Dragon Masters #2: Saving the Sun Dragon (A Branches Book) Read online

  SAVING

  THE

  SUN

  DRAGON

  by

  Tracey West

  illustrated by

  Graham Howells

  Read All the Books

  1

  3

  2

  4

  DRAGONS IN THE SKY . . . . . . . . . . .

  A SICK DRAGON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  KING ROLAND'S THREAT . . . . . .

  THE WIZARD'S POTION . . . . . . . . .

  ANA'S STORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  WORM CALLS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  FAR-AWAY LANDS . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  A STRANGE BOY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  KEPRI AND WATI . . . . .. . . . . . . .

  ROBBERS! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  FLYING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  ANA'S DECISION . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  ONE LAST GOOD-BYE . . . . . . . . . .

  HOME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  1

  10

  19

  24

  33

  41

  46

  52

  57

  63

  67

  72

  78

  82

  1.

  2.

  3.

  4.

  5.

  6.

  7.

  8.

  9.

  10.

  11.

  12.

  13.

  14.

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this

  publication may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or

  stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any

  means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express

  written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc.,

  Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  West, Tracey, 1965- author.

  Saving the sun dragon / by Tracey West ; illustrated by Graham Howells.

  pages cm. —(Dragon masters ; 2)

  Summary: The dark magic the dragons encountered in their first adventure has made

  Ana's sun dragon, Kepri, sick and Drake's earth dragon, Worm, teleports himself, Kepri,

  and the four young dragon masters far away from the castle in search of a cure—but

  the threat of the dark magic still remains.

  ISBN 0-545-64625-1 (pbk. : alk. paper) —ISBN 0-545-64626-X (hardcover : alk. paper)—ISBN

  0-545-64634-0 (ebook) 1. Dragons—Juvenile fiction. 2. Wizards—Juvenile fiction. 3. Magic—

  Juvenile fiction. [1. Dragons—Fiction. 2. Wizards—Fiction. 3. Magic—Fiction.] I. Howells, Graham,

  illustrator. II. Title.

  PZ7.W51937Sav 2014

  813.54—dc23

  2013046257

  e-ISBN 978-0-545-64634-5

  Text copyright 2014 by Tracey West.

  Interior illustrations copyright 2014 by Scholastic Inc.

  All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc.

  SCHOLASTIC, BRANCHES, and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of

  Scholastic Inc.

  First printing, December 2014

  Edited by Katie Carella

  Book design by Jessica Meltzer

  fOR My fRieNd GeORGe,

  who would make a good teacher of Dragon Masters.—TW

  Special thanks to Damien Jones for his artistic contributions to this book.

  Drake shaded his eyes from the sun. He

  was standing in the Valley of Clouds behind

  King Roland’s castle. Not long ago, Drake

  had never even been to the castle. But now

  he lived here, and he had an important job.

  He was a Dragon Master—someone who

  had been chosen by the Dragon Stone to

  work with dragons.

  Above him, three dragons flew in the

  bright blue sky. Griffith, the wizard who

  taught the young Dragon Masters, watched

  as the dragons practiced flying.

  DRagoNS

  IN The SKy

  Vulcan, a big, red Fire Dragon, flew across

  the valley. He shot a burst of fire into the air.

  “Nice one!” yelled his Dragon Master, Rori.

  She had hair as red as Vulcan’s flames.

  Shu, a beautiful blue Water Dragon, didn’t

  have wings. She glided through the air, riding

  the wind. Bo, her Dragon Master, watched her

  with a peaceful smile on his face.

  The best flier was the yellow -and-white

  Sun Dragon, Kepri. She looped and swirled

  in the air. Then a rainbow streamed from her

  mouth. It arced across the sky. Kepri’s Dragon

  Master, Ana, danced on the grass below her

  dragon. Her long, black hair swayed behind her.

  Drake’s dragon, Worm, was not like the

  other dragons. He was an Earth Dragon with a

  long, brown body. He couldn’t fly. But Drake

  had just learned Worm could move things with

  the power of his mind.

  What other amazing

  things can Worm do?

  Drake wondered. He

  knew he had even more to learn about his

  dragon.

  “It feels good to be outside, right, Worm?”

  Drake asked. The green Dragon Stone around

  Drake’s neck tingled a bit. He smiled.

  Each of the Dragon Masters wore a piece

  of the stone. It helped them connect with and

  train their dragons.

  When the stone glowed, Drake knew that

  he and Worm had a very strong connection.

  Drake could sometimes hear Worm’s voice

  inside his head when they were connecting.

  But the other Dragon Masters' stones had not

  glowed yet.

  Drake looked back up at the

  sunny sky.

  Kepri’s whole

  body shone

  with light.

  Then Drake understood. “Oh,I get it. Kepri

  has light powers because she’s a Sun Dragon,

  right?” Drake asked the other Dragon Masters.

  Rori snorted. “Of course that’s why. It’s just

  like how Fire Dragons have fire powers, and

  Water Dragons have water powers.”

  Rori can be friendly sometimes,

  thought

  Drake.

  And other times she’s not friendly at all!

  His face turned red. “I’m still learning,” he

  said. “I haven’t been a Dragon Master as long

  as you.”

  Rori, Bo, and Ana had already been training

  for weeks when Drake got to the castle. He

  still felt like he had a lot of catching up to do.

  Above them, Vulcan swooped down from

  the sky, showing off and shooting another

  stream of fire. It hit the ground right next

  to Griffith, and the grass burst
into

  flames. The wizard jumped

  to the side.

  “Careful there, Vulcan!” Griffith called out.

  He pointed his finger at the fire. Water flowed

  from his fingertip, and the flames went out.

  Drake’s eyes grew wide. “I will never get

  tired of seeing wizard magic,” he said to Bo,

  who was standing beside him. Bo nodded.

  Drake looked over at Worm. The dragon’s

  eyes glowed bright green.

  That’s strange,

  thought Drake.

  His eyes

  glow when he’s using his powers. What could

  he be using his powers on right now?

  Worm was staring up at the sky.

  Drake followed his gaze. Worm was looking

  at Kepri high up in the air. Her white wings

  had stopped flapping. Worm must have sensed

  that she was in trouble.

  “Watch out! Kepri is falling!” Drake yelled.

  Ana looked up and started to scream. The

  other Dragon Masters also looked to the sky.

  Griffith pointed a finger at Kepri.

  “I’ll try to slow her down!” the wizard

  cried. Lightning sizzled from his finger. But

  before Griffith could use his magic, a red blur

  shot across the sky.

  A SiCK DrAgON

  It was Vulcan, flying faster than Drake had

  ever seen him fly before. He lunged for Kepri

  and grabbed her with his front claws.

  “Go, Vulcan!” Rori cheered.

  Vulcan flew in a circle around the valley,

  slowing down. Then he gently placed Kepri

  in the grass.

  Everyone ran to Kepri. The dragon’s eyes

  were closed. Her breathing was loud and heavy.

  Ana stroked Kepri’s head.

  “Oh, Kepri, are you all right?” she asked, her

  voice shaking.

  Griffith leaned over Kepri, frowning. “I’m

  afraid she doesn’t look well,” he said.

  Ana turned to the wizard. “She has seemed

  a little off since last week—when the tunnel

  caved in. She gets tired easily. And sometimes

  her eyes look cloudy. I should have said

  something!”

  Griffith put a hand on her shoulder. “It’s

  not your fault, Ana,” he said. “But are you

  sure Kepri only started looking sick

  after

  that

  night in the tunnel?”

  Ana slowly nodded her

  head. “Yes. She was fine

  before then.”

  Drake, Bo, and Rori looked at one another.

  A week before, they had all tried to sneak

  out of the castle with their dragons. Since

  King Roland wanted to keep the dragons a

  secret, most dragon training had to take place

  underground. The Dragon Masters had only

  wanted to get outside to do some night flying.

  Then a glowing red orb had flown into the

  tunnel that led to the valley.

  The red ball of light scared Vulcan so he

  tried to get away.

  His huge body

  banged into the

  tunnel walls, and

  he had made the

  tunnel cave in.

  They were trapped.

  Worm used his mind powers to help them

  escape. He broke up the big rocks blocking

  the tunnel using only

  his thoughts. Worm

  had saved them all.

  But now

  something was

  wrong with Kepri.

  “Why did you

  ask about the cave-in,

  Griffith?” asked Bo.

  “The red orb worries me,” Griffith answered.

  “It must have been made by a dark wizard, as

  I had feared. And dark magic can make Sun

  Dragons sick.”

  “So Kepri’s illness is connected to that weird

  ball?” asked Ana. “And the other dragons are

  okay because they’re

  not

  Sun Dragons?”

  “I think so,” said Griffith.

  “Do you

  know

  any dark wizards?” Drake

  asked with a shiver.

  “No time for tales now,” said Griffith with

  a wave of his hand.

  Suddenly, Rori cried out. “Look! Kepri is

  getting up!”

  The dragon had opened her eyes and was

  standing on all four legs.

  “She looks well enough to walk back to

  the dragon caves,” Griffith said. “Come along.”

  He led the Dragon Masters and their dragons

  back through the tunnel. The tunnel led to the

  big, underground Dragon Room.

  There, each dragon had

  a small cave.

  When they got there, a big man with red

  hair waited for them. He wore a vest with a

  gold dragon on it, and a metal crown on his

  head. Two guards stood behind him.

  Griffith stopped. “King Roland!” he said.

  “What brings you down here?”

  The king frowned.“What is this I hear about

  a sick dragon?”

  KInG RolAnd'S

  THREAT

  D

  rake looked over at his friend Bo. He could

  tell Bo was thinking the same thing he was:

  How did the king know one of the dragons

  was sick?

  “I have spies hidden in the Valley of Clouds,”

  the king said, as if he had read their minds.

  “You almost let these dragons escape once,

  Griffith. I want to make sure they are ready

  when I need them.”

  “I understand,” Griffith said.

  Drake remembered that when the tunnel

  had caved in, Griffith hadn’t told the king that

  the Dragon Masters had taken the dragons

  out. Instead, he said the dragons had tried to

  escape. Griffith had lied to protect the Dragon

  Masters.

  Griffith had only wanted to protect us when

  he told that lie,

  Drake thought.

  But now the

  king is mad at

  him

  instead of

  us

  !

  “So I will ask you again, Griffith,” said the

  king. “Is one of the dragons sick?”

  “Yes, Your Majesty,” said Griffith. “There

  seems to be something wrong with Kepri.”

  All eyes turned to Kepri. Her eyes were cloudy.

  And her long, graceful neck was drooping.

  “First the dragons tried

  to escape, and now one is

  sick,” said King Roland.

  “This makes me very

  unhappy, wizard. You

  are supposed to know

  all about dragons.

  Heal her!”

  “I will look for a cure right away,” Griffith

  promised.

  “You had better find one soon,” King Roland

  said, his eyes fixed on the wizard. “If not, I will

  find another wizard.”

  King Roland turned and stormed out of the

  caves. His guards followed.

  Drake’s stomach did a flip.

  Another wizard?

  What would we do without Griffith?

  “What do we do now?” Ana asked Griffith,

  stroking Kepri’s head.

  “I have many books about dragons,” the

  wizard replied. “We will start there.”

&nb
sp; “We?

  You mean we can help?” Drake asked.

  “Of course!” Griffith said. “Please take your

  dragons into their caves. Then meet me in the

  Training Room. We must act quickly to save

  Kepri!”

  T

  he Dragon Masters dropped off their

  dragons and headed to the Training Room.

  The section where Griffith taught lessons was

  kind of like a cave.

  Most days, everyone wanted to be outside

  in the Valley of Clouds. Drake loved it there

  because it reminded him of working in his

  family’s onion fields. But today, nobody was

  complaining about staying inside. Everyone

  wanted to help Kepri.

  THe WizaRd'S POtiON

  When they walked

  into the classroom,

  they saw a giant pile

  of books on the table.

  “Everyone take a

  book,” Griffith said,

  pointing to a stack

  of books. “A dark

  wizard made that orb. So we must find a cure

  for Sun Dragons who have been touched by

  dark magic. Quickly, now!” He was already

  flipping through

  All About Sun Dragons.

  Drake took

  Dragons 101

  back to his desk. The room

  was quiet, except

  for the sound of

  turning pages.

  Drake read and

  read, but couldn’t

  find anything. No

  one could.

  Then Rori held up

  Dragon Lore.

  “I found

  something!” she cried.

  “Listen: ‘Each Sun Dragon

  is born with a Moon Dragon twin. These twins

  can cure each other of almost anything.' Is this

  true? Does Kepri have a Moon Dragon twin?”

  Griffith frowned. “I do not know. And if

  she does have a twin, that twin is likely very

  far away from here. There’s no way we could

  find the Moon Dragon in time.”