Journey to Rainbow Island Read Online Free Page A

yellow eyes scanned the village and surrounding cliffs, Romeo ducked behind a large tree next to the path. The obsidigon—if that’s what it was—began to move down the beach, searching for something. But what?
    As the dragon reached the end of the shore, it ascended the cliff, heading toward Rainbow Meadow, the most sacredplace on the Island. Realization hit Romeo—the dragon planned to steal the crystals!
    Romeo moved with stealth up the path, keeping the dark animal in his sight. He crested the cliff that spilled down into the Sacred Meadow where the Seven Sacred Crystals were located and stopped in his tracks. The large golden stone upon which were set the Seven Sacred Crystals was directly before the dragon. Romeo watched in horror as the obsidigon brought down its huge wing, shattering the protective glass covering the seven stones. The obsidigon breathed fire, swooped up the seven crystals, and flapped its wings, ready to make its departure.
    The loud crash awakened many of the children and teachers of the village, who emerged from their homes to investigate. Yu-ning awoke too and sensed danger. She retrieved her bow and quiver of arrows, which were never far from her reach. Though the Rainbow School taught the children to pursue peace and harmony with all creatures, each student was allowed to pursue a martial art. From an early age Yu-ning had exhibited a true talent for the bow.
    A crowd formed along the path above the village and moved swiftly toward the crest of the cliff. Romeo appeared on the path above, an orange glow growing above the meadow behind him. “It’s a dragon! A dragon has taken the sacred crystals!” he screamed. All froze in their tracks as the giant dragon appeared above, flying low and hard in their direction. A huge ball of fire erupted from its horrible jaws—Metatron stepped in front of the crowd and planted his staff firmly in the ground before him. The fireball smashed into his staff, sending sparks and flame away from the children.
    â€œRun, everyone, back to your homes!” yelled the wizard. Yu-ning emerged, standing next to Metatron, who advanced toward the dark dragon hovering just ahead. The creature flew at Metatron, swept its wing low, and knocked the wizard off his feet. Yu-ning nocked an arrow and let it fly. The arrow hit the dragon dead center between the eyes, but skittered off the obsidian scales and fell harmlessly to the ground.
    The terrible creature opened its massive jaws and spewed fire directly at Yu-ning. She dove from the path, but not quickly enough: the edge of the fireball hit her left shoulder, sending searing pain up and down her arm. Yu-ning screamed in agony as she fell into deep grass next to the path, out of the dragon’s sight. She tumbled hard down the grassy cliff and landed near the edge of the beach, wounded and semiconscious.
    Many of the children and instructors armed themselves with rocks and long sticks. Even Magic heaved a pebble and hit the obsidigon above one eye, causing it to flinch. Leading the charge was Romeo, ahead of the crowd by a dozen steps. The dragon descended on the unsuspecting boy as its talons grabbed hold of Romeo and carried him off the ground. As he rose higher and higher, he could only watch in despair as the dragon sent fireball after fireball upon the scattering villagers below, whose homes were now engulfed in flames.
    The creature kept an iron grip on the seven crystals in one talon and Romeo in the other, as the flames engulfing Rainbow Village grew smaller and smaller. As the dragon flew ever farther away, the fires became orange dots in a sea of blackness. Romeo strained to keep his eye on the flames as the orange dots became a single speck that disappeared as the obsidigon headed eastward.

Four

Aftermath
    T HE MORNING DAWNED BLEAK AND STORMY on Rainbow Island, rain falling hard amidst flashes of lightning and thunder. The rain had started shortly after the attack of the