away from here as quick as you can!” he said.

  Even as he spoke, the sky darkened, as if the sun had gone behind the clouds.

  “What’s going on?” cried Quinn.

  Aisha looked up at a swirling mass above them.

  “Watch out. Shadow Sprites!” yelled Mei.

  The Sunset Sheep began bleating very loudly. From every direction, Shadow Sprites streaked down toward the group. Confused, the Sunset Sheep scattered in all directions, baaing at the top of their lungs. The Shadow Sprites continued their attack. More and more of them appeared, darting across the snow toward the panicking pink sheep, leaving gray marks in the crisp white snow.

  The two halves of the broken mirror were lying on the snow, unprotected. The gilt frame had broken along with the mirror itself.

  “Quick, grab the pieces!” PlushyPup urged.

  Aisha tried to move, but she was frozen in place. She wanted to help the poor sheep, and she wanted to grab the mirror pieces. But her whole body felt heavy. It was as though the snow around her paws had just gotten extra heavy.

  “I can’t move!” Quinn called.

  “Me neither!” Mei said. “Maybe we’ve become Snow Dragons!”

  Aisha’s brain whirred. They had to warm up—and fast! But how? There was only one way.

  “On the count of three, let’s roar!” Aisha said. She really hoped this would work. “One, two, three!”

  The Dragon Girls all roared. Instantly, the freezing air around them filled with warmth. Their ruby, sapphire, and jade roars swirled in the air like a tumbling ball of magic. Aisha felt the heat wrap around her like a loving hug, thawing her out.

  “Good thinking, Aisha,” said Mei, flapping her wings and lifting off the ground.

  From above them came a strange buzzing noise. As Aisha watched in alarm, the cloud of Shadow Sprites changed into the shape of an arrow. And that arrow was streaking down toward the broken mirror!

  “We’ve got to grab the pieces before they do!” Aisha cried.

  The Treasure Dragons launched into the air. Down below, Aisha could see the first piece of mirror. Just as she swooped down to grab it, she was swamped by Shadow Sprites. Everything went dark. Aisha couldn’t tell what was up or down. She felt that horrible cold seeping into her wings again. The sprites muttered mean things as they brushed against her.

  “You can’t possibly win against us! Give up, Treasure Dragon. There’s no point in trying,” a chorus of sprites hissed.

  That made Aisha mad! “I will never give up!” she roared, flapping her wings and rising higher. “And neither will my friends!”

  The reaction was quick. The sprites fled from the warmth and power of her roar. But when the air cleared, Aisha saw something terrible down below: The two halves of the mirror had disappeared.

  “They’re going that way!” shouted Mei, pointing.

  Sure enough, there was a tight group of Shadow Sprites, flying away with one half of the Magic Mirror.

  “But there are others going that way!” called Quinn. She pointed in the opposite direction, to another group of Shadow Sprites moving away swiftly with the other half of the Magic Mirror.

  “Who do we follow?” Quinn asked.

  “Should we split up?” Mei said.

  Aisha hesitated. It really did make sense to split into two groups.

  But then PlushyPup whispered in her ear. “Remember what the Tree Queen said?”

  Aisha nodded, the queen’s words ringing in her head. The Shadow Sprites will try to divide you.

  “No, we stick together,” she said firmly. “Come on!”

  Aisha took off after the closest group of Shadow Sprites. “We’ll get one half of the mirror back. Then we’ll go after the other half.”

  * * *

  The cold air didn’t bother the Shadow Sprites. They streaked ahead with the mirror held aloft among them. It shone like it was made from polished silver.

  “Let’s just keep going. We’ll catch them in the end,” Aisha called to her friends.

  There was no way she was going to fail this quest. She flapped her wings as hard as she could, loving the feeling of power it gave her.

  The sprites led them farther and farther away. Before long, Aisha could see the snowcapped mountains at the edge of the Magic Forest. The Dragon Girls flew so high that the air grew even colder and thinner, making it hard to breathe. But Aisha barely noticed. With each moment that passed, she and her friends were gaining on the Shadow Sprites. They were close enough now to see snowflakes falling on the Magic Mirror as the sprites carried it along.

  They were high in the mountains now. The snow was so dazzlingly white that it was hard to see. But Aisha kept her eyes trained on the shadowy mass until she was so close she could just about reach out and touch them.

  “You’ve almost got them!” called Mei and Quinn from behind.

  But as Aisha stretched out a talon, the Shadow Sprites turned the shard of Magic Mirror to face her.

  “Don’t look!” yelped PlushyPup.

  “Close your eyes, everyone!” Aisha called as she squeezed hers shut.

  She kept her eyes closed for only a couple of seconds. But when she opened them again, the Shadow Sprites—and the piece of Magic Mirror—had vanished.

  “Where did they go?” Aisha asked, scanning the ground below.

  “I don’t know,” admitted Mei. “It all happened so fast.”

  “I’m not sure, either,” said Quinn. “What should we do?”

  PlushyPup spoke up. “My family lives in this part of the forest. They might know which way the Shadow Sprites went.”

  “Okay. Let’s land here and ask your family,” said Aisha.

  It sure felt like they could use some help.

  PlushyPup and the three Treasure Dragons swooped lower and landed beside a huge, beautiful lake. All around the lake were tall snow-covered trees and towering mountains. Icicles hung from the tree branches, shining like crystals. The frozen surface of the lake sparkled in the light like it was filled with diamonds. The cold air smelled faintly of peppermint.

  Even Aisha had to admit that winter could be beautiful!

  “This is the Diamond Lake,” PlushyPup said proudly. “My family lives really close.”

  “How do we find them?” Aisha asked.

  PlushyPup didn’t answer. Instead, he tipped back his head, closed his eyes, and let out a long howl. The howl bounced off the surrounding mountains in an echo. It sounded like there were a hundred howling puppies, not just one!

  When PlushyPup stopped, the group stood still, waiting. Nothing happened.

  “That’s strange,” said PlushyPup. “Normally someone appears right away.”

  Aisha was about to suggest that PlushyPup howl again when Mei gave a sudden shout.

  “Hey! Look over there!”

  In the center of Diamond Lake was a group of sparkly white bears. They all had silky scarves wrapped elegantly around their necks. And around their impressive waists the bears wore matching tutus. Even stranger, the bears were gliding across the frozen surface of the lake on their hind legs.

  Mei squinted. “Are those bears wearing skates?”

  “And tutus?” added Aisha.

  “Yes, of course,” said PlushyPup. “They are the famous Gliding Bears. They put on the most amazing concerts.”

  Aisha watched as the bears pirouetted and twirled, their scarves streaming out behind them. Sometimes they held out their arms to the sides for balance; sometimes they held them up above their heads or tucked them in tight to twirl even faster. The bears were very big and strong, but they still seemed to float across the ice.

  “Let’s go over and ask them if they’ve seen the Shadow Sprites,” said Mei.

  “It looks like they are rehearsing,” said PlushyPup. “We must wait until they are finished.”

  “But we don’t have time to wait,” Aisha pointed out. “The Shadow Sprites will be getting farther and farther away.”

  “Hey, look!” Quinn pointed. “They’ve stopped skating. What are they doing?”

  The bears were standing in a circle, waving their paws around wildly and growling at one another.

  “Maybe it’s part of the performance?” Mei suggested.

  But Aisha just knew something was up. The bears were obviously upset! Then Aisha noticed a shape sticking up out of the ice. The shape had a gilt frame.

  “The mirror! We need to get over there,” Aisha said, getting ready to fly across.

  “You’ll have to skate over,” warned PlushyPup. “The Gliding Bears won’t talk to you otherwise.”

  “But I can’t skate!” said Aisha. “And besides, we don’t have any skates.”

  “We’ll go together,” said Mei. “On our paws.”

  “Of course we will,” said Quinn.

  Aisha was still worried. “Is the ice strong enough to hold us as well as all the bears?”

  “Oh yes,” said PlushyPup. “The Diamond Lake ice is extremely hard. Only something very, very powerful could break it.”

  Mei and Quinn linked their wings around Aisha’s and together they stepped onto the ice. Aisha felt her paws slipping in all directions. “I don’t know if I can do this!” she said in a wobbly voice.

  The bears looked very far away right now. “You can do this, Aisha,” said Quinn kindly but firmly.

  “Try sliding your paws instead of taking steps,” said Mei.

  Aisha tried, and it was definitely easier. Soon she began to get the hang of it. But she was very glad that she had her friends there just in case!

  As they approached the bears, Aisha could finally hear what they were saying.

  “We’ll have to cancel tonight’s show. We can’t possibly perform now this is here.”

  “The show was going to be a disaster anyway! We made so many mistakes during rehearsal. It was the worst we’ve ever skated.”

  “The Magic Mirror is definitely messing up their rehearsal,” Mei whispered.

  “Let’s get over there now!” urged Quinn.

  In no time at all, the Treasure Dragons were right near the bears.

  “No one will come to our shows ever again. We’re ruined!” growled one bear.

  “I look ridiculous in this tutu,” moaned another.

  A few bears burst into loud, growly tears.

  “We think you look great. And we’d love to see your performance!” Aisha called.

  The bears stopped their wailing and turned to stare at the Dragon Girls.

  “We’ve heard you are the best skaters in the whole forest,” added Quinn.

  “We used to think so,” said one of the bears sadly. “But everything is going wrong at the moment! This big thing dropped out of the sky and got stuck in our lake. But who cares? We’re no good at skating and we look silly in these tutus. We can see that now.”

  “You don’t look silly at all,” said Quinn. “You look amazing! You are powerful and elegant. And the way you move is just magic.”

  But the bears didn’t seem to hear. They had begun to cry again as they gazed at their reflections in the half mirror. Clearly, it hadn’t lost its power when it had been smashed in two.

  One or two bears blew their noses on their pretty scarves. Others used their great furry paws to mop their eyes.

  Beyond the bears, Aisha could see the mirror sticking out of the lake. She took care not to look into it.

  “I have an idea,” she whispered to Mei and Quinn. “Let’s get the bears to do their show for us. Then while they are distracted, one of us can grab the piece of mirror.”

  “Do you think we’ll be able to talk them into doing it?” said Quinn.

  “We have to,” said Aisha firmly. “Because if we don’t, I am not sure what else to do!”

  Aisha turned to face the bears. She wasn’t quite sure what she was going to say to them, but she knew it had to be good. She opened her mouth to speak, but her paws slipped in different directions. She fell—splat—on the ice. As she tried to stand up, she slipped again, landing on her tail. Aisha wasn’t much good at skating as a human girl, but as a dragon she found it virtually impossible! A strange growly noise filled the air.