Dragons of Wonder

The Big Change

 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

For Mom, for making my dreams come true

 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

Dragons of Ermana
Page 4

Prologue
Page 17

Chapter 1: The Invitation

Page 19

Chapter 2: Evil King

Page 34

Chapter 3: Professor Slitherwick

Page 40

Chapter 4: The Evergreen Forest

Page 57

Chapter 5: Queenmas
Page 80

Chapter 6: Battle
Page 88

Chapter 7: Darkness Rising

Page 107
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Chapter 8: Attack in the Rainforest

Page 134

Chapter 9: Secret of the Professor

Page 156

Chapter 10: Flight to Kahori

Page 179

Chapter 11: Trip With The Queen

Page 198

Chapter 12: Everlasting Fight

Page 216

Epilogue
Page 135
 Dragons of Wonder
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Fire Dragons
Whatation

Fire Dragon
Description: Red or orange scales with light red, orange, gold, yellow or light yellow underscales,
large wings of back, two long gray horns on back of head.
Abilities: Can breathe fire and blue fire, strong wings that are good for flying.
Flame Dragon
Description: Velociraptor-like bodies, flamey colored scales (in rare cases, can also be brown),
rough horns, usually smart and nerdy.
Abilities: Can breathe fire, natural masters on blue fire, can spit out small flames, can set wings
and crest on fire if mad.
Lava Dragon
Description: Black, dark red or dark orange scales, light orange or pink underscales, long gray
horns and long, sharp claws.
Abilities: Spit lava from their mouths, fireproof scales and able to swim in lava, very good
eyesight and can hear and see through lava, able to extend claws like a cat.
Magma Dragon
Description: Red, light red or pink scales, scales look like magma at two hundred degrees
fahrenheit, wings made of hot magma, long horns and long, sharp white claws, usually live in
volcanoes or upper mantle of Ermana.
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Abilities: Can swim in lava and magma, spit magma from mouth, fireproof scales, high
possibility of deafening a dragon with their extremely loud roar.
Volcano Dragon
Description: Black or dark brown jewel-hard scales, large tails and big heavy wings, very big and
thick, black claws and giant, black horns.
Abilities: Can breathe fire and spit lava, raise burning rocks from the ground by slamming their
large tails on the ground.
Ash Dragon:
Description: Gray, rough scales, ash and dust between each scale, thin and spiky tails, very
skinny, light and huge wings.
Abilities: Third fastest dragon in the world, can make huge ash clouds, can breathe fire.

Water Dragons
Bakalori

Water Dragon
Description: Green, blue, or purple scales, gills on neck, webbed talons, glowing patterns on
wings, two silver horns on back of head, silver claws.
Abilities: Can make huge waves with their large tail, can store up to two gallons of water in body
and spit it out at any time, excellent swimmers, can breathe underwater.
Sea Dragon
Description: Blue, purple or green scales, gills on neck, webbed talons, glowing patterns on
wings and underscales, small dark blue, green, or purple spikes going down spine.
Abilities: Can create huge waves with large tail, can breathe underwater, excellent swimmers,
strongest Water Dragon.
Flood Dragon
Description: Blue, gray, or green scales, massive wings (but cannot fly), twelve gray horns on
back of head, webbed talons, gills on neck, pointy noses to help them swim better and faster.
Abilities: Can create floods with their massive wings by lowering the front part of their wings
and swimming quickly, can breathe underwater, fastest swimmers in all of Ermana.
Whirlpool Dragon
Description: Twenty times bigger than a normal Water Dragon, green or blue scales, no legs or
arms, big fins, big ruff behind their ears, ginormous tail, giant wings on back, spikes going along
their spine, giant fin on the end of tail, used for transporting mail and other cargo, the only
undomesticated dragons on Ermana.
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Abilities: Can make whirlpools with their tails, spit out water from their mouths, cannot live
long above water, very good at echolocation.
Coral Dragon
Description: Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple or pink scales, patterns on body, wings and
horns are made of coral.
Abilities: Great hiders and are easily camouflaged, can breathe underwater even though they
have no gills, can grow back their wings and horns if it is cut off, able to make their wings and
claws sharper than knives.
Seaweed Dragon
Description: Green or dark yellow scales with seaweed patterns going down sides and crest, two
green or yellow horns and claws, spikes going down the back of arms and on crest.
Abilities: Can shoot seaweed vines from their wrists, spikes on arms and crest helps them easily
cut seaweed and other materials.
Shark Dragon
Description: Shark-like bodies with arms and talons instead of fins, spikes going down spine, the
only dragon that cannot breathe underwater.
Abilities: Can turn themselves into a complete shark (except with spikes along their backs and
on their fins), hold their breath for over an hour, able to split the ground with their strong
talons, can communicate with fish through a special sense.
Deep Sea Dragon
Description: Dark blue, green, or purple scales, spikes going along back, glowing spirals on
wings, gills on neck, glowing webbed talons, tend to not see very well and cannot see many
colors.
Abilities: Can make their scales glow a bright color to help them see in the dark, very strong, can
store up to six gallons of water in body and spit it out at any time.
Pearl Dragon
Description: White, pink, orange, yellow or purple scales with small, heavy wings, very good at
crafting and creating art.
Abilities: Able to shoot pearls out of wrists, cannot fly because of their small and heavy wings,
jewel hard scales.
Sponge Dragon
Description: Yellow with a light yellow underbelly, small holes all over body which makes them
look like a sponge, silver horns on back of head.
Abilities: Can blend themselves into the sea, breathe underwater, tend to have short-term
memory loss or forget things easily.
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Ice Dragons
Navitee

Ice Dragon
Description: White, grey or icy blue scales with light gray horns in the back of head, ten light
blue/gray spikes on the end of tail, wings and arms connected (Like a wyvern’s wings), grey or
ice blue spikes going down back.
Abilities: Can breathe and create ice, shoot icicles from the ends of their tails, able to stand
freezing temperatures, can change the temperature of their scales to be below freezing
temperatures (Coldest scales can get: negative forty degrees).
Snow Dragon
Description: White, gray or icy blue scales, twelve silver horns on the back of head, wings and
arms NOT connected (unlike Ice Dragons), silver spikes going along back.
Abilities: Can breathe snow and shoot icicles at the ends of their tails, stand freezing
temperatures, can learn to breathe a freezing cold breath that can freeze any living thing.
Hail Dragon
Description: White or gray scales with unmeltable ice horns, unmeltable ice spikes on the end of
tail, thin dark gray circle patterns going down sides.
Abilities: Can shoot hailstones from palms, can shoot icicles from the end of tail, can breathe
frost.
Blizzard Dragon
Description: Gray or white scales, massive wings, long spikes that go from their horns to the end
of their tail, long tail that is twice as long as a normal Ice Dragon’s tail.
Abilities: Can breathe frost and cold wind, protect themselves from blizzards from their large
wings, can stand temperatures as low as negative a hundred degrees fahrenheit, very good at
echolocation, fifth fastest dragon in all of Ermana.
Arctic Wolf Dragon
Description: Black, gray or white scales, black, gray or white fur that surrounds their neck, legs
and arms, gray or black horns, long furry tails and pointy wolf-like ears, very unique dragon.
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Abilities: Can breathe frost, able to extend teeth and claws.

Penguin Dragon
Description: Black, dark blue or dark gray scales with white or silver underscales, small and dull
horns on the back of head, yellow or orange ruff behind ears, black spikes going along back.
Abilities: Can breathe frost, create ice, shoot icicles from end of tail, hard and smooth bellies to
help them slide down snow hills easily.

Night Dragons
Niáll

Night Dragon
Description: Black, dark gray, or black-green scales, gray horns, black wings that fade to green
or bright silver on the end, small black spikes going down back, dark silver or black underscales.
Abilities: Can dark fire, can read ten times faster than any normal dragon, breathe clouds of
smoke, blend in with the night, can stand weeks without sleep (applies to every dragon with the
element of night).
Moon Dragon
Description: Black or dark gray scales, black wings that fade of white or pale silver on the end,
small black spikes going down spine, diamond shaped scales, dark gray or dark silver
underscales.
Abilities: Can breathe dark fire, read ten times faster than any normal dragon, blend into the
night.
Shadow Dragon
Description: Pure black scales with huge black wings, very sharp talons and spikes going down
back, black horns and claws.
Abilities: Can breathe small plumes of dark fire, can make their scales look slightly invisible,
read ten times faster than any normal dragon, one of the fastest fliers.
Star Dragon
Description: Black, dark blue, dark purple or shadow gray scales, black wings with stars of every
color on them, silver or white stars on each scale, light gray horns.
Abilities: Can breathe fire and dark fire, blend into the night, read ten times faster than any
normal dragon, myths that ancient Star Dragons made the stars, but there is no proof.
Space Dragon
Description: Black upper scales, dark red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple or pink middle
scales, and dark gray underscales with light gray horns and huge wings.
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Abilities: Can breathe dark fire, read ten times faster than any other dragon, able to fly up to
space and back down without getting hurt, special sensing that helps them communicate with
other Space Dragons in space.

Light Dragons
Maré

Light Dragon
Description: Pure white scales with pearl yellow underscales, yellow or gray horns and wings
connected to arms, yellow wings.
Abilities: Can make light beams that can blind any dragon for hours, very calm and peaceful, can
make their horns and claws glow.
Angel Dragon
Description: White or bright yellow feathers with angel wings, halo hovering above head, long
silver horns, and dull claws.
Abilities: Can make light beams that can blind any dragon for hours, beautiful voices and
naturals at instruments, very peaceful.
Jewel Dragon
Description: Light pink, purple, blue or yellow scales with dark pink purple blue or yellow horns,
jewel hard scales that help protect themselves, shiny crest and small gems on their faces and
down sides, very curious about things and love to explore.
Abilities: Can shoot jewels from out their tails, make any gemstones glow with a special touch
from their talons, very good eyesight.
Honesty Dragon
Description: White, pale yellow or light pink scales with white underscales, blue, purple or
orange stripes going down sides, dark silver or black claws.
Abilities: Always tell the truth (Can never lie), can use a special touch to anyone that makes
them tell the truth, tend to be calm and very smart.
Rainbow Dragon
Description: Black or white scales with colorful crest and underscales, colorful see-through
wings, black claws, small colorful spikes going down spine, colorful horns.
Abilities: Can store sunlight in their scales and make themselves glow as bright as the sun when
needed to, can create rainbow light beams from their eyes that can blind any dragon for days.
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Warrior Dragons
Warkana

War Dragon
Description: Red, orange or yellow scales with black lightning stripes all along body, bright red,
orange or yellow underscales, black lightning-like horns and sharp talons.
Abilities: Very good plan-makers, fast and agile on ground and in the sky, can breathe fire, hard
tails that are used for whacking.
Spike Dragon
Description: Dark green scales with yellow or light green underscales, two horns on the back of
head, two horns on the side of head, black wings with gold, red, or green circle patterns, spiked
tail, not good at flying.
Abilities: Strong, powerful talons, create raising spikes from the ground, very sharp teeth used
for biting their enemies.
Ghost Dragon
Description: Ghostly white or pale silver scales, insides of wings made of clouds, very sharp
horns and very sharp claws.
Abilities: Can turn themselves into a ghost with a special roar, screeching roar that can turn
almost anyone deaf, can walk on clouds.
Laser Dragon
Description: Red scales with light red or pink underscales, bright gray horns and silver claws,
not a very common dragon.
Abilities: Can make a deadly laser from the right talon, and make a unhurtable laser from their
left talon, special sensing that makes their wings flutter every time a bad laser is nearby.
Metal Dragon
Description: Large and thin metal scales, light gray horns and sharp talons, round spikes at the
end of tail, heavily armored scales to protect themselves.
Abilities: Can shoot metal spikes from tail, can carve and form metal with their sharp talons.
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Lightning Dragons
Lâkera

Lightning Dragon
Description: Blue, red, purple, and in very rare cases, gold scales, with light blue, light pink, light
purple or very rarely; black underscales and insides of wings, silver or light gray horns.
Abilities: Can shock anything, form lightning with their talons, can make a lightning storm with
hard concentration and a lot of power, can ride a lightning bolt.
Thunder Dragon
Description: Yellow, red, or blue scales with light yellow, light orange, light red or light blue
underscales with small circle patterns going down sides, small spikes going down spine.
Abilities: Very loud roar, can imitate an exact thunder roar, can make sparks of lightning with
their talons.
Spark Dragon
Description: Red or orange scales with light red, light orange or light yellow underscales, dark
red or dark orange horns horns, staticy horns and claws, skinny bodies and big wings.
Abilities: Can create a small shock with their claws and horns, very fast fliers, can ride lightning.
Bolt Dragon
Description: Yellow, gold, or orange scales with black underscales, long spikes on back, crown of
horns on the back of head, long sharp claws and long tail.
Abilities: Can ride lightning and store lightning in their metal spikes, can breathe out lightning
bolts.
Plasma Dragon
Description: Purple or blue scales, black underscales, glowing wings that cannot ever stop
glowing, lightning bolt appear on wings then go away every second.
Abilities: Can shoot plasma from mouth, create a plasma ball with their talons, shoot a plasma
blast with the end of their tail.
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Nature Dragons
Shera

Nature Dragon
Description: Green, blue, orange or yellow scales with dots along sides, light green see-through
wings, yellow or light green underscales and dark green horns.
Abilities: Able to extend claws (When extended, claws become sharp), shoot razor-sharp leaves
from tail, soft padding on feet that help them walk through the forest without getting hurt.
Rainforest Dragon
Description: Variety of different colorful scales, wings, eyes and horns, (each Rainforest Dragon
has a different pattern of colors and scales), thin bodies and thin tails, most common dragon in
Ermana.
Abilities: Shoot razor-sharp leaves from tail, very good at forming plans and working together,
soft padding on feet that help them walk through the forest without getting hurt, special coding
on scales to keep dangerous bugs away.
Leaf Dragon
Description: Green, yellow, red or orange scales with dark green, yellow, red or orange horns
and claws, crown of leaves on back of head, leaf-like wings, hard leaf spikes going down back.
Abilities: Can shoot razor sharp leaves from spine, easily camouflaged in trees, spit a deadly
venom.
Vine Dragon
Description: Green or brown scales with big see-through wings, long tail with a natural vine
spinning around it, long black claws.
Abilities: Can swing on vines easily, shoot razor-sharp leaves from wrists, can create vines with
their tail, very quick and skillful.
Garden Dragon
Description: Green scales, each scale on body has a different size and shape, see-through green
wings and sometimes born with a flower crown on their heads.
Abilities: Create dirt hills as a shield, able to spit out clean seeds for gardening, can make plants
grow three times as fast with a special breath.
Snake Dragon
Description: Green, yellow, or blue scales with a hood like a cobra, two small, sharp fangs, long
tail, rattle on the end of tail like a rattlesnake, and see-through wings.
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Abilities: Can inject deadly venom with their teeth, hypnotize anyone by the rattling of their tail,
very good dancers and good with instruments.
Stick Dragon
Description: Brown or dark green scales with little trees sticking up from their elbows and head
(no horns), three tails than twirl to connect to each other, four green see-through wings.
Abilities: Can shoot razor-sharp leaves, make trees grow from the ground, swing on tree
branches really easily, tend to be very lazy and feel the need to do something else.

Flower Dragon
Description: Any bright colored scales with bright petals of any color on the top of head, yellow
or dark green spikes going down spine, white or silver claws and horns.
Abilities: Can make any flower grow taller or smaller with a special breath, shoot flower seeds
from the end of tail, tend to be calm and constantly happy.
Camouflage Dragon
Description: Green colored scales, scales can shift their color to their surroundings, making
them almost “invisible”, dark green horns and claws than can also change their colors.
Abilities: Can hide themselves from danger by camouflaging themselves, spit venom, and shoot
razor sharp leaves.
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Earth Dragons
Bãcaxís

Earth Dragon
Description: Brown scales with dark green top scales and light brown underscales, tree branches
for horns, thick armored scales and big tails, kind of a squashed, flat head, big wings.
Abilities: Can breathe fire, grow trees from the ground with hard concentration, make the earth
split apart with their strong tails, very strong.
Mud Dragon
Description: Brown scales with light brown, gold, amber, or yellow underscales, thick bodies and
big, long tails, dark brown small horns and claws.
Abilities: Can breathe fire, great swimmers, spit out mud and rocks, special coding on their eyes
to help them see inside mud, best sense of smell out of all the dragons in Ermana.
Mountain Dragon
Description: Brown scales with what seems like piles of snow or ice on their backs, wings two
times bigger than their own selves, big tail used for smashing things, silver claws and dark
brown horns.
Abilities: Break the ground with strong talons, create minor earthquakes with big tails, can
breathe snow if cold enough.
Stone Dragon
Description: Made out of stone, patterns on their stone-made scales like flowers or spirals, moss
coming out from their carved patterns, unable to fly because of their heavy wings.
Abilities: Can breathe fire, turn themselves into a circular rock and roll around, slap the ground
really hard and starts a small earthquake.
Quake Dragon
Description: Thick brown scales, big wings, tails, talons, and body, long horns on back of head,
small and dull talons.
Abilities: Start an earthquake with their huge bodies by flying up, then falling back down, able to
split the ground (not very good at it), second loudest roar that can deafen anyone except for
themselves, other Quake Dragons, and Magma Dragons.
Marsh Dragon
Description: Army green or brown scales with light green or light brown underscales, curved
horns like an impala, thin bodies and super thin tails, tend to be lazy and the smallest dragons in
the world.
Abilities: Can breathe fire, able to see in mud, sinking in mud helps them regain strength.
Dirt Dragon
Description: Dirt colored scales with dull horns and claws, averaged sized dragon with green
eyes.
Abilities: Throw up dirt.
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Sky Dragons
Saphieru

Sky Dragon
Description: Red or orange scales with light red, light orange or light yellow underscales, long,
slightly curved horns on back of head, massive wings and sharp claws.
Abilities: Breathe fire, second fastest dragons on Ermana, able to walk on clouds (applies to all
dragons with the element of sky).
Wind Dragon
Description: gray scales with white underscales and wings, curvy patterns on wings and a slight
glow to the underscales, long talons and slightly curved horns on the back of head.
Abilities: Fourth fastest dragon in the world, make wind storms, wind breath, blends in with the
clouds easily.
Cloud Dragon
Description: gray, white or light blue scales with white underscales, crown of horns on the back
of head, cloud made wings, dull horns and sharp talons.
Abilities: Can breathe clouds, shape clouds with their fast flying, blends in with clouds easily.
Whirlwind Dragon
Description: White, gray, yellow, orange or red scales with long tails and light, massive wings,
curving horns and spikes going down back, sharp talons and sharp teeth.
Abilities: Can create a tornado by flying around in circles and adjusting wings, can breathe fire,
and the fastest dragon in all of Ermana.
Storm Dragon
Description: Stormy colored scales with lightning bolt patterns on wings, long, three inch-
spread out spikes that go along back, two, curvy horns on back of head.
Abilities: Can create rainstorms and lightning storms, blend in with storms easily, color shifting
scales that helps them blend in with clouds (can only change to the color of the clouds).
Future Sky Dragon
Description: Blue, white, yellow or silver scales, white or silver swirly patterns on shoulders, tail
and face, dark blue, yellow or silver horns and razor-sharp claws.
Abilities: Fast fliers, can sort of predict the future, can breathe out a mist that confuses anyone,
can see important things in the future through dreams.
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Sand Dragons
Kahori

Sand Dragon
Description: Pale yellow, yellow, or gold scales with two sharp fangs, yellow see-through wings,
light gray claws and horns, usually tall, tend to be calm and negotiative.
Abilities: Can last months without water, shoot venom out of their fangs like snakes, start a
sandstorm with a powerful movement.
Scorpion Dragon
Description: Pale yellow or pale orange scales, tail curves up constantly like a scorpion, tail barb
at the end of tail, yellow see-through wings.
Abilities: Can poison anyone with their tail, stand months without water, special saliva that
helps heal poison.
Cactus Dragon
Description: Pale yellow or pale green scales with a green frill and different sized spots on wings,
little patterns that go down the right and left side of neck and tail, thorned tail.
Abilities: Can extend their thorns on tail to over three feet long, special coding on scales that lets
them touch cactus thorns, last years without water, but needs cactus milk in order to survive.
Oasis Dragon
Description: Yellow or gold scales with a blue crest, blue wings and skinny green tail, black
horns and claws, and almost always holding a reed in their mouth (no one knows why).
Abilities: Able to make reeds and other plants around oases grow, breathe droplets of water and
small useless piles of sand, the only dragons with the element of sand that constantly needs
water.
Sun Dragon
Description: Red, orange, yellow or white scales with fire going down their back, no horns, fire
on the back of arms and legs, wings are made of fire.
Abilities: Very hot, almost unable to touch, can breathe fire (Only if in the sun).
 Dragons of Wonder
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Prologue

Most people imagine dragons as terrifying four legged, fire breathing, undomesticated winged
lizards. And yes, while some stories may have dragons like that, it does not mean this story
includes dragons like that. In fact, this story is quite the opposite. In this world, they are two
legged creatures with all sorts of powers, not just plain fire or water. Although, some dragons
are evil creatures that don’t even have a body of flesh and bones like other dragons do.
Get the king. We want the king. That was the silent sound of a Galaxy Dragon. The rarest
dragon of all. Only the rulers of a star system were Galaxy Dragons. They were immortal. Not
like any normal dragon- they didn’t even have a body of flesh and bones. Instead, they were
merely a spirit.
Galaxy Dragons create everything in their star system. The planets, moons, stars, comets,
asteroids, meteors… every small little detail in a star system was created by a Galaxy Dragon,
whether it was a queen, king or servant.
The movements of a star system was also controlled by a Galaxy Dragon. The motion of
each planet was not entirely based on the gravity of a star, but by a Galaxy Dragon. A star, of
course, would do most of the work, like controlling gravity, heat and light, but a Galaxy Dragon
could choose to explode the star, control an asteroid, or change the mass of a planet or a star if
he or she wanted to. Ever so slightly, a Galaxy Dragon could do anything to their star system to
make it how they wanted to.
Although, whatever a Galaxy Dragon was changing that disobeyed the laws of physics
and science, it would require so much energy that a Galaxy Dragon might fall in a deep sleep for
months, sometimes even years or decades. If one were to do something completely disobeying
the laws of physics and astronomy, they would have a high chance of death.
If a Galaxy Dragon were to die, the whole star system would be devoured into a black
hole. That means everything- the stars, the planets, all intelligent life forms, would disappear
into blackness.
But, if a Galaxy Dragon had a son or a daughter living, then the fate of the star system
would be passed down onto him or her.
We will shoot the arrow at ten p.m. exactly. But of course there are a few other Galaxy
Dragons up there too, that act as the queen’s servant. A queen will start with only one servant,
but can gain more if they destroy another star system. The servants living in the past star system
will automatically become loyal to their new queen, forgetting everything they have done in the
past. It’s almost as if they were born again.
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Have you got the arrow yet? Queen Majesta, a magenta-colored Galaxy Dragon, asked
to one of her servants. Queen Majesta owned three servants. She had blown up thousands of star
systems, even millions of them. But because of her evil personality, she killed any servant who
made her upset or sad.
Yes, my queen. The arrow is dunked in the poison spell, no one can cure except us.
Sadly we can not make it... contagious, The umber brown colored servant responded. He had
absolutely no chance of lying, as he was Queen Majesta’s first servant. He was also served with
galaxy gems (A kind of gem only found in the core of a star) and other wonders each time he did
something good for the queen. Sometimes it was only as simple as getting true soil from
Ermana, but sometimes, it was as hard as blowing up a whole galaxy.
I don’t need to worry about contagiousness, just make sure it works, She told him,
waving her talon in the dark, empty space.
The servant understood and nodded his head. He teleported down to Ermana and seized
a dirty white chicken by the neck. He then teleported back to Queen Majesta.
Queen Majesta stared at him in confusion and disgust for a moment, then realized he
was trying to test the arrow’s poison out. Mộrackino, please come with the arrow, Queen Majesta
ordered.
Mộrackino was another loyal servant of Queen Majesta. He was a shamrock green Galaxy
Dragon that knew how to make potions of all kind. Mộrackino quickly came with a black arrow
dipped with a liquidy violet potion. The arrow was invisible and etherial to any normal dragon, but
a Galaxy Dragon could see it as easily as seeing a solid .
Majesta took the arrow from Mộrackino, and gently tipped the point of the arrow onto the
chicken’s neck. Both of them floated a few feet away in case of any sudden movements from the
chicken.
The flightless bird twitched around as the arrow’s tip produced a cloud of black and
purple around it.
After a few moments of watching, the chicken’s white feathers became neat and black,
and it’s claws became silver and sharp. The chicken squeezed its eyes shut, then opened them
fiercely, showing a blood red eye with a sharp and skinny pupul, so deep and black it must have
been a black hole.
Its tail became long, and its wings stretched and transformed to look like a dragons’.
Queen Majesta thought it was done, and she went to pet the reformed bird, then it grew three
times as big, and went floating off into the dark space surrounding them.
Queen Majesta watched the bird with wide eyes as it flew away. Well. That was violent.
She chuckled. I like it.
The arrow worked, and Queen Majesta was going to shoot it on her enemy on September
ninth. She might, just might, have her biggest foe turn to her greatest ally.
 Dragons of Wonder
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Chapter 1
The Invitation

A dragon, as you would think, has elemental powers. Ice, Fire, Sky– and even some complicated
powers. Friendship, Pearl, Penguin, Oasis... but as you wouldn’t think, a dragon- at least in this
dragon world- does not get their powers from their parents. At least, not fully.
There are hundreds of elements, but only a few of them are natural elements. The eleven
natural elements are: fire, water, ice, night, light, warrior, lightning, nature, earth, sky, and
sand. In those natural elements, there are many elements. For example, for Fire Dragons, there
are dragons like Fire itself, Lava, Magma, Volcano, and many more.
So, why do the dragons not get their powers from their parents, but they do at the same
time? The answer is: the dragons get their powers from their talent. But their talent has to be
from the same natural element as their parents. So if an Icicle Dragon has a dragonet, the
dragonet will have to be in the ice category, whether it be an Ice Dragon, a Blizzard Dragon, or a
Penguin Dragon. Usually though (Especially of Magma Dragons, Sponge Dragons, and Dirt
Dragons), dragons are usually the same element as their parents because of personality and
genes.
But how does a dragon look like before they get their talent? Dragonets have pure white
scales with misty light gray horns and light gray spikes down their back.
And yet, there are even dragons called hybrids. These elements are not so common,
though, due to the past wars of the countries only thirty years ago. But when there are hybrids,
they are a mix of their parent’s elements. Both parents have to be in different natural elements,
so if a Stick Dragon and an Ice Dragon have a dragonet, their dragonet’s body would choose two
of their special talents, so it could be an Ice Stick Dragon, a Snow Nature Dragon, or anything
else in those two categories. Although, as a hybrid, you would not receive the full power from the
type of dragon you are. For instance, if there was a Fire Shadow Dragon, that dragon would not
get full Shadow Dragon powers, and would not get full Fire Dragon powers either. In fact, a Fire
Shadow Dragon might not even have the ability to breath fire.
One of the hundreds of elements are Ice Dragons, which are one of the more common
elements. These dragons have two legs, not four. They can breathe ice out from their mouth, and
shoot icicles from their tail. Their wings hang down from where their arms are, an unusual trait
that only a few species of Ice Dragons have. A specific Ice Dragon is named Icy. She has scales as
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

white as snow, shiny sapphire blue eyes, and has a brave, but also kind, personality. She lives in
an ice mansion, in the arctic continent, Navitee, in the dragon world.
“Bye mom!” Icy the Ice Dragon called out. She was carrying a brown leather satchel, and
was heading out the wooden door.
“Where are you going hon?” Icy's mom asked, sitting on the couch and reading her
favorite book. She and Icy were the only ones in the family, as Icy was only a single egg, and her
mom, Rasinea, was divorced with her husband.
Icy was already a meter outside the front door when she heard her mom’s reply. She
poked her head inside the house again, and hanged on the edge of the door. “Mom, don’t you
remember I have the dragon battles now? Today’s the final and if I'm not there in the next...” Icy
paused to look up at the clock above the hallway. “In the next ten minutes I'm going to be late!
So we gotta get going!”
“Okay, go ahead, I’ll catch up with you,” Rasinea mumbled, still reading her old book.
Icy nodded slightly at her mom’s reply, then jumped up from the ground and flew north
to the fighting stadium. She had mostly already warmed up, and even fought the Lions (The
team she was going to fight) three days ago. She only fought Kangaroo- an Ice Oasis Dragon- but
judging the looks from Rocky and Philipp after the fight, the rest of the team wasn’t that hard to
defeat. But she wouldn’t mind a little bit more practice. So as she flew above the Arctic Forest,
she shot a shard of ice towards a tree and slowed down her pace to see if she hit it correctly. The
tree froze up quickly, and as it did, Icy soared down and kicked the tree down with her feet.
She smiled and congratulated herself after the tree fell to the ground, then looked up at
the foggy sky, and resumed her trip back to the stadium.
After about six more minutes of flying, Icy landed near the stadium. She could already
hear the excited cheers going from inside the stadium, making her feel excited and prepared to
fight.
Icy walked forward and looked up at the two Metal Dragons guarding the entry in.
Dragon battles were a serious sport in her country, and dragons were required to guard the area.
“Identity,” one of the guards ordered, looking down at Icy with his umber brown eyes.
Same as always, Icy reached into her brown leather bag and pulled out her dragon
fighting card. The guard put his talon out, and Icy put her card down on his diamond-hard
talons. He looked at the card, then her, and said to the other guard in the ancient dragon
language, “Shá pêite ãvtie, nả viẽtda.”
The other guard, a shadow gray dragon with an unusually long tail, emerald green eyes
and a red and orange crest nodded his head, and pulled down a level behind him, causing the big
brown doors to open.
The doors opened, and Icy walked in. She took a glance at the guard who pulled the lever
down, and wondered why he spoke only the ancient language. It always seemed… so strange to
her.
Icy looked around the stadium. It was made of banana colored clay, with metal bleachers
rising up ten layers, filled with dragons all across the world. There was a huge ice battlefield,
with hills of snow here and there. There were two barred sections at each side of the battlefield
for the two competing teams (The Hawks and The Lions) to prepare themselves before fighting.
Icy's coach- Blizzard- a glimmering white Snow Dragon that wore a bright red hat,
caught Icy walk in. He hurried to her, and asked in his normal, low voice, “Okay. You know what
moves you’re making, right?”
 Dragons of Wonder
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Icy was mostly distracted by a group of little girls trying to sell bite-sized sugar cookies.
“Uh-huh.”
“You know how to defeat a Pearl Dragon, right?”
As Icy walked past the girls, she quietly snatched a cookie that almost fell onto the floor
and ate it. “Yep. Sure coach,” She answered with a half-full mouth.
“Are you sure about that Icy? I mean, usually Pearl Dragons aren’t too strong, but Shelly
sometimes trains five hours a day,” Blizzard told her, completely ignoring the fact that Icy just
stole a cookie.
“I know,” Icy replied.
“Don’t forget, you have Phillipp and Rocky with you. And I'm sure Rocky would love to
help you, and you two do look kinda cute-”
“Seriously? Those stupid teenage dragons are teasing me enough that I like Rocky, and
now you’re talking about that too? Yeah. There’s no way I’m gonna be with THAT Snowy Lava
Dragon,” Icy interrupted her coach. She walked off to the right section of the battlefield and sat
down on one of the benches, glaring at the Snowy Lava Dragon to the right of her.
Rocky the Snowy Lava Dragon was leaning on some bars behind him. He had dark
cherry red scales and pumpkin orange eyes. His body shape was mostly like a Lava Dragon,
although he had brighter and more pinkish colors than that dark red and black scales that a
Lava Dragon would have.
“So, you good on your own, or do you need help from me?” Rocky asked, looking at the
shiny look on his dark silver claws.
“I'm good on my own, little boy. Now go find another girl to hang out with,” Icy replied,
sorting through her bag. Once she was finished organizing, she stood up and hanged her arms
on the metal bars in front of her, looking at the battlefield she would fight on.
Rocky stopped looking at his claws and walked over to Icy. “But Icy, just think about it.
Would any other dragon even like you? I’m-”
“Sorry, what was that?” Icy interrupted as her face became red with anger.
Rocky fidgeted with his claws. “Um… Would any other dragon even like you?” He
repeated.
“Well, I sure think that nobody else would like you!” She insulted. “Nosy, loud, always
bragging about things that aren’t even true-”
“Excuse me, but when has that ever happened?” Asked Rocky, trying to stay as calm as
possible.
Icy scoffed. “Like you don’t know the answer to that,” She mumbled sarcastically.
“Answer to what?” Philipp asked.
“It doesn’t matter,” Icy replied.
Philipp gasped, covering his mouth with his talons. “Oh. My. Gosh. Are you two breaking
up?!”
“We never even GOT together! How could we break up!?” Icy snapped. She exhaled her
breath, calming herself down. “Listen, Philipp. You may not know this, but me and Rocky-”
“Now we have Icy the Ice Dragon on the battlefield!” The announcer announced,
interrupting their conversation.
Icy breathed in and out calmly, and hesitantly turned her back against Philipp and
opened the metal bar gate to get to the ice battlefield.
 Dragons of Wonder
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“Heh. Girls, am I right?” Icy overheard Philipp say to Rocky. She squeezed her eyes shut
and clenched her fists, then peeked her eyes open and focused on the Pearl Dragon in front of
her.
Shelly the Pearl Dragon came out onto the battlefield. She was a light banana yellow that
was almost white, dull golden underscales and wings, and wore pearl necklaces and bracelets
covering her arms, neck, and wings. She had large horns in the back of her head, and yellow-
orange eyes. Unlike other Pearl Dragons, Shelly was never lazy and trained both day and night.
But even with all that training, Icy could still defeat her easily.
The Pearl Dragon made her move first. She ran up about a foot from Icy and tried to hit
her in the face with her hard scales, but missed just by a inch when Icy ducked under her fists.
Icy turned around and flew behind Shelly. Before Shelly could react, Icy kicked her
down, making her fall face-flat on the ground.
Shelly quickly stood up and tied Icy to the ground with a thick string of pearls, then
continued to make more and more pearls to make sure Icy couldn’t escape.
Icy used her freezing scales to try and break the band of pearls, and within ten seconds,
the pearls had broken. She flew up behind Shelly and grabbed her horns with her feet. She tried
flying up, but was stuck.
Oh my Majesta. She’s heavy, thought Icy as she struggled to pick Shelly off the ground.
After a small moment, Icy finally had the strength to pull Shelly up all the way. She
flapped her wings as hard as she could, and flew up high.
After twenty seconds of flying straight up, Icy dropped Shelly from the sky, no less than
fifteen yards from the ground.
Shelly tried to fight against gravity, beating her small and heavy wings as fast as she
could, but it did little to protect her. After a small second of falling, Shelly fell flat on the ground,
too weakened and hurt to get up. Thankfully her hard scales saved her from getting too hurt.
After five seconds of waiting to see if Shelly could get up, a bell rang and the crowd
cheered as loud as a lion’s roar. “Icy of The Hawks beats Shelly of The Lions with no sweat! One
point for The Hawks!” The announcer exclaimed. “For our next battle, we’ll be seeing Rocky the
Snowy Lava Dragon fight Tiger the Shark Dragon!”
Icy and Shelly walked back to their teams. Icy opened the gate for Rocky to come out,
and as soon as he took a step onto the battlefield, she slammed the gate onto his stomach. “Oh,
what a gentleman. Thank you so much for staying out of the way Rocky,” she thanked. Shelly
was way too easy to defeat, and she didn’t want to let Rocky have all the fun.
Even though some dragons were far away, everyone saw what Icy did to Rocky. “Oh my
Majesta! What a disappointment for Rocky. Looks like he’s going to need to be going to the
doctor!” The announced shouted. “Icy takes Rocky’s place like she just got offered the chance of
winning a trip to Bakalori or breaking an arm!”
Tiger the Shark Dragon came onto the battlefield soon after the announcement. His face
looked surprised– he believed that Icy loved Rocky more than her friends, and was shocked to
see that Icy didn’t care for him at all.
Tiger was a silvery gray Shark Dragon with black talons and spikes. His eyes were shiny
cerulean blue, and his crest was an obsidian black. When he was under the water, he looked like
a blacktip shark, only with bigger scales and spikes along his spine.
Icy quickly ran up to Tiger, her fist up and ready to hit him. She put on a furious face and
acted like she was going to beat him to the bone, but her plan was just to trick him.
 Dragons of Wonder
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Tiger closed his eyes and ducked just as Icy was a foot away from him, making it easier
for Icy to jump over his head and behind him. After two seconds of waiting, Tiger found out he
wasn’t attacked yet and opened his eyes. He stood up straight, then turned around and saw Icy.
“Hello,” Icy greeted with her fist up. Tiger screamed, but before he could run away, Icy
punched him in the face tons of times. After ten hard punches, Tiger had the chance to run
away. He ran to the edge of the battlefield, and he smacked the ground with his fins. The ground
shook, and made Icy loose balance. Suddenly she realized the ground was splitting apart, and
she was right in the middle of where it was. She looked between her legs and saw icy cold water.
Quickly, she ran to the right of the freezing cold water, and tried balancing herself.
“The split ground attack! Haven’t seen one of those attacks in a while, especially because
only Shark Dragons are that good at splitting the ground!” The announcer exclaimed while
everyone gasped in amazement.
Tiger chuckled, jumped into the air, and turned into his shark transformation. He landed
in the icy cold water, and swam under the ground. Icy froze the water, hoping that Tiger would
get stuck in the ice, but every time Icy tried to get the whole ground frozen, Tiger jumped out of
the water and broke the ice.
Icy saw this trick she was trying to do was not working. She finally got an idea into her
head. She would freeze the ground again, and when Tiger’s body was halfway into the water,
she’d freeze the water once more to get Tiger stuck in the ice.
First time, it didn’t work.
But second time, Tiger still didn’t see her trick, and he was stuck in the ice.
“Tiger the Shark Dragon is beat! Medical dragons will have to heat up the ice, and save
Tiger! Luckily he’s a Shark Dragon, and he’s able to hold his breath for only a little less than an
hour!” The excited announcer bellowed. “And now we have, drumroll please, Philipp the Light
Dragon, against the Lava Dragon, Ash!”
Icy started to walk out of the battlefield, but then thought about Icy’s last battle with Ash
a couple weeks ago. She fought him for only a minute, then she’d got burned by a puddle of his
lava and broke her wing. She hated not being able to fly, and she didn’t want to walk off and let
Philipp fight Ash when she wanted her revenge. She thought up an idea and shouted, “Philipp’s
sick!”
“Hmm?” The announcer asked.
“Philipp’s sick! He just came here to watch us fight!” She yelled again.
“Are you sure? Do you have any other dragons in The Hawks to help you fight?” The
announcer questioned.
She quickly thought up an excuse. “Um, no, we don’t. The rest of our team is on vacation,
and Philipp just got sick this morning.” Icy looked over at Philipp, and was glad to see that he
wasn’t really paying attention.
The announcer sighed. “That’s too bad. How sick is he?”
Icy smiled. “He has a really bad cold. He’s sneezing, coughing, and he’s very cold,” She
lied.
Philipp finally heard and ran over to Icy, sprinting faster than a cheetah catching prey. “I
am not sick! I want to fight! I’m not weak!”
Icy created a little ice bump on the ground so Philipp would trip. He tripped, but quickly
got up and ran again to Icy. “Aw see? He’s so sick, he can barely run,” Icy told the announcer.
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

“Well, we haven’t heard him sneeze or cough,” one of the cameramen pointed out,
putting their microphone to their mouth.
Icy smiled a big, fake smile. “Right,” she said in the big smile. Icy reached down and
grabbed an owl feather with tons of bird dust. “Oh, what a nice feather,” She observed. She
threw it at Philipp. “Oh no, I dropped it,” She said as Philipp started to cough.
“Well, to be fair Icy, we haven’t seen him get cold, or sneeze so we don’t know for sure.”
everyone focused on Icy when the cameraman said that.
Icy laughed. “Oh, cold? Why else do you think he’s wearing a jacket? It’s summer for
crying out loud!” She took a few steps to the right. “But, you know, his cold is super contagious,
we should take a step away.”
Icy started looking for a flower, because if she knew one thing about Philipp, it was that
he was super allergic to pollen.
After a few moments, she saw some flowers a few meters away. “Oh, look at these
BEAUTIFUL flowers! I bet this would make Philipp’s day.”
Icy started making her way back to Philipp, and put her talon on his shoulder. “Hey
awesome friend! I’ve got some flowers for you! Smell them! They’re SO nice,” She snickered,
leaning the flowers closer to him.
Once the pollen was a foot away from Philipp, he was sneezing. And he was sneezing a
lot. “Okay! Maybe, achoo! I’ll cut off this dragon battle,” Philipp mumbled in a stuffy nose.
“Well Icy! It's seems you are right! Philipp is sick, and Rocky just got his stomach upset!
You are on your own for the last summer day’s dragon battle!”
Yes! Icy thought. She was going to be the first one ever to fight all dragons alone, without
even the smallest bit of help. How cool would THAT be to beat everyone, alone?
“And Ash against Icy! Round two I guess. Last time Icy fought Ash she broke her wing,
and couldn’t fly for a week!”
Ash. A Lava Dragon. He had dark red scales, with some brown scales to make small circle
patterns on his body. He had dark yellow underscales, and had dark gray horns. With a lot of
colors, just darker, a lot of dragons call him Ash the dark lord. Ash also had the powers to spit
lava from his mouth, and was able to swim in lava just like swimming in water.
Ash made his move first. He flew up and made the ground all of lava, except the icebergs
that would melt quickly.
Icy flew up shortly after Ash made the ground all lava and watched all the ice melt. She
looked up at Ash, who was coming closer to her.
Ash’s claws were like a cat’s, so he can make his claws extend, so he went and had a claw
fight with Icy. Icy, though, was using all her arm power to flap her wings, so all she was doing
was ducking and flying away. After a minute of doing this, Ash hit her head and made Icy faint.
She fell on a small rock Ash had made when he turned the icy ground to a pool of lava.
Only a few seconds had passed by when Icy had fainted, and Ash was slowly flying
toward Icy to finish the battle. Icy started to wake up. She saw a blur of dark red scales and dark
yellow underscales, and she woke up completely knowing it was Ash. She flew up and tried
changing the ground to ice, so Icy can walk on the ground and not have to waste her wing power
when she could have been using her ice.
When Icy made a slice of ice with her talons, Ash spit out some lava so the ice wouldn’t
reach the lava he had previously made, as he knew the rule. Fire beats ice, but water beats fire.
And lava was the same rule as fire. (lava beats ice, but water beats lava.)
 Dragons of Wonder
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When Ash did this, he looked scared. Icy had no idea why, because she didn’t know the
rule, and she didn’t know too much ice is Ash’s weakness. But it only took her a second to figure
the rule out, and she made a slice of ice shooting behind Ash. Ash looked back in surprise,
because Icy was first in her class for aim. But what he didn’t realize is that Icy was just trying to
distract him from her plan, changing the lava to ice.
Ash was watching the slice of ice to where it hit a faraway tree. He looked back at Icy, and
since the water and the lava made obsidian, Ash was so surprised Icy could change lava to rock
so quietly, and so fast.
The battle was not over though.
Icy flew down to the ground, and tried freezing up Ash’s arms, legs, wings and tail to the
ground. But Ash’s talons and scales were so hot that in less than two seconds the ice was already
melted into water, and the water was evaporating into the thick, cold air. Icy didn’t have a plan
for doing this, she was just hoping Ash would sometime give up and Icy would win, but it didn’t
look like it. He just kept melting the ice.
After a minute or two of the freeze, melt, and evaporating operation, Icy thought up an
idea when it took a little longer for Ash’s scales to melt the ice. She finally figured out, too much
ice was Ash’s weakness. So Icy put more ice on Ash’s talon than usual. And when she saw water
droplets on the ice, she put another layer.
Ash started to see what Icy was doing. He used his other talon and his tail to heat up the
ice. The ice was melting rapidly.
Icy noticed quickly, and she put a layer of ice on both his talons and his tail. Now Ash
had the choice of trying to lift up the ice and breaking it, or putting his legs on the ice.
“Da da dee dee do do COOKIES! COOKIES! Da da dee dee do do COOKIES! COOKIES!”
Some young Snow Dragons were chanting. They were dancing in front of the whole show, which
distracted Icy from fighting. It seemed like some dragons were more interested in some cookies
than the whole point everyone was there.
When the girls quieted down, Ash had already done his plan, and was breaking free from
ice. Icy looked back, realized Ash was not there, and saw him at a wall breaking the remains of
the ice. Ash then flew into the air, and tried making a puddle of lava around Icy. Icy almost
stepped forward and almost died by splashing into the lava, but quickly caught herself by
swinging her arms backwards.
Icy tried making an ice shield around herself to block any sudden moves from Ash, but
she failed. The heat from the puddle of lava was melting the ice so fast, that Icy didn’t even try
once more after the first attempt.
Finally Icy had an idea pop inside her brain.
Icy plucked a feather from a snowy owl flying above the battlefield. Then Icy flew to the
back of Ash so fast that to some dragons, it looked like her life depended on it.
Icy flew so fast that Ash didn’t even know where she was anymore. Suddenly Ash felt a
light feather on his back. He quickly turned around, but saw no one there. Again he felt the light
feather. He turned around again, and still saw nobody. Finally he felt the feather once more,
turned around and saw Icy looking straight at him, holding the feather to right at her shoulder.
“Oh, hi Ash, how was your day?” Icy asked politely, and then tickled the feather at his
stomach.
 Dragons of Wonder
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Because Ash wasn’t ticklish, he just got mad. He spit burning lava from his mouth all
over the ice battlefield, which also made small rocks, but big enough for one full grown dragon
to stand stable on.
Icy flew down to one of the small rocks and reasoned, “Come on Ash, I know you can
swim in lava, and I can’t even see you down there! Come and get me!”
Ash roared, and dived into the lava with a spin, and just before he splashed the lava onto
Icy, Icy flew up and looked for any movements in the lava.
Icy saw a movement in the lava as Ash swam up to get air. She created a ice that covered
the whole battlefield and turned it into obsidian, leaving Ash’s lower body stuck in the obsidian.
He tried to move and escape, but after a few seconds of struggling, he gave up. Icy had won.
After a few seconds of waiting to see if Ash actually could escape, the crowd went wild
cheering for Icy. The dragons were clapping like a hurricane, for Icy was the first dragon in a
long time to have beat everyone on the other team, alone.
After about ten minutes of cheering, clapping and whistling, Icy's mom pushed through
the crowd holding Icy in the air to go home. A while later, when Rasinea met up with Icy and the
crowd mostly cleared up, Rasinea and Icy started a walk home.
Rasinea pat Icy on the back. “You fought well today,” She commented. “I mean- I only
saw you finish up Ash, but you did good.”
Icy laughed a little. “Thanks mom,” She replied, looking down at the silver trophy in her
talons.
She smiled. There was a long pause, then Rasinea spoke up and asked, “So, school starts
again tomorrow. You ready to start High school?”
“Not really. High school is terrible,” Icy replied.
Rasinea sighed and questioned, “How do you know that? You’ve never been to high
school. High school is where I met your father.”
“Mom, do you ever remember that you got divorced with him? And- and I don’t want to
be with that jerk there.”
Rasinea thought about it for a moment, then asked, “Ash? I know he broke your wing a
week ago, but I thought you were still good friends.”
Icy stared at her mom blankly for a moment, then said, “No, that- that Rocky! He’s like,
so into me, and he has this HUGE crush on me and I don’t like that at all. And he doesn't even
realize it.”
“Rocky? The Snowy Lava Dragon? I got to admit, he is a little weird for calling himself a
‘Snowy’ Lava Dragon instead of just Snow Lava, but you might like him someday.”
“Whatever.”
After a ten minute walk home of mostly silence, Icy and Rasinea arrived home. Icy
walked inside the house and put her trophy by the TV for everyone to see, then plopped herself
on the couch, picking up her favorite book from the coffee table.
Rasiena laid her purse on the front table and packed up some amethysts. Amethysts were
the currency in Ermana. Each amethyst was only about one inch long, and were cut in different
ways to show how much each amethyst was worth. Some of you people might ask why a different
shape of an amethyst makes a difference, while dragons will ask why writing a twenty or a one
on a piece of paper makes a difference.
 Dragons of Wonder
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Each amethyst is shaped in the Palace of Light. Deep in a secret room that only the royal
family has access to hides a machine that cuts the amethysts. No other money amethyst in the
world was made outside of that room.
You could tell the difference from a money amethyst and a normal amethyst because of
the core. An amethyst used for money had a diamond shaped stone in the center, while any
other ordinary amethyst doesn’t have the stone. The stone is put inside the amethyst when the
amethyst goes through the machine in the Palace of Light, but how the stone gets inside the
amethyst is a mystery to everyone. Some dragons say it was a gift from Queen Majesta, others
say it was an act of magic. Whatever it was didn’t matter– dragons had their money and could
tell a difference from them.
When Rasiena got enough amethysts in her bag, she told Icy, “I'm going out for about
two hours. Stay here, play video games, go to your friend’s house, whatever you want to do,
and... Oh, also check the mail sometime won’t you?”
“Okay mom,” Icy replied, closing the book and laying it back on the coffee table.
Rasinea walked outside the door, and spread her wings out, ready to fly. Icy watched her
take off, until Rasinea went out of sight. Then Icy skipped up her ice crystal stairs to the third
story, and across the hallway into her bedroom. Icy jumped onto her white bed, found her
remote and turned on her TV.
Icy channel flipped for a few moments, watching a little bit of this and a little bit of that.
She finally stopped at channel seven and watched a show about life in Ruéfal. It wasn’t the most
interesting thing, but since TV’s were only a decade old and there was usually only nine or ten
channels (Most of them about news or history), this was entertaining enough for her.
When the program finished, only eight minutes went by. She turned off the TV, walked
down to the second floor and looked at their room of books. Icy pulled out a blue leather book
titled Acid Claw. Icy had read it a few times– it was about a Rainforest Dragon named Acid Claw
in the ancient times. She trained to be a warrior in Warkana, then near the end Acid Claw
realized Warkana was using her for bad things, then she rebelled against them. It was a good
book, she Icy enjoyed it, and it was better than watching a program about Ruéfal.
Icy brought the book back upstairs to her room and started reading. She read two
chapters, then remembered her mom saying, check the mail sometime won’t you? So Icy
skipped down the stairs and opened the front door to get the mail.
Icy grabbed the letters from the mailbox and walked inside. Icy sat on a wooden chair in
the kitchen and threw the mail on the table. “Let’s see here,” Icy muttered to herself. “News,
news, news, news, house bill, um, some business letter not for me, and, junk mail. Nothing for
me.” Icy set the business letter and the house bill on the table for her mom, then grabbed the
rest of the mail and tossed them into the recycling bin.
A letter hidden inside one of the newspapers slipped out and gently landed on Icy's tail.
Icy flung her head backward, thinking some random dragon might have touched her, but she
only saw a letter softly falling to the floor. Icy turned around completely and cocked her head in
confusion.
The letter had something written in cursive saying:

Icy Lakita
 Dragons of Wonder
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Icy leaned down to the ground, and picked up the letter carefully. Icy Lakita. Her name.
Icy looked at the letter, still not opening it, and walked up the stairs, having full concentration
on the letter. It had paper harder than usual, and it had a red ribbon tied around it. The letter
looked as if it was kind of old, and the color of the envelope wasn’t pure white as it usually was.
It had kind of a tanish color instead. The letter also had red wax in the middle, and the wax had
a stamp saying Dragons of Wonder, something Icy had never heard of before.
Icy had so much concentration on the letter that she didn’t know where exactly she was.
“Dragons of Won-” she was cut off, bumping her head onto the hard icy wall. “Ow,” Icy blurted
as she rubbed her talon on her head. Icy held the letter by her side, and opened her bedroom
door.
Icy slowly walked into her room, as if the room was dark and she couldn’t see. Then she
dropped herself on her bed, lifted her legs to the end of her bed, and leaned on the wall behind
her. Icy gently opened the letter. It read:

Dear Icy Lakita,

You are a very special Ice Dragon.Over the past fourteen and a half years I have been
watching your bravery and intelligence in school and in everyday life. You should be proud
of your talent, and so am I. That is why me and our fellow teachers have invited you to
the school Dragons of Wonder.
Our sky teacher, Professor Storm will meet you and your future classmates at the coast of
the Arctic Forest on September Ninth. Please remember to bring a few empty notebooks
and/or blank pieces of paper. I hope you accept this invitation and meet me in Dragons of
Wonder.

Sincerely, Queen Akcrista and King Dansher

“Queen Akcrista?! King Dansher?!” Shouted Icy. How on earth could I have gotten a
letter from the Queen and King of Ermana? She read the letter twice, to make sure she knew
and understood everything. Mom never talked about Dragons of Wonder… and she usually
talks about every school she goes to. Icy jumped off her bed and hurried to her mother’s room.
Rasinea was a teacher that travelled all around the world to teach middle school and high school
students, so she had a list of all the middle schools and high schools in the world. Icy hoped
Dragons of Wonder would be on the list.
She walked up to Rasinea’s desk and opened up a drawer, then lifted the list of schools
and laid it flat on the desk, then read all the ‘D’s on the paper. Dandelion Middle School, Dazzle
High, Diamond Art School, Dove High School, Dragons of the Sea, DTMS- wait, where’s
Dragons of Wonder? Icy thought. She reread the list again, to make sure she didn’t miss out on
anything, but it wasn’t there.
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

Icy searched the desk for more papers, but whatever she found didn’t have the name
Dragons of Wonder on it. Where could it be? She thought.
Icy let out a big yawn, and felt her eyelids get heavy. She was up until midnight training
for the dragon battles, and fighting three dragons in a row was hard. Icy dragged herself down
the hallway and plopped herself on the bed. After a minute or two of the silence of the world
around her, she fell asleep.

* * *

Wake up Icy, an unfamiliar voice ordered. You need to wake up now. Icy gently lifted
her eyes open, and realized she was in a dream. The queen of the world, Queen Akcrista, was
sitting on a stool beside her bed, and was gently pushing on her. When Icy sat up, Queen
Akcrista disappeared like a whoosh of wind blowing a pile of sand away.
Everything in her room appeared to be blown away like sand, and when it was done, she
saw herself laughing and talking to King Dansher, then he started rubbing his back, almost like a
spider had bit him.
Then Icy saw herself blowing ice, and a lot of it. She did an attack she had never even
thought about doing, then everything went black. It took a few seconds for the blackness to fade
into a scene, but when it did, Icy saw herself bruised and scratched. Her left wing was broken,
and her horns were cracked.
Icy shot up from her dream. She was gasping for air like she almost fell off a cliff. Icy
gulped in her spit, and got up from her bed. She took a deep breath while closing her eyes, and
breathed everything out. What a weird dream.
Once Icy was fully calm and relaxed, she heard the doorbell ring. She quickly ran
downstairs to get the door.
It was Rasinea, her mom. Rasinea smiled and walked inside, putting her bag down on
the front table. “I’ve been asked to teach near the Crystal Desert Caverns at a big city called
Juníl. Ever heard of it?”
Icy shook her head. “I haven’t heard of Juníl, but the Crystal Desert Caverns is where
they mine all the amethysts, right?”
“Niáll has a couple of amethysts there as well, but for the most part, yes. Juníl is just a
little north to the Crystal Desert Caverns. I’m thinking about taking a vacation to the Crystal
Desert Caverns at the end of the year,” said Rasinea.
“That’s cool,” Icy replied. She quickly remembered about the letter before Rasinea began
to talk again. “Mom, do you happen to know about the school called Dragons of Wonder?”
Rasinea turned around and looked at Icy. “Yes, but, where exactly did you hear it from?”
“Well, when you told me to check the mail, I got a letter from Queen Akcrista and King
Dansher.”
Rasinea gasped. “Queen Akcrista and King Dansher?!” She yelled. “Bring me the letter!”
Icy didn’t entirely know if her mother was angry, excited, or scared. She sounded excited,
looked scared, but spoke in almost a furiously way. Whatever emotion she was holding, Icy
didn’t care. She quickly ran upstairs and grabbed the letter from her bed, then ran downstairs
and gave the letter to Rasinea.
Rasinea looked at the letter closely, then dropped the letter and started hopping up and
down. “Icy! Dragons of Wonder is the best school you could ever get into! Only the most bravest,
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

smartest, and most special dragons get to experience the wonderful life there!” Rasinea
exclaimed. She hugged Icy tighter than ever. “I’m so proud of you!” She squealed.
When Rasinea and Icy were done hugging, Icy asked, “How come it’s not on the list of
schools then?”
“It’s a very protected school. If it were to be on any random list, then all the kids in the
world would be begging to be in Dragons of Wonder,” Rasinea answered.
“Wait, then how come you know about it? Did you ever get to go to Dragons of Wonder?”
Rasinea shook her head and smiled. “No, dear. I went to any old high school and college.
But everyone learns about it on the first week of high school.”
“But why?” Icy asked. “Why isn’t it kept secret forever?”
“Because of this exact reason. For the parents to help and assist the next generation,” She
explained. “Now, we can’t just celebrate this amazing day on our own, can we?” Rasinea asked.
“Let’s put on a party tonight for you.”

* * *

Later that day, a good friend of Icy’s came over to her house a quarter after six. Her name
was Rebecca; a white Snow Dragon with a light blush pink crest. Her eyes was a sapphire blue,
and her horns were as white as a field of cotton. “Hey, Icy!” Rebecca greeted after Icy opened the
door. “Congrats!”
Icy smiled. “Yeah, thanks!” She replied. “Dinner’s ready. Why don’t you grab a plate and
start eating? Everyone else will come over soon.”
“Okay, see you later!” Rebecca waved as she skipped to the hallway and into the kitchen.
As soon as Rebecca left, another knock on the door came. Icy opened the door, and was
shocked to see Shelly, Ash and Tiger.
Shelly was the first one to speak. “Icy! Wow! This must be amazing to be invited to a
school like Dragons of Wonder,” She congratulated.
“Um… Yeah…” Tiger agreed slowly.
Icy looked at the three dragons for a moment, none of them saying a word. Finally Icy
spoke up and told them, “Okay, well, the kitchen’s right behind me, so why don’t you all grab a
plate and you can eat?”
Tiger nodded quickly. “Okay, we’ll go ahead. Thanks Icy!” He said, pushing Shelly and
Ash toward the kitchen.
Ash turned his head back at Icy and backed out from his group of friends. He walked
toward Icy and asked, “How’s your head?”
Icy was confused for a second, then remembered he had hit her on the head earlier that
day. “Oh, um, yeah it’s fine. Thanks Ash,” She replied with a smile. Even though Ash had broken
her wing and had fought Icy many times, they were both good friends.
“That’s good,” Ash commented. “Well, congratulations on making Dragons of Wonder.”
He smiled at Icy, then hurried to his friends and made his way to the kitchen.
Once all of Icy’s friends came, she headed over to the kitchen to meet up with her friends.
But, as she was halfway through the hallway, she heard another knock on the door. Everyone I
invited is here, so who could be knocking on the door? Icy wondered. She quickly ran back to
the front room and peeked the door open.
And Icy's jaw dropped.
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

Right in front of her face, stood Rocky the Snowy Lava Dragon. Hesitantly, Icy opened
the door all the way so Rocky could come inside. She let out a breathy sigh and said, “Come in.”
Rocky wiped his filthy talons on the outside doormat and stepped inside. “Good job Icy!
This must be the best day of your life! You defeated all three of The Lions, you got a shiny silver
trophy, and you got into the best school ever!”
“You’re right Rocky! And guess what? You ruined it!” She exclaimed sarcastically. Icy
turned around and started walking to the kitchen.
Rocky completely ignored her, like he was fully deaf and blind for a moment. “Come on!
Give me a hug.”
Icy swung around putting a fist up.
“Uh…” Rocky mumbled nervously. “Just a high-five?” He questioned.
Icy let loose of her fist and raised her talon up. “Fine. But no more.”
Rocky grinned and lunged forward, aiming for Icy’s talon, but missed by a landslide
when Icy took a step backward and put her talon back down, leaving Rocky to fall face-flat on
the floor.
“Wow. Seriously?” Icy questioned. “May I ask how you got into dragon battles again?”
Just then, Rasinea came up to them and saw what was going on. “Icy! Be a friend and
lend Rocky a talon.”
Icy turned around and looked at her mom. “But-”
“No excuses! Now, help him.”
Icy waited until Rasinea went back into the kitchen to cook more food for her hungry
friends, then looked back at Rocky and said, “You can help yourself up, and you better do it soon
or I’ll freeze your head.”
Rocky immediately stood up from the floor, and followed Icy to the kitchen.
Icy immediately cheered up when she noticed her cousin Moonlight. Moonlight was a
very unique hybrid of a Ice Night Dragon; as Night Dragons and Ice Dragons were never really
fond of each other. Her body shape was mostly like an Ice Dragon, but her wings and arms were
like a Moon Dragons’. She had black scales with light blue eyes, and had a shiny white and blue
crest, like a polished sapphire in the snow. She was four years older than Icy, and like a Night
Dragon, Moonlight had many secrets that she dared not to share with anyone.
“Icy! It’s so good to see you!” Moonlight exclaimed as she walked towards her cousin. “I
mean, how long has it been? Three years?”
Moonlight and Icy joined in a hug. “Two and a half I think,” Icy corrected once they were
done hugging. “How’s life in Niáll? Fun? Scary?”
Moonlight smiled and laughed. “It’s amazing! There are tons of caves there, lots of
books, and my Majesta, it has a lot of history!”
“That’s cool. Hopefully the hatred of Ice and Night Dragons will calm down soon so I
could go,” She commented. “Is it weird being back in Navitee?”
Moonlight nodded her head. “Definitely. It has so much snow! Like, it’s September, there
should not be this much snow already!”
Icy laughed. “Well, it’s all I know, since I’ve never been anywhere other than Navitee,”
She said. “Mind joining me and my friends?”
“Maybe later. I want to talk with that other hybrid,” Moonlight replied, pointing at
Rocky.
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

“Oh, sure. Talk with him as long as you want,” Icy responded, hoping Moonlight would
keep Rocky away from her. “Well, I’m going to talk with my friends. Talk to you later!” She
called as she caught up to her three of her friends; Snowflake, Shirree and Rebecca. She took a
plate from the table and sat down with her friends, scooping up a large spoonful of various fruits
and berries.
“Wow Icy, this must be really great for you! My mom talked about Dragons of Wonder
today and said it is the best school you could ever get,” Snowflake congratulated. Snowflake was
a white Icicle Dragon with a shiny arctic blue crest and diamond blue eyes.
“Yeah, everyone’s saying that,” Icy replied as she poured herself a glass of juice. “Did you
get into the school?” She questioned.
Snowflake shook her head and slouched her back. “Sadly… no. I think it’s partly because
I’m not very strong, and I have a hard time using my powers. But you know… congratulations to
you!” She exclaimed quietly.
“Hey, you can’t be too upset, I didn’t get in either,” Shirree the Ice Dragon said. “But hey,
this must be the best day of your life, right? You defeated all three of The Lions today!”
“Yeah, it is! Don’t forget to mention that my cousin is here,” Icy mentioned.
“Oh, Moonlight is your cousin?” Shirree asked.
Icy looked up at Shirree once she was done eating a bite of her bread and butter. “You
talked to her?”
Shirree nodded. “She’s super nice. You’re lucky to have a cousin like that.”
Icy smiled. “Thanks.” Her gaze shifted to Rebecca. “Now, let me guess- you got in?” She
asked Rebecca. Icy thought she got in because Rebecca was very friendly, social, and a quick
learner.
Rebecca straightened her back and grinned. “You guessed right!”
“That’s good. Now I have someone I know to go with me to Dragons of Wonder.”
For hours, Icy and all her friends and family feasted, chatted, danced and partied hard
until nightfall and later. They played games, flew across the night sky, sang their favorite songs,
and so much more, as if it was a royal’s birthday.
Icy had never had so much fun, so much excitement, and so little energy after the party.
She tried to help clean up, but got too tired after one minute of helping. Icy dragged herself up
the stairs and drifted off to sleep within minutes.
That night her dreams was of how wonderful Dragons of Wonder might be, and how
beautiful the green forest continent Shera would look like. Nothing could stop Icy’s eagerness to
go to Dragons of Wonder.
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

Chapter 2
Evil King

Today was the day. The day Icy was going to fly the longest distance she was ever going to fly.
She and hundreds of other dragons were heading to the school Dragons of Wonder. Parents and
friends (who did not get to do to Dragons of Wonder) were waving and saying their goodbyes.
Hugs and kisses, waves and smiles, goodbyes and farewells. Tears of both happiness and
sadness fell from everyone’s eyes.
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

Finally, a red Sky Dragon came flying down from the white puffy clouds in the sky. He
soared down from the sky at an incredibly fast speed- much faster than any dragon Icy had seen
before. She knew that Sky Dragons were fast- but she never thought that they were that fast.
Already, without leaving Navitee, she was learning new things about the world.
When the Sky Dragon landed, a bunch of dragons older than Icy started to yell and cheer
for him. “Professor Storm! Professor Storm!” They all shouted.
He looks like a nice teacher, thought Icy as she watched the dragons jump up and down.
She turned backward and looked at Rasinea and Moonlight. They came with Icy to say their last
goodbyes and help Icy.
Moonlight pointed behind Icy. “Look- a Whirlpool Dragon,” She pointed out.
Behind her, a chained Whirlpool Dragon rose above the water. Whirlpool Dragons were
the only undomesticated dragons on all of Ermana, and was hardly even a dragon at all. They
couldn’t fly, even though they had giant wings on their sides. Their wings were used as fins, and
to create whirlpools in the oceans and seas. They were dangerous, but were extremely useful
when trained.
Icy faced back to her cousin. “Wow. They’re so strange.”
Moonlight nodded and chuckled.
Rasenia tried to smile, but tears kept falling from her eyes. She handed Icy her leather
bag and hugged her for a few seconds, then told her, “I packed up fruits and vegetables for your
flight, and also two heart-cut amethysts if you need it. Don’t spend it all on junk food though,
okay? There’s a few history books in there, a drawing pad, paint, paintbrushes, pencils, and
some notebooks for school. Just... promise me one thing okay?”
“Anything mom.”
“Promise me you’ll be safe. Don’t let anybody hurt you, don’t get involved in anything
bad or risky, and please tell me if you’re having problems. Dragons of Wonder is only four hours
away from Juníl, so please tell me if you need any help. I’m your mother. Please tell me
everything that’s going on.”
Rebecca tugged on Icy’s arm. “Thank you Mrs. Lakita, but we have to go now. Bye!”
Rasenia, Icy and Moonlight took in a big hug. “I’ll miss you, mom. You too, Moonlight.”
“Icy! Come on, we have to go before the professor takes off!” Rebecca demanded.
The three of them let go and smiled. “Goodbye. I promise to write to both of you every
week.”
Icy left her family and joined Rebecca and the rest of the group with the professor.
Everyone spread their wings out, jumped into the air, and started flying to their new future.

* * *

Icy's wings were sore after a couple of hours of flying. Unlike other dragons with big
wings meant for flying, Icy couldn’t last too long. The group often had to stop to rest their wings,
making the six and a half hour flight seven hours.
But despite her sore wings, the beautiful sights she saw along the way were the most
amazing things she had ever seen. Icy had never even been outside of her continent, Navitee.
Green grass, jungle trees, and plants of all sorts of colors and kinds. All Icy had ever seen was
white, silver, and light blue colors. But the colors she saw were practically blinding her. And not
just the jungle was beautiful, but the dragons, too. Rainforest Dragons were her favorite; they
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

had green, red, yellow, blue, orange, and so many other colors that Icy didn’t even know were
real. Herds of dragons were flying everywhere, some to visit family and friends, some to Dragons
of Wonder.
When Icy saw how big the world really was, she felt like she had been kept a prisoner for
many years. It seemed the other dragons had freedom to go anywhere. And the wonders of the
world made Icy’s wings strong as ever.
Icy heard someone yelling in the distance, but she was too distracted to even understand
what the dragon said. The dragon yelled again, but Icy was still too distracted to hear. A bunch
of dragons were now shouting and poking at Icy, as if she were slime. Everyone was now saying
‘Icy!’ or, ‘Ermana to Icy,’ and Icy finally understood what dragons were saying. She turned her
head behind her, and demanded, “What?! What what what what what?!”
“We’re here,” an Icicle Dragon replied, looking directly forward. Icy looked at him for a
second, confused, and thought he was staring off into space. She looked over at where the Icicle
Dragon was looking, and her jaw dropped in surprise. They were less than a mile away from
Dragons of Wonder.
The school was huge. It was a whole castle made of ancient umber-colored bricks,
surrounded by the beautiful green rainforest. On the opposite side of the castle was a beach full
of colorful birds and clean sand. The water was a beautiful blue, and was so clear you could see
the fish and coral below the water. The bright, burning sun made the whole scene shine, and
made the castle look bigger and shinier. Everything was so wonderful Icy didn’t know how on all
of Ermana anyone could finish exploring all of it.
Icy and her group locked their wings and circled around the castle for a few minutes so
everyone could see all that was there. Icy was tempted to swirl down and swim in the beautiful
ocean, but she knew it would have to wait.
Once Icy’s group made it down to the ground, all of the dragons gasped at what dragon
was in front of them. Queen Akcrista, the queen of the world, stood right before their eyes. Soon,
the whole group was bowing.
“Thank you,” the queen spoke in her normal, soft and sweet voice. The queen looked
almost like a Rainforest Dragon; she had shamrock green scales, bright yellow underscales, and
a rosy red crest that shone like a ruby in the sun. Her orange eyes sparkled, and faint colorful
patterns of flowers and vines were printed on her green scales. She wore silver earrings and a
gold and ruby necklace. She didn’t wear a crown or a tiara; but a silver head necklace covered
the top of her head and her horns.
Both the queen and the king had every power and element inside of them. Fire, water,
ice, night, light, warrior… everything. Queen Akcrista was born that way (since she was the
daughter of Queen Majesta), but King Dansher started out as an ordinary Rainforest Dragon. He
was given all the elements and powers as soon as he was married to Queen Akcrista.
King Dansher came out from behind a door and stepped up next to the queen. He had
green scales with dark blue circles placed on his sides; like sapphires placed on a straight line on
a fresh field of grass. His sulfur yellow eyes looked kindly at the group of dragons in front of
him, and a warm smile laid kindly on his face.
“Welcome to Dragons of Wonder,” the king started. “Our servants will gladly-” Before the
king could finish his sentence, about twenty servants burst through the castle doors and took a
dragon’s talon.
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

The servants were dwarf dragons, all of them wearing a colorful scarfs around their
necks and lots of jewelry. Their talons and ears were covered in rings and earrings- each of them
like a new princess or queen.
As Icy’s servant opened the castle doors and led her into the castle, Icy saw hundreds of
servants. Holding the dragons talons, they were walking all over the castle, showing the dragons
to their rooms, where they would eat, places they could go in their free time, and places they
shouldn’t go.
“Hello young girl. What is your name?” Icy’s servant asked her, looking up to see Icy’s
face.
“Icy,” she replied with a warm smile. “Yours?”
The servant beamed with excitement. “Xelexia,” she answered. “Come, Icy, let me show
you the way to the cafeteria.”
Icy followed Xelexia until they had to stop at a crowd of dragons. Dragons were stepping
over each other, flying, and pushing others to see the cafeteria.
“Um. Well, that is the cafeteria, but as you see, it is too crowded to go inside,” She
pointed out. “Let me show you to the garden. Wonderful place it is.”
Soon after Xelexia had shown Icy around the castle, they started to walk to a place full of
dragons about her age. Icy and Xelexia walked up a spiral staircase to the third floor and the
fourth room. Xelexia opened the door, and handed Icy a silver key. “Here is your room,” Xelexia
announced. “Hope to see you again!” Xelexia closed the door carefully, leaving Icy alone in
peace.
Icy's room had a spruce wood floor, and an orange carpet with fire styled outlines. To the
left side of the room was her bed, which was covered in an orange blanket with fire styled
patterns on the edges.
To the other side of her room was a bathroom. It looked the same as any old bathroom,
except this one had gems encrusted on the sink, shower, and everywhere else. Icy walked into
the room a little more. The wall behind the bathroom had open space and a desk for her to work
on.
Her window had a nice view of the beach and the crystal clear ocean. She wanted to
explore, but her wings were too sore and tired to do anything. She walked over to her soft bed
and drifted off into sleep.

* * *

A couple hours later, when Icy was fully rested and awake from her nap, the sun had just
slipped under the horizon. She got up to look out the window, but as soon as she lifted herself up
from the bed someone knocked on the door.
Icy walked over to her door and opened it. A Lightning Dragon with rare, golden scales
and black underscales stood there. He looked up at Icy and said, “Dinner’s ready.” He then
turned around and knocked on the room next to her.
She wondered who the dragon was at first, then noticed that everyone in the entire
school was running downstairs and into the cafeteria. Icy skipped out of her room and followed
the other dragons.
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

Suddenly Icy found herself in a giant room, with the walls painted gold and ten columns
of tables lined across the huge room. Each table was full of all sorts of diverse dragons, all of
them talking kindly and feasting on the delicious meals in front of them.
While Icy’s head was moving around the room, she noticed Rebecca waving at her to get
her attention. She quickly hurried to her and sat down.
A couple of the cafeteria dragons came to her table and filled up the dragons’ glasses with
cold water. Icy thanked the cafeteria dragons and drank some of the cold water. “So,” she started
after she took a sip of water. “what did you think of the fly here?”
Rebecca slurped up some noodles and swallowed. “Amazing. The rainforest is
wonderful. The ocean is wonderful. Everything was wonderful! I know I’ve seen rainforests on
the news and on pictures, but it is so much more beautiful in real life!”
After a whole hour and a half of talking and feasting, King Dansher came to Icy’s table
and put his talons on Icy’s shoulder’s and an Icicle Dragon’s shoulders. Everyone looked up and
smiled in amazement.
“King Dansher! Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my!” Rebecca screeched when she noticed
the king of the world.
King Dansher smiled and sat down between Icy and the Icicle Dragon. Everyone smiled
and laughed a little. “Thought I'd take a seat with you,” King Dansher said, putting the tips of his
fingers on the table. The king was twice as bigger as the other dragons, but he was the king of the
world, so when the king took up some space, Icy didn’t mind.

Back in the galaxy. Just out of Ermana’s atmosphere. Queen Majesta looked down at
King Dansher with hatred. The clock was ticking. It was nine fifty nine and thirty seconds. It
would take three seconds to get the arrow down to Ermana and hit the dragon king. Now was
the day. The king would turn evil.
Queen Majesta lifted the bow and continued to look down at King Dansher. She couldn’t
wait for this moment.
Mộrackino floated to Queen Majesta and handed her the arrow. It was almost time.
Five more seconds.
Queen Majesta pulled the arrow back. She chuckled. She pulled the arrow a little more
backward...
And let go.
The arrow was heading rapidly to Ermana, faster than a diving peregrine falcon.
Ten o’clock.

The king rubbed his back. He grunted. Something had hit him.
“So, what about the time when you saved a whole tribe of rainforest dragons?!” a dragon
asked, straightening her back.
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

The king was still rubbing his back. Evil poison was digging into him. His bright and
beautiful colors were turning darker and dimmer, as if the light was slowly disappearing. “I gotta
go,” King Dansher whispered. The dragons all made a confused look. “I gotta go!” he shouted
angrily, grinding his teeth.
He started speed-walking towards the exit, but bumped into Queen Akcrista as he was
walking. His breaths were heavier and his voice was lower.
“You okay?” the queen asked leaning forward and looking at him. The king was still
taking deep breaths.
“I'm fine,” he lied, closing his eyes. The whole cafeteria started to look and stare at him.
Everyone was wondering what was going on with the king.
King Dansher inhaled a deep breath of air and squeezed his eyes even tighter. Icy didn’t
know entirely what was going on with him, but she knew this much: he was in pain.
Then something else happened. His bright green scales turned black. His sunshine
colored eyes went red. His scarlet red crest became a scary purple, as well as his banana yellow
underscales. The blue circle patterns on his sides transformed to be a black circle with a violet
border.
Everyone started screaming and gasping. Some dragons even passed out, unable to
watch the scary and unknown thing that was happening to Dansher.
An evil personality was entering the king. His wings were black and scary violet, and his
claws became black and sharp. The king was trying to fight the evil spirit in his body, but
nothing worked. The king was turning evil. The evil spirit had taken over his body. There was
nothing that could stop him.
Dragons were getting scared, and more and more dragons were passing out and fainting
of fright. The queen had flooding tears, dropping from her eyes to the ground. Was the king
dying? Was this a stage the queen would have to go through?
The evil king jumped from the floor and made a hole in the roof. Bricks and planks of
wood were dropping down from the ceiling. The whole wall was falling apart. The moon was up
and the sky was black. The queen ran out, and dragons were standing in the back of the queen
for protection. Queen Akcrista put her arms and her large wings in front of the dragons. Icy was
right behind the queen peeking at the evil king.
What’s happening?! Icy screamed in her mind. Please make this just a dream...
The king looked at the queen and all the other dragons. He was flapping his wings
powerfully, and huffing like an angry buffalo. “You...” he growled in a unusual low voice.
“You touch a scale on one of these dragons, and I will...” the queen paused. She looked
down at the floor, sad, but also angry. “I will fight you.”
The evil king chuckled. “You?! You and- and your tiny little body?! I'm bigger and
stronger. There is nothing you can do to defeat me.”
The queen had a surprised look. She looked down at the ground again. “I may not be able
to defeat you, but I can protect these innocent dragons,” she argued. The queen jumped into the
air, and did everything in her power to get the evil king away. The sad and angry queen hid her
tears as much as she could, and then shot a flaming plume of fire that hit Dansher’s wing.
The king’s wing was badly damaged, and he couldn’t fly. He flapped one of his wings, but
then crashed into the forest only two seconds later.
Everyone cheered and clapped for the queen. But Queen Akcrista wasn’t proud of herself.
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

What was happening? Was the king a fake? How did the king transform? What is
going on? Icy thought to herself. She too was not so happy that the king was evil.
The queen flew down like an angel afterwards. She tried hiding the tears from her face as
she passed through the cheering dragons.

Chapter 3
Professor Slitherwick

A week had passed from when the king had turned evil. But thankfully, no attacks had happened
from the king. Just unpacking, hanging out with friends, and exploring. But today was the first
day of actual school.
When Icy finished the last of her unpacking, she grabbed her school schedule and
hurried down the spiral stairs. When Icy got down to the second floor, she jogged down a
hallway and went inside a room full of dragons in their first year. Icy looked to the right of the
room and saw a Flame Dragon. On his desk he had a sheet of paper that read, ‘Professor
Fannick’.
Professor Fannick, the Flame Dragon teaching the subject of fire, had dark red scales and
wore black circle glasses. “Hello everyone!” Professor Fannick greeted while everyone was taking
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

their seat. “I'm your fire teacher, and today, we are going to be studying the history of blue fire.
“Turn to page ninety eight class!”
Everyone groaned, thinking they would do something exciting as their first class. But
they obeyed, and pulled out their history of fire books.
Professor Fannick put his talons on his hips and demanded, “Class, please turn to page
ninety eight.” He took a few steps down the stairs and walked to where a Stick Dragon who not
obeying the rules. “Ninety eight, please,” the angry teacher demanded furiously.
The embarrassed Stick Dragon quickly opened his book and flipped to page ninety eight.
The teacher walked to where he would be teaching. He pointed a claw to his class and
opened his mouth, but said nothing. “Do you want to learn something exciting?” he finally
asked. Every dragon in the room exchanged faces.
“Yeah!” Icy exclaimed along with every other dragon in the room.
Professor Fannick smiled, and turned to a page in his book. He slowly walked down,
looking at his book. He put his book down at a dragon’s desk, and arranged some tables to make
a rectangle. “Fire Dragons, over here,” he told a Volcano, Lava, Fire and Ash Dragon. “You will
be learning to do blue fire.”
The Flame Dragon walked to some more tables. “Water Dragons, here,” he announced.
“You will be learning to put out fire with your tails.” A Flood, Seaweed, Coral and Shark Dragon
ran to the desks.
“Lightning Dragons, Spark, Ash, Hipeak, and, Dasher. Over here, electric fire. If you
can’t, don’t be ashamed, fifth year of Dragons of Wonder you will be doing this,” the professor
told them. The Lightning Dragons whispered ‘yes!’ to each other thinking that they would do it,
and complete something they needed to do a five years later.
“Let’s see here, Nature Dragons…” Professor Fannick said, running his finger down his
page. “Billy, Butterfly, Leopard, Cherry and Jaguar, you will be studying how to stop a forest
fire.”
Professor Fannick walked over to the remaining dragons. “Icy, Orca, Cantine, you are the
smallest group, but, you will be learning either one of these attacks. You can learn ice fire, frost
ash, or, yep, that’s it. I would teach you ice claw, but that’s a trick for eighth year dragons.”
Orca and Cantine looked at each other. “Let’s do the easiest attack. Agreed?” Orca asked.
Cantine nodded her head in agreement.
“What!?” Icy protested. “You aren’t going to challenge yourself? Wait hold on. I can’t tell
if you are a lazy Pearl Dragon or a Snow Dragon.” Icy then walked to her own desk, trying her
best to do an ice fire attack on her desk.
A little less than an hour later, Icy had only managed to do a spark of fire. She wasn’t
proud of herself, but she knew that she was definitely more proud of herself than how proud the
other two Ice Dragons were.
The Lightning Dragons didn’t make any progress at all.
And the Water Dragons were struggling, as well as the Nature Dragons.
And even though the Fire Dragons were practicing a fire attack, and they didn’t do much
progress either. So Icy didn’t feel embarrassed too much.
A minute later, the professor shouted out, “OKAY! We’ve done enough today! You see-
we must learn the history of these skills before we can practice them! Next week- History of
fire.” Everyone complained, grabbed their bags and started walking to the door. “Wait! Wait
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

wait wait wait!” the Flame Dragon shouted. “Homework! Everyone practice their skills they
learned today!” Everyone groaned again, and walked out the door.
Icy walked out the door, but instead of going to her next class, Icy slowed down and
turned to the left side of the inside balcony, and saw a staircase with old clay walls and dimly lit
candles. Icy sneaked up in the pair of stairs, feeling like there was something up there that she
needed to see. While Icy was walking up, she accidentally dropped one of her books, and leaned
down to pick it back up.
Just as Icy was putting the book in her bag, a dragon showed up right in front of her.
“And just what are you doing in the middle of these protected stairs?” the Moon Dragon asked.
The Moon Dragon had black wings fading into a ghostly white on the tips. He had black scales
everywhere, and he was so black and dark, if he was in a black room with tons of shadows, he
would be impossible to see.
Icy got so shocked she nearly fell off the stairs. But quickly, she thought up an excuse.
“Well, I, um, I was, going up here to go and then you-”
“Cut to the chase,” the scary Moon Dragon interrupted, folding his arms and leaning
against the wall.
“Um, who are you?” Icy asked, wearing a confused look on her face.
The Moon Dragon stared at Icy. “I am Slitherwick Eclipse, the history teacher at this
school,” He replied. “And just who are you?”
Realizing that the Moon Dragon was merely a history teacher, she felt okay being around
him. “I'm Icy Lakita. And this is my first year here,” Icy started, leaning herself on her right leg.
“So why is this a protected area?” She asked.
The Moon Dragon softly blew out a candle, which suddenly led to blowing out all the
candles. Icy felt a quick breeze, and then she saw nothing but her white talons in front of her.
“Okay, so, fine. I’ll go on my own.” She started walking back down the stairs, wondering if
Slitherwick really was a history teacher.
Minutes later Icy was still waking down the stairs. She had wondered why it took ten
seconds to get up, but two minutes had passed and she still wasn’t down. She had also got more
and more tired as she went down. Suddenly she bumped into something. Icy touched everything
trying to see if she could find a door handle. But she felt nothing but a hard, clay wall. Icy had
lost almost all hope. She smacked her head on the wall and fell to the ground. Icy shut her eyes,
and losing more and more hope, she fell to sleep.

* * *

A few minutes later, Icy woke up hearing a soft, gentle voice and a dragon poking her
scales. She darted up, ready to attack whoever was touching her.
“Icy, calm down,” the voice ordered calmly. Quickly, Icy realized that it was the queen.
Her vision was blurry, but she could tell from the calm tone in the queen’s voice that it was her,
and that she was there to help Icy.
But Icy was too distracted and confused to sit still and stay quiet. “I gotta, I gotta go
back! He, he’s evil! I have to stop him before, before the forever staircase...” She went on. She
walked to the place with the staircase she went in. Icy bumped into a wall, and quickly her vision
became clear again. “Why, why isn’t it there? It was right here when I saw it…”
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

“What?” Queen Akcrista asked. “You mean the-” She stopped immediately, covering her
mouth like she accidentally said a bad word. Dragons were surrounding the queen and
observing her. Everyone was looking at the petrified queen and whispering silently. “Icy, meet
me after school today,” Queen Akcrista finished quickly.
The dragons around her walked away laughing, thinking Icy had gotten in trouble with
Queen Akcrista. After they all left her, she glanced at a nearby clock, noticed it was nine o’clock,
and pulled out her school schedule. Icy saw that she needed to be with Mrs. Ferner just outside
the castle, then shoved her schedule back in her leather bag.
Icy quickly walked down the large, swirly stairs and out of the castle, then down the
hallway to outside of the castle. There was a large greenhouse with two long rows of plants and
pots, and thirty chairs lined up at the table.
“Okay class!” a Garden Dragon welcomed. The Garden Dragon had chartreuse green
scales, and she looked about sixty or seventy years old. “Today we will be learning about my
favorite plant: the Saiamoe.”
Dragons were entering in the greenhouse and pulling small, metal chairs to the table.
They were wrapping their school bags around the chairs and sitting down, while the Garden
Dragon was getting distracted, talking about the memories she had a small child.
Finally, when everyone was seated, Mrs. Ferner started introducing herself. “Okay, let
me introduce myself. I am Mrs. Ferner, but I would like it if you can call me Mrs. Fern. You can
also call me Mrs. F, but don’t call me teacher. I think one dragon called me teacher, and he got
sent to the queen’s quarter. Hopefully you don’t do that, but if you do the first time-”
“Okay, we get it,” a blue and green Rainforest Dragon pointed out.
All of the dragons laughed a little, embarrassing both the Rainforest Dragon and the
teacher.
“Uh, yes yes, so everyone grab a plant on the table, and we’ll start.”
They were all paying good attention to Mrs. Fern for a solid forty minutes. They learned
about how the Saiamoe was an herbal plant that was used in a delicious Sherian soup called
Saiamoe noodle soup, and how it was used in a medicine that healed fevers and headaches.
Everyone was very interested and on-track, until a strange freezing whoosh of cold wind went
by, stopping Mrs. Fern from talking. Mrs. Fern gasped, practically petrified.
Icy looked at the teacher for a few seconds, then turned to a Light Dragon sitting next to
her. “What’s going on?” She asked.
The Light Dragon replied with only nervous eyes and a shrug.
Thankfully, after a few seconds, Mrs. Fern was back to normal. She gathered around the
dragons, saying, “Go, go! Get to the castle as quick as you can. Go!” She quickly pushed the
dragons out of the greenhouse, fearing if any of the students got hurt.
Icy turned back, and saw a slight shadow. Could that be Slitherwick? She wondered. Icy
walked toward Mrs. Fern. “Mrs. Fern, what is going on?” Icy panicked, breathing heavily.
“Icy, you need to, you need to turn back!” the worried dragon cried. Mrs. Fern started to
see the bigger shadow. All of her plants were dying and crumbling up. Mrs. Fern was now
blocking the shadow from attacking with her arms and wings.
Icy tried pushing forward. “Mrs. Fern, come-”
“Icy!” Mrs. Fern interrupted. She paused, swallowed her spit and shook her head. “Get to
the castle, now,” Mrs. Fern commanded more sternly. “Tell Queen Akcrista to help if you want.
But I want you safe, so go now!” She ordered.
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

Icy looked at Mrs. Fern, and turned back and ran a few yards. She looked at Mrs. Fern
once more, then hurried away.
Icy ran through the forest and followed the rest of her class stairs, painting heavy. There
was a fork in the castle hall. One side led to her room, and the other, to the the queen’s quarter,
but she couldn’t decide where to go. Icy lifted her heels up and down, trying to decide which way
she should go. Should I go left and get Queen Akcrista, or should I examine what’s going on in
my room? Icy thought. Finally, she made a decision and turned right, which was the hallway
leading to her room.
Icy slammed the door, and quickly turned around, catching her breath. She turned back
around looked out her window. There was the sunny, crystal beach. “Right. Wrong side,” Icy told
herself, still catching her breath. She opened her door, and saw one dragon’s room on the
opposite side, that had their door open just a smidge.
Icy ran around the inside castle balcony to the other side of the dragon apartments. She
quickly swung the dragon’s door open and hurried in.
“Woah, what the heck you dumb dragon?! This is my room!” a War Dragon shouted. He
had red scales, with black lightning stripes and horns like lightning bolts. Icy didn’t care what he
said, so she just headed on in. “Uh, so, what is your gender, are you a boy or a girl?” the dragon
asked.
Icy swung her head toward the dragon. “What is my gender? Is that literally your
question?” Icy asked. “I can tell your element, and you can’t even tell if I'm a boy or a girl?”
“Uh, yes, basically. Anyways, you’re a girl, and what kind of element do I have?” the
dragon asked with pride, thinking Icy couldn’t tell.
“You’re a War Dragon. Now stop asking questions, I don’t have time.”
There was a long pause. “You must be-”
Icy pushed the War Dragon to the wall with a strong amount of force. Quickly, Icy
stomped over to his window sill and looked out the blinds.
Icy saw what she thought was Professor Slitherwick. “Ghost cloud,” Icy muttered under
her breath. “Give me a notebook,” Icy demanded, reaching her arm at the War Dragon, still
looking out the blinds.
“No thank you! Find one on your own!” He shouted.
Icy cleared her throat. “Um, did you hear me?! I said, give me a notebook!” Icy snapped,
turning her face to the War Dragon. She wasn’t usually this rude, but she was honestly scared of
the strange ghost cloud, and she knew she had to be rude if she wanted to get through a War
Dragon.
The War Dragon nodded his head and ran over to his night stand. He opened the drawer
and started rummaging through it. He found a small, empty notebook and tossed it over to Icy.
Icy caught the notebook with one talon, still looking at Slitherwick. “Wow. Good ca-”
“Doesn’t matter,” Icy stated. She picked up a pen from off the dirty floor and started to
write down some notes. “Professor Slitherwick. Scary, frightening Moon Dragon. Ghost cloud,
creepy attack. Probably the first time attacking Dragons of Wonder,” Icy silently mumbled to
herself, rereading what she just wrote.
But what if it isn’t Slitherwick? A part of her mind questioned.
Icy twisted her head around and looked at the War Dragon. “What’s your name?” She
questioned.
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

“Uh, do you need to know?” the War Dragon replied, looking right and left. Icy made an
angry look on her face, and the War Dragon immediately replied. “Keefer, Keefer, Keefer, yeah
that’s my name.”
“Okay Keefer, what other notes about Slitherwick?” Icy asked, ready to take a note.
Keefer made a confused look on his face, and leaned on the wall. “Um, who? Exactly?”
Keefer asked. Icy opened her mouth about to speak, but Keefer quickly interrupted Icy saying,
“Listen, daydreamer. I know you might have a pet doggy woggy,” Keefer walked toward Icy,
putting his talons on her shoulders. “But I think you’ve gone a little bit crazy. Because… Well,
he’s just a teacher here.”
Icy shoved the tall dragon’s talons out of the way, walked out of the room, and shut the
door. “War Dragons...” Icy mumbled under her breath when she exited the room. Icy looked left
and saw a hallway. She walked over to the hall, and peeked out of the nearest window, watching
the mysterious ghost cloud getting closer and closer to Mrs. Fern. Icy gasped. Was her teacher
going to die? Or could Mrs. Fern defeat the mysterious ghost cloud?
Icy pressed herself up to the glass window, watching curiously to see what Mrs. Fern
would do, hoping that the ghost cloud wasn’t too powerful.
Mrs. Fern didn’t attack though. She ran towards a larger section of her greenhouse and
picked up a plant. She then ran outside to the ghost cloud, using her quick reflexes to dodge the
ghost cloud’s sudden attacks.
Icy admired her teacher’s bravery. She continued to watch, until...
“Going somewhere?” a familiar voice asked. Icy turned backward. There was Professor
Slitherwick.
Icy gasped, both scared and confused. “I thought you were-”
“Once again, mistaken? Am I right, Icy?” Slitherwick interrupted. “I thought you were
supposed to be finishing up class with Mrs. Fern. But sadly, you’re running away from class.”
Queen Akcrista stepped out from behind a corner and noticed Slitherwick. “Did I just
hear that Icy is running away from class?”
Slitherwick nodded. “Yes indeed,” He answered.
Queen Akcrista sighed. “She probably is just delivering a letter. Right, Icy?”
Well, technically I could get help from Queen Akcrista… “Yes, I’m delivering to you
actually!” Icy exclaimed.
“Oh, well, tell Mrs. Fern that I’ll be busy for another few minutes, but I’ll get to her as
quick as I can,” Queen Akcrista noted as she started to walk away.
“Wait!” Icy yelled. It was no point. Queen Akcrista had already left to walk off
somewhere in her quarter.
Icy stood up to try and follow her, but Professor Slitherwick pushed her back down
again. “I know you didn’t leave to give Queen Akcrista a note, now did you?” He whispered.
“Well, no, but Mrs. Fern-”
“Exactly. Visit me after class for detention, and you can’t eat anything but rotten grilled
cheese sandwiches until tomorrow afternoon.”
“No, you have to understand me!” Icy begged.
“I understand enough, Ice Dragon,” Slitherwick replied. He turned around and walked
away.
Icy dropped herself to the ground. It was hard enough not living in Navitee, and the evil
king and Professor Slitherwick were surely not helping.
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

A second later, the castle bell rang. Icy stood up and swung her leather bag over her
shoulder, pulled out her monday schedule, and walked to her next class, Mrs. Coral and her
water class, trying her best to forget what just happened.

* * *

It was nine o’clock at night, and the time to visit Icy's least favorite teacher, Professor
Slitherwick. Icy walked down to the cafeteria, but instead of disobeying Professor Slitherwick
and getting even more punishments, she turned right and into the scary Moon Dragon’s office.
Icy's scales went cold when she approached the door. Icy took a deep breath in, then out, and
knocked on the door.
She took the cold metal handle bar, twisted it, and pushed the door open. The room was
filled with breezy air, and two other dragons were there too. There was a bright yellow Sponge
Dragon, who was covered in dirt and snot, and a muddy brown Dirt Dragon, who had a red nose
and sleepy eyes.
The whole room was black and dark green, and had dust and spider webs in every place.
The room looked like it had been untouched for more than a decade. Slitherwick also had a
bookshelf on the right of the room; each of the leather-covered books stacked up in random
order and filled with dust and dirt.
Just then, the Dirt Dragon sneezed, and wiped his snot on the Sponge Dragon. But the
worst part was the Sponge Dragon didn’t even care.
That was definitely top one of the most disgusting moments I've seen, Icy thought to
herself. The three dragons she was staying the night with were the worst possible dragons Icy
could think of. She even would choose Rocky over Slitherwick, the Sponge Dragon, and the Dirt
Dragon.
Professor Slitherwick was faced toward the wall, backwards on his chair. He turned
around slowly when he heard Icy open the door. “Hello Icy,” he greeted with a slow, creepy
voice. “Meet these two dragons, Robert and Pipes. Although I would prefer to call them idiot and
moron.”
Pipes the Dirt Dragon sneezed again, and waved at Icy with snot all over his arm. Eww!
Icy thought to herself. She peeked at the two disgusting dragons with her eyes squinted.
“Please, have a seat and make yourself comfortable,” Professor Slitherwick told Icy.
Icy looked around the small office room. Robert and Pipes were sitting on dirty, dusty
pillows in front of Slitherwick’s desk. There was an extra pillow that was dull pink, but still filled
with dirt and dust. In the corner of the room was spider webs and dust. Icy swallowed. She
looked around the room, but saw no better spots. Icy sat in the corner with the spider web, so
she could sit as far as she can from the other dragons. Even though the space from the dragons
was only two feet, Icy still took the chance.
“Detensioning dragons. One of my favorite things to do.” Professor Slitherwick looked at
Icy in the corner. “Icy, you look hungry. Would you like some food?” he asked.
Icy lightened up a small, tiny bit. She nodded her head, straightening her back.
Professor Slitherwick made a sinister smile, and opened a drawer, and tossed Icy a
grilled cheese sandwich. Icy caught it, and almost took a bite, when she realized that it wasn’t
just a grilled cheese sandwich, it was a rotten grilled cheese sandwich.
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

Maybe I could have gone to cafeteria first and ate just a little bit… Icy thought. She bent
herself over and reached her talon out at the Sponge Dragon, Robert, in front of her. “Do you
want it?” Icy asked quietly.
Robert looked at Icy and saw the rotten sandwich. “Oh yeah, thanks!” Robert blurted
loudly. “My favorite! Thanks so much Ivy!” Robert stuffed the rotten sandwich into his mouth,
as if his life depended on it.
“Icy,” She corrected. She watched the remains of the rotten sandwich go away as Robert
stuffed the disgusting food into his mouth.
Icy leaned on the dusty wall and pulled out a blank piece of paper. She then got out a
pencil and started writing a letter to her mom as she promised to.

Dear mom,
Dragons of Wonder is wonderful! I’ve made a lot of friends and the teachers are great. You might have
heard on the news that King Dansher is evil now- but besides that everything is fine. I hope everything is good with
the school in Juníl!
Icy

Icy sighed. She didn’t want to lie, but she also didn’t want to tell her mom that almost
everything so far was terrible. Yes, she got her own room and the meals were amazing, but the
evil king, getting in detention with Slitherwick and being stuck in a weird staircase overthrew
the good things by a landslide. She really just wished she was home.
Many hours passed by. Icy was starving, bored, and tired, but she couldn’t sleep in the
dirty office Slitherwick had. She had even tried closing her eyes for a whole hour, but too many
thoughts entered her head that she couldn’t even start to doze off. She wished she could sleep as
easily as Robert and Pipes did.
Icy's stomach growled. She was more starving than ever. She knew that her kind of
dragon; an average fourteen year old Ice Dragon, could live a month without food. But Icy was
still super hungry, and she also needed fresher air than the dusty air inside Slitherwick’s office.
Another minute passed by. Icy again thought to herself that she always sleeps at night,
and she doesn’t get food for eight to twelve hours. But another thought brushed passed Icy, and
it was that she was almost always hungry in the morning too. And then, Icy remembered she
didn’t have lunch today, and only had a small toast and a cup of milk that morning. That was
about twenty hours of not eating plus the night before that, which would be at least thirty hours
of eating, and maybe as much as thirty five hours.
Icy was also really thirsty. Ice Dragons could only last a day without water. Then she
remembered, ice is water, just frozen. So quickly and quietly, Icy froze up a clump of ice into her
talons, then dumped the ice into her mouth.
After a few minutes, the ice in Icy’s mouth was fully melted. Since she was still thirsty,
she continued to freeze ice into her talons and drink the melted ice, until she was fully hydrated.
But the water supply didn’t help with food.
Icy thought something through hundreds of times. Eating rotten cheese sandwiches, or
waiting a week to eat real food again.
He’s probably just lying, Icy thought to herself. But what if he isn’t, and I starve?
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

Minutes passed by. And the same thought was pushing through Icy's head the whole
time. Need, food… Icy couldn’t help herself thinking of that. Regretful thoughts were also
appearing in her head, too. I should’ve had snacks today, and why didn’t I eat lunch? I
should’ve taken those waffles and pancakes when I had the chance.
And then Icy remembered that she was supposed to meet the queen after school. But she
was so caught up trying to finish an essay for Mrs. Coral that she forgot about meeting the queen
entirely. Now Queen Akcrista is going to be so mad at me. She probably waited an hour for me
at Professor Fannick’s classroom. How could I have forgotten?
She regretted so much. But even though she was upset with herself for not meeting up
with the queen, she was more upset that she didn’t eat. Icy thought that maybe a rotten grilled
cheese sandwich might be worth it.
Icy looked at Professor Slitherwick for a long time. His chair was leaned back and his feet
were up at the desk. He was wearing black reading glasses, reading about Ermana’s world war
thirty two years ago.
Icy raised her talon, very, very slowly. Slitherwick turned his page, read a sentence, then
looked at the three dragons; Pipes, Robert and Icy. He saw Pipes and Robert sleeping on the
floor, and guessed Icy was doing the same, without even seeing a scale of Icy's white and light
blue body. Slitherwick went back to reading when he saw Icy's leg shift places in the corner of
his eye.
Slitherwick placed his legs down on the dusty floor, straightened his back and took off
his glasses. “Still not asleep?” he asked, closing his book and setting it on the table.
Icy slowly shook her head.
Slitherwick breathed out and asked, “Okay then. What do you want? It’s two in the
morning.”
Icy squeezed her eyes shut. “A... a cheese sandwich,” Icy replied, her eyes still closed
tightly.
Slitherwick smiled, and pulled a rotten cheese sandwich out of his drawer. He threw it to
Icy, and she caught it one handed. A rotten, smelly, gross, disgusting, horrible, stinky grilled
cheese sandwich.
Icy thought that Slitherwick was going to watch Icy eat, but all he did was turn his chair
around ninety degrees, place his legs on the table, put his reading glasses on, open the same
book and read. After a minute, Slitherwick still didn’t look back, and he had full concentration
on the same book.
Is this really worth it? Icy thought to herself. Well, I guess bad food is better than no
food, Icy thought to herself, trying to make things better. There was a long pause between her
and the rotten cheese sandwich. Flies were buzzing around the cheese, and the whole sandwich
smelled like a dump. The bread was soggy, but Icy had never been so hungry.
Icy took a bite. She didn’t know how trash tasted like, but she guessed it tasted about the
same.
Icy took another bite.
And another.
And one more bite.
And just like that, the cheese sandwich was already gone. The cheese sandwich made
Icy's white face turn pickle green. She felt like she was going to throw up. Quickly, Icy froze her
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

tongue, freezing a large portion of her taste buds. Because even though it hurt badly, it was
better than the awful taste that she just ate.
After a minute or two, Icy felt less hungry and the ice on her tongue melted. She curled
up, bent her legs to her chest, and leaning her head on the dusty wall. She thought about the
stars in the night sky, and thankfully, within a few minutes, her mind fell clam and she fell
asleep.

* * *

Icy woke up early in the morning. She stretched her arms and yawned, then looked up at
Slitherwick’s desk and saw Slitherwick was gone. Could this be her escape?
The answer was soon found out. There was Professor Slitherwick, organizing books on a
black bookshelf. After pulling out one more book and placing it on the top shelf, he turned
around and noticed Icy was awake. He didn’t say anything, just looked at her and swung his long
tail behind him.
Icy looked left and right, then back at Slitherwick. “Um, can I go?” Icy asked, sitting
down with her legs pressed again her chest.
With Slitherwick’s tail, he pointed at his chin with the tip, looking up at the corner of the
wall. He let his tail down, and asked, “When’s your first class?”
Icy took out her schedule in her leather bag. “Eight o’clock, with professor...” Icy scanned
her schedule a little more. “Professor... Slitherwick,” She read. Icy looked slowly up to
Slitherwick’s sinister smile.
Slitherwick turned around facing toward his bookshelf. “Well then, I think you’re going
to be staying with me for the next two hours or so,” Slitherwick replied, returning back to
replacing his books.
Icy sighed. She wanted to just explode and run away from Slitherwick, but she knew
Moon Dragons were far too powerful for a Ice Dragon to beat. Or was it? Somehow Icy had the
feeling she could beat someone just as powerful. And more. But the feeling was too small Icy
didn’t even bother to try.
Icy pulled out another blank piece of paper to draw again, while thinking that today
might be even worse than yesterday.

* * *

An hour passed by, and finally Icy was dismissed from Slitherwick. She only had five
minutes to chat and hopefully eat something, but then she would be back in Professor
Slitherwick’s class.
Icy saw Rebecca and a few more of her friends, and told them the whole story. About
how she was basically in prison and about rotten cheese sandwiches. She told them about Pipes,
Robert, and how evil and despicable Professor Slitherwick was, and to never trust him.
“Oh- I feel so bad for you!” Rebecca said. All the other friends nodded in agreement.
“Here, have a chicken leg,” Rebecca offered.
Icy looked left and right, to see if Slitherwick was anywhere. Then Icy remembered
Slitherwick had to wake up Pipes and Robert, and given how awful and disgusting those two
were, it would take at least five more minutes. So Icy took the chicken leg from Rebecca’s talon.
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

“Thank you,” Icy breathed, already taking a bite. Icy couldn’t stop eating. Finally, she had an
opportunity to eat.
Once after Icy had finished (Which was only about thirty seconds because Icy was so
hungry), she asked Rebecca, “Do you have more? I have about four minutes until I need to be in
class, and until Slitherwick wakes those two dorks up.”
“Um, I’ll get the leftover food at the cafeteria,” Rebecca replied. She ran straight back to
the cafeteria.
Rebecca came back with a pancake with syrup on a paper plate. She handed a plastic
spoon to Icy, and then the food. Icy ate as quick as she could, knowing she only had about
minute left.
Icy saw Slitherwick’s leg around the corner. Icy quickly stuffed the other half of the
pancake in her mouth, knowing Slitherwick would punish her even more if he saw Icy eating,
even if it was just a crumb. Icy ran to the next corner, which would give herself some time to
clean herself up, and brush away all the crumbs on her face.
Icy leaned herself on the hardened clay wall, and swallowed the rest of food in her
mouth. Then she brushed her talons on her scales, brushing off all the crumbs and syrup spills.
Icy took a look over at the wall, to see where Slitherwick was. He was slowly walking toward the
wall where Icy was. Icy ran toward Slitherwick’s class and acted casually. She held her leather
bag to the side and started to walk into the classroom.
“What are you doing?” Slitherwick asked, leaning his head down so he could be eye-level
with Icy.
“What? No, I- yeah,” Icy replied, struggling for words.
“Oh, I see,” Slitherwick replied.
“Just, you know that thing.”
“Got it.”
Icy whistled, and pointed left with her talons. She took a big step to the side, towards
Slitherwick’s classroom.
While Icy walked, Slitherwick examined Icy closely, and it wasn’t long before he saw a
crumb of chicken on Icy’s tail. He grabbed Icy's tail, causing her to fling backwards and almost
fall. “Did you, eat?” Slitherwick asked, pulling the small crumb up from her tail.
Icy looked back and saw the chicken leg crumb. Icy quickly thought up an excuse and
told Slitherwick, “No, but I do remember swinging my tail around through a chicken leg when I
was heading to your class.”
Slitherwick flicked the crumb off his claw and walked toward Icy. “Alright then, let me
ask my old friend Severmy about this. The Honesty Dragon,” Slitherwick said sharply. Icy
thought about Honesty Dragons, and remembered that they could never tell a lie. She also
remembered seeing an Honesty Dragon… as she was eating. Please let me live.
Slitherwick walked over to Severmy, and didn’t even bother about himself, the teacher,
being late for class. He approached Severmy, scraping his talons together. “Severmy, Severmy,
Severmy,” Slitherwick started. “You saw this Ice Dragon eat food this morning, did you?”
Slitherwick asked.
The Honesty Dragon glanced over at Icy. “Um…”
“Oh, deciding if you should tell the truth or not, am I right, Severmy?” Slitherwick asked.
“You wouldn’t want to get in detention like you did last year. Now come on, tell me.”
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

“Sorry professor. I did not see this Ice Dragon eat this morning,” Severmy replied. Icy
was shocked to hear the strong voice coming from the Honesty Dragon. She never knew that
Honesty Dragons could even have such a strong voice when they were telling a lie.
“Are you sure?” Professor Slitherwick asked, putting his face only centimeters away from
Severmy.
The Honesty Dragon nodded her head. “Haven’t seen this Ice Dragon eat at all. And I
was looking at her the whole time in the last five minutes.”
Slitherwick backed away from Severmy. “I see. Now, Icy, I... I believe that you have not
eaten,” Slitherwick told Icy, turning to Icy's face. Slitherwick walked off to his classroom.
Icy waited until Slitherwick was too far away to hear, then asked, “How did you do that? I
thought it’s impossible for Honesty Dragons to lie.”
The Honesty Dragon smiled and pointed at another Ice Dragon nearby them. “I did not
see that Ice Dragon eat this morning. In fact, that’s the first time I’ve ever seen her.”
Icy sighed in relief. “Oh, thank goodness. Thank you so much.” She waved goodbye to
the Honesty Dragon, then ran up into Slitherwick’s classroom.
When Icy walked inside the classroom, she saw large curving wooden bleachers for
Slitherwick’s students to sit on. It seemed as if the classroom was divided into two- as one side
was full of white and blue Ice Dragons, and on the other, was full of black and pale gray Night
Dragons. In between the black and white dragons, it was as if there was a two foot wall,
separating the two kinds of dragons.
Icy sat with the white and light blue dragons, and put her leather bag on the floor, just as
Slitherwick walked up to his stand and flipped through pages of his book.
Once Slitherwick found the page he wanted, he put a black pen in between the pages and
closed the book. “Alright,” he announced. “As you all should know, I'm Professor Slitherwick,”
Slitherwick announced. Not a second after he finished his sentence, every Night Dragon stood
up from their seats and applauded for him like he just saved the world from exploding, while the
Ice Dragons stayed in their seats quietly.
Icy wondered why everyone cheered and applauded. She was pretty sure he wasn’t
famous- since she never known Slitherwick prior to meeting him just a day ago. In fact, she’d
never even heard the name Slitherwick. How did all the Night Dragons know about him?
“My older sister…” Someone started. Icy tried to hear the rest of what the Shadow
Dragon was saying, but everyone was too loud for her to hear the rest.
Maybe her older sister just told her about Slitherwick, She guessed. That’s probably it.
Most of them probably had older siblings that went to Dragons of Wonder, and they probably
told the other dragons how amazing Slitherwick is. Icy, of course, didn’t think the professor was
even the smallest bit interesting or cool, but she knew the Night Dragons adored him.
Professor Slitherwick ushered everyone to be quiet, but Icy could tell he didn’t mind the
attention as a slight smile was hidden on his face. “Now, today we will be learning about the
horrible queen of ancient Navitee.”
She wasn’t that bad. Icy thought about Queen Frostile. Queen Frostile was the queen of
Navitee for forty years straight, from age of thirty five to seventy five years old. She did make a
war between the Rainforest Dragons and the Ice Dragons, fighting for her own Dragons of
Wonder, but she made a lot of good changes too.
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

“I’ll give you all a book to read, then we will answer questions.” Slitherwick leaned down
and picked up a stack of books to the right of his desk and passed the books to everyone in the
class, except for a pearl white Blizzard Dragon in the back.
“Um, Professor Slitherwick?” The Blizzard Dragon asked. “You didn’t give me a book.”
Slitherwick glared at her, his brows low, his back slouched, and his face full of boredom.
“Does it look like I’m stupid?” He questioned as the Night Dragons all let out a small chuckle.
The Blizzard Dragon blinked her lemon yellow eyes, too frightened to even peep a sound.
Slitherwick sighed and rolled his eyes. “There are no more books, obviously. You’re going
to have to share with someone.”
Icy felt bad for her. She should’ve gotten a book. She must be so embarrassed being the
only one without a book. She wanted to help her, but she feared if Slitherwick would get mad at
her.
“Page thirty seven through seventy one. I’ll give you ten minutes to read those pages,”
Slitherwick told everyone, opening his own book and putting on his glasses.
Ten minutes? Thirty four pages that we’re supposed to read in ten minutes? Icy
thought. She looked at some other Ice Dragons, who were also shocked at their given time. The
three or four dragons exchanged looks, and then slowly opened their old leather books and
started to read.
Only five minutes later, a Night Dragon shut her book closed. “Done,” She blurted out.
The Night Dragon put the old book on her lap, brushed her scales, and leaned her forearms on
her book, waiting for everyone else to finish.
Icy’s eyes were wide open and her jaw dropped. Did she cheat? Icy thought. She must
have. I’m only on page forty two, and I’m still skipping some paragraphs, She thought, looking
at the Night Dragon. Icy was about to go back to reading, when from the corner of her eye she
saw that the Night Dragon’s handbag was crafted not of leather- but of dragon scales. Real
dragon scales.
Icy tried to ignore the bag and went back to reading. She skipped through four pages
after she realized that the four pages were all about how she defeated Queen Glace, the queen
before Frostile. She scanned a few paragraphs about the first things she did as a queen, then
skipped another six pages. She didn’t know exactly what the six pages were- but she had to
finish quickly.
Another minute passed, and four more Night Dragons finished. Another finished, and
another. Icy started to think she was a slow reader, but then she remembered that any dragon
with the element of night were the smartest and fastest readers in all of the world. Icy once
heard that one Shadow Dragon read a four hundred page book in fifteen minutes, and could tell
the whole story to everyone.
Two more minutes went by, and Icy was on page fifty six, reading as fast as she could.
Sweat poured down her face as she scanned the pages as quickly as possible to finish. She had to
finish. She just had to.
Three minutes later, all the Moon and Night Dragons were finished, with only one Ice
Dragon finished, and one Snow Dragon finished. Icy was on page sixty eight, but she skipped ten
pages to finish reading. Icy was also had not gathered enough information to even answer two
questions, if not, only one.
Professor Slitherwick clapped his hands twice. “Alright, reading time is over, how many
dragons finished reading?” Slitherwick asked. Immediately, every Night Dragon in the room
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

raised their talons, quicker than a snap of two fingers, while two of the Ice Dragons slowly raised
their talons. Icy looked at the two Ice Dragons and knew they didn’t finish, and decided to raise
her talon too. Not to tell Slitherwick that she finished though- instead, to ask him how any of the
Ice Dragons could finish in their given time.
“Good, good!” Professor Slitherwick told all the Night Dragons. He then turned his head
at the other group, the Ice Dragons. “Three,” Slitherwick mumbled, both annoyed and upset.
“So, of the three dragons in group B, which one of you can tell me, how was Queen Frostile life
as a kid?”
A Snow Dragon was about to reply, but Icy quickly interrupted him. “Sorry, may I ask a
question?” Icy asked with an angry tone in her voice. She tried to stay as calm as possible, but it
was hard when all the Night Dragons were looking and quietly laughing at her.
“Sure,” Professor Slitherwick replied, flipping through pages of his clipboard and not
really paying attention.
More and more Night Dragons laughed and mocked her in secret, causing Icy’s anger to
rise. “How on all of Ermana were any of us Ice Dragons able to finish in ten minutes? It’s
impossible!” She exclaimed. “It’s beyond our-”
“My Majesta, Icy. I know. Stop yammering and shut your mouth up. I’m asking questions
right now,” Professor Slitherwick interrupted.
If you knew that we can’t read as fast as you do, then why do it? Icy wondered. She was
about to ask the question, but Slitherwick had already started questioning again.
“Now, Queen Frostile’s life as a child, group B?”
The Snow Dragon that had raised his talon before slowly replied, “She was rich and lived
in a castle?”
“Wrong,” Slitherwick answered, and swiped his pen so fast and so strong, the paper fell
off of Slitherwick’s clipboard. He then walked over to the other Moon and Night Dragons. “Now,
can any of you tell me, What was Queen Frostile’s life as a child?”
“Easy,” A Night Dragon replied. “Page forty nine, paragraphs five through eight. Queen
Frostile had very little money, and was raised in a farm with stinky pigs and chickens. Some girls
made fun of her, and that’s why Queen Frostile became jealous, and wanted to become special
and get some revenge on the dragons. Every day she would sell pigs, chickens, and chicken eggs.
After years and years of selling, she had enough money to buy a house in a richer place, while
she left her parents behind to take care of the stinky pigs back in the countryside island. She
moved to an island near Navitee, and lived her last young years in the island,” the Night Dragon
answered, talking very fast and sounding very smart.
“Very good,” Slitherwick announced. He scrolled a sharp claw down his clipboard paper,
and soon found the next question. “What was the very first thing Queen Frostile did when she
had power?” Slitherwick asked a Blizzard Dragon who was slightly raising his talon.
The Blizzard Dragon spun his claws in a circular direction for a small moment, then
looked up and took a deep breath in. “She made a war with the the rainforest continent, Shera
and Navitee for the school Dragons of Wonder?” the boy questioned, not entirely sure that he
got the question right.
All the Night Dragons swung their heads at the Ice Dragon.
“Oh, so incorrect!” Slitherwick bawled. He drew a giant, red X on the thin sheet of paper,
then decided to just crumble it up and throw it on the floor. As he turned around to look at the
Night Dragons, he stomped on the paper and kicked it away. “Now, answers?” They all raised
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

their talons as fast as they possibly could. “You, right there.” Slitherwick pointed to a Night
Dragon.
“Me?” the Night Dragon asked, putting his talon on his chest. Slitherwick nodded, still
putting a claw at the Night Dragon. “Pages sixty three through seventy one, right after she got
power, Queen Frostile sailed across the ocean to find her own new land. After a week of sailing
in a boat, she saw foggy land, and claimed her own land, even though poor dragons were already
there at the land, as well as another queen. Queen Frostile challenged the other queen, and
Queen Frostile won by cheating, and she claimed the land and built a palace near the Arctic
Forest,” the Night Dragon explained.
“Good, good,” Slitherwick replied, drawing a check on his paper. “Now, one last question,
which has multiple answers. Also, this was not in the book, but I’m going to ask this question.
Give me three reasons why Queen Frostile made a war between Navitee and Shera,” Slitherwick
asked.
Seven Ice Dragons raised their talons, but only four Night Dragons raised their talons.
“You there,” Professor Slitherwick said as he pointed to the Snow Dragon that raised her
talon. “Give me three reasons why your ancient queen attacked Shera,” Professor Slitherwick
instructed.
The Snow Dragon thought. “Um, she wanted Dragon of Wonder-”
“WRONG!” Slitherwick yelled, as a couple Night Dragons laughed. “Did you seriously say
Dragon of Wonder? It’s DragonS of Wonder idiot,” Professor Slitherwick teased.
All the Night Dragons laughed. “I cannot believe she said Dragon of Wonder! It’s like,
her own school!” The Night Dragon with the scaled bag laughed.
“Me too!” Five Moon and Night Dragons all yelled at the same time.
“Alright now, shush!” Slitherwick yelled, which made everyone stop laughing. “Your
laughs are giving me a headache. Especially you two,” Slitherwick told to two dragons.
The Snow Dragon that who was being laughed at sniffed quietly as a salty tear ran down
her eye. She had been sitting right behind Icy, drops of tears running down her face and onto the
floor, and yet Icy didn’t even notice. She was about to offer help, but the Snow Dragon stood up
and yelled, “You’re hurting my feelings!”
The dragons laughed even harder, and even Slitherwick had to force himself not to laugh.
He quickly covered his mouth with his talon and pretended to cough, although Icy knew he was
forcing himself not to chuckle and laugh with the other dragons.
The helpless Snow Dragon just covered her face and ran out of the room. Icy had half a
mind to go out there and help her, but she just decided to stay put in case Slitherwick were to
punish or get upset at her.
“Wow, I didn’t know Snow Dragons were such cry babies,” The dragon with the scaled
bag said to the dragon next to her. “I mean, if I was the one who said Dragon of Wonder, I'd be
laughing my head off,” She stated.
The Moon Dragon beside her giggled. “I know right? Dragon of Wonder. I've got four
syllables. Hi-lar-i-ous,” She replied, smiling.
Professor Slitherwick sighed. “Everyone, we all know the Dragon of Wonder joke was
very funny. But everyone seriously needs to calm down,” Slitherwick told the class. “Now, any of
you know three reasons to why Queen Frostile attacked Shera?”
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

A Night Dragon raised his talon. “Um, she wanted Dragons of Wonder for herself, she
wanted more power, and she, uh, she wanted to prove that she is the best?” The Night Dragon
guessed.
Sltherwick sighed, and put his talon on his face. “Two of three correct,” Slitherwick
responded. Immediately, Icy thought that was a good score, but then, nearly all the Moon and
Night Dragons gasped. “She did not ever want to prove that she was the best.”
The Night Dragon got a little angry. “But in one of my books, I read she did want to prove
that she was the best,” he said.
“Strike!” Slitherwick yelled. “Was that book called Adventures of Queen Frostile?”
Slitherwick demanded. “I've read that book. In that book, it also mentioned she traveled to
another galaxy! Oh my Majesta, did you actually believe that?” Professor Slitherwick asked.
“Not at all, sir, but it did have some accurate information, and I thought a reasonable
thing about that book was that she wanted to prove she was best!” Strike argued, his voice
getting louder and stronger.
Slitherwick sighed. “Did you even read the book I gave to you two minutes ago? Did you?
Or did you not?” Professor Slitherwick questioned. “Because in page thirty nine, paragraph five,
she dictates: ‘I never wanted to be the best. Being best grabs too much attention, too much work,
everyone’s always relying on you. Second best is always better,’” Slitherwick quoted. “She never
wanted to be best.”
“Well, I, um, but, you, she, er,” Strike stammered. Finally, he crossed his arms, faced
away from Professor Slitherwick and yelled, “Sometimes you can’t trust the books!”
Slitherwick gasped and took a step backward. “Strike! These books are in the school,
Dragons of Wonder, if you didn’t know. Nowhere else on this planet can you find them,” He
said, sternly. “Of course, they’re only held with the most valuable information, only two
thousand amethysts per book!”
Strike stood up and stomped his foot on the ground. “I don’t care how much money it is!
You just can’t trust some things sometimes!” Strike shot back.
Slitherwick did his three-centimeters-in-front-of-your-face-thing again. “Then I guess
there’s only one way to settle this. Tonight at six o’clock, in the evergreen forest, I’m going to
challenge you. If I win, wait, when I win, we trust the school books. If you, somehow, beat me,
which is, oh right, impossible, then we will burn all the school books. All, of them,” Professor
Slitherwick betted.
Icy gasped. Why on all of Ermana would he not trust the school books? Icy wondered.
For the first time in forever, and probably the last time, too, she voted for Slitherwick, with every
part of her body.
Strike sat down on the bench, thinking. He then put his talon out, and said, “Deal. See
you at six.”
Icy couldn’t believe what she was hearing. I thought all Night Dragons loved
Slitherwick. Not this guy, though, She thought.
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

Chapter 4
The Evergreen Forest
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

It was nine o’clock at night, and Icy was going to watch the battle between Slitherwick and
Strike. Icy could easily tell Strike was feeling scared, but hopeful, and Slitherwick was just plain
confident. The dragons were still walking out of the castle, and into the rainforest. Icy had no
idea why Slitherwick said the evergreen forest, because a while later, Slitherwick reminded
Strike to meet ‘in front of the castle,’ in the evergreen forest. It was always a rainforest, and
always would be.
Was it?
Slitherwick opened the big wooden door outside of the castle, and held it open for Strike
and Icy to come out of the castle. The world smelled like pinecones, and instead of a humid and
warm air, a cool and dry atmosphere filled the world.
And there was an evergreen forest.
Icy thought she remembered an evergreen forest the night the king turned evil, but this
just seemed impossible! Could Moon Dragons change the setting of the world? Where was the
rainforest? Hundreds of questions swam into Icy's mind like a raging swarm of wasps. When
Slitherwick closed the door, Icy bonked into Slitherwick’s hard scales. Slitherwick turned back,
staring at Icy straight into the eye. “Where’s, where is the rainforest?” Icy asked.
“Oh, I bet that it grew wings and flew off into space somewhere,” Slitherwick replied.
Icy waited for a reasonable answer, but Slitherwick just turned his back against Icy and
walked away.
Confused, Icy also turned away from Slitherwick and skipped towards Queen Akcrista to
know the real answer for where the rainforest went.
Queen Akcrista noticed Icy heading toward her, and greeted her with a, “Hello Icy. What
brings you here?”
Icy approached the queen all the way, and asked her, “I just have one question. Where is
the rainforest that’s always here?” Icy slid herself down to a rock on the grassy floor, when she
saw Queen Akcrista opening her mouth to tell the story.
“This castle is filled with many wonders,” the queen started. “And one of which is still an
empty cup.”
Icy didn’t understand. “What do you mean?” She asked curiously while cocking her head.
The queen chuckled. “Means we still don’t have any information about what causes it,”
the queen responded to Icy, putting a talon on her shoulder. “Let me explain to you.” Queen
Akcrista told her as Icy schooched in. “During autumn and spring, the rainforest turns into a
evergreen forest at night, due to the temperature drop. In the winter, since the weather is so
cold, there is no rainforest- only an evergreen forest. And the summer is the opposite, because
there is only a rainforest at that time, since the weather is warm,” She explained.
“That is so weird,” Icy replied. “Well, now I finally know why it’s called the Changing
Forest, right?”
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

Queen Akcrista nodded. “About six or seven hundred years ago, when the Water Dragons
swam over to Shera, they named this forest the Changing Forest because of how it changed from
a rainforest to an evergreen forest. Now, why don’t you go and have fun with your friends now?”
Icy did what Queen Akcrista told her, and started walking over to the right, searching for
her friends. A second later, some dragon’s talon held onto Icy digging his claws into her arm,
which caused Icy to fall over. Icy closed her eyes in fright and screamed at the same time.
A Mountain Dragon smirked. “Look at her! Wait wait wait,” the dragon said. He crossed
his umber brown eyes and pulled the ends of his mouth with his talons. “Nom nom nom nom!”
the dragon exclaimed. “NOM NOM NOM!” the Mountain Dragon laughed.
A Stone Dragon screeched in laughter. “Oh! Look at her face! She looks so scared!” he
laughed and laughed and laughed along with friends.
The Scorpion Dragon and the Metal Dragon laughing along with the other two mocking
Icy made funny faces at Icy and spit at her. A droplet of the Scorpion Dragon’s spit splashed into
Icy's right arm, and she immediately jumped up and choked the Scorpion Dragon sticking his
tongue at her. “You aren’t going to be laughing when I have you as dead meat for my dinner
tonight!” Icy growled as she grinded her teeth.
The dragon who was being choked tried to pull Icy's arms away from his neck. “I’m sorry
I’m sorry I’m sorry!” he apologized. Unfortunately, all he was really doing was playing a simple
act. He punched Icy's stomach, which made her fall to the ground. “Just kidding,” he announced
to his friends while laughing tears fell from their eyes onto the grassy floor.
Icy was still painting on the ground, worried about what to do. A Mountain Dragon, a
Scorpion Dragon, a Metal Dragon and a Stone Dragon. Icy could not think of a single idea to do
to get to safety.
Out of nowhere, Icy jumped up and kicked the Scorpion Dragon in face. “Hey why not
you leave me alone?! What the heck is wrong with you?!” and then, that confident spirit inside of
her disappeared like it thought Icy didn’t need it anymore, and just realized that she was in
grave danger.
“What the heck is wrong with you?” the Mountain Dragon asked as he stopped helping
the Scorpion Dragon that fell because of Icy.
Once again, the confident voice that appeared into Icy went inside her head. “What is
your problem? Just go and leave me alone; what’s your purpose of attacking me anyways?” And
of course, right after Icy finished talking, the bravery left her, and Icy had a deep feeling that it
wasn’t coming back.
“Really? Then why don’t you challenge me to a battle?” the Mountain Dragon suggested,
one hundred percent sure that he would win. “Tomorrow at seven thirty, right here in the
evergreen forest,” He dared, pointing at the grassy ground and looking at Icy straight in the eye.
Just then, Strike the Moon Dragon fell out of the court Slitherwick was fighting him at,
with a black eye and a river of blood going down his chest, making Icy lose more hope at
winning the battle with the Mountain Dragon tomorrow.

* * *

That same night, Icy studied the Mountain Dragon, hoping she would get more
information about him and how to fight him. Dark brown scales, with white and silver scales on
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

the top of their body. Wings two times bigger than their own selves, and is in the earth natural
element.
Icy sat up on the open window sill in her room. She had her legs lifted up, resting a blue
notebook on her lap. She had a quill in her talons and an ink bottle in front of her, taking every
useful note about Mountain Dragons. She looked out to the sparkling, glimmering ocean to the
side of her. Icy leaned her head back, tired, and got up to go to sleep on her bed. While she got
up, her blue bottle of black ink fell down to the sandy ground at the tropical beach. But Icy was
too tired to even notice.
Icy heard a loud whoosh of wind go by, and she checked outside really quick. After a
moment at staring at nothing, she continued walking back to her warm, comfy bed.
Icy curled up on the bed, with her book of elements to the side of her. She felt more than
just comfortable, sleeping in her queen sized bed with soft blankets and a breezy wind outside.
After a few minutes, Icy drifted into sleep, dreaming about her home in Navitee.

* * *

Icy woke up with tons of dragons screaming in fright. She ran to the window about to
yell, “HEY KEEP IT DOWN I'M TRYING TO SLEEP!” But then she noticed every single palm
tree crumbling up and dying, and the yellow sand turned black, with thousands of gallons of
mysterious ink-like liquid on top, clenching the sand together and breaking it. What happened?
Icy wondered. Icy looked at her window sill. The bottle of black ink was gone, leaving only a
droplet of ink left on the wooden bar. This couldn’t be me… or was it?
In a split second, Icy saw a black dragon disappear into the sky, so quick that it could be
fake. But it just seemed... so real looking. Only a week into school, and bad things had happened
every day so far.
Icy unlocked her door and ran across the halls to visit the queen, to tell her about the
black dragon and the ink on the sand.
After a minute of constant sprinting, Icy arrived at the queen’s quarter. She knocked on
the door quickly and loudly to tell the queen about the problem.
A few seconds later, Queen Akcrista rushed to the door. Queen Akcrista reached her arm
out and pulled Icy in. Icy fell inside the Queen’s room and landed on her knees, but quickly got
up. Icy was about to tell Queen Akcrista about the beach, but Queen Akcrista was rapidly
breathing and running everywhere to close all the blinds and shutting all the doors.
“What’s going on?” Icy asked. Still the queen did not answer. Queen Akcrista closed a
door leading to a hallway, and turned off the lights.
Queen Akcrista stood still now. “So, you have told me that the beach is, dying?
Practically?” the queen wondered, looking at Icy.
“Well, I didn’t tell you, but yes,” Icy replied, fidgeting with her claws.
Queen Majesta ran to the window and opened the blinds a peek. Then she looked at Icy,
and back at the window. “Really? Dragons come to me and tell me about the ‘black sand’, and I
just see tiny spills of ink,” Queen Akcrista said. “I mean sure, it’s not pretty, but it’s not like the
beach is dying,” She continued as she kept looking at the window and back at Icy.
Icy ran to the window and opened the blinds just a peek, and saw there were only small
spills of the ink-like liquid on the bright yellow sand. She couldn’t believe it. “But I swear it was
there just a minute ago!”
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

“It was probably just your imagination,” the queen replied, opening up the blinds to let
the bright sunlight into her room. “Now why don’t you go and get breakfast while I sweep up this
room,” Queen Akcrista told Icy. She walked over to the upper right corner of the room and
picked up a broom and dustpan.
Icy sighed, and took one last look at the queen’s window. In a quick movement, Icy saw a
glimpse of a magical dragon, with a body that looked almost invisible. It blended in with the blue
sky so well, and Icy was only able to see it for a mere second before it disappeared.
What did I just see? Wondered Icy. She started to rub her eyes as a herd of questions
swarm into her mind.
While Queen Akcrista was sweeping the floor, she looked over where Icy was, as she still
didn’t hear the creak of the door open or close. “Why are you rubbing your eyes so much? You
alright over there?” she asked, leaning over to sweep the dust into her dustpan.
“Yeah, I'm, I'm alright. Just maybe saw Queen Majesta or something,” Icy replied, still
closing her eyelids to rub her eyes. “Or maybe something else.” Icy opened one eye just a bit to
see the face on Queen Akcrista.
“Queen Majesta? My mother?” Akcrista questioned, not so sure what Icy meant. She
looked left and right. “I'm sorry, did I get some dust in your eye?”
“No no no,” Icy responded, opening both of her eyes. “I seriously saw Queen Majesta or
something. Something invisible was there,” She told her, pointing her claw out the window.
“Okay, Icy. Now that I've seen your fabulous fantasy writing from class, you can go and
eat some breakfast and not have to deal with anything.”
Icy sighed, still wanting to know if Queen Majesta was ready to attack the world, or
maybe save it. What was her plan? Was the dragon even her? If it wasn’t, then who was it?
Questions of all kinds were storming into Icy's head.
Icy then turned over to the hallway, and walked down to the cafeteria, the same question
repeating over and over again in her mind. Who was that dragon?
Once Icy made it to the cafeteria, she sat down next to Rebecca. “Did you see the sand
this morning?” Icy asked, pouring some cereal and milk into her bowl.
Rebecca nodded quickly. After she swallowed a bite of toast, she replied, “I did! It was
like tar or ink or something. Suuuuper creepy!”
Icy grabbed a spoon from across the table. “Did you also see a weird looking dragon?”
Rebecca hesitated. “What weird looking dragon?” She asked, pouring some milk into her
cup.
“I don’t entirely know. I think it might have been Queen Majesta.”
Icy immediately knew she said that at the wrong time. Because right after Icy finished
her sentence, Rebecca spit out all of her milk onto a dragon’s face in front of her. “QUEEN
MAJESTA?” She yelled louder than a Magma Dragon’s roar. “There’s no way!”
Icy chewed a bite of her cereal and swallowed. “Well, like I said, I don’t really know who
it is. So it might not be Queen Majesta,” She replied.
“Well- did you tell Queen Akcrista about it?” Rebecca asked after apologizing to the red
Thunder Dragon she spit milk on.
“I did, but Queen Akcrista just thought that I got some dust in my eye!”
Rebecca scoffed. “You probably did.”
Icy turned her head towards Rebecca after swallowing the last bite of her cereal. “But
what if it wasn’t just some dust?”
 Dragons of Wonder
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Rebecca groaned. “No Icy, no more ‘what if’ questions! You’re scaring me! Like, real bad!
Is Queen Majesta going to curse us?!”
Icy pat Rebecca on the back. “You know, I think that you just need to breathe.”
Rebecca nodded slightly and inhaled her breath. “Okay, yeah. I think I need a little
break.”
Icy chuckled. “Anyways, it’s almost eight. I’ll see you at lunch?”
Rebecca nodded. “Okay.”
Icy waved goodbye, then walked out of the cafeteria and into the hallway.
The hallway was mostly empty, except for a few dragons talking to their friends or
delivering messages. But then the school bell rang, and two seconds later, the halls were filled
with dragons running from the cafeteria and their homes and into their classrooms.
In fact, there were so many dragons running around, that Icy couldn’t even move an
inch. She felt like a tiny, helpless canary being squished by an anaconda.
A few seconds later, a careless Nature Dragon knocked Icy down to the ground and
almost stomped down on Icy’s head if it wasn’t for another dragon kicking her out of the way.
It was then when Icy realized she had dropped her bag somewhere in the large crowd of
dragons. She scanned the floor for her leather bag. Finally, when Icy looked to the right, she saw
her bag just a few feet away. She tried standing up, but because of everyone’s arms and wings,
rising up only a foot was a challenge. So Icy crawled over to her bag, occasionally getting stepped
on by other dragons.
Finally, Icy was able to reach her bag. She stretched her arm out as far as she could, and
then picked up her satchel and wrapped it around her shoulder. Icy covered her head and curled
up like a bird in an egg, waiting for a chance to stand up.
About a minute later, most of the crowd was gone and into their classrooms, so Icy
finally had a chance to stand up. After Icy had gotten up, she hurried over to her ice teacher,
Mrs. Hollen, caring her leather bag beside her.
Once Icy approached the classroom, she opened the cold wooden door. The room had a
cool breeze with a warm feeling that entered into Icy's body. Home. There was an open window,
letting the September wind into the room, a little snow on the side of her teacher’s desk, the
ceiling painted with silver clouds and gray sky, and a kind look on everyone’s face. Just like
Navitee.
Icy looked around the room, getting used to the place easily. She nodded her head and
smiled, but all of a sudden, the warm smile turned into a frown, to a jaw dropping. Rocky, the
same old Snowy Lava Dragon, was sitting right in the front row of the class. Perfect. Absolutely
perfect. Icy thought sarcastically.
Rocky was also looking around the classroom, and then saw Icy entering the classroom.
He brightened up, straightened his back, and smiled and waved at Icy. Then he tapped his talon
on the seat to the left of him, trying to get Icy to sit next to him.
Icy looked at the chair next to Rocky. It was clean and had snow at the legs of the chair,
but instead, Icy chose the seat farthest away from him. The very back row, at the very back
column. She wrapped the leather bag around her chair, glaring at the worst dragon besides
Slitherwick; Rocky.
A minute later, when the last dragons were entering in the classroom, the Ice Dragon,
Mrs. Hollen, took a few steps onto a small wooden slab, raising her to stand where she could
speak. Mrs. Hollen looked older than Icy expected, about sixty or seventy years old. Mrs. Hollen
 Dragons of Wonder
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tapped a stick on the stand and announced to the class, “Hello everyone, as some of you know,
I'm Mrs. Hollen, your ice teacher for today.” Mrs. Hollen then dropped her tiny and smooth
stick on the stand and clapped her talons. “Alright, today, we will be learning about history of let
me see…” Mrs. Hollen opened her icy blue book on her stand. “Oh! Let’s learn the new attack!
Icicles!” Mrs. Hollen exclaimed happily.
All the Ice Dragons moaned. They thought they knew how to make an icicle. Right then,
Mrs. Hollen gasped. “You already know how to make icicles?! Let me see you do one now then.”
Mrs. Hollen pointed at a Ice Dragon.
The Ice Dragon put a talon on her chest. “Um, me and now?” she asked, looking left and
right, seeing no place where she could do an attack without getting inside of Slitherwick’s office
after school.
“Yes, you, yes now, and do it right at the wall.” Mrs. Hollen pointed at a wall.
The Ice Dragon got up from her chair, and made a clump of ice on the wall, looking
nothing like an icicle. “Wait wait wait wait wait let me try again.” she again tried, and made
another clump of ice. And another, and another, and another. Mrs. Hollen opened her mouth to
say, ‘go back to your desk, you don’t know how,’ but the Ice Dragon quickly yelled out, “WAIT!
Just one more time!” and the Ice Dragon closed her eyes, concentrated hard, and made a tiny ice
cube that immediately fell to the floor.
“Wow, that was a, a something. Alright, um, let’s actually learn how to do icicles now.
Shall we?” Mrs. Hollen announced. Everyone agreed, and opened their books. “Read pages
twenty two through thirty nine. I’ll give you forty minutes, and if you finish before that, read
pages seventy eight through eighty two.”
Everyone opened their books, having just enough time to read and get all the
information they needed, unlike Slitherwick’s class.

* * *

Forty minutes went by, and all Icy needed to do was finish the last, short paragraph on
page thirty seven. A second passed, and a small, golden bell went off on Mrs. Hollen’s desk.
“Time’s up everyone! Let’s get started on answering these questions. Mrs. Hollen cleared her
throat, and asked the first question. “An Ice Dragon would shoot icicles out of his or her what?”
many dragons raised their talons. “You,” Mrs. Hollen called, pointed to a Penguin Dragon.
“Um, an Ice Dragon would, would…” the Penguin Dragon trailed off, forgetting what the
answer was. “Oh oh oh! An Ice Dragon could shoot out from his or her tail Mrs. Hollen! Right?”
she concluded.
“Yes! Good job!” Mrs. Hollen answered. “Now next question. How do you control how
sharp an icicle should be?” Mrs. Hollen asked the class. After a second of waiting for dragons to
raise their talons, Mrs. Hollen pointed to Icy, who had her talon raised high. “The Ice Dragon in
the back.”
Icy dropped her talon to her lap and answered, “By your tail. The higher your tail is, the
sharper it is, and the lower your tail is, the duller your icicle would be.” Icy smiled, pretty sure
she got the question right.
Mrs. Hollen nodded her head and put a thumbs up. “Good job Icy,” Mrs. Hollen
complemented. “One more question. What would be the best time to use icicles during a fight,
and where?” a few dragons rose their talons. “Snow Lava Dragon in the front.”
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

“Uh, the best time to shoot icicles at a dragon while fighting is when they are trying to kill
you?” Rocky replied, completely unsure about his answer. Everyone looked at him right when
Rocky finished his answer.
Mrs. Hollen told Rocky, “A dragon in a dragon battle is always trying to kill you. Simplify
please next time.”
Icy chuckled a little, covering her mouth. The very one reason why Icy did like Rocky was
the fact that he would always get a question wrong. She always loved the look on his face when
he realized he had to answer a question.
“Now, how about you there, the Snow Dragon.” Mrs. Hollen pointed at a Snow Dragon in
the third row of the class. “What would be the best time to do icicles on a dragon in a dragon
battle, and where?”
The Snow Dragon was also unsure, even though she was raising her talon. The best time
would be at the end of a dragon battle and on their face?” she answered.
“Nope, not at all,” Mrs. Hollen replied with a small frown on her face.
Right then, Icy inferred that ‘not at all,’ would be the opposite of what the Snow Dragon
just said, so Icy jumped up and raised her talon high.
Mrs. Hollen scanned her book, and then noticed Icy raise her talon. “Icy?” Icy nodded
her head. “Alright, what’s the answer? What would be the best time to do icicles on a dragon in a
dragon battle, and where?”
“The best time to do icicles on a dragon would be at the beginning, and on the feet,” Icy
answered, highly hoping she was correct.
Mrs. Hollen smiled. “And why is it good to shoot icicles on their feet? And why at the
beginning of a battle and not the end?”
Icy thought about it for a moment, then immediately realized why. “You do it on their
feet so they’ll have a hard time walking, which means they’ll need to fly. After a while they’ll get
tired, which will make it easier to defeat your opponent. And you do it at the beginning to…
well… make the battle faster and easier,” Icy answered. She paused for a second, then joked,
“Gosh, I sound like a Night Dragon.” Which made everyone laugh a bit.
“Wow! Excellent job Icy! Good start for the year,” Mrs. Hollen complemented to Icy. The
teacher looked up at the clock, realized they had only one more minute left, and said to
everyone, “Your homework today will be to read all of chapter three and four of Guild to Ice.”
The school bell rang a second later. Icy stood up and threw her bag around her shoulder,
then walked out of the classroom along with all the rest of the dragons.
Icy opened her leather bag and picked up something hard and rough, like a rock. She
pulled it out to see what it was, but dropped the object and screamed when she realized the hard
thing she was carrying was a dragon claw. And not just any dragon claw, a Magma Dragon’s
claw.
Icy took a deep breath and calmed herself down. She tried forgetting that someone put a
dragon claw in her bag, then took out her wednesday schedule, and saw her next class was Mrs.
Hollen. Icy looked at it again. She couldn’t have had two classes with Mrs. Hollen in a row, could
she?
When Icy read it again, she saw that it said nine o’clock with Mrs. Hollen again. Maybe
there was a mistake on my schedule? She thought. So Icy looked at the class after Mrs. Hollen
and saw that she needed to be with Professor Taleen. She looked at the room number, and
quickly jogged up to the sixth floor and the seventh room.
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

When she approached the room, she opened the door and was more confused than
before. All the dragons were at least four years older than her, and they were all in the Earth
Element.
All the students looked at Icy and laughed a little. Icy looked at the class like she’d just
seen a pig throw up rainbows, then finally said, “Uh, wrong class! Sorry to interrupt you guys.”
After Icy closed the door, she opened up her bag and picked up her schedule again. What
happened? She wondered. Icy looked inside the satchel and saw a letter. She picked it up, and
read the writing inside.

Dude! I’ve seen your awesome skills man. Mind joining my Rapping Band?

Icy immediately knew what was going on. When she had dropped her bag trying to get to
Mrs. Hollen’s class, she must have picked up the wrong bag. And she needed to find her real bag,
and quick.
Almost every dragon had a bag with different designs and colors. So thankfully, that
narrowed down a lot of dragons. Another thing that was narrowed down was the age and
element of the dragon who had her bag. Because if she’d gone to a class with eighteen and
nineteen year old Earth Dragons, then the dragon who had her bag must be an eighteen or
nineteen year old with the Earth Element.
Icy searched everywhere. She had accidentally caught a few dragons who she thought
had her bag, but it turned out they were innocent.
Another minute went by, and Icy still didn’t have her bag. The halls were practically
empty, as almost all dragons had gone to their classes. Only about forty or fifty dragons were in
the corridors and hallways, with the rest in class, learning with no problems.
This has definitely been the toughest time of my life. Icy thought, thinking of all the bad
things that had happened the last week. The king turning evil, stuck in a never-ending hallway,
detention with Slitherwick and the worst dragons of all time, black sand turning into perfectly
fine sand, seeing a strange dragon that might’ve been Queen Majesta, losing her bag and being
late for class. If this continues the whole year, I’m not going back to Dragons of Wonder, no
matter what anyone says, Icy thought, starting to get real frustrated.
Icy looked to the left of her, still searching for her bag. And without noticing a dragon
was in front of her, she crashed right into the dragon. Icy fell to the floor, rubbing her eyes, and
when she stopped, she opened them and saw the Mountain Dragon she’d met last night.
The Mountain Dragon turned around and saw Icy. “So, we meet again, Licey,” he
greeted. All of his friends blurted out with laughter.
“Haha! Licey! Like lice, but it rhymes with her name, Icy! Oh Garrick! You’re so funny!” a
Lightning Dragon blurted out, slapping his knee as hard as he would slap a raging tiger.
Garrick frowned and covered the Lightning Dragon’s mouth. “Will you stop explaining
everything I say? Is that clear?” the Lightning Dragon nodded, without any words. “Good. Now
shouldn’t you be at class, Licey?”
The Lightning Dragon laughed again. “Oh Garrick! I get it! Licey, like lice! But mixed
with Icy! So her name is actually like, lice!” All of Garrick’s friends swung their heads at the
Lightning Dragon as if he just screamed in the middle of a quiet funeral for no reason.
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

Garrick breathed in deeply, then sighed. “Yes, the name is very funny, Jerry. But I really
don’t like you explaining everything I say. So, got that?” Jerry nodded his head, again in silence.
“No, Garrick,” Icy started, standing up. “I shouldn’t be in class,” she added, “because I
lost my schedule…” Icy died down in words, and noticed Garrick’s leather bag. “Because you
have my bag, which has my schedule, Dirt-pile.
Jerry burst out laughing. “DIRT! LIKE, DIRT IS THE WORST ELEMENT EVER!” Jerry
closed his eyes and cried out tears of laughter.
While Jerry was having the best time of his life, Icy quickly grabbed the leather bag
Garrick was holding. Her bag. Then she hurried off to her next class on her schedule; Professor
Storm. Icy looked at the room number to find the class easily. Room #: infinity. Icy looked up.
And down. And left and right. Then she saw a teacher, and hurried to her.
“Um, excuse me miss? Ma’am?” Icy asked, getting her attention.
“Yes my dear?” the teacher said. She was a Future Sky Dragon with scales the color of a
clear winter sky, polished emerald green eyes and dainty white underscales.
“Where is Professor Storm?” Icy asked, lining up with the Future Sky Dragon and
running her finger down her schedule.
“Oh yes, on the one thousandth floor,” She replied, looking up at the ceiling. Icy had a
face like someone just told her you don’t need air to breathe. “Here, let me show you,” the
Future Sky Dragon told Icy. She took Icy’s talon and ran out to the middle of the large castle,
where there was green grass, rainforest trees, ferns, and stone tiles, making a pathway to the
fountain in the very center. The Future Sky Dragon spread out her large wings, and flew up high
in the sky with Icy following close behind.
After a minute of flying straight up, Icy saw a group of dragons standing on a cloud.
What in the world...? Icy thought. She didn’t really care that much for science, but she knew that
you could not stand on a cloud.
Icy touched her foot on the cloud, and realized it was safe to stand on. She knew there
were about twenty other dragons standing perfectly fine on the cloud, but she just wanted to
make sure it really was okay.
“Ah,” a Sky Dragon muttered, looking at Icy. “You’ve arrived. Now, I apologize for having
class two thousand feet above ground. But I'm glad you found it,” the Sky Dragon added.
Icy dropped her leather bag on the cloudy floor, where she saw all the other dragons put
their bags. “Oh no, I'm sure even if I knew where your class was, I'd be late,” Icy replied,
thinking about Garrick and how they switched bags.
“So, I, Professor Storm, have the responsibility to teach you how to fly, perfectly.”
Professor Storm told his class. A few dragons chuckled, thinking there was nothing more to
learn than just flapping their wings and doing some tricks in the air. When Professor Storm
noticed these laughs, he merely smiled, then, all of a sudden, Professor Storm fell backward off
of the cloud.
Everyone gasped.
Icy turned to a Fire Dragon next to her. “Did Professor Storm just pass out?” She asked.
The Fire Dragon was too scared to respond, until they all heard Storm’s voice from
below. “Now you try it!” He yelled, causing everyone in the class to run to the edge of the cloud
to see what was happening. Professor Storm was flying…. Upside down.
A Night Dragon behind Icy stepped up to the front, looking confused. “Uh, doesn’t that
make all your blood go to your brain and cause you to die?” the Night Dragon questioned.
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

“Ha! Not if you do it for a short amount of time!” The professor laughed. “Ice Dragon in
the front, you try it!”
Icy smiled big and walked up to the edge of the cloud. She turned around, and was about
to fall backward when the Night Dragon quickly pulled her up. “Don’t do it yet, it might not be
completely safe,” He reasoned, sounding like a complete science nerd.
Icy pushed the Night Dragon out of her way. “Oh smarty pants, was there a such thing in
your life called fun first and safety last?” She asked. Icy then turned backward, and fell, just as
Storm explained to do.
“Actually, the thing I heard was safety first and fun last…” the Night Dragon died down
in words as he watched Icy fall backward. “Yes, fun first and safety last,” He told himself, and
then brushed his scales and turned backward to fall.
Icy tried to keep herself up, and watched how Storm’s wings were moving, but since his
arms were not connected to his wings, it was much harder for Icy to figure out how to move and
place her wings.
After a three minutes of struggling, Icy realized she had dropped at least one hundred
feet from where she had started. Slowly going down, maybe dropping two feet every five
seconds, while Professor Storm had only dropped maybe a few inches. And now, Icy's blood was
entering in her head, and Icy felt like she was going to pass out. Her eyes were slowly dropping,
and she was struggling more than ever to fly and keep herself awake.
Without anyone telling Icy to take a break for flying upside down for a while, Icy went
right side up and stormed to the cloud. She stood up and did everything she could to keep
herself alive. She even tried punching her head for all of her blood to get down to her body.
Finally, after a minute or so, Icy was almost back to normal. And, thankfully, Icy was not
the Earth Dragon that had to go to the castle hospital because of all the blood going up to his
brain.
“Let’s go back now!” Professor Storm called to his class. All the dragons immediately flew
up, exhausted and ready to end the class. Once all the dragons had gone back to the cloud,
Professor Storm told his class, “Now we all know now, that we must learn to fly perfectly, right
here in this class.”
All of the dragons nodded in reply, gulping bottles of water into their throat. But because
of the blazing sun beating down on all the cloud, the water was warm and didn’t help to cool the
dragons down.
“So, today’s lesson, we will be learning a very important lesson in flying. Can anyone
guess what it is?” Professor Storm asked his class.
A Plasma Dragon raised his talon. “Um, is it to fly upside down?” the Plasma Dragon
wondered, thinking they would have to learn flying upside down more and tire themselves up
every day they went to Professor Storm’s class.
“No that’s not it,” Professor Storm answered. Another dragon raised her talon. “Yes, you
in the front?”
“Is it getting used to having barely any air higher in the sky?” a Nature Dragon asked,
cocking her head a little bit to the left.
“Not quite. That is a big thing we will have to learn, but no,” The professor confessed.
Just then, Icy jumped up and raised her talon high. “Yes, since you’re so eager to ask, the Ice
Dragon in the front.”
 Dragons of Wonder
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“Is it getting used to being upside down for long periods of times?” Icy questioned,
thinking of today’s class and how dangerous it was, and thinking if they didn’t learn to stay
upside down for a long time, then one of the dragons might have to leave Dragons of Wonder,
forever, and life, forever.
“Quite correct, Ice Dragon,” Professor Storm answered. “What’s your name?” Storm
asked, looking at Icy.
“Icy,” She answered. “Icy Lakita.”
Storm smiled. “Okay, Icy. Since you got what we are going to learn today right, then why
don’t we ask you to help do the example. Is that alright with you?” Storm asked.
“Oh, yeah. Fine with me, as long as I don’t... die,” Icy replied, getting quieter at the end of
the sentence.
“Okay then Icy, come on up over here,” Storm told Icy. Icy pushed through the crowd,
and stood next to Professor Storm. “So, the first thing we do is turn around,” Professor Storm
started. He took Icy’s shoulder’s and turned Icy around, making her face backward so her tail
was facing toward the class. “And then we close our eyes,” Professor Storm added as he brushed
Icy's eyes so she was closing them. “And after that, we tie a rope to one of our legs, and the rest
of us hold onto the other end of the rope.” Professor Storm pulled a rope from his cloud, and
tied a rope tightly to Icy's leg.
Ow! Icy thought to herself as Professor Storm tied her leg to the rope tighter and tighter.
Then Professor Storm held the rope firmly, just as tight as Storm tied the rope to her leg.
“And the last step, is to push!” Storm called out. Quickly, without warning, Professor
Storm pushed Icy's back.
Icy opened her eyes in fright, screamed, and fell down feeling like she was trying to learn
to fly upside down instead of learning to know how to be upside down for long periods of times.
Then Icy closed her eyes in fright, thinking that the small rope was not strong enough to hold
Icy's body.
A second of silence went by, and Icy opened her eyes just a peek. Then, she realized that
Professor Storm had now already tied Icy's wings to her body, and Icy couldn’t move. “Let me
up! I hate this! I feel like I'm going to throw up!” Icy cried to Professor Storm.
“Don’t worry it’ll only last five minutes or so,” Storm called to Icy, lowering the rope
down slowly.
“Five minutes?! I can barely last two! There’s no way I'm supposed to last five!” Icy
waited for a reply. But all Icy heard was the roaring of faraway dragons and the small tweets of
the birds up in the sky. “Well, I guess this is supposed to help me,” Icy muttered to herself.
Thirty seconds went by, very slowly. Like she was watching a boring commercial about
sunny weather or a game about sand. Icy tried to keep positive by humming along with the bird
song, but all she could think about was the taste of throw up. Keep positive keep positive! Icy
told her mind every time she thought about the terrible taste. To keep positive, Icy whistled
along with a robin, who was sitting with Icy on the brown rope. “So robin. Mr. Robin, Mrs.
Robin, how was your day?” Icy asked, playing with the small animals that couldn’t even speak
her language.
Tweet tweet!
“Really? That seems pretty interesting. I can tell you mine. It started out with seeing the
sand turn into tar or ink or something. I went to tell Queen Akcrista, but guess what- she didn’t
believe me!” Icy told the bird, who was paying no attention to Icy.
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

Tweet tweet!
“You believe me? Oh, that’s sweet. I also saw this weird, almost invisible dragon out on
the beach. Nobody believes me there. Maybe the um… uh, the birds at the beach-”
Tweet tweet!
“Oh, right, macaws. That’s what they’re called, right?”
Tweet tweet!
“I should do more study on birds you say?” just as Icy said that, a whole flock of crows
came squawking as usual, and ate the small, helpless robin. After they finished their delicious
snack, they all flew away. “Oh yeah, take away my new friend, I surrender to you precious birds,”
Icy murmured sarcastically, chuckling at the end.
Icy hung upside down, alone, with only the rope and herself. No little red tummied birds,
no dragons coming to talk with her, and not even vicious crows. “Tweet tweet!” Icy said to
herself, and laughed a little. “Professor Storm! This is getting boring, can I come up now?” Icy
waited for a reply. But just as before, no one replied. “A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L…” Icy sang
her abc’s, not knowing what else to do. “I'm so bored,” Icy called out. “Do, do, do, bow wow,” Icy
sang. “I like fruits and vegetables,” Icy said to herself. Then, Icy leaned to the right and replied in
a low voice, “Why do you like vegetables? I only like bread.”
Icy went back to her normal voice, and leaned to the left. “I never said I don’t like bread,
I just said I like vegetables,” She replied to herself. But before turning back to the right again, Icy
sighed and shook her head. “Professor Storm! When can I come up!? It’s lonely here, as well as
boring!”
Professor Storm heard Icy, and stopped hs stopwatch, which was now at five minutes. He
leaned over the cloud floor and called back to Icy. “You sure it’s boring? Or do you feel like
throwing up?”
“BORING! It’s so lonely down here, and all I'm doing is talking to myself!” Icy shouted.
“Or birds,” Icy finished, mumbling quietly. “Oh, and time goes by so slow! It’s been like thirty
seconds!”
“False, you’ve been down for five minutes Icy, but as you wish, you can come up now.”
Professor Storm called to Icy, and then grabbed the rope holding Icy, and pulled Icy back up to
the cloud.
While Professor Storm was pulling Icy up, Icy smiled to herself, knowing she had learned
the trick into making herself stay upside down for long periods of times. Be distracted. But was
that the way of how Professor Storm did it? He looked pretty concentrated with flying upside
down.
Finally, after tugging the rope hard, Professor Storm had pulled Icy up to the soft, fluffy
cloud. At first, Icy almost fell off the cloud, unbalanced and used to being upside-down.
“So, did you find the trick?” Professor Storm asked, after Icy had almost fell. All the
dragons looked at Icy, all of them eager to know how to be upside down.
Icy brushed her white and icy-blue scales and looked at Professor Storm. “Uh, is it to not
be concentrated with doing it? I found that a lot easier,” Icy told him, looking down at the edge
of the fluffy cloud.
“Well then, you got that right,” Professor Storm answered to Icy. Then Professor Storm
looked at the rest of the class. “Would anyone like to know the wrong answers?” Professor Storm
asked. A few dragons raised their talons. “Okay okay everyone, lower your talons. There are no
wrong answers, thanks for asking.”
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

All of the dragons turned their faces to each other and mumbled quietly. How could it be
nothing? Icy thought to herself.
“Quiet everyone, quiet!” Professor Storm yelled when the mumbling grew louder and
louder. “Now, Icy found it easier thinking about different things, as we heard when she was
down there,” Professor Storm stopped for a few seconds, when a few dragons covered their
mouths giggling, remembering what off track things Icy was saying to herself a while ago. “But,
some of you might find it easier to just focus focus focus, and some of you might find it easier to
close your eyes while flying. Whatever you find easier to do, then do it! So, who wants to try?”
Professor Storm explained, holding ropes in his talons.
“Me! Me! Me!” All the dragons shouted, jumping up and down and raising their talons
like a first grader. Before Professor Storm could call out names, the dragons started racing
towards the ropes and tying themselves up, already ready to fall down.
After some amount of fighting, a Garden Dragon and a Fire Dragon were the ones to tie
themselves up.
“Alright now, what are your names?” Professor Storm questioned the two dragons,
straightening their ropes and moving it to a more comfortable position.
“Scarlett. Scarlett the Fire Dragon,” Scarlett told Storm.
“Keet the Garden Dragon,” the other dragon responded.
“Now, you do the same thing Icy did. Close your eyes, turn backward…” Storm said while
he arranged the ropes tied to Scarlett and Keet. “And now everyone on this one, PUSH!” Storm
yelled, along with all the other dragons.
“AHH!” Scarlett screamed as she fell down one hundred feet down from the cloud. She
hung from the rock, and then Keet fell down too. He screamed along with Scarlett, but soon,
they both calmed down and realized it wasn’t so bad after all. The two hung together, until five
minutes went by.
After five minutes passed by, Professor Storm pulled Scarlett and Keet up to the cloud,
and asked them what their trick was. Scarlett said it was easier for her to close her eyes while she
was flying, and Keet said it was easier for him to just concentrate hardly on what he was doing.
Then Professor Storm got two more dragons to be upside down. He repeated this until
everyone had their turn and class was over.
Icy had a lot of fun during class. She met many new dragons and made a few more
friends. Maybe school won’t be so bad after all, She thought.
After Professor Storm finished talking to the last two dragons, he clapped his talons
together twice to get everyone’s attention. “Okay class! All of us have had our turns and found
our places, yes?” Everyone nodded their heads. “Now after school, I would like you to practice
flying upside down. If you’d like any help, the cloud will be right here, so fly up if you need any
help. Now fly to your hometowns everyone! It’s summer!”
The class glared at the professor in confusion.
Storm laughed. “I’m just kidding, go to your next classes everyone!”
Icy smiled and laughed along with the rest of the class. For the first time in a while, Icy
felt like she had something to laugh about.
Icy walked over to the pile of bags and picked up her satchel. She wrapped it around her
shoulder, then jumped off the cloud, waving goodbye to her new favorite teacher, Professor
Storm.
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

A few moments later, when Icy landed in the school garden, she opened up her bag and
looked at her schedule. Floor nine, room one: Mrs. Star, Icy read. She opened the castle door,
walked around the corridor, and started her way up the tall spiral staircase.
Minutes later, Icy finally reached the ninth floor, exhausted. “Eight, still eight, and...” Icy
took another step. “Nine. Finally,” she panted. Icy looked off the inside balcony, and saw
dragons flying up to the ninth and eighth floors. “Oh come on! I could’ve flew up here in
seconds!” Icy yelled angrily, clenching her fists, wanting to punch something. Icy looked around
her, and saw a door. Room nine O one. The door read. But instead of punching the door open,
Icy calmly twisted the handle and pushed the door open. Inside was a classroom with round
metal tables and chairs, open windows and a table of potions in the very back of the room.
Icy walked over to an empty table. Dragons of all kinds sat in the classroom, opening
books and playing small games. The teacher didn’t arrive yet, just dragons, both girls and boys,
shooting the breeze and getting to know each other. But Icy sat alone, not minding a little
private time.
But a few seconds later, a bright banana yellow Flower Dragon walked in the room and
sat down next to her. “Hello there!” She greeted with a bright smile.
Icy looked up at the Flower Dragon and put on a slight smile. “Hi,” She replied.
“What’s your name?”
“Icy,” She replied. She opened her mouth to ask what the Flower Dragon’s name was, but
was interrupted with another question.
“How are you?”
Icy stared at her for a second. “Um, good, how are-”
“Where are you from?” The Flower Dragon questioned. But before Icy could even begin
to open her mouth, the Flower Dragon asked another question. “Whaddya think about D-O-W?”
Both a confused expression and an awkward smile formed on her face. “Okay, first of all,
what even is D-O-W? And second of all, why so many questions?”
The Flower Dragon took a deep breath in. “Oh, sorry. I like asking questions, and I get
over-excited about making new friends,” She explained with a smile bigger than the sun.
Icy looked at the Flower Dragon as if her face was replaced with a mule’s. “Okay…” She
replied slowly. “Now tell me, what’s D-O-W?”
The Flower Dragon laughed. “It’s short for Dragons of Wonder silly!”
Icy stared at her for a little bit longer, then sighed. “Really?” She asked. “Okay, well, I
think it’s fine. I’ve gone through some hard times, but the teachers are real fun and the
apartments they have are super nice. Also the food,” She answered, realizing that half the things
she said weren’t true. I’ve gone through a lot of hard times, probably more hard times than
good times. Professor Slitherwick sucks, and Professor Fannick can get really boring, and
yeah, Mrs. Fern is brave, but she can talk about some serious off-track things.
“Um, hello? Icy?” The Flower Dragon questioned, interrupting her train of thought. “Are
you going to answer?”
Icy looked up. “Oh, sorry, what was your question?”
The Flower Dragon sighed. “I said, who is your favorite teacher?”
Icy chuckled. “Definitely Professor Storm. He’s super nice, funny, and really cool,” She
answered.
“Oh. That’s cool! But do you know who my favorite teacher is?” She asked with her big
brown eyes looking happier than a whale that learned how to fly.
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

Icy looked at her for a minute, thinking hard. Well, she’s a Nature Dragon, maybe she
likes Mrs. Fern? She guessed. “Is it Mrs. Fern?”
The Flower Dragon shook her head. “Nope! It’s the teacher who’s teaching this class! If
she’s five minutes late like this every time, then that means we’ll get to PARTY!”
Just then, the teacher came into the room, carrying five heavy boxes in her talons. The
cardboard boxes were stacked up so high though, that Icy couldn’t even see her face. But when
she placed the boxes on the floor beside her desk, Icy recognized her. She was the same teacher
who brought her to Professor Storm’s class.
Once Mrs. Star put the boxes on the floor, everyone quieted down. She smiled and
started to speak. “Hello class. How are you all feeling today?” She asked.
Everyone replied with how they felt, which was mostly good, fine, or, from what the
Flower Dragon yelled; Totally-awesome-shooting-up-to-the-stars-happy.
Mrs. Star chuckled at the Flower Dragon’s response. “That’s good,” She replied. “Now,
for this semester, we will be telling our future with tea. Any questions anyone?”
Icy raised her hand up high.
Mrs. Star pointed her claw at Icy and said, “Yes, Icy?”
Icy smiled, knowing Mrs. Star had recognized her also. “Do we actually get to know our
future today?” Icy asked, hoping to know her future as soon as possible.
“Not today, maybe in a few months or so, but today we will be making the tea leaves.
Which indeed, is a challenge,” Mrs. Star replied to Icy. And when the class heard they would not
be learning their future until a couple months had gone by, they groaned, unhappily. But Mrs.
Star ignored the class, and opened up the first box. She picked up some gloves from the table
and slid them on, then pulled out a plant and set it on the table. Mrs. Star brushed her claw on
one of the leaves, then opened up another box and pulled out another plant.
Mrs. Star opened up four more boxes and plants, and laid all the plants on the table so
everyone could see. Icy especially liked the fourth plant Mrs. Star pulled out. The plant was a
misty light green with leaves that looked like poison ivy. There were five flowers grown in the
center, looking brighter and shinier than snow.
Once Mrs. Star set the last plant on the table, she clapped her talons together to get
everyone’s attention. “Alright. I’m sure one of you know at least one of these plants,” She
started. “Does anyone want to try and guess where this plant is from?” Mrs. Star asked, brushing
the leaves of a plant in front of her.
A few Earth Dragons behind Icy raised up their talons.
Mrs. Star smiled and called on a Mud Dragon at the edge of the classroom. The Mud
Dragon walked up to the plant and looked at it carefully. It was a dark crocodile green with a
brown flower in the center. With a trunk and a handful of leaves, it almost looked like a
miniature tree. The plant also brang a rich aroma of cinnamon and ginger.
After a few moments of studying the plant, the Mud Dragon took his eyes away from the
plant and looked at Mrs. Star. “It’s from Bãcaxís,” He concluded. “I grew up with it when I used
to live in the Cinnamon Forest.”
Mrs. Star gave him a little cheer. “Good!” She applauded. “Now back to your seat. Does
anyone have any idea what this is?” Mrs. Star asked, while pointing to a shiny emerald green
plant with tiny yellow blossoms.
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

Five dragons behind Icy raised their talons. Icy looked at the five dragons for a second
while Mrs. Star called one of them, then she realized the only dragons that raised their talons
were in the element of lightning. The plant had to be from Lâkera.
It turned out Icy was correct. After the Lightning Dragon Mrs. Star called on examined
the plant for a while, he said that the plant was from the west coast of Lâkera.
Mrs. Star walked over to another plant with a flower bud that looked like a moon. And if
only Lightning Dragons knew where the lightning plant was from, and if only Earth Dragons
knew where the earth plant was from, and because only Water Dragons raised their talons, Icy
guessed it was from Bakalori. She raised her talon as well.
Mrs. Star called on Icy, looking a little surprised. “Come on up Icy. Let’s see if you know
where it’s from.”
Icy shook her head. “I already know where it’s from. It’s from Bakalori,” She answered
pridefully.
“And how did you know that?”
Icy thought up an excuse. She knew she got the question right, but she didn’t want to tell
Mrs. Star that she saw only Water Dragons raising their talons, so it must have been from
Bakalori. “Just luck I guess,” She finally replied.
Mrs. Star chuckled. “Was it luck? Or was it something else?”
Did she just read my mind? Icy wondered for a brief moment. She realized she had to
confess. “No, sorry. It was just that only Earth Dragons knew what the answer was when there
was an earth plant, and only Lightning Dragons knew what the answer was when there was a
lightning plant. So when only Water Dragons knew what the answer was, I guessed that the
plant was from Bakalori. Sorry.”
“No no, don’t be sorry. That was part of the lesson,” Mrs. Star announced. Suddenly
everyone looked up. “You see, here in my class, we won’t just be studying these plants, seeing
our future and learning about different sciences, we’ll be looking for patterns in life as Icy just
did. And- I suppose Icy- you know about this plant?”
Icy looked at the last plant on the table, the beautiful white one with ivy-like leaves. “Yes,
I do,” She started, beginning to remember a plant like that in her own house. “It’s from the
northwest part of Navitee. I used to have one of those in my house.”
“Good job, Icy!” Mrs. Star exclaimed. “Now, everyone, take a bowl and pick a leaf. If you
want to look into your future for just an hour, then use the Goral- the earth herb. If you want to
see as much as five months ahead, then use the Blue Moon herb, the herb from Bakalori.”
Mrs. Star continued to speak as all the dragons stood up and took a bowl from the table
and returned to their seats.
Once the Flower Dragon grabbed a bowl and sat down next to Icy, she asked her, “What
plant are you going to do? I’m going to do the Blue Moon one. I really want to reach for the stars
and do the longest and maybe most challenging one!”
Icy nodded and chuckled. “I think I’m going to do the Blue Moon too, actually. Not
because it’s hard, just because I would rather see far into the future than just a few hours. I
mean, can you imagine that? Working three months to make future tea and only being able to
see a few hours into the future. That would be disappointing.”
The Flower Dragon laughed.
Icy watched the Flower Dragon laugh for a bit, then realized that she didn’t know her
name. When the Flower Dragon quieted down, Icy asked, “What’s your name anyway?”
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

“Sunflower! My mother named me that because my scales are so golden and yellow,” She
answered.
Mrs. Star interrupted their conversation, saying, “Now that you have decided how far
into the future you would like to see, pick two leaves from the herb you want. Then use your
claws to tear the leaves into the bowl. Finally, put your bowl by the sun one you’re done.”
Icy, Sunflower, and most of the other dragons excitedly ran up to chose the Blue Moon
herb. Some of other dragons chose the other two, but the Goral was left untouched.
Once Icy and Sunflower returned to their table, they started to rip their leaves. They both
finished within three minutes, and put their bowls by the window sill. Mrs. Star congratulated
them both for finishing quickly, then opened the window to let the sun dry out the plants.
After a few minutes, the cool and breezy room was slowly turned into a humid and hot
room. The window was open wide, letting the heat from the noon-day sun come inside the
school. And while most dragons enjoyed the heat and humidity, Icy felt like a fish slowly being
cooked alive.
I’ll get used to it, she thought, watching a Rainforest Dragon fly up to the sun.
Five minutes later, after the last few dragons put their bowl at the window sill, Mrs. Star
clapped her talons again to get everyone’s attention. “Now, these leaves are not like any kind of
leaf that falls from the tree. These tea leaves take a full two months to be dried out completely,”
She told them. “For now, we will learn about the biology of plants.”

* * *

Icy and Sunflower were both in the next class, too. Once they finished their class, they
walked over to the cafeteria and sat with Rebecca.
“Icy!” Rebecca screamed. “When I went to study plants with Mrs. Fern today, I couldn’t
answer a single question! Even though my mother is a florist and I LOVE flowers, you got me so
scared! What if Queen Majesta came and attacked us?! I thought I might’ve passed out!”
Sunflower swung her head towards Icy. “Queen Majesta?” She asked.
Icy scratched the back of her head nervously. “Yeah… well, I might’ve seen something
that maybe possibly looked a tiny little bit like Queen Majesta, and I somehow got Rebecca
super scared if Queen Majesta was going to attack the world or something,” She answered,
hoping to not get Sunflower scared as well.
“Oh,” Sunflower replied. “I think it’s highly unlikely that you saw Queen Majesta. I mean,
she’s a Galaxy Dragon, and she’s been ruling over our Star System for over a thousand years. If
she’s only attacking now… I mean, why now?”
“Yeah Rebecca. It’s probably nothing.”

* * *

School was over. The bright red sun had just slipped beneath the horizon, leaving only
the moon and the stars to light the shining sea-water. And a swift moment later, a whoosh of
breezy wind came by, turning the humid and wet rainforest into a breezy evergreen forest.
Icy closed her science book and walked out to the window. She rested her arms on the
window sill, and looked up at the moon and the stars, thinking only about one thing: Garrick.
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

She knew it straight from her heart- he was impossible to defeat. Like a blind rat fighting
a lion, or a peasant with no arms fighting an armored knight; it was impossible. She couldn’t do
it, no matter what.
But what else could she do? Garrick had hearing and eyesight the same level as her, and
Mountain Dragons aren’t weak of any kind of ice, even if it was razor sharp. And even though Icy
could easily beat him with a knowledge test, she was positive Garrick could beat her with coming
up with a strategic plan, and fast.
Icy sighed. I have to at least try, though. Maybe when I fight him I’ll realize he has a
weakness somewhere, She thought.
Icy opened her door and walked out. She jumped off the inside balcony and flew down to
the first floor, then walked through the corridor and down the hallway towards the door. She
had her talon on the handle, and almost opened the door, then realized that this was the same
door Slitherwick had opened when he beat up the innocent Moon Dragon.
She gulped. Maybe I’ll be the Slitherwick in this battle, Icy thought, thinking back to the
looks of the Moon Dragon after the battle was over. She opened the heavy door and looked
around to see if the Mountain Dragon was anywhere to be seen. When Icy glanced around twice
and didn’t see him, she quickly hopped over to a dark shadow under a tree and squeezed her
eyes shut, hoping more than anything in her life that Garrick wouldn’t show up.
But sadly, Garrick noticed Icy right away. “Hello, licey. Scared of the dark?” He teased,
scraping his claws together.
Icy grinded her teeth and clenched her talons together, standing up. “It’s Icy, dirt pile,”
She growled. She tried holding her attacks in, but she couldn’t help it. Just a quarter of a second
later, she found herself swinging her arms at Garrick all over the place.
A Thunder Dragon picked up Icy by the neck scales. “Hey,” He said. “Save it for the
fight.” The Thunder Dragon poked around with Icy’s wings and scales for a while, then placed
her back on the ground.
Icy breathed heavily and rubbed the back of her neck, already feeling a cut from the
Thunder Dragon’s sharp claws.
Garrick gave a little laugh at Icy’s struggles. “Okay boys and tiny, small, helpless, little
girl,” Garrick told everyone, walking towards a nearby battlefield.
Icy stood there a second or two after all the dragons had gone. YOU ALL ARE
FIGHTING!? She wanted to burst out. But then again, another thought came into her mind.
Maybe they were just supporting the guy. Icy calmed down, and walked behind Garrick and his
group of friends.
“Go! Go! Go! Go! Go!” the friends of Garrick cheered at the side of the battlefield.
Icy and Garrick walked onto a small piece of land surrounded by pine trees. I defeated
three dragons all in a row. Icy told herself. I can do this. Icy closed her eyes, and breathed out
slowly. Still closing her eyes, she got in a fighting position, then slowly opened her eyes and
focused on Garrick, who was yawning.
“And… GO!” The Metal Dragon yelled.
Before Icy could even take a small step forward, Garrick flew across the floor and
scratched Icy’s wing so she couldn’t fly, and before she could even respond to the huge cut,
Garrick shot up into the air like a rocket, holding Icy’s tail so she was upside down.
“Let me down!” Icy screamed. She wanted to kick Garrick in the face and fly down, but
because of the scratch on her wing, letting go of Garrick was going to do her no good.
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

Unfortunately, that’s exactly what Garrick did. He spun Icy in the air, then dropped her
from one hundred feet above the ground. And to make matters worse, he even kicked Icy in the
stomach so that she’d fall down faster.
Icy quickly held onto a tree trunk and slid all the way down, but at the end, her face and
body was covered with splinters. She tried to not cry; but it was too hard not to. She leaned
down on the tree trunk as tears flooded her eyes and dropped down to her knees. “Just stop it…”
She squeaked to Garrick as his shadow appeared larger and larger.
“I’m sorry, what did you say?” Garrick asked sarcastically with a big, lying smile spread
across his face.
Icy wiped her tears away and screamed louder than a Magma Dragon’s roar. “JUST
STOP IT!” She yelled. Icy kicked Garrick in the face and poked his eyeball, then froze his feet to
the ground.
But as Icy got closer and closer to Garrick to finish him off, Garrick hit Icy hard on the
head and knocked her unconscious.
After three seconds of waiting to see if Icy would get up, all of his friends jumped up and
cheered. “Hooray Garrick!” They exclaimed. They all pat him on the back and led him towards
the castle.
Garrick left his happy friends for a moment though and came back to Icy's face. “And the
next time I fight you, I will not be alone. My friends will all be there, against you. A Metal
Dragon, a Scorpion Dragon, a Vine Dragon, a Lightning Dragon, a Stone Dragon, and a
Mountain Dragon. All, against, a small, weak, worthless Ice Dragon.”

* * *

Icy woke up the early the next morning in the school hospital. The morning sun had just
risen above the horizon, letting the shining sunshine light up the room. Icy heard conures and
finches squawking and singing their morning song, and when she opened her eyes, she saw a
cast on her wing, and Queen Akcrista sitting right beside her.
“Are you alright Icy?” Queen Akcrista asked. “I found you last night on the battlefield. I
also talked to Jerry the Lightning Dragon, and he told me Garrick had something to do with it?”
Garrick had something to do with it? He has everything to do with it, Icy thought. She
wanted to say it, but she was worried about Queen Akcrista’s response. “Yeah, I'm all right. Icy
replied casually. “But Garrick had more than just something. He did quite a bit of things.”
“Icy, do you know who Garrick is?” Queen Akcrista asked, ignoring everything Icy had
just said.
“The worst dragon on Ermana. Why did he have to come here? Who wanted him to be
part of the school? At what part in his life did he even be nice a little? Why-”
“No, no, no. Garrick’s not the worst, Icy. He brings toys to everyone during Queenmas,
and he has a very kind heart and a beautiful personality, and he’s very reliable and obedient,”
She said, making Icy confused.
Icy thought for a moment. “Am I missing something here?” She questioned. “Because I
see him as a dangerous dragon that should not be a part of this world, and especially not a part
of Dragons of Wonder.”
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

Queen Akcrista shook her head side to side. “Icy, that’s just rude,” She replied. “Well,
maybe he is like that to some dragons. Anyway, you need to get some rest. Rest is an important
thing.”
“Got it,” Icy replied. “See you later!”
The queen nodded her head, then stood up and walked out of the room. “I’ll tell your
teachers that you cannot attend school today. Hope you get better soon.”
Icy chuckled as the queen closed the doors. Ha. As if I’m not going to be in school today,
she thought. Icy took off her cast and looked at her arm. She could move it just fine, and her
scales were growing back. Using only her injured arm, she opened up her leather bag beside her
and picked up her schedule. Standing up from the bed and swinging her bag around her
shoulder, she thought, I’ll be with you in just a minute Mrs. Horrale.

* * *

The day went by pretty fast. She has class with Mrs. Horrale, the teacher of earth, and
then went to Mrs. Fern and Professor Storm. After Storm’s class she had lunch with Rebecca,
then went to visit Sunflower, who apparently got a small cold. After lunch, she had two hours
with Mrs. Coral, and finished her day of school with a boring history lesson of blue fire with
Professor Fannick.
Icy was working on her homework. Mrs. Coral asked everyone to write a two page essay
about any ocean they wanted to, so Icy decided to write about the Whatation Ocean. Because
even though she was most familiar with the Frozen Ocean, she found the Fierme Ocean more
interesting. Over thirty underwater volcanoes and a deep trench that went seven miles deep.
After finishing her homework, Icy cleaned up her table and walked to the fifth floor and
seventh room to see Sunflower. She knocked on the door softly, careful not to wake Sunflower
up if she was sleeping.
“The door’s unlocked. Come in,” Icy heard Sunflower say.
Icy twisted the handle and opened the door. “How are you feeling?” She asked.
“Better. My headache is gone and my eyes are less tired,” She responded, still tucked
tightly in her yellow blankets and facing away from Icy. They were both quiet for a second, then
Sunflower asked, “Have you been by the cliffside? My Uncle Gooseberry lives there. He’s got a
funny accent and-” She paused to cough. “Sorry, my immune system really sucks.”
Icy laughed a little. “So, the cliffside? How far away is it?”
“Two miles away I think. Look to the beach and turn left. Fly a couple miles and you’ll
see a tiny village that lives on the cliff. They’ve got a lot of tourists there.”
Seems like fun, Icy thought. “And about your uncle?”
“Oh. He’s a cucumber green Leaf Dragon that sells combat tools. He made weapons for Maré
in the Great War of Warkanda and Maré, so he’s pretty skilled with creating weapons,” Sunflower
explained. “But he probably doesn’t have anything you need.”
Icy jotted down notes in her head and nodded. “Okay. Well if I see him I’ll tell him you
said hi,” She replied. “Hope you recover fully soon.” She closed the door and let Sunflower to
rest, while Icy walked down to the castle door and walked down to the beach.
Icy watched as a greenish-blue Sea Dragon jumped from the water and landed on his
friend. “Ouch, Isaac, watch out!” The deep-blue Water Dragon exclaimed as the Sea Dragon
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

landed on top of him. But even though the Water Dragon was hurt, Icy could still see a bright
smile on his face and a sense of laughter when he talked. She smiled at the two. She wished she
could have as much fun as they did in the school.
After a few more seconds of watching the Water Dragons splash and jump, Icy turned to
the left and jumped up from the sand. She felt the cool breeze in her wings as she flew across the
wind and the drop in temperature as the sun went behind the clouds. She enjoyed the cloudy
weather- it made her feel like she was at home.
A few minutes later, Icy flew above a house, then a few more. Soon, she found herself in
the middle of a cliffside village, filled with tons of dragons with stands, trying to sell foods and
fabric and all sorts of things.
Icy soared down to the ground, and was soon surrounded by a group of advertising
dragons.
“Salmon, trout, cod, catfish, we got them all! Buy the tastiest fish in all the world right
here!” One Sea Dragon advertised right in Icy’s ear. He shoved one of his trouts right by Icy’s
nose, letting her sniff the smelly fish. Icy would eat fish, but she was never a fan of the taste, and
especially the tiny bones literally everywhere, and the smell didn’t help at all. So she turned
away from the Sea Dragon and bumped right into a Vine Dragon selling baskets.
“Do you have so many things and you just can’t hold ‘em all? Then get one of my baskets
for only one teardrop amethyst!” The Vine Dragon exclaimed. “We even paint them so they can
look cool! Red, yellow, blue, you want ‘em, we have ‘em!”
Icy was also not interested in having any woven baskets. She turned around just then to
see a War Dragon selling chicken heads. Before she could hear the War Dragon say anything, Icy
jumped up from the ground and decided to fly to a less crowded area in the village.
A few moments later, Icy landed in a place where only a few dragons came to stands and
bought their things in peace and quiet. She walked past a Stick Dragon selling blankets and
stuffed animals. Icy stopped at the Stick Dragon and touched one of the extremely soft blankets.
“Wow, these are soft,” She said to the Stick Dragon. “Where are they from?”
“They’re from the southwest part of Shera, in a city called Silekia. The silkworms there
are the most productive and produce the softest silk in the world. Would you like to buy one of
my blankets?” The Stick Dragon asked.
Icy thought for a moment. I can’t spend it all on something useless. Mom told me to only
spend it in case of an emergency, and the blankets I have are fine. “Mmm, no, just wondering
where they were from,” She replied. Icy turned around and walked over to a Leaf Dragon a few
meters away. She looked at the big Leaf Dragon counting amethysts on his table. Icy looked
around the stand for a few moments, then realized she had no idea what he was selling. “What
do you sell?” She asked him.
The Leaf Dragon stopped his mumbling and looked up at Icy. “Oh. Probably ain’t
nothing you need sunshine,” He replied in an accent.
Woah, that is one thick Warkanian accent, Icy thought. Wait, Warkanian? Icy began to
think that the Leaf Dragon was Sunflower’s Uncle Gooseberry. “Um, excuse me, do you know
any dragon named Sunflower?”
“You mean my brother’s daughter?”
“Yes! She’s one of my best friends. Sunflower also told me you sold weapons, right?” She
questioned.
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

The Leaf Dragon nodded. “Yea, but notin’ you need for sure.” He reached down to his
legs and picked up a small metal machine. He then pounded harshly on the table, licked his
finger, and rubbed it on a small, dirty spot. “Why are you still standin’ there mate?”
Icy had her eyes glued to the metal machine as if she was hypnotized to. “What’s that?”
She asked.
“This? This is the leaf shooter version three point o. But why’d you ask, you know you
don’t need it.”
Icy thought back to Garrick and his friends. She remembered a Vine Dragon with
Garrick, and she had a feeling that she would fight him and his friends again. If so, then the leaf
shooter would be perfect for training. “No, no! I actually REALLY need this!” Icy burst out in
excitement.
“You’re sayin’ you need this? Why, tryin’ to beat up my niece or somethin’?” Gooseberry
questioned, squinting his eyes and looking at Icy suspiciously.
“Not at all!” Icy replied, still over excited about the machine. She was about to explain
why, when she saw another machine titled “metal shards.” Icy remembered a Metal Dragon
there as well. “I need that one too! How much is it?”
Gooseberry sighed and put the machines on the table. “Forty eight amethysts,” He
answered. “Make sure to be careful with ‘em.”
Icy opened up her bag and pulled out a heart-cut amethyst and handed it to Sunflower’s
uncle. Gooseberry gave her the two machines and two teardrop amethysts as her change, and
soon enough Icy found herself zooming back to Dragons of Wonder, ready and excited to use her
new machines.
Icy landed on the school grounds and saw Rebecca a few yards away. “Hey Icy, what are
those?” Rebecca asked.
“Just some training machines to help me get better with fighting,” Icy replied. She
skipped over to a battlefield, flipped the switch on, and immediately a razor sharp leaf went
flying out of the machine. “Woah,” Icy said in surprise. Just a second later, another leaf shot
towards Icy. She dodged the leaf quickly, and kept practicing with the machine, and after half an
hour, she moved on to the next machine.
She kept on training until the sun set and the rainforest altered into an evergreen forest.
Icy took a small break and went inside to eat with her friends, gulping down a delicious chicken
soup as fast as she could. The tasty meat gave her strength, and the warm broth kept her awake.
After finishing her quick meal, she went back out to practice.
It wasn’t until an hour before midnight when Icy finally became tired. She fought one
more round with the machines, then dragged herself back to the castle and into her room. Icy
pulled herself under the blankets and looked out her window to see twinkling stars and a
sparkling ocean. She kept thinking about the beauty of the world until sleep overtook her.

Chapter 5
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

Queenmas

Three fun months had passed since Icy bought the machines. There was not a day that went by
where she didn’t practice with them, even if it was just for five minutes. The last thing Icy
wanted was to be beaten up by Garrick again, so it was constant practice.
School was also going a lot easier. Professor Storm seemed to get funnier and more
interesting each week, and Professor Fannick learned to get a little less boring when a Lightning
Dragon accidentally fell asleep in class while they were learning about different types of
firewood in Whatation. Mrs. Fern’s class also started talking about plants in Bakalori, and Icy
learned a handful of new and interesting plants. Professor Slitherwick didn’t get any better, but
Mrs. Hollen, Mrs. Coral, and Mrs. Horrale all were congratulating Icy on her knowledge, and
therefore, Icy felt happier with them.
But even though the teachers were awesome, her friends seemed to pay less attention to
her and more attention to Rebecca. Which was fine, Rebecca seemed like an awesome dragon,
but sometimes, Icy just felt left out and unnoticed.
Thankfully Icy had Sunflower though. Sunflower and Icy usually sat and ate alone, until
one day Icy decided to talk to Scarlett in Professor Storm’s class. Ever since then, Icy, Sunflower
and Scarlett sat at the cafeteria and had fun after school together.
Icy had a lot of fun at Dragons of Wonder. She celebrated her Navitee holidays, and even
showed Scarlett and Sunflower what they did during the holidays. Scarlett also taught her some
of the Whatation holidays, as well as Sunflower taught Icy some Sheran holidays.
But one holiday that everyone in the world celebrated was Queenmas, which was the
birthday of Queen Akcrista.
Icy, Sunflower and Scarlett all came over to Icy’s apartment to decorate a small
evergreen tree. Sunflower had to teach both of them a little bit about Queenmas, especially
because Scarlett lived in a poor part of Whatation where they didn’t really celebrate anything,
and back in Navitee, every day felt like Queenmas.
“So we decorate the tree with ornaments and candy canes. Ornaments are little toys and
balls, and sometimes they’re shiny! And this time, I made my own ornaments!” Sunflower
exclaimed, holding up tiny knitted angels and stars.
Scarlett stared at the ornaments in awe. “Wow, how’d you make those?”
Sunflower put up a soft, knitted angel on the tree and turned back to Icy and Scarlett. “My
family and I used to live in Silekia. Back there, we knit and croché all the time, and so I thought I'd
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

learn to knit by myself!” She explained. “Now, Icy, didn’t you tell me that you made some ornaments
too?”
Icy nodded. She opened up a cardboard box beside her and pulled out a red ribbon tied
up into a bow. “I made ribbons. In fifth grade, my teacher taught my class how to make bows, so
I made a lot yesterday for Queenmas,” She told them. “Now let’s get to decorating!”
The three dragons started decorating the tree. Icy put up her ribbons and Sunflower put
up her knitted crafts, while Scarlett mostly watched, amazed with what Icy and Sunflower
learned to do with ribbon and yarn.
Once they were done decorating, Icy heard the doorbell ring. “I’ll go get it,” She told her
friends. She opened the door, and saw Queen Akcrista standing there, with her beautiful green
and red scales shining and beaming like the sun. “Hello Icy. I see you’re getting prepared for
Queenmas with your friends. How’s it going?” she asked positively.
“It’s going great!” She replied, looking up at the Queen’s eyes. Icy’s gaze shifted down to
Akcrista’s talons. She was carrying a basket of candy, pieces of art, and teardrop amethysts.
“Wow, what’s all that for?” Icy questioned, wanting to take some of the treats and money.
Queen Akcrista chuckled. “For you, of course. Every year, all the teachers give one treat
to every dragon in the school. It’s a Dragons of Wonder tradition. So take anything you want.”
A mere second later, Scarlett and Sunflower came running towards Icy and the Queen,
also wanting a treat for themselves. All at once, they all gasped. There were so many choices,
amethysts, candy canes, marshmallows, and treats Icy couldn’t imagine, and yet, still more. It
seemed as if the basket was endless, and a mile of anything anyone could want in the world fit in
a tiny woven basket. “Anything?” Icy clarified, looking up at Queen Akcrista.
The queen nodded, still holding the basket out in front of Icy and her. “Anything.”
The three of them dug through the basket. A few seconds later, Scarlett found herself a
heart amethyst. “Woohoo, jackpot!” Scarlett exclaimed. She took her fifty dollars and spun it in
the air. Scarlett quickly thanked Queen Akcrista, then looked to see what Sunflower pulled out.
Sunflower dug through the treats like a dog digging the dirt. Finally, she pulled out a
rainbow ball of yarn. “Wow! This is so cool! T-Y-S-M queen-of-coolness!” Sunflower laughed.
Icy smiled at her happy friends, then took at look at the basket herself. But what she
pulled out wasn’t a piece of candy or a paint and brush, nor was it an amethyst or a colorful
notebook. She pulled out an ice orb. “What- what is this?” She questioned the queen.
“I’m not entirely sure. I got it when fighting your old Queen Frostile fifty years ago.
Apparently she had sent an assassin to kill me, but obviously, I didn’t let that happen. When I
captured the assassin, he had this in his talons. I’ve been trying to give this to all the Ice Dragons
in Dragons of Wonder, but no one wanted it. And so far, only you’ve had interest.
She felt like the ball was her fortune. Her own destiny to have it. “Yeah, I want this,” She
replied, her eyes glued to the orb. It seemed magical. It was cool in her talons and looked like it
took millions of years to form. It was as smooth as polished stone and as delicate as a butterfly’s
wings. Icy finally took her eyes off of the magic. “Thank you, Queen Akcrista.”
As Icy turned around to walk back to the middle of the room, her friends raced towards
her and yelled, “What’d you get?!”
Icy showed them the magical orb, speechless as a rock. Her friends gaped at the orb as if
it was a diamond carved to look like a group of dragons. They, too, became speechless. Icy let out
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a soft chuckle. “You two can finish decorating the tree. I think- I think I want to try to figure out
what this is for a few minutes.
Scarlett and Sunflower nodded and continued to decorate the tree, while Icy sat down
criss-cross on the floor, staring at the ball. It looked so strong. It felt so strong.

* * *

A few days had passed since Sunflower, Scarlett and Icy had decorated the Queenmas
tree. It was now the day of Queenmas Eve, and Icy just couldn’t wait for tomorrow. She had
celebrated Queenmas many times in Navitee, but it never was a very important holiday. But to
see Queenmas being celebrated in Shera just felt amazing and joyful for her.
Scarlett came over to Icy’s apartment to help wrap up presents. They both had a little
trouble wrapping the presents up; nearly every time they got too much or too little wrapping
paper for the present. But every time they messed up, they laughed it off and tried again happily.
They were also chatting with each other and talking about their funny stories.
Scarlett and Icy both were wrapping up a sparkling silver present for Sunflower, while
Icy was telling Scarlett about Rocky. “So we met when I was six years old, right?”
“Right.”
“And remember, this is before my dad and my mom got divorced. So my mom and
Rocky’s mom used to be very good friends, so one day, Rocky and his mom came over to my
house. And when Rocky saw me, he looked like he’d just seen a puppy. And ever since then he’s
always been on my tail-”
Icy heard a knock on the window and saw a pinkish-reddish tail. Who could that be? Icy
thought.
And of course, the dragon flying by the window was Rocky. He bent over, holding a pink
present in his talons and a smile on his face. He knocked on the window again, with a smile as
wide as the universe.
Icy sighed and rolled her eyes. She turned to Scarlett and asked, “Should I let him in?”
Scarlett shrugged, clearly confused.
She sighed again and opened the window for Rocky to come in, and right as Icy opened
the window, Rocky came crashing in as if he had already been flying three hundred miles per
hour.
Rocky stood up and held a hot pink present in front of Icy. “I got you a present,” He
grinned. “It’s like, your favorite color, right?”
Wow, Rocky. You’ve been stalking me for eight years and you still don’t know that I
absolutely HATE pink, Icy thought. She wanted to say it out loud, but she remained quiet.
“I’m sure you’ll like it. It’s surely the BEST.”
Again, Icy was silent. She had a big, angry frown on her face, and like a turtle, her neck
and back was slouched. She wanted to scream at Rocky saying, JUST GET OUT OF MY LIFE
YOU JERK! But Icy kept it to herself and didn’t say a word.
Rocky looked left and right. He cleared his throat in the silent room. “So, it’s a present
for you?” he told Icy, unsure if he was saying the right words.
Scarlett was watching the two and whispered to Icy, “I think you’re supposed to take the
present.”
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The Big Change

Icy still stood silent. A few seconds later, she pointed her talon at Rocky’s chest, then
moved her talon so it would be pointing at the window. And then, without a single squeak of
sound, Icy vigorously took the present away from Rocky. Then again, she pointed to the window.
“What? What am I supposed to do?” Rocky asked, pointing his fingers at the window, but
facing his head at Icy.
“Go.”
“Wait what?”
“I said-”
“Huh?”
“GO, AWAY,” Icy yelled sternly, still pointing to the cold window.
“Okay, okay!” Rocky replied. He opened the window and flew away. Icy couldn’t care less
about where he went, whether it was a hot volcano or an icy arctic. She just wanted him gone.
Icy sat down next to Scarlett and tried her best to smile. “So, where were we?” She asked
as if nothing had happened.
“What was that about?” Scarlett questioned, completely ignoring Icy.
She sighed. “It doesn’t matter. It’s in the past anyway, right?” Icy replied. “Well, I guess I
should open this present now, should I?”
Scarlett bounced her shoulders. “It’s not Queenmas yet, but I mean, if you want to…”
Icy cut the bright red ribbon off of the present and teared away the wrapping paper.
Inside was a cardboard box. She opened up the cardboard box and saw a blue stuffed animal.
She picked the stuffed animal but and realized it was a lovebird, then inside the box she saw a
letter that wrote in messy and almost impossible to read handwriting:

U R my luv.
U R my tru luv.
I luv U.

Icy rolled her eyes while Scarlett had the laugh of her life. “Ha ha! His spelling sucks! Oh,
I’ve seen three year old’s write better that that! That is so funny!”
Icy chuckled a little bit too, then teared the letter apart and threw it behind her. “Yeah, I
bet he’ll cry though when I tell him I ripped his letter apart.”
The two laughed. They kept telling jokes about how Rocky would react to Icy’s reaction
to the letter, and continued to wrap up their presents. Icy loved having a good laugh with her
friend.

* * *

A few hours passed by. Icy and Scarlett just finished wrapping up their last presents, and
started to head down to the cafeteria, where the big feast would begin. Giant plates of chicken
and turkey, fragile glass bowls filled with salad and fruits, pies and cakes covered with sweet
frosting colored red and green. Tonight was the night, and tomorrow was the day. The day of
Queenmas; where all her fears and sadness would all go away.
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Scarlett and Icy ran down the stairs as if they were cows being chased by lions. Everyone
in Dragons of Wonder opened their doors and flew down like a stampede. Some of them were
already singing joyful Queenmas songs, while some were just talking about the wondrous time
they would have.
“Aren’t you so excited?!” Scarlett screeched with excitement.
“What?!” Icy called back. They were only a foot away from each other, but everyone was
so loud that they it felt like they were miles apart.
Scarlett cleared her throat and yelled in Icy’s ear again. “I SAID, ARE YOU EXCITED?!”
“Ohhhh,” Icy replied. “YEAH!”
The two ran down even faster. It was super crowded, and it felt like they were being
squished by metal when they tried to squeeze through a fat War Dragon and a bulky Blizzard
Dragon. But once they finally squeezed through, they bumped right into Sunflower.
“Hello there!” Sunflower screamed as if she was angry. “I went into the cafeteria and it’s
SUPER crowded! How about we have a picnic on the beach?!”
Scarlett and Icy both nodded quickly. Just a second before a large Shark Dragon stepped
on their tails, the three of them flew up above the crowd of dragons and to the nearest door.
When they got to the beach, they sat down on the cool sand right next to the water. And
it turned out they weren’t the only ones who decided to have a picnic at the beach- in fact, Queen
Akcrista was there too. The cafeteria dragons were bringing out food and blankets, and after a
couple minutes, the cafeteria dragons came to Icy, Sunflower and Scarlett, giving them an apple
pie, a bowl of fruit salad, and a turkey. Afterward, they brought out bowls, plates, silverware,
and cups. They also brought out toast, potatoes, and other foods Icy never thought of having on
the day of Queenmas.
Once they were all settled in, Scarlett looked up at the moon with a plate full of bananas
and a turkey leg. “Wow, it’s so beautiful and romantic here,” She admired.
Icy scooped up some mashed potatoes and poured gravy on it. “Why romantic? Do you
have a boyfriend or something?” She teased.
“No!” Scarlett protested.
Sunflower and Icy laughed.
“Okay, well, anyways, I got you two presents!” Scarlett exclaimed, trying to change the
subject. She held out two presents, then gave the green present to Sunflower, and gave a silver
one to Icy.
Icy smiled and thanked Scarlett, then told them, “I’ve got presents for you too.” She
reached behind her and gave Sunflower and Scarlett a green-wrapped present. Sunflower’s
present was definitely bigger, but she was sure that they would enjoy their gifts just the same.
Sunflower’s grin was bigger than the width of a castle. “I got you presents too!” She
exclaimed, giving them colorful, rainbow presents. “And thank you so much for the presents!”
Sunflower quickly started tearing up the presents and seeing what was inside.
Icy tore up her presents too. Sunflower gave her a silver watch and a polar bear stuffed
animal, and Scarlett gave her a blue sketchbook with a white snowflake on the cover. She was
grateful for both of her presents, but even more grateful for her friends.
Scarlett got a falcon stuffed animal from Sunflower, and since Icy knew that Scarlett
liked beautiful accessories, she got her a necklace.
Sunflower was given a painting kit from Scarlett and three new balls of yarn from Icy,
since she knew that Sunflower loved knitting.
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The Big Change

Icy was so grateful for her friends. Before meeting Scarlett and Sunflower, she felt like
Dragons of Wonder would be the worst school ever. She decided she needed to say that, too.
“Scarlett, Sunflow-” She stopped as a creepy cold wind brushed past her. “Did you feel that?” Icy
questioned.
Sunflower nodded. “Creepy,” she replied.
They all sat in silence for a minute, when finally Icy spoke up. “Maybe it was just a Wind
Dragon trying to pull a prank on us or something. It’s probably nothing,” She assured.
They continued to eat, smiling and laughing and talking in joy. After three hours of fun,
they finished up their dessert and walked over to the evergreen forest and into a tribal rainforest
village. All of the Nature Dragons came out of their houses and onto the streets, and they all
started singing Queenmas carols. Soon, the castle doors were burst open with dragons flooding
out, singing joyous songs about Queenmas. Icy didn’t even know half of the words, but she had
fun, and learned along with her friends.
“We wish you a merry Queenmas, we wish you a merry Queenmas we wish you a merry
Queenmas and a happy new year!” Everyone sang. “Good flights we do wish, for you and the
queen. Good flights for Queenmas and a happy new year!” Icy was having the time of her life.
She had never had so much fun, singing with dragons on the streets, in houses, in the air, and
everywhere in the world. It just seemed so perfect that it must have took months to plan.
“Jingle bells! Jingle bells! Jingle down the streets!” and, “On the first day of Queenmas,
my true love gave to me, a blue jay in a birch tree.” Icy especially loved that one. And at the end,
one dragon shouted out, “NOW SING IT FROM TWELVE TO ONE IN TWO BREATHS!”
Surprisingly, everyone followed, but only a few dragons were able to make it in two breaths.
And then, in one happy second, the clock ticked one beat, and it was twelve o’clock. It
was the day of Queenmas. Icy had never felt happier in her life.
But when Icy rose her head up to look at the moon, she didn’t see Santa or any reindeer,
nor did she see just a pale white moon. She saw a dragon. A scary one.
The obsidian black dragon was covering the moon and blocking all the moonlight. It’s
wings were like ink spilled on water, and it’s tail was long. Very long. It must have at least been
ten, maybe even twenty feet long. Every dragon screamed and shut their doors, turned off their
lights and hid behind the trees.
And in a blink of an eye, before Queen Akcrista saw, the black dragon faded away.
What is going on? Icy thought. She was hoping to have the best day of her life, and then
the scary black dragon had to ruin it all. Was it just a prank? Surely it couldn’t be; even the brave
Night Dragons had crowded together and were huddling near their families. She had questions
zooming through her head that she knew not even the wisest dragon could answer.
Everyone started to freak out even more, even though they knew the dragon was gone.
Their whispers became yells. Their murmurs became screams. They too had the same question.
What was that dragon, and what was going on?
Finally Queen Akcrista raised her voice and told everyone that everything was going to
be okay. “Everything is alright! It was probably just a cloud or something. No need to worry- it’s
Queenmas after all!” She yelled.
Suddenly Professor Slitherwick stomped up and everyone was silent again. “A cloud? A
cloud?! I saw it as clear as I am seeing you- that was a real-life living dragon up there!” He
yelled.
“Slitherwick, calm down,” Queen Akcrista spoke with a soft voice.
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Professor Slitherwick scoffed and turned away from the queen. “So now everything scary
in this school is a cloud,” He murmured. “First there was that ghost cloud a few months ago, and
now this?! You need to speak up and do something about all this, or you’re an awful queen!”
Woah, that’s harsh, Icy thought. She decided to step up. “Professor, maybe you could
just give her a chance,” She said.
“She’s gotten a chance Ice Dragon! Now the colorful rat needs to do something about it!”
He argued.
Everyone gasped at his response, even the dragons who admired him most.
Icy looked over at Queen Akcrista, who looked angrier than a Volcano Dragon in prison.
She took a deep breath in, and said, “Everyone go to bed. I’ll deal with this black-hearted lizard
later.” And just like that, everyone left the streets and headed to their school.
But even though they all turned away and walked back, not a single one of them were
quiet. Everyone was talking about the black dragon, how Queen Akcrista called Slitherwick a
black-hearted lizard, and especially how Slitherwick called the Queen of Ermana a rat.
Icy looked over at two Night Dragons to the left of her, who looked both worried and sad.
She walked a little to the left to hear their conversation.
“I can’t believe Slitherwick would say such a thing… and, I can’t believe I’m saying this,
but I think that Ice Dragon was right,” The first one mentioned.
The second one nodded her head. “Yeah. Queen Akcrista’s already having a hard enough
time now that King Dansher is gone. She really just needs some time.”
For the first time in forever, Icy actually agreed with a Night Dragon. Queen Akcrista
really did need some time; not only was she fighting alone, she also had to deal with knowing
that King Dansher turned evil and he wasn’t coming back. Icy wanted to help, but she just didn’t
know how to.

* * *

Icy woke up early at six o’clock. She lifted the blankets from her body and rubbed her
eyes. The sun was covered by layers of thick clouds and a morning fog, but it still traveled
through the clouds and lightened up the misty world like a flashlight slightly covered by a thin
sheet of blankets. Distant sounds of small, singing birds traveled through the air, while loud
noises of roaring dragons echoed in the distance. Icy’s glass window was covered up in a
comforting Queenmas frost.
Queenmas… Thought Icy as she pushed herself out of the blankets. She schooched
herself up off the bed and gently walked towards the window. She opened it, letting a soft wind
enter into her room. The winter breeze and the frosty air gave her a sweet memory of her home
country, Navitee.
Icy turned her head to look at the Queenmas tree. The bright crescent moon on the top of
the tree shone just as bright as the moon itself, and the pines were like a needle painted green.
The ornaments made her think about Sunflower and Scarlett when she looked at them.
Icy sat down by the tree. Already too excited to open up presents with her friends, she
reached for a gift wrapped in green wrapping paper and a red ribbon tied around it. It’s just
one… She thought smuggly. Icy untied the rosy ribbon and ripped apart the wrapping paper. She
found an arctic blue sweatshirt with pockets just big enough for her talons. She slipped on the
sweatshirt and decided to go on a walk outside.
 Dragons of Wonder
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Icy opened up the door and sneaked outside. About thirty or fourty dragons were up and
awake, mostly the younger dragons who were quietly celebrating Queenmas, trying their hardest
not to wake anyone up.
After a few quiet moments of walking, Icy made it to the castle door. She opened the
squeaky door and breathed in the cool, fresh air of the evergreen forest. She walked along the
frosted pathway and listened to the naturous sounds around her.
The air was cool and dry, and the sky was a misty grey. A red fox skipped along Icy’s trail,
looking at her in a skeptical way before hiding in the forest. Blue jays and cardinals filled up the
quiet world with morning songs and a happy feeling. Icy loved those birds.
She kept strolling along the snowy pathway, until she had seen the battlefield Icy and
Garrick had fought on. She stood in the center of the battlefield and looked at the tree where Icy
had fallen on. The claw marks she left were still deep, and reminded her of her sadness and pain.
She walked over to the tree and touched the tree’s scars. But can three months of training pay
off? Wondered Icy. A sinking feeling entered her as she thought about how strong Garrick was.
Icy took both talons out of her pockets and looked at them. Yes, it can, thought Icy. She
looked back up at the sky and saw the clouds brushing away and the sun lighting up the forest. A
smile spread across her face.
I can do it.

Chapter 6
Battle
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

Icy had a fun day. Queenmas was definitely her favorite holiday. She opened the rest of her
presents with Scarlett, Sunflower, and Rebecca, and also had a delicious breakfast, lunch and
dinner. She even got to talk to Queen Akcrista and got to see snow fall from the sky. The snow
wasn’t very important to her, but she loved seeing the look on other dragons’ faces when white,
puffy snow was falling to the ground.
But Queenmas was over, and everyone had returned to school.
Icy woke up early in the morning, had a quick breakfast, finished the last of her
homework assignments, walked outside her room and started to her way to the castle garden.
Her first class was with Professor Storm. The last class she had with him he told everyone that
they’d be learning something special on the next class, so Icy was especially excited to see him
today.
As Icy rushed to the castle garden, she wondered what she would learn with Storm. So
far everything she’d learned with him felt special, so what she would learn today must be beyond
the stars.
Once Icy made it to the garden, she soared into the thick, winter air and looked for the
cloud. A few moments later, Icy found a group of colorful dragons standing on the magical
floating cloud.
Icy gently landed on the cloud and glanced over at Scarlett, who was standing at the edge
of the cloud, looking down at the forest with the reflection of the snow gleaming in her eyes.
“Hi Scarlett,” Icy greeted, walking toward Scarlett and looking down below the cloud.
She looked for something interesting, but saw nothing but the pine forest covered in a blanket of
sparkling snow.
Scarlett looked up for a second, then looked back down. “Hi Icy,” She replied, her eyes
glued to the forest floor as if she was being hypnotised to.
Icy searched again for something interesting, but all she saw was just an evergreen forest
and a layer of the same old snow. There were no animals- not a fox or an owl in sight, and not
even the soft breeze didn’t move anything but a few fallen leaves and the slight swaying of the
trees. “What are you looking at?” She asked, after scanning the motionless scenery once more.
Scarlett looked over at Icy. “Oh, nothing anything in particular. But isn’t it fascinating?”
Scarlett replied with her brows high and a wide smile spread across her face.
Icy turned to look at Scarlett. “What are you talking about?” Icy questioned.
Scarlett sighed. “Can’t you see?” Scarlett started, putting a talon on Icy shoulder and
pointing down at the rainforest. “The snow, the trees, the everything!” Scarlett exclaimed,
having an even bigger smile on her face.
“You mean the pine trees and snow? Are you saying you never experimented that?” Icy
asked.
Scarlett shook her head. “No, never. My parents and neighbors were awful, but my family
never let me leave the neighborhood, no matter how much I begged. And the weather where I
lived was always polluted, with ash and dust everywhere. And Smogher didn’t help at all.”
“Who’s Smogher?” Icy questioned.
“He’s a ruthless Fire Dragon that stole prisoners from Queen Fiester’s palace and made
them fight to the death, and the dragon that won would be his slaves. He is a terrible dragon.”
 Dragons of Wonder
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Icy looked at her. It seems like she really did have a horrible, awful life in Whatation,
She thought. “Well, I’m glad you came here.”
Just a mere second later Professor Storm walked up to the class and clapped his talons
together like he always did when class started. “Okay everyone! Get your belts and buckles
tightened, ‘cause we’re about to start learning!”
Icy and Scarlett walked to the middle of the class and got their minds ready and set to
learn. They both liked Professor Storm, and they both were especially excited for today’s class.
Professor Storm smiled warmly at his students. “Alright, now last time you were with me
I told you that we are going to be learning something special, now did I?”
The students nodded.
“Well today we’re going to be learning about climate changes in the countries,” He told
everyone, grinning like a child receiving a new stuffed animal. “Are you ready to learn?”
Everyone exchanged faces and started murmuring. They remembered that today was
going to be the day where Storm would teach them something special.
Icy leaned over to a Cactus dragon standing next to her. “Is climate really that special to
him?”
The Cactus Dragon bounced his shoulders. “I don’t know. To me, climate sounds like the
most boring subject ever.”
Icy was confused. Everyone was confused. Surely Professor Storm had to be mistaken.
Finally the answer came when Professor Storm burst out in laughter. “Oh goodness, you
actually thought I’d teach you climate? That’s ridiculous!” He exclaimed. “Climate is something
you’d learn in a boring, ordinary High School. But here in Dragons of Wonder, I’m here to teach
you is fighting tips and battling skills. Now I’m going to group you all into pairs, then we’ll see
how it goes.”
Professor Storm organized everyone into groups of two. He ordered everyone to fly into
the air and start battling, and told everyone not to hurt each other too much.
Icy and the Cactus dragon were put into a group. She was excited, but also super nervous
at the same time. First of all, Icy couldn’t really fight in the air, since her arms and her wings
were connected, and second of all, she kind of had a fear of Cactus Dragons. Their spikes made
her shiver, and the fact that they could last years without water was really creepy.
The Cactus Dragon looked at Icy. “Should we start?” He asked.
Icy nodded. She didn’t want to fight the Cactus Dragon, but she knew she had to. So Icy
took a deep breath in and created a plan to defeat the Cactus Dragon.
The Cactus Dragon flipped in the air and extended the spikes on his tail to the maximum
length. He swiftly soared toward Icy to attack her, but Icy quickly dodged and moved to another
place.
Why couldn’t I fight another Ice Dragon to make it fair? Icy wondered as she kept
dodging the Cactus Dragon. She tried shooting icicles with her tail at the Cactus Dragon, but she
kept missing. The Cactus Dragon was just too fast.
Icy flew behind the Cactus Dragon. She tried to bite his wings, but the Cactus Dragon
turned around before Icy got the chance, and he kicked her in the stomach.
“Ah, looks like you’re doing good Scorpion,” Professor Storm complimented. “Icy, you
look like you’re already defeated. Seems like this battle is unfair.”
Icy looked over at Storm gratefully. “Yes, it is unfair! Can I fight another Ice Dragon?”
 Dragons of Wonder
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Professor Storm shook his head. “Icy, you’ll find in life that there are lots of unfair battles
that you have to face.”
“What?!” Icy yelled as she flew away from the Cactus Dragon. “I mean, I know that, but
that’s the real world! This is just school!”
“Maybe you have to find something to defeat Scorpion with. Sometimes your powers just
don’t do everything for you.”
Icy thought about that for a second. He was right. Her skills and powers weren’t going to
save her sometimes.
So she thought up an idea. Quickly, Icy flew down to the forest while Scorpion followed
her. She didn’t fly to the ground- instead, she flew over and under branches, swooped under
leaves and plants, and spun around tall pine trees. Icy knew she wouldn’t hit anything since Ice
Dragons were usually shorter than average, but she knew Scorpion would, since Cactus Dragons
were tall and much bigger than Icy.
Finally Icy spotted two trees that were so close together that Icy could only fit in with a
few inches of space left. She was positive that Scorpion couldn’t fit. So she soared directly in
between the two trees, and just barely squeezed in before Scorpion could catch her tail.
And soon enough, Icy found Scorpion stuck and struggling to come out of the crevice. He
grunted and tried pushing himself out while Icy laughed. “Here, let me help you,” She offered.
After a few moments of pulling and pushing, Scorpion squeezed out, and they both went to meet
with Professor Storm.
“So who won?” Storm asked once they approached him.
Icy straightened her back and smiled as she replied, “I did. You were right, sometimes
powers aren’t going to save you.” She thought about that for a moment. “It’s a good lesson.”
Professor Storm nodded his head. “Exactly. It helps plenty,” he responded. “Now, both of
you fight without your powers.”
And so they did. Both Icy and Scorpion fought again, both without using their powers.
They flew over the clouds, around trees, spinning in the wind and flipping through the breeze. It
was all about strategy. Finding new ways and plans to attack and capture their opponent.
However, after about ten more fights, Icy and Scorpion started to see through each
other’s plans and knew each other’s strategies. Battles became easier and started to end quicker.
Icy and Scorpion just barely finished their fight, but before they fought again, Icy started
to speak up. “Scorpion- do you think it’s getting… easy?” She questioned.
Scorpion nodded. “Yeah, maybe we should talk with Professor Storm,” He suggested.
They both flew over to Professor Storm immediately. Once they approached him, Icy
said, “Professor, may we have a word?”
Professor Storm turned around. “Yes, Icy?”
“These battles are getting easy. I can see through Scorpion’s plans beforehand, and he
can see mine too. Can we switch opponents?”
The professor thought for a moment. “Well, too bad for you. Think harder, better
strategies,” he replied.
Icy and Scorpion exchanged glances in confusion. They looked back up to ask Professor
Storm what he meant, but he was already off helping someone else. “What do you think he
meant?” Scorpion asked.
Icy looked over at another group of dragons fighting. “Do you think he meant allies?”
“What?”
 Dragons of Wonder
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“Think of it. In real life, we sometimes conqueror enemies, and sometimes we can’t
defeat them on our own. So maybe what he’s saying is that we should team up and fight other
dragons… only together,” Icy explained. “It’ll be harder, and more fun.”
Scorpion smiled. “Then let’s try it.”
The two of them soared over to a Whirlwind Dragon and a Sea Dragon fighting each
other. Scorpion and Icy asked if they could fight against them, and they agreed to. Scorpion and
Icy teamed up, and the Whirlwind Dragon and the Sea Dragon teamed up. And as Icy predicted,
the battles were a lot longer and harder. In fact, it wasn’t until five minutes before class ended
when Icy and Scorpion won the battle.
“Yes!” Icy and Scorpion high-fived each other when they won against the other team.
“Ah, now I see that you’ve created allies,” Professor Storm observed, coming up behind
them.
Icy turned around. “Yeah… were we supposed to?”
“I told you to think of new strategies. Gathering allies is very important. And I assume
you fought without powers?”
Icy nodded. “Yep,” She answered, “no powers at all.”
Professor Storm grinned and looked up at his class. “It’s a very important lesson,” He
announced, raising his voice so everyone could hear. “And, as Icy and Scorpion figured out,
allies are good lessons too. Today, for homework, practice fighting with your partner without
using your powers.”
Everyone flew back to the cloud to gather their belongings. But once the class was about
to leave, Professor Storm ordered everyone to wait. “I’ve seen some brilliant fighters today.
Those who are listed, please come and meet me at five o’clock for a battle meeting,” He told the
class. Professor Storm announced a handful of names, then said something that got Icy’s
attention. “And finally, Icy Lakita. Remember, five o’clock, after school, right here.”
I wonder what it could be, Icy thought. Whatever it is, I’ll be there. She reached inside
her leather bag and pulled out her homework journal, writing down;

Practice fighting with Scorpion after school. Meet Professor Storm at 5:00.

When she finished writing down her homework assignment, she shut her book and
tucked it away in her satchel. Icy waved goodbye to her teacher, then soared down from the
cloud and landed carefully on the sparkling snow-covered floor. The sun was still behind the
clouds, and the misty breeze was still fresh in the air. Quickly, Icy flew a quarter way around the
castle and landed in Mrs. Fern’s classroom, pulling out her homework and notebook.

* * *

Icy was heading up the stairs to go to Mrs. Star’s classroom. She had finished learning
about the Dead Forest with Mrs. Fern four minutes ago, which meant she only had another
minute until her next class started.
Once she had made it to the top floor, Icy opened the classroom door and glanced
around the room. She noticed Rocky come in, then turned around and looked at her Flower
 Dragons of Wonder
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Dragon friend. Sunflower was bouncing up and down in her seat and was drumming the table
with her talons.
“Hey Sunflower, why do you look so excited?” She asked, sitting down and organizing all
her things.
Sunflower’s smile was bigger than the diameter of the sun. “I was begging Mrs. Star to
tell me what we’d be learning today, and she told us we’d be seeing our future!”
Icy dropped her science notebook onto the floor. “Really? That’s today?” She questioned.
“Yes! What do you think your future will be?”
Icy thought for a moment while picking up her fallen notebook. “I don’t know. I hope it’s
good, though. Something important, like winning something or becoming famous, or even just
being happy. Anything good is fine with me.”
Sunflower bounced up and down in her seat. “I hope so too!”
A second later, Mrs. Star came out to the class. “Hello everyone. Today is going to be
your favorite day of the year; because today we’ll be seeing our future!” She exclaimed while
everyone cheered. “Now class, please find your bowl. It will still be at the window sill, where you
put it at the beginning of the year.”
Icy and Sunflower jumped up from their desk and found their bowls quickly. Both of
them were overexcited in seeing what their future was.
As everyone stood up to grab their bowls, Mrs. Star left the room for a minute, then came
back with a gallon of water, one cup of salt, and shiny berries that Icy had never seen before.
They came in bunches of five to seven, and looked almost like the raspberry- only that it was a
banana yellow rather than a rosey red.
Mrs. Star picked up a small, pinewood crate from under her desk. She took off the lid of
the box and revealed about thirty white teacups with a sky blue interior. Mrs. Star then passed
each student in the class one cup, then clasped her talons together and let out a happy sigh.
“Okay everyone. The first step in to making future tea is to pour your dry leaves into the teacup.”
The class happily obeyed and did what they were told; all of them pouring their dry tea
leaves into their given teacups.
“Now for steps two through four. Everyone come up here and sprinkle a little bit of salt
into your teacup, then fill your cup to the top with water, and finally, take one, and only one
Spring Berry back to your desk,” Mrs. Star continued.
Icy and Sunflower were the first ones to stand up. Each of them walked up to the front
table and sprinkled a pinch of salt into their cups, then gently poured the fresh water in,
cautiously trying to not spill. And after picking one Spring Berry from the pile, they returned to
their desks and waited for everyone else to finish.
Once everyone completed their tasks, Mrs. Star looked up and continued to speak. “Now,
look around your Spring Berry. You will see that the whole berry is yellow, except for a slightly
larger circle that is lime green. Carefully- without damaging it- pick the lime green circle and
drop it into your teacup.”
Icy lifted up her Spring Berry and circle it in her talons. Near the bottom of her berry she
found a large green circle that was shining in the light of the dim sun outside. She very carefully
plucked it off with the tip of her claws and watched it fall to her oak wood desk.
Once Icy picked it up the berry immediately started glowing a crimson red, then faded to
an icy white. Worried that she had done something wrong, Icy raised her talon to tell the
teacher. “Mrs. Star? Mine turned white.”
 Dragons of Wonder
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A second later, Sunflower raised her talon as well. “Mine turned yellow- but I’m sure I
picked the green one and not the yellow.”
Mrs. Star was about to reply when two Earth Dragons interrupted her. “Ours turned
brown.”
Suddenly everyone in the class was reporting that their berries turned a different color,
but Mrs. Star just laughed and walked up to Icy. “You’ll see that the berries will change color,
depending on what color scales you have. So Icy, you have white scales, and that is why your
berry turned white. Sunflower, you have yellow scales, and that is why your berry turned yellow.
The same goes with all of you,” Mrs. Star answered.
But then why did mine turn red first? Icy wondered. She opened her mouth to ask, but
Mrs. Star was already announcing the next instructions.
“Now, take your berry and drop it into the teacup, then use your claw to stir the tea.”
Icy dropped in the snow-white berry into the cup. She watched the solid berry float to the
surface, but as soon as Icy dipped her claw in the mixture to stir it, the berry dissolved like sugar
in water.
What just happened? Wondered Icy as she pulled her claw back up. “Mrs. Star, I think I
may have a problem,” Icy confessed.
Mrs. Star just smiled and said, “I’m sure everyone has a problem in this class.”
“No, like…” Icy’s words became quieter as she twisted her head around and watched as
the whole class start to get confused. “Oh, the berry is supposed to dissolve, isn’t it?”
“Exactly. A good thing, patterns are, aren’t they?” Mrs. Star asked with a smile.
Icy grinned let out a soft chuckle. “I guess.”
Everyone continued to swirl the tea with their claws, every one of them quietly talking
about what the future might be. A little bit nosy; Icy decided to overhear what other dragons
thought.
“I bet I’ll see myself saving the world,” One Stick Dragon mumbled.
Sitting next to the Stick Dragon, Rocky scoffed. “As if. There’s not even any problems
going around in the world,” He replied. He paused for a moment, then Icy felt like he was
staring at her. “I bet you fifty amethysts that I’ll end up with that Ice Dragon over there.”
Ha. I bet you one million amethysts I’m not ending up with you, She thought.
“Okay everyone, that’s probably enough stirring. Now, for the next step, each of you will
come up one at a time and boil the tea leaves in this…” Mrs. Star paused and picked up a plant
with steam coming out of every leaf and a bright, blood red flower puffing up rings of smoke.
Mrs. Star plopped the dangerous plant on the desk, and finally, continued to speak. “In this
Whatation plant. Now Icy, why don’t you try first?”
Icy slowly stood up and schooched over to the plant, holding her teacup firmly in her
talons. She had never seen a plant as mysterious and dangerous as this, and the plant looked like
it was going to jump up and burn her at any moment. She was a little scared to go any closer
than a meter from it, and because of that, she chose not to.
But her wish was denied immediately when Mrs. Star motioned her talon to come closer
to her. “Come a little closer Icy.”
Icy took one large step nearer to the plant and looked up at the teacher. “Now what?”
“Now, any second now, the flower should open up for a slight second. When it does,
quickly place your teacup in the center of the flower, and be careful not to drop your cup.”
 Dragons of Wonder
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Icy watched the flower with worry and a pinch of fear. She knew what to do, and she
knew how to do it, the problem was braving herself up to get closer to the steaming hot flower.
After a couple more heartbeats, Icy took a deep breath in, and the flower opened. She
quickly placed her teacup in the center, and sighed in relief. After a minute, the flower opened
up again, but this time, Mrs. Star took the cup and placed it down on the table.
“It’s hot. Just wait for a minute and it’ll cool down,” Mrs. Star told her.
Next, Sunflower went up and boiled her tea. After Sunflower another dragon went up,
and another and another until everyone got their chance to boil their tea, while a group of fourth
year dragons came into the room. On the first moment, everyone was confused about why the
fourth year dragons walked in, but Mrs. Star told everyone that in the fourth year, dragons
would share the class and they would help the first year dragons to see their future.
Mrs. Star called Icy to come and see what her future was. Once Icy came up, she asked,
“Now, do you know what to do Icy?”
Icy shook her head. “No Mrs. Star,” She answered.
Mrs. Star turned around and grabbed her teacup. “I’ll show you,” She replied. Mrs. Star
lifted her teacup and said, “First, drink one sip of the tea.” Mrs. Star sipped up a little bit of the
future tea, then lowered the cup so Icy could see.
“Wow,” Icy admired. The hot liquid swirled around in the cup, then collected colors and
quieted down to a complete stop. Its small ripples became so still; the tea looked more like a
smooth diamond than a liquid. When the spinning finished, Icy saw a faint image of Mrs. Star
wearing a shiny pearl necklace. “What does that mean?”
Mrs. Star set the tea down on the table and turned back to look at Icy. “It means that I’ll
get a pearl necklace sometime in the next hour. One of my students must really love me as a
teacher.” She paused for a few seconds as she smiled at one of her fourth year students. “Now
your turn.”
Icy swallowed a small sip and watched in awe as the tea spun into a spiral. Before she
could see what her future was, though, she twitched her head around when she heard Rocky
scream in sadness. “Why?! Four months of waiting to see this future?!” She heard Rocky
exclaim.
While Rocky was bursting out in tears, Icy was bursting out in laughter, knowing exactly
what his future held. “It’s destiny, Rocky, and you can’t stop it from happening!” She shouted.
Icy was confident that her future was luckier and happier than his.
Behind her, Mrs. Star took Icy’s teacup to see her future, and Icy was wrong right away.
As she turned around, Mrs. Star shrieked in fear and nearly dropped the teacup onto the floor.
Icy went from laughter into fearfulness in less time than a clap of two hands or a blink of
an eye. “What is it?!” She cried.
Mrs. Star revealed the tea to Icy. The tea was faint, but visible, and it felt scary. She
didn’t exactly know what is was at first, but there was a big lump in her throat as she looked at it.
Icy took the bowl from Mrs. Star shaking talons and looked at it closer. She noticed a
creepy black and slightly purple dragon blowing black fire. There was something else there too,
but the picture on the herbal tea faded away. “Where did it go?” She questioned.
Mrs. Star looked like she was about to faint, so quickly, a fourth year Garden Dragon
came to help Icy. When she looked at the tea and figured out what the problem was, she told Icy,
“Well, the tea doesn’t stay there forever, you know. Eventually it goes away.” The Garden Dragon
 Dragons of Wonder
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turned to look at Mrs. Star. “Mrs. Star, you look like you are going to pass out. What exactly did
you see?”
Mrs. Star bent over and whispered in the Garden Dragon’s ear. Icy tried to eavesdrop,
but Mrs. Star’s words were to quiet and soft spoken that Icy only heard the words cavern,
crystal, and black.
Suddenly the Garden Dragon gasped and had her eyes wide open. “That guy?” She
whispered in fear.
Mrs. Star nodded.
Icy, not quite knowing what her future was yet, asked, “What did you see? And how do I
prevent it from happening?” Icy knew that in her very own words, she said that destiny is
destiny, and no one could stop it from happening. But there surely has to be a way!
“I’m sorry Icy, but your future will only be discovered when time passes. Although I will
note that you should not ever listen to your friends,” Mrs. Star told her.
The Garden Dragon stepped in front of Mrs. Star. “And don’t ever go to a desert until you
are at least sixteen years old.”
“Act as a very bad student and rarely do any good.”
The Garden Dragon nodded in Mrs. Star’s suggestion, then added, “Never leave Dragons
of Wonder without an adult to supervise you.”
Mrs. Star took two steps towards Icy and put her talons on Icy’s shoulders. “Never, and I
mean never, go into any place that your friends don’t want to go into without any sort of
preparation, or, don’t go in at all.”
Icy wanted to ask what she meant by that, but Mrs. Star had already turned around to
help another dragon see their future.
Icy walked back to her table and finished the rest of her tea, pondering the words of Mrs.
Star, and trying to figure out one question. Be bored, but safe, or have fun and face the
consequences? Never trusting my friends and not leaving the school without a teacher sounds
a little extreme, but Mrs. Star sounded so worried that maybe my future is… death... Icy
couldn’t decide on what to do. She turned to Sunflower to ask her opinion.
“Sunflower, if you have to choose, would you rather be bored and-”
Sunflower stood up and clasped her talons on the table, as if Icy just told her to go to
prison. “Um, duh! The other option! I hate being bored! I mean, unless the other option was
death.”
Icy thought about it for a second. “I guess so.” And besides, the dragon that they saw
was probably Garrick, and I’m already prepared for that.
Once each dragon in the class had seen their future, Mrs. Star began to teach them about
the parts of the Blue Moon’s leaves and how each part played an important role in seeing the
future. There was the hard and sturdy stem, which was chopped up and eaten in a Bakalorian
soup called moon soup, the viens, which took in the dna on the dragons’ scales, and the blade,
where the veins would transport the dna into the tea.
After they finished learning and the school bell rang, Mrs. Star clapped her talons twice
and called out homework as everyone packed their bags. “Class, please draw a diagram of a Blue
Moon leaf and explain how each part works.”
Icy quickly pulled out her homework journal and sketched down her homework. She was
about to put her homework away when she quickly wrote down an extra thing too.
 Dragons of Wonder
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Be careful around caves. Don’t go inside without any preparation.

Icy closed her journal and stuffed it back in her bag. She skipped out of class, waved
goodbye to Mrs. Star (And reassured her that she’d be extra careful around deserts and caves),
then let out a long sigh as she remembered it was time to be with Professor Slitherwick.
She jumped down from the rails on the top floor and dove down to the bottom floor. As
she slowly walked from the second quarter to the third quarter, she pulled out her book about
Queen Solar of the Kahori. It was at least seven hundred pages long, and Icy was required to
finish the book in one week, but she hadn’t even made it halfway through.
A few moments later, Icy approached the third quarter and was near to Slitherwick’s
classroom. She didn’t dare take her eyes off the book, and often bumped into other dragons as
she walked up to the room.
Finally, when Icy was just a few inches away from the classroom, she finished the last
words of chapter ten and put her book back in her bag, then jogged inside the classroom and sat
the furthest distance from the Night Dragons as possible.
Icy looked at her watch. Just in time, she thought, relaxing her shoulders and letting out
a relieved sigh. Professor Slitherwick would demand extra homework to anyone who was even
one second late.
Icy looked up to see Slitherwick, but saw nothing but an empty desk and a clean stand.
Where was Slitherwick? And why was his desk so clean, and not full of books, pieces of paper
and pages of homework?
She turned around and looked at a Penguin Dragon behind her. “Do you know where
Slitherwick is?”
The Penguin Dragon bounced his shoulders. “Don’t know,” He replied. “Sorry.”
Icy twisted her head and gazed over at the Night Dragons. Each one of them were in a
fight; punching, slapping and clawing for absolutely no reason at all. She didn’t want to get any
nearer to the Night Dragons, but maybe they knew where Slitherwick was. She stood up to go
talk to one of them, and as soon as Icy lifted her tail from the seat, another Ice Dragon stole Icy’s
spot, leaving no other places to sit except for the “invisible wall” separating the Night Dragons
and the Ice Dragons.
As Icy let out a long sigh, she walked up to the empty spot and sat down next to the
aggressive Night Dragons, trying her best to squish towards the Ice Dragons’ side.
Icy glanced over at the history professor’s empty desk, then looked to the right when a
voice called for her.
“Hey, Ice Dragon,” the voice greeted flatly. “Wanna fight with us?”
Icy turned her head and looked to the right. The dragon speaking to her was a Night
Dragon, with scales as black as the night sky, with a tint of a dark emerald green on the tip of her
scales. Her eyes were like a bright green firefly shining its light, while her wings felt almost as
black as a black hole, fading into the same emerald green as on her scales.
Icy gazed past the Night Dragon and watched the other dragons fight. To Icy, fighting
like that was completely useless. “Sorry, but no thanks,” She replied.
The Night Dragon let out a small laugh. “So you’re not going to practice?” She chuckled.
“Practice for what?” Icy asked, confused. Did I sign up for something today?
A large laugh escaped from the dragon’s mouth. “No silly! We’re fighting today!”
 Dragons of Wonder
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“Wait, we are?” Icy looked over at Slitherwick’s desk, which was still empty and clean. So
that must be why Slitherwick’s desk is so neat, and why all the Night Dragons are fighting
more than usual.
The Night Dragon smiled. “So, one round? That’ll give us enough time before Slitherwick
comes in.”
No. Definitely not, Thought Icy. Although, she didn’t want to say it and be laughed at, so
she pretended to think. “Hmm… I don’t know. Give me a minute,” Icy responded.
“Okay. Just decide quickly.” As the Night Dragon turned around, she revealed an ash
black leather bag. When Icy looked a little closer to the bag though, she realized it not not a
smooth leather like she thought it was. Instead, the bag was made of dragon scales, and they did
not look fake.
Icy tapped on the Night Dragon’s shoulder. “Excuse me?” She asked, trying not to shiver.
“Are those dragon scales… are they real...?”
The Night Dragon laughed. “Well duh! You didn’t think it was fabric now, did you?”
“Um… where did you get them?” Icy questioned, becoming a little quieter on each word.
She couldn’t help but think that the Night Dragon just killed a dragon and used the scales on her
bag. Not only was that creepy, but also disgusting. It was like wearing a dead body on yourself
every day.
“Well,” She started, shifting her place and looking at Icy. “It was first my grandfather’s
bag. He died as a brave soldier, when he fought in the Ermana War. It was passed down to my
mother, then she gave it to me when I left to go to Dragons of Wonder,” The Night Dragon
explained.
Well thank goodness she didn’t kill a dragon. Icy looked at the scaled bag. “Do you have
any idea where your grandfather got it?”
The Night Dragon sadly shook her head. “Sadly I don’t. I wish I did though.”
Icy knew that pretty soon the Night Dragon would ask to fight again, so Icy thought of
another plan to stall her. “My name is Icy. What’s yours?”
The Night Dragon looked up. “I’m Solar. Nice to meet you.”
“Solar? What kind of a Night Dragon name is that?” Icy questioned.
Solar pulled out her book about Queen Solar of Kahori. “I was named after the last queen
of Kahori.”
“Why? She was a Sun Dragon, and you are a Night Dragon. They’re complete opposites,”
reasoned Icy. She was most interested to understand the backstory of Solar, and even more so:
the reason why she was named after a Kahorian queen.
“Sorry, but it’s personal. Top secret,” Solar replied.
“Oh.” Icy was hoping to hear something amazing and adventurous and cool, and was
very disappointed to hear that it was top secret. How many secrets could a name and a backstory
hold anyways? I guess I can’t be too upset. Night Dragons always have a secret of some kind.
Just a second later, Professor Slitherwick finally came into the classroom, carrying
nothing but a small sheet of paper and a scarlet red pen. He sat the simple objects on his desk
and smacked his talons onto the stand to get everyone’s attention. “First things first, by raise of
talons, who read Ermana’s War: Queen Solar?” Slitherwick called.
Same as always, each one of the Night Dragons raised their talons, while the Ice Dragons
stayed put, moving nothing but their eyes.
 Dragons of Wonder
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Without even seeing a scale of any of the dragons, Slitherwick commented, “All Night
Dragons, no Ice Dragons.” He paused to stare at the Ice Dragons. “Our test is tomorrow. You
better study, white lizards.”
Solar let out a soft chuckle and nudged Icy on the shoulder. “White lizards. Ha,” she
mumbled quietly. Icy rolled her eyes.
“Now, does anyone know what we are learning today?” Professor Slitherwick questioned.
Solar’s talon jumped up from the bench and into the sky, along with all the other Night
Dragons. Icy thought about raising her talon, but was distracted when she realized that she
might have to fight a Night Dragon.
Professor Slitherwick looked around the class for a while, then looked at Solar. “Solar,
you seem eager to answer.”
Solar lowered her talon quickly and started speaking in a fast and controlled manner. “As
you mentioned to us seven weeks ago as we were leaving the class; on the day after Queenmas,
us Night Dragons will be fighting an Ice Dragon of your choice, while the Ice Dragons will do the
opposing. The winning team at the end of the day will win two hundred amethysts to share.”
Two hundred amethysts? That’s ten amethysts per dragon! Icy thought.
“Yes, thank you Solar,” Slitherwick mentioned slowly. “Now, everyone leave your bags
here and follow me.”
Icy took off her bag and stood up along with all the other dragons, and followed some
Night Dragons ahead of her towards Slitherwick. Once everyone was in a single file line behind
Slitherwick, they left the classroom and started walking down the stairs.
Solar walked ahead to Icy. “You excited?” She asked. “I hope we get to fight each other
and do that battle we were about to have in the classroom. That would be fun.”
“Yeah…” Icy said, really hoping Professor Slitherwick didn’t hear that. The last thing she
wanted was to fight Solar. Solar was the strongest female dragon her age that Icy knew of.
Literally anyone else was better to her.
After a few more minutes, Slitherwick led the class to a large battlefield. To the left of the
battlefield laid a four layered bleacher, long enough to fit two whole classes and extra space.
Most of the battlefield was covered in snow- an advantage for the Ice Dragons, since Ice Dragons
were more familiar with the snow.
Professor Slitherwick ordered everyone to stop walking and sit on the bleachers. Once
everyone was seated, he called, “First round, Hagél and Stargazer. Let’s get fighting!”
The announced dragons came up to the battlefield. The two dragons stood on opposite
ends of the battlefield, stretching their arms and legs before the fight, then on Slitherwick’s
command, they started the battle.
Both Hagél and Stargazer ran up to the center of the battlefield. Hagél jumped up and
almost did a body slam on top of Stargazer, but Stargazer immediately turned the opposite
dragon and ran behind Hagél. Before he could turn around, Stargazer scratched a line down his
back and kicked Hagél to the ground.
Just a second later, Hagél flipped up and aimed for Stargazer. He was just about to hit
her, when Stargazer dodged him and clawed another line down his back again. Blood poured
down on his cuts.
Icy looked towards Slitherwick, who was looking straight at Hagél but did nothing. She
decided that she had to speak up. “Stop this! Can’t you see that he’s injured already?!” Icy yelled.
 Dragons of Wonder
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She waited for a reply, but not even a mumble came from him. Icy sighed, prayed for the best,
and continued to watch.
Stargazer laughed. Not an evil, despicable laugh, but a laugh that sounded like she was
having fun. Like all of the battle was a mere game of tag. She jumped up into the air, then
flipped behind Hagél and scratched his back again. Before Hagél could recover and get up,
Stargazer pinned him to the ground, bruising his face.
Right before Stargazer clawed up his wing, Slitherwick finally decided to stop the fight.
“ENOUGH!” He shouted. “Stargazer, what you did today was amazing. I love how you used
Prince Firedune’s strategy for fighting. It was explendid. Excellent work.” Slitherwick turned his
head to looked at Hagél. “As for you, Hagél; work on those reflexes.”
Stargazer lifted her talons from Hagél’s neck and walked back over to the Night Dragons.
The Night Dragons cheered for her, patting her on the back and clapping their talons.
When Hagél finally dragged himself back to the bleachers, Icy switched places with a
Blizzard Dragon to talk with him. “Are you okay?” She asked Hagél.
Hagél grunted. “No… I hate Slitherwick,” he whispered. “I can’t believe he would make
us do such a thing.”
“Snowcurrent and Moonstone, you’re up next!” Slitherwick shouted. The two dragons
walked up to the battlefield and waited for Slitherwick’s call.
Icy watched the fight with hope; although there wasn’t much new to see. Moonstone did
a few quick attacks, and within two minutes, Snowcurrent was down and couldn’t fight anymore.
Slitherwick congratulated Moonstone, then left Snowcurrent with a negative note and ignored
her.
The same routine happened for thirty minutes. An Ice Dragon would fight against a
Night Dragon, and no longer than five minutes, the Night Dragon would win.
Soon, there were only four more dragons left- Icy, Solar, an Icicle Dragon named Winter,
and Strike- the one who had fought Slitherwick in the battle of keeping the school books or
throwing them away. Icy hoped that she would fight Strike.
Once the previous battle finished, Slitherwick called the two dragons back to their seats
and announced the next dragons. “Icicle Dragon, Winter, against… Strike. You two up next.”
Icy was too scared to even see the battle. I’ll have to fight Solar… I’m going to get real
hurt. I can’t do this. It’s impossible. She looked over at Solar. She somehow got the feeling that
she could defeat Solar. I’ll have to find her weakness.
The battling dragons were finished fighting in four minutes. Even though Strike was no
match for Slitherwick, he was a tiger against a squirrel fighting against Winter.
“Good job Strike- You did an excellent job fighting with King Jaleper’s strategy. And the
reflexes were amazing,” Professor Slitherwick congratulated. “Now for the final battle, which I
am most excited for. Icy the Ice Dragon, against Solar, my prised student.”
Icy looked over at Solar, who looked excited. Slitherwick must have heard that Solar
wanted to fight me, she thought gloomily as she stood up from the bleachers and started to walk
down. She tried to look tough and brave, but it was hard when she knew how strong Solar was.
Her back was slouched and her fear climbed higher. I am seriously going to get hurt.
Slitherwick stared at Icy for a while, until both Icy and Solar took their places. “Fight!” he
yelled.
Icy went first. She ran a few yards closer to Solar, then lifted herself up into the air and
tried to fly behind her and scratch her up like Stargazer did to Hagél.
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

But as Icy flew above Solar, Solar flipped in the air and kicked her in the stomach,
causing Icy to soar upwards. Before Icy could regain control, Solar flew up above Icy and pushed
her, making Icy’s fall faster.
Icy just barely gained control of her wings right before she hit the ground. She
remembered what Professor Storm said, and tried to lose Solar in the forest. Icy quickly headed
into the evergreen forest.
Icy flew as quick as she could, flipping around trees and soaring over and under branches
like a maze. She didn’t even know if Solar was still following her or if she had crashed far behind.
Icy just needed to get to safety.
In just a mere second later, Solar roared and was no longer than ten feet away from Icy.
Icy could hear Solar’s wingbeats getting louder and louder. Regretfully, Icy looked back to see
how close Solar was, and bonked her head right into a tree. She lost conscience for a small
moment, but thankfully regained it just before Solar cut her wing.
As Icy stood up to run, Solar scratched a nice line down her tail. She could still fly, but it
was hard and was much easier to run. Icy started sprinting through the forest and back to the
battlefield as swift as she could. Solar turned around and followed Icy above the air.
Just before Solar flew down and attacked Icy, Icy tripped over a log and went tumbling
on the forest floor. She rolled sideways and crashed onto the battlefield.
Solar grabbed Icy’s legs and dangled her from the air. She made funny noises and teased
Icy, causing all the Night Dragons to laugh.
Icy didn’t even bother to try and fight her. She wanted to give in to Solar and tell her that
she won so that Icy wouldn’t have to fight her anymore. But Slitherwick would never let me. If I
did do that then he’d have me in detention again, thought Icy. Maybe…
Icy thought up a quick and simple plan. When Solar would attack her, Icy would quickly
lay down and pretend to be beaten up. It was the only way to get out of fighting.
Her plan failed almost immediately. Three seconds before Solar even came down to her,
Icy fell down and held her eye. “Ouch! That hurt!” She opened her eye a second later and found
that Solar hadn’t even moved from her spot.
“Are you really serious? I was just barely starting to have fun!” Solar complained.
Slitherwick shot up from his seat and stomped towards Icy, his talons on his hips and a
very disappointed look on his face.
Icy stopped her pose and sat normally on the battlefield floor. I shouldn’t have thought
of this plan. It was wrong and way too obvious that I wasn’t hurt. I could have fought to the
end.
Could I?
Slitherwick stopped walking when he was a foot away from Icy. “So?” He questioned.
“Um…”
Slitherwick didn’t wait for a response. “Three weeks. You had three weeks to study the
fight moves and strategies of historical Sand Dragons and yet you still don’t know how to fight?”
“I had two days to finish a book with a thousand pages. What did you expect? It’s not an
Ice Dragon power to be able to read as fast as Night Dragons,” Icy argued.
Slitherwick looked at Icy even closer. “You never even tried. If you had even read twenty
pages- twenty pages, then maybe I would have let you pass. It’s the fact that you didn’t even
try-”
 Dragons of Wonder
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“I did try! I’ve read a part of each and every book you gave me! If you had given specific
instructions that I could have read just twenty or thirty pages then I would have passed!” Icy
shouted.
“You need to pay attention!” He yelled. Suddenly everyone was completely silent. “I’ve
told everyone in this class that you must read at least a section of the book! Heck, even the Night
Dragons don’t finish! It’s your fault that you never listened to what I said, coward!”
The last word echoed in Icy’s head. “I am not a-”
“Coward?” Slitherwick finished. “It’s true, Icy! You’re a useless coward!”
Icy felt a drop of salty water run down her face. She didn’t care about embarrassment
anymore. For the first time in forever, she had been called a useless coward. Not by a stranger,
not by a prisoner, not even by a bully or an enemy. But by a teacher. A teacher that was
supposed to teach in- supposedly- the best school ever.
“I am not…” Her voice trailed off, unable to say the last word. “Useless.” She couldn’t
stand to be in Slitherwick’s class anymore. It would take her a long time to forgive him for what
he called her.
She turned around and flew into the cold, winter sky.

* * *

Icy walked inside her room and slammed the door behind her. She headed over to her
window and threw Mrs. Coral’s homework pages and books onto her desk with no order. She
couldn’t stop thinking about Slitherwick; even with class with Mrs. Hollen, Mrs. Horrale, Mrs.
Coral, and even lunch with all of her friends. The whole day Icy had been feeling down and
sometimes thinking that what Slitherwick said was true.
It isn’t true, Icy reminded herself. I defeated all three of the dragons at the dragon
tournament, I try my best at school and succeed, and I made two awesome friends here.
But I also lost, against a dragon I could’ve defeated.
Maybe I truly am useless.
There was a knock on the door. For a moment, Icy wondered if she would answer it at all,
even if it was the Queen. She waited until there was another knock, then finally walked up and
looked under the small opening under the door, hoping it wasn’t her friends. She really didn’t
want to talk to them right now.
But Icy saw six pairs of talons that she didn’t recognize. Who could that be? She
wondered as she stood up. Icy put her talon on the silver door handle and twisted it open, and
saw the six dragons she wanted to see the least.
Garrick and his friends were all standing in front of her, each of them with an angry
smile on their face.
Garrick flicked a piece of dirt off his talons and took a step closer to Icy. “I challenge you
to a battle,” He said. “Jerry, Shard, you know what to do.”
Jerry and the Metal Dragon named Shard ran up to Icy with a bag and some rope. Shard
took Icy’s wing-arms, legs, and tail and tied them together with a rope behind her back, then tied
her mouth shut so she couldn’t bite or breathe ice. Once Shard was done tieing her together,
Jerry put Icy in a large bag and closed up the opening.
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

Icy tried to scream and get out of the bag, but it was no use. Her screams were muffled,
and moving only hurt her more. After a moment or two, she gave up and layed completely still.
When someone comes around then I’ll move.
Unfortunately, nobody even said a word, so Icy really couldn’t tell where she was going.
But all of a sudden, a familiar voice started to speak.
“Garrick, where are you taking that bag, and, what’s in it?” the familiar voice asked.
It’s the queen. Icy remembered. You better answer Garrick.
“Your majesty, I was taking these to my friends, for they only got a few presents on
Queenmas. Poor them, right?” Garrick answered, as if he really was answering the queen
honestly.
He is a good actor. Icy thought. But I can’t let the queen believe him. Icy started moving
everywhere, trying to sign the queen that she was in there.
“Oh, sweet little dragon,” Icy heard the queen say. “But, may I ask you, why on all of
Ermana is that bag moving so much?”
She got my message. There’s no way you can get out of this Garrick.
“Oh, your majesty, It is only moving so much because the dragon I am giving this to, is
only eight years old, and he loves trains, and these trains sometimes start moving accidently,”
Icy heard Garrick say, sounding super honest. “Let me stop the trains.”
Garrick opened the leather bag and hit Icy hard. Icy yelled silently, and stopped moving.
“Do it again and I’ll hit you again even harder,” Garrick whispered to Icy. Icy nodded her head,
and stayed still.
“Well, I will see you again tomorrow,” Queen Akcrista said. “Stay safe.”
Icy wanted to punch Garrick in the face. He was a very good actor, which meant he could
be telling lies all the time. Which probably means Queen Akcrista thinks he’s a good student…
when he’s not.
After being dragged for five minutes, Icy heard a castle door open and she felt being
dragged onto dirt and cold ice.
Finally, after a few seconds, the bag was untied and Icy could come out. Icy got up slowly,
staring at Garrick. “Why did you bring me here, in a bag?” Icy demanded firmly.
Jerry started to laugh, then quickly stopped as Garrick turned to look at him. Garrick
took a deep breath and Icy waited for a big answer, but all that came out was a little, “I don’t
know.” He smiled, then started to walk to a battlefield with the rest of his friends following him.
Icy followed Garrick and looked up at his face. “I’ve trained, you know, and it’s not going
to be as easy as it was before.”
Garrick laughed. “I think this time it’s going to be easier. Because this time, all six of us
are going to be fighting you. A Mountain Dragon, a Metal Dragon, a Scorpion Dragon, a Stone
Dragon, a Vine Dragon, and a Lightning Dragon, all against a weak little Ice Dragon.”
Icy examined Garrick and all his friends and bit her lip. “Great,” She mumbled
nervously.
The seven dragons started walking to a battlefield, and Icy immediately became nervous
when she realized that the battlefield that Garrick chose to fight on was the same battlefield that
Icy fought on that same day. It was the battlefield where she had lost against Solar.
Suddenly, from behind a tree, Professor Slitherwick walked out and threw a chicken leg
bone on the grass. He glanced over at Icy, and headed over to sit on the bleachers.
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

Icy looked at the black dragon. Oh, why watch me now? I'm going to fail, fail, fail, She
thought as Slitherwick took a seat.
“Ready…” Garrick started once all his friends took position.
Icy inhaled a deep breath. I can’t lose today. I can’t lose.
“FIGHT!”
Everyone started chasing Icy, roaring and shouting at her. Icy tried to run as fast as she
could, but she knew they would catch her soon; but all of a sudden, as she looked over at
Slitherwick, she remembered Prince Firedune’s strategy of how to defeat an opponent. She
quickly flew behind the group of dragons and scratched the Scorpion Dragon in the back.
And just as she knew it, the Scorpion Dragon screamed in pain and held his back. It
weakened him, but he wasn’t over yet. Suddenly the Scorpion Dragon was the one chasing her
the most.
Icy was unable to keep the pace up, and eventually the Scorpion Dragon caught her legs.
She started to fly up when the Scorpion Dragon wouldn’t let go. She tried to push him off, but he
wouldn’t budge, and then decided to hit him in the head.
Once Icy hit him on the head, the Scorpion Dragon let go and fell on top of Shard. Icy
flew down to Shard and the Scorpion Dragon and froze their tails, talons, wings and feet to the
ground.
Great. Two down, four to go, thought Icy. She ran up to Jerry and froze his feet to the
ground. “Hey Jerry, want to hear a joke?” She asked as Garrick and the Stone Dragon started
running towards Icy.
“Oh my gosh, yes!” Jerry shouted. The rest of his team groaned.
“What’s Teri’s favorite chicken?” She asked. Jerry thought about for a moment, then
shrugged. Icy smiled. “Teriyaki,” She answered.
Just as she hoped, Jerry burst out in laughter. He closed his eyes and was about to slap
his knee, but slapped Garrick’s stomach instead.
Icy then froze his mouth shut and froze his lower body to the ground. She focused on the
Stone Dragon next.
Prince Firedune’s strategy wouldn’t work for him, since his scales are too hard, thought
Icy, trying to think of the best idea to defeat the Stone Dragon. Maybe I could tire him out.
Stone Dragons usually move slowly in battle. Icy waved at the Stone Dragon. “Hey Stony! Come
and catch me!” She called. Quickly, she ran to the far edge of the battlefield.
The Stone Dragon roared and ran towards Icy, his claws out and ready to slash her in the
face.
Before the Stone Dragon cut her, Icy jumped up and flew to the other side of the field.
Garrick and the Vine Dragon were also trying to catch her, whispering to each other a plan to
attack Icy.
Icy kept running around the battlefield, and eventually, the Stone Dragon was breathing
heavily and couldn’t run anymore. He stopped to take a breath, and while he did, Icy froze his
feet and talons to the ground.
Only two more left, Icy thought, looking at the Vine Dragon and Garrick.
The Vine Dragon shot a dozen of razor-sharp leaves at Icy, which she easily blocked. The
Vine Dragon shot more of his razor-sharp leaves and created a vine behind Icy.
Icy blocked the leaves easily, then tripped on the vine behind her and fell backwards on
Garrick’s arms.
 Dragons of Wonder
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Garrick picked up Icy by the feet, spun her around in the air, then smashed her down on
the ground. He put his talons on Icy’s wrists and stepped on her ankles, making her unable to
move. “You’ve lost, Icy!” He shouted.
Icy was about to use her ice on his face, but just before she did, the Vine Dragon tied a
thick vine around her neck. She couldn’t breathe air, which made it impossible for her to breathe
ice.
Garrick chuckled. “Now, say you’re done and we’ll let you go!”
Icy collected saliva in her mouth, then spit on Garrick’s face.
Garrick immediately let go of Icy and stepped away. “Eugh, gross!” He exclaimed while
wiping his face. He turned to the Vine Dragon and yelled, “What are you standing there for? Get
her!”
The Vine Dragon jumped at Icy as she untied the vine on her neck. Icy stepped away just
in time, and ran towards the end of the battlefield.
The Vine Dragon was shooting razor leaves from his mouth and creating vines from his
tail.
Icy picked up a vine from the floor and froze it up with ice, then wacked the Vine Dragon
in the face. She kept hitting him, giving him a bruise near his eye. Once she got closer to him,
she froze his feet to the ground, and was about to freeze his talons to the ground, then Garrick
attacked her.
He pushed Icy to the ground and bit her arm, then pinned her down, then smacked his
large tail on the ground, creating an earthquake.
Icy and Garrick started rolling around, each of them having an equal number of turns
pinning the other down. As they were rolling, Icy shot icicles at the Vine Dragon’s feet and then
slapped Garrick’s back with her tail.
Garrick roared, let go of Icy, punched her in the face and stepped on her foot. “Give up
already!” He shouted.
Icy held her face, then ran towards the Vine Dragon to finish him off. The Vine Dragon
was having a hard time walking, since Icy had used her icicles on his feet. She pushed the Vine
Dragon down to the ground, then froze his talons and feet to the ground. Icy then made a clump
of ice on his tail to stop him from shooting vines.
Now there was only Garrick left to defeat. She roared and ran up to him, trying to scratch
his wings, but instead was the one with scratched wings when Garrick kicked her down and cut
her wings up. He grabbed her tail, then flew up in the sky.
“Oh, this looks familiar!” Garrick yelled as he flew higher and higher. “And who exactly
ended up losing? Oh right, you,” he growled. “And you better get used to it, because you’re going
to lose again!”
Icy roared and cut Garrick’s wings just before he dropped her, then started fighting him
as they both fell from the sky. “Sorry Garrick, but sometimes things just aren’t predictable!” She
shouted.
Garrick and Icy shouted and roared, punching and clawing each other as they fell, and
just before they landed, Icy pushed Garrick down so he would fall first.
Exactly as Icy had hoped, Garrick took the big fall, smashing into the ground and making
a big hole in the battlefield.
Icy still took in some of the damage, though. Even though it didn’t hurt her as much as
Garrick got hurt, she was still in pain and her whole body hurt. Her face, her stomach, her
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

wings, her back… She couldn’t bare to fight him anymore, and she hoped that Garrick was too
hurt to be able to fight as well.
Garrick opened his eyes and looked at Icy. She could tell that Garrick was struggling and
trying to get up and keep the battle going.
After a few quick moments, Garrick pushed himself up and stood back on his feet. He
was breathing heavily, his eyelids kept falling, but he was up.
And so was Icy. She too did not feel so good, but she felt better and more energized than
him. She quickly shot a thin shard of ice at his chest, and he fell back down again. She felt kind
of bad for him, so she ran towards him and kneeled down.
Garrick squinted his eyes and tried to pull himself up, but it was no use. He laid his head
down on the floor and said, “Good job, Icy. You’ve won.”
Icy gasped and tried to hold in her beaming smile. “Really?”
Garrick nodded and smiled back slightly. “I can’t believe it, but you’ve done well.”
Icy smiled and laughed a bit, then turned to look at Slitherwick. His jaw was dropped
and his eyes were wide open. He blinked his eyes and returned back to his normal face, then
gave an approved nod at her.
Icy laughed joyfully and jumped into the air. “I did it! I did it!” She exclaimed. Her body
was in so much pain, but she was so happy that she ignored all the aching. She spun around and
danced across the battlefield, humming and laughing at the same time. She had never been so
happy to have defeated some dragons, especially with no reward. “I did it, I did it, I really really
did it!” She chanted in a sing-song voice.
Professor Slitherwick interrupted her cheering and told her, “You really did good. You
have used strategies never seen before, with skills better than I have imagined. You’re better
than I would have ever thought you would be.” He stood up and started to walk away, then
turned around and said, “Maybe you’re not a useless coward after all.”
Icy laughed and actually smiled at Slitherwick, then continued dancing and celebrating,
happier than ever.
While she was dancing, she skipped over the Vine Dragon, which made him look over at
Garrick. “Why? How?” He cried.
Garrick shrugged, still with a smile. “I don’t know, but I know that we underestimated
her. She’s good.”

Chapter 7
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

Darkness Rising

Four good months had passed by since Icy had defeated the six dragons, and as soon as the
group of boys passed by her, they smiled and waved. She sometimes even practiced fighting with
Garrick, and learned a lot of new tricks and skills. Garrick also seemed to be nicer; and not just
to Icy, but also to other dragons as well.
Professor Slitherwick’s class got a lot easier, and Slitherwick started to treat the Ice
Dragons better. He was always more proud and happier with the Night Dragons, but the Ice
Dragons still were given more reading time and more privileges.
Icy, Sunflower and Scarlett began to have even more fun together. They celebrated each
other’s birthdays, went on cool adventures during the weekends, and visited each other quite
often. Icy only rarely sat with Rebecca.
Rebecca also continued to make more friends, and left Icy unnoticed. Their friendships
became farther apart, and they barely ever talked. Icy was kind of sad to realize that her best
friend had turned into a mere acquaintance, but she found that she was happier with Sunflower
and Scarlett anyways.
Icy’s view on Dragons of Wonder changed drastically. At the beginning of the year she
hated it- an evil king, Professor Slitherwick, Garrick, but all of those things seemed to be solved.
Professor Slitherwick became nicer, Garrick was her friend, and the evil king hadn’t made any
crimes at all. Dragons of Wonder was better than she ever thought it would be.
Icy had just finished her final class with Professor Fannick. She walked home and put her
leather bag on her desk, then pulled out one of Slitherwick’s books about Prince Landshocker of
Lăkera. She read in peace and silence, listening only to the bird songs outside her window.
But all of a sudden, Icy heard a loud scream. Her head poked up, but after a minute of
listening to only silence, she went back to reading.
Then the low scream happened again. She slid a white bookmark in between two pages,
then put her book down and looked out her window. She looked down and up and left and right,
but she saw nothing there except for the peaceful beach and the bright blue sky. Icy kept looking,
searching for anybody who might’ve screamed, but the only dragons that were in sight were a
few Water Dragons playing in the water and having fun.
Icy backed away from the window and opened Slitherwick’s book again. She got through
two sentences when she heard the same scream again. Sighing in annoyance, she closed the
book again and got up to see who could’ve been screaming.
 Dragons of Wonder
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Icy walked out of her room and looked around the castle. No one looked like they were in
pain, and no one looked like they were even unhappy on any matter. She started her way down
the stairs to see if anyone was screaming outside the castle.
As she was walking around, Sunflower skipped out from Mrs. Fern’s greenhouse with a
smile. “Hey Icy! How was school?”
Icy glanced over at Sunflower. “Good,” she answered, “but did you happen to hear any
screaming?”
Sunflower nodded her head. “I did. It was faint, and I was actually going to check on it. It
hasn’t happened for a few moments though, right?”
“Yeah. I heard it three times, then decided to see if I could find who was screaming and
why they were doing it.” They continued to walk for a few moments, then Icy said, “Let’s split
up. It’ll get more ground covered faster. Let’s meet at Mrs. Fern’s greenhouse in ten minutes.”
Sunflower waved goodbye to Icy, then turned left and started looking around, while Icy
continued pressing forward.
Icy looked everywhere. Around trees, behind bushes, up in the sky and under logs, but
she found no trace of who screamed. She pushed through a leafy bush, then heard Sunflower’s
scream from a while away. She turned around immediately and followed the sound.
After a minute’s worth of running, Icy approached Sunflower with worry. “What is it?!”
she demanded.
Sunflower was shivering with fear, looking like she was about to faint. “Just look behind-
behind that- that tree,” she trembled.
Icy walked around the tree and gasped. She thought that Sunflower was just overreacting
a little too much, but she was absolutely wrong.
There was a full grown and strong Rainforest Dragon, with blood splattered all over his
neck and on his chest. Huge claw marks stretched from his face down to his stomach, and his
arms and legs were covered in cuts and bruises.
The good thing was; he was still breathing.
Icy kneeled down next to the Rainforest Dragon and asked, “Who did this to you? What
happened? Why did they attack you? Who are you?”
The Rainforest Dragon was breathing heavily, and his voice was rasped. “Too many… too
many questions…”
“Sorry,” Icy apologized. She thought about the question she wanted to hear first, then
asked, “Who did this to you?”
Dark clouds started to form above the sky as the Rainforest Dragon took in a large breath
to reply. “Him… The evil… Evil…” It became harder and harder for him to speak.
Icy turned around and looked at Sunflower. “Sunflower, quick, get the queen! We need to
take him into the school hospital! Now go! Fast!”
Sunflower did as she asked and flew back to the castle, beating her wings and flying
faster than she would if she was running away from death.
Icy turned back to the Rainforest Dragon. “Just live for a little bit longer.”
The Rainforest Dragon continued to have a raspy breath. “If you get the chance… Tell
Kuluca… Tell Kuluca and Arthiena… And Tagmazza… Their father will be there, even when my
mortal body is gone.”
Icy shook her head. “Don’t say that. You’re going to be okay.”
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

Just then, Sunflower returned with Queen Akcrista and six medical dragons following
her. The medical dragons laid a rescue stretcher on the floor, then moved the dying Rainforest
Dragon on the stretcher and lifted it up, then walked back towards the castle.
Icy, Sunflower and Queen Akcrista stayed in their spot, as more and more storm clouds
appeared in the sky. “So… Icy, did you catch who did this?” Queen Akcrista asked.
Icy shook her head and looked down. “All he said was ‘the evil.’ I have no idea who that
is, though.”
“Well, I hope he lives,” Sunflower said.
Queen Akcrista spun around and looked at Dragons of Wonder, just as rain started to
patter down on their scales. “We should head back inside. Looks like there’s going to be a storm
happening anytime soon.”
The three of them headed back inside. Queen Akcrista walked to the queen’s quarter,
while Icy and Sunflower went to go and see if the Rainforest Dragon was going to be okay.
Icy opened the school hospital’s doors and walked in. On the first bed to the right, a
crowd of dragons surrounded a dragon, which she guessed was the Rainforest Dragon. She
calmly walked towards the Rainforest Dragon and pushed through the nurses and doctors
watching him.
A doctor wrapped a cast around his arm, then sighed and looked at Icy.
“Is he going to be okay?” Icy questioned.
The doctor slightly shrugged. “It’s too early to tell, but with a bit of luck he might be
healed within a month.” She ran a talon down the Rainforest Dragon’s chest. “Let’s hope he
earns that bit of luck.”
Icy nodded. “I hope he does too.” She glanced at the Rainforest Dragon’s sorrowful eyes
and hoped with all her life that he would be healed. She would hate to see the poor dragon die
have him never able to see his family again.
As much as she wanted to stay and wait to know if he was going to live, she needed to get
her homework done. She tried to smile at the Rainforest Dragon, but just thinking about his
pain made her frown. Quietly, Icy stepped away and left the school hospital without a word to
say.
As Icy walked through the corridors and hallways, Scarlett ran up from behind Icy and
yelled, “BOO!”
Icy screamed and turned around. “Scarlett!” She shouted.
Scarlett chuckled. “Aw man Icy! You totally should’ve seen your face!”
Icy frowned and lowered her brow. “Scarlett, no offense, but I really don’t want to talk to
you right now.”
“Why?”
Icy turned around and started to walk away. “I just… I’m not in the mood.”
Scarlett ran up to Icy and touched her shoulder. “But I made friendship bracelets! I gave
one to Sunflower during Mrs. Coral’s class, now I’m giving one to you!”
“Sorry, Scarlett. I don’t care about friendship bracelets at the moment.”
Scarlett sighed. “Okay, I’m sorry that I scared you, Icy, but it took me like, three days to
make it!”
Icy closed her eyes and stopped her walk. She took a deep breath, then turned around
and snatched the friendship bracelet from Scarlett’s talons, then continued her walk back to her
room.
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

“Icy, please...”
“I said, I don’t want to talk,” Icy replied. She walked off to her room and left Scarlett.
Once Icy had sat down by her desk, she reopened Slitherwick’s book and started reading.
The chapter she was on made Icy not want to read anymore. It was about how Prince
Landshocker fought in the Ermana War, and which skills and strategies he used to kill or injure
his greatest enemies. She closed the book and looked out the window, unable to take her mind
off the Rainforest Dragon.

* * *

Four hours later, the bright pale yellow moon rose above the horizon, lighting up the
beautiful evergreen forest with a dim white light. It was six o’clock, and was time to eat dinner,
but she just felt sick. She didn’t want to eat, and she didn’t want to give an excuse for why she
didn’t want to talk to Scarlett.
Icy got in her bed and pulled up her sheets. She tried to think of happy thoughts to help
her go to sleep.
Slitherwick is nice to me. I beat six dragons without any help. School is fun.
But slowly, the good thoughts turned to bad thoughts. Scary thoughts.
I got in detention, crimes are happening all over the world, dragons die every day...
And after a while, Icy fell asleep, with bad thoughts and memories moving around in her
head, leaving her with a nightmare. She couldn’t help it.
Her nightmare took place at Navitee, in the Arctic Forest, right in her neighborhood. It
was quiet, but a good quiet. Cheerful Ice Dragons were waving, smiling and talking peacefully
while the thin summer blanket of snow shone like crystals underneath the bright yellow sun.
But then, all of a sudden, the sky turned black as a ginormous crowd of Night Dragons
flew above the ground. They started blowing fire and dark fire, swooping down to the ground
and killing Ice Dragons, and tearing apart the houses just like they would playfully break a stack
of blocks. Night Dragons kept killing and destroying everything in the Arctic Forest, until all that
was left of it was the burning houses and trees, and dead bodies scattered across the ground,
burning with everything else.

* * *

Icy woke up at five in the morning, unable to fall back asleep. Her nightmare got her
worried sick.
Quietly, Icy stepped out of her bed and started walking towards the school hospital,
wanting to check if the Rainforest Dragon. She opened her door and silently crept through the
school, until she approached the hospital.
Icy stood next to the Rainforest Dragon and observed. He was in peaceful deep sleep, but
he only looked slightly better. The small scratches and bruises were mostly healed, but the big,
deep cut on his chest didn’t look any better.
She looked out the open window and breathed in the fresh rainforest morning air. She
closed her eyes and smiled, then decided to go on a morning fly. Icy stepped on the window sill,
spread her wings out, and took off into the air.
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

She flew around Dragons of Wonder and over the beach for a little over ten minutes,
then decided to fly over the rainforest. She drifted left and soared over the emerald green forest
for only a few seconds, then noticed a black smoke cloud coming from a small section of the
rainforest just a mile away.
Even though the forest fire was happening a while away, she could hear scared screams
and panics very clearly. Icy was trying to decide if she should go ahead and help them, or bother
and wake up the queen so she could deal with it.
The forest was burning faster and faster. The screams became louder. Icy couldn’t wait
for Queen Akcrista to come- she had to help them now.
Icy beat her wings faster and flew down to the part of the rainforest that was burning.
She started freezing as much as she could with ice, then realized the place she was burning was a
hatchery.
Icy ran inside the hatchery and picked up some of the eggs, then ran outside and laid the
smooth green eggs on the grass. She then went inside the hatchery again, then picked up two
more eggs. She repeated this until all the eggs were safe from the fire.
She quickly ran back inside and looked to see if there were any dragons who were unable
to get out of the fire. Once she realized nobody needed help, she used all of her power to freeze
the whole hatchery to prevent any more fires from happening.
Icy started becoming very tired. Not only had she ran back and forth to get the eggs to
safety, but the heat from the fire and using so much ice made her weaker and more tired.
Icy heard more screams outside. She wanted to just be done and rest for a moment, but
the thought of Rainforest Dragons dying and suffering made her want to help more.
As soon as she ran outside, she saw a kindergarten burning. Dozens of young dragons
were running out from the doors and windows, but a handful of them were trapped when large
planks of wood fell down and covered the exits.
The whole school was burning down, and there was almost nothing Icy could do. She was
too weak to create any more ice, let alone any frost or snow. Her strength wouldn’t save her
either- even if she was able to touch any of the burning planks of wood, she was too tired to lift
anything more than a branch.
Icy prayed for it to rain like it did yesterday, but it was no use. The sun started to rise
above the horizon, and the fog and clouds started to clear up.
Icy turned around and started to run towards the castle. If she couldn’t do anything, then
there was no use for her be there. She started sprinting as fast as she could, too tired to beat her
wings even once, then accidentally bumped into a Rainforest Dragon.
“Sorry!” The Rainforest Dragon yelled. The Rainforest Dragon had green scales, a color
that looked like a fresh-mowed lawn. Her rosy red crest was like a tulip in the sun, and her
bright yellow underscales was like a new-grown daffodil. The Rainforest Dragon looked like a
flower bouquet to Icy.
Icy leaned on the Rainforest Dragon’s chest, breathing heavily. “I’m… fine…”
The Rainforest Dragon helped Icy stand up, then she called, “Kuluca! Get this Ice Dragon
a Nemolo plant! She looks like she’s been caught in the fire!”
Kuluca… Icy thought. The name sounded so familiar to her, but she wasn’t sure where
she’d heard it. She looked towards the direction the Rainforest Dragon looked, and saw another
Rainforest Dragon that looked almost exactly like her, except with a crest that looked like fire.
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

“I can’t right now! Where’s Tagmazza?!” The other Rainforest Dragon protested. “Did
she get out of the school?”
The Rainforest Dragon in front of Icy bounced her shoulders. “I haven’t seen her!”
The name Tagmazza also sounded familiar to Icy. She still couldn’t remember where she
had heard it though.
While the two Rainforest Dragons were shouting, Icy closed her eyes and tried to rest.
She calmly breathed in and out, and moved not a muscle of her body. After a few calm moments,
Icy felt a little bit of strength and ice return to her body. She lifted herself up and started
running towards the fire.
“What are you doing?!” The female Rainforest Dragon called. “Get back over here! You
need rest!”
Icy ignored her and almost ran into the school, when the male Rainforest Dragon pushed
her over and yelled, “You’re an Ice Dragon! You’ll die in there!”
“Sometimes when you live in the rainforest for eight months you get used to the heat,”
Icy replied. She made a sharp and strong shard of ice, breaking a hole in the wall just big enough
for her to fit in. As soon as she landed inside the school, the hole in the wall became covered by a
big log of wood.
Icy searched the whole school, looking everywhere for any dragons in there. She didn’t
see anyone and was about to leave, then heard a high-pitched scream not far away.
“Help me! Kuluca help!” The voice yelled. “Please help me!”
Icy ran towards the sound, and saw another Rainforest Dragon that looked exactly the
same as the two Rainforest Dragons she met outside. She guessed this Rainforest Dragon was
their sister.
“Come on with me! I’ll help you!” Icy shouted back. “Take my talon!”
The little Rainforest Dragon backed away from Icy a little bit. “Get my brother Kuluca!
I’m only going out with him!”
Icy shook her head and wiped her sweaty forehead. “Your brother is outside. I know he
wants to help you, but all the exits are blocked. Now come with me if you want to live!”
The Rainforest Dragon thought for a moment, then grabbed Icy’s talon and stood up.
“Okay,” She mumbled.
Icy carried the Rainforest Dragon on her back and then punched a hole in the wall. They
both jumped out of the hole and landed on a soft pad of grass.
Once they left the burning school, a large group of Rainforest Dragons flew overhead
with big buckets of water. They poured as much water as they could onto the flaming buildings,
then flew towards a nearby river to gather more water.
A few moments later, the group of Rainforest Dragons came back. Icy tried to help by
using her ice to calm the raging fire; it wasn’t much, but it kept the fire from expanding.
The little Rainforest Dragon held onto Icy’s talon. “Can I see my brother?” She asked
with a small voice.
Icy nodded. “We’ll have to find him,” She replied. The two of them walked to the
opposite side of the school, then the two Rainforest Dragons she had talked to earlier ran into
the small Rainforest Dragon and hugged her.
The female Rainforest Dragon stood up and hugged Icy. “Thank you so much… My sister
would’ve died if it wasn’t for you.”
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

Icy hugged the Rainforest Dragon back. “You’re welcome,” She replied. The two of them
let go, then Icy questioned, “What’s your name?”
“Arthiena,” the Rainforest Dragon answered. “Yours?”
“Icy. And your siblings?”
Arthiena turned around and pointed to her sister. “The little one is Tagmazza, and my
brother is Kuluca.”
Icy shook Arthiena’s talon. “It’s nice to meet you. And your siblings.”
Kuluca and Tagmazza stood up and walked over to Icy. “So… your name is Icy?” Kuluca
asked.
“Yes,” Icy responded. They were quiet for a moment, then said, “I’m sorry about this. I
really am.”
Arthiena slightly nodded. “Well, at least everyone is alive. It could’ve been a lot worse.”
Tagmazza looked up at Icy. “Where do you live? I don’t usually see Ice Dragons roaming
around.”
Icy smiled. “See that big castle over there?” She asked, pointing at Dragons of Wonder
behind her. “I live there.”
“Ooh, that’s awesome!” She exclaimed happily. “What is that castle? I’ve always been
wondering what it is.”
Icy, Arthiena and Kuluca chuckled. “Sorry, it’s a secret until you’re in high school,” Icy
replied. She looked at Arthiena. “How old are you?”
“I just turned fifteen. My birthday was three days ago on May twelfth,” Arthiena replied.
“Could we visit you someday?”
Icy nodded. “You can visit me this afternoon. I’m free.”
“This afternoon,” Arthiena mumbled to herself. “Well, it was nice meeting you. Me and
Kuluca will see you at three!”
Icy smiled. “It was nice meeting you all.” The four dragons waved goodbye and said their
farewells, then Icy flew back to Dragons of Wonder. Saving all those Rainforest Dragons and
knowing that none of them died made Icy feel great inside.
Icy arrived at Dragons of Wonder at six, then walked back to her room. She had
homework to finish before school started in two hours.

* * *

An hour after school had finished, Icy heard a knock on the door. Arthiena! Icy thought
happily. She stood up from working on her homework and ran to open the door. She swung it
open and saw Kuluca.
“Hey…!” Kuluca exclaimed weakly. “Icy, right?”
Icy nodded. “Where’s Arthiena?”
“She needs to help my mother with cooking. Our dad has mysteriously disappeared, so
the house is really crazy.”
“Oh.” They were quiet for a moment, then Icy blurted, “Wait a second, your dad just
disappeared? Like he went on a walk yesterday afternoon and didn’t come back?”
Kuluca stared at Icy. “Yeah, he was feeling really tired and exhausted from helping repair
a house for our neighborhood friend, and so he went on a walk and never came back,” He said.
“How’d you know?”
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

“I think the queen and I saw him. He was attacked by someone!” Icy exclaimed. “Follow
me, I’ll show you!”
Icy ran towards the school hospital with Kuluca following close behind. Once they made
it to the hospital, Icy pointed to the Rainforest Dragon.
Kuluca gasped and covered his mouth. “Dad…” he mumbled, walking closer to him.
“How- why- who did this?”
Icy stepped next to Kuluca and sighed. “We don’t know. The best I could get out of him
was ‘the evil.’ Have any idea who it might be?”
Kuluca slightly shook his head. “No. He’s never had any enemies or anything. He’s just
another normal Rainforest Dragon,” He answered. “Which is why… well, which is why I’m so
confused.”
Icy nodded her head in agreement.
Kuluca turned around and looked at Icy. “Family is the most important. It’s a great loss
when you lose them- even if it’s temporarily.”
The two of them stayed with the Rainforest Dragon for a few more minutes, then they
turned around and walked back to Icy’s room.
“That was good,” Icy said once they were in the room.
“What was?”
“Your quote. Family is the most important,” Icy replied with a smile.
Kuluca twisted around and looked out the window. “It was my father’s. He told me that
every day when I was younger; and I got to admit, it did get kind of annoying.”
Icy laughed. “Nice.”
Icy and Kuluca talked and laughed for a whole hour, until Kuluca said he had to go
home. They became great friends- and Icy even invited him to come over the next day.
Kuluca reminded her of her cousin, Moonlight. Kind, sweet, caring, always free to talk,
and never too busy to spend a little time with friends and family.
Then Icy remembered she hadn’t written to Moonlight that week. She pulled out a
drawer from her desk and slid out an empty piece of paper, then picked up a black pen off an
essay and started writing.

Hello Moonlight,
It’s nice to talk to you again! This week has been really fun, except for this morning. A fire
started in the rainforest, but I’m happy to say everything is okay now and no one is dead.
I also met three Rainforest Dragons while the fire was going on. The littlest one is named
Tagmazza- she’s a sweet little six-year old and I had to save her from the fire. The second one is
named Arthiena, and the oldest is named Kuluca. Arthiena is my amazing new friend, and Kuluca is
a lot like you! He’s kind, always stirring up conversations, and an awesome friend. I’d know you’d
like him!med Kuluca. Arthiena is my amazing new friend, and Kuluca is a lot like you! He’s kind,
always stirring up conversations, and an awesome friend. I’d know you’d like him!med Kuluca.
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

Arthiena is my amazing new friend, and Kuluca is a lot like you! He’s kind, always stirring up
conversations, and an awesome friend. I’d know you’d like him!
Anyways, I’m eager to hear from you and I hope everything is going well!
- Icy
Icy folded up her letter and slid it into an envelope. She wrote the addresses on it, then
opened her door and noticed Rocky, with a happy smile and joyful eyes.
“Hi Icy! Just wondering- Are you free next week?” Rocky questioned.
“Uh, why?”
Rocky walked inside Icy’s room and smiled even bigger. “My family’s coming over from
Navitee for two hours to visit us!”
“Wait, hold on, us?” Icy asked, putting her letter back down on her desk.
Rocky chuckled. “Well yeah! Last tuesday I mailed my parents, and they said they’d love
to visit us! I was thinking picnic at the beach, or maybe a romantic-”
Icy didn’t let him finish. “Rocky, there’s something I need to tell you.”
Rocky stopped talking and slouched his back. “Oh, you aren’t free?”
She shook her head. “No, it’s something else. It’s just that…”
“That what?”
Icy sighed. I’m going to have to tell him the truth someday, and that day is today. It’s
just going to have to happen. “Come on, let’s take this outside.”
Icy and Rocky stepped outside, then walked down the stairs to the second floor. Once
they stopped, Rocky asked, “So?”
“So… ever since I met you, I’ve had this one feeling for you,” She started.
Rocky smiled. “You do?”
Icy started to question herself. Should I really do this? Is he going to get mad at me? She
took a deep breath in. No, I have to tell him. I need to tell him the truth, she thought. “And… I’ve
wanted to tell you this for a really, really, really long time.” Icy paused for a moment, then
added, “I was just never brave enough to tell you.”
“And…?” Rocky asked. “Come on, bring it on.”
Icy squeezed her eyes shut. “Please don’t be mad at me.”
“I don’t have any reason to be mad at you. Now tell me your little secret…!”
Icy shook her head. He thinks I’m going to tell him I like him. “It’s not what you think it
is, Rocky.”
“What do you mean?”
Icy looked down at her feet. “Rocky… I really… I really don’t like you.”
Rocky put a talon on his chest. “R-r-really?”
Icy nodded her head slowly and looked up. “You are like a piece of homework. A hard
piece of homework. And… not everybody can answer that piece of homework, yeah? And… let’s
say that piece of homework has been following me, but I didn’t know and would never know how
to answer those questions. That can really bug you, right? If it just keeps following me and
following me and following me… Annoying, right?”
Rocky did a slight nod.
Icy took another breath in and continued. “And let’s say that I’ve already told that little
piece of homework to go away, because I can never answer those questions and make its life full
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

and completed. But… I never told it directly. And so one day… I did, and hoped it would leave
me alone.”
Rocky started to cry. “Do you really mean that?”
Icy looked down. “Yes. Now it’s time for you to find someone else that can finish that
homework.” She waited for a reply, but when Rocky didn’t say anything, Icy continued to talk.
“Rocky, I am really serious. I’ve never looked at you and became happy.”
Rocky wiped tears from his face and mumbled, “That’s…”
“It’s hard for you. I know,” Icy finished.
“It’s a little- It’s a little too hard,” Rocky said, wiping more tears from his face.
Icy couldn’t stand seeing him cry. She could never stand seeing any dragons cry. She felt
terrible. She hated it when she knew she was the reason he was crying.
Icy took one step closer towards Rocky, then lifted her arms and hugged him. “Here’s
this, if it helps.”
Rocky hugged her back. “I knew it all along, too. I should’ve stopped years ago.”
Icy continued to hug Rocky, then smiled. “I don’t have anything to say to that.”
Rocky and Icy laughed, then they both let go.
“So… just friends?”
Icy smiled. “Friends,” She said. Icy waved goodbye to Rocky, then walked back up to her
room. She picked up her letter from her desk, and started her way down to the mailing room.
While she was on the way down, she saw Scarlett with a group of Fire Dragons following
close behind her. They all looked happy with Scarlett, and all of them were wearing the same
bracelet.
Icy immediately felt bad. She went and found another group of friends because I didn’t
accept her friendship bracelet… She thought.
Once Scarlett’s eyes met hers, she started whispering to her friends. Icy didn’t catch most
of it, but she did hear, “She used to be my friend. Then she didn’t want to talk to me anymore.”
Scarlett said some other words, then a carrot orange Fire Dragon replied, “I’m glad you
left her. We’re much better friends anyway.”
Scarlett nodded. “Fire Dragons are better on their own.”
Icy felt alone and lonely. Why would she just leave me like that? She wondered. She still
had other friends; Sunflower, Arthiena, Kuluca, Tagmazza and Rebecca, but knowing that
Scarlett was gone made her feel empty and sad.
She wanted Scarlett to burst out laughing and tell Icy that it was a prank, but Icy knew
how Fire Dragons acted. They could be friendly for a long time, until you make a mistake. Then
they’ll live their lives ignoring their old friends.
Icy looked at her old friend one last time, then hurried past Scarlett and her new friends.
As she walked ahead of them, she heard them giggling and teasing her. Icy quickly ran to the
mailing room.
Icy opened the doors to the mailing room and noticed Sunflower dropping a letter in a
bucket. “Oh, hello Icy!” Sunflower greeted kindly.
“Hi Sunflower,” Icy replied, dropping her letter in the mail bin. “Have you seen Scarlett
lately?”
“Yeah…” Sunflower mumbled. “She, um, she’s with a new group of friends.” She looked
down at her feet and added, “She’s become mean to me. I don’t know why.”
 Dragons of Wonder
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“Probably because of what I did yesterday,” Icy started. She explained the story to
Sunflower, with sad thoughts of how Icy and Scarlett weren’t going to be friends anymore
swirling around her head.
Sunflower sneezed. “Really? All because you didn’t want to talk? For one moment?” She
asked with a stuffy nose.
“Yes! I didn’t feel like talking, and I didn’t want her friendship bracelet. I still took it in
the end- but even then she still didn’t want to be friends anymore,” Icy explained. “Now she’s
with a new group of friends, and all of them are Fire Dragons.”
“Now that’s just rude. Maybe I could talk some sense into her,” Sunflower offered. She
sneezed a few more times, then rubbed her nose. “Sorry, I’m getting the sneezes.”
“Then maybe you should rest. I’ll go talk to her at dinner.”

* * *

A couple hours later, when Icy had finished all of her homework, she started to organize
her desk. She sorted her books, her homework essays, then came across Scarlett’s friendship
bracelet as she lifted up a text book from Mrs. Horrale. Why did I not talk to her for just one
minute? Just one? Icy thought. Now she’s not my friend anymore.
Icy stopped herself from thinking negative. No. If I can get through a War Dragon by
being a little rude, then I can get through Scarlett by being a little rude. She put Scarlett’s
bracelet down on her desk, then headed over to the cafeteria.
As Icy was walking down, she thought of what she would say to her. She stepped through
the cafeteria doors and looked for Scarlett, but before she could find her, Icy’s eyes caught
Rebecca.
“Hey Icy!” Rebecca called out. “Come on and chat with us!”
Icy hesitated. Maybe I should go and talk with them first, and they can help me with
Scarlett, she thought. Icy skipped towards Rebecca’s table and sat down across her. “So, my
week has been really ‘amazing’,” She started. “It started out great, then I found this Rainforest
Dragon just lying there on the floor, almost dead. Then-”
“Woah there, Icy. That’s a little creepy,” said Rebecca as she poured herself a glass of
water. “Who wants to hear about my week?” She exclaimed.
Everyone turned their heads to Rebecca and waited eagerly to hear her story, almost as if
Icy never even started talking in the first place.
Rebecca smiled. “So I started out in Mrs. Fern’s class as she was showing us special herbs
and healing stuff, then I saw this beautiful flower! I asked Mrs. Fern what it was, and she told
me it’s called a veron. Then after school, I found some more beautiful flowers at the beach!”
Icy sighed, then got off the table as Rebecca continued her boring story about flowers.
She looked up and saw Scarlett, sitting and chatting with her new best friends.
Maybe it’s time to let old things go, she thought. Scarlett, Rebecca and all of her friends.
I need to start moving on. It’s just part of life.
Icy wondered around the cafeteria and tried to find a group of friends that was right for
Icy. She tried a group of Water Dragons, but most of them were talking about things Icy didn’t
understand. She tried a mixed group of Sand and Sky Dragons, but they became quiet when Icy
decided to sit with them. She tried dozens of groups, but none of them liked her, and Icy didn’t
like them too much either.
 Dragons of Wonder
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Icy then remembered about Rocky, who had promised Icy that they were only friends.
He was sitting with a large variety of dragons, some of them ice, some of them nature, and some
of them water. Maybe this group was right for her, even if it was mostly boys.
“Oh, hi Icy! Want to sit with us?” Rocky questioned before Icy could say anything.
“Yes, I’d love to,” Icy replied, taking a seat at the table. “So what are we talking about?”
Rocky shrugged. “Eh, nothing much. Just our school and stuff.”
“Oh.” Icy sat and ate in silence for a few moments, only listening to the other dragons
shooting the breeze. Nothing about what they talked about was very interesting to her, until a
teal blue Sea Dragon started a conversation that started to seem interesting to her.
“Hey, did anyone see what was on the news today?” The Sea Dragon said.
Rocky shook his head. “What happened?”
“Apparently Captain Slayer Cutt stole some special artifacts in the Palace of Light,” the
Sea Dragon responded. “He stole about two hundred amethysts as well.”
“Really?” Icy asked. “You mean the pirate?”
“Yeah,” He replied. “But, you know, he’s got a giant ship and is always in Pirate’s Sea.
He’s not that hard to find, and he’s almost always caught. It’s not that big of a deal.”
After that conversation, the whole group started to talk normally again and chat about
boring things. After a minute of realizing that Icy didn’t have much to say and that she didn’t
feel right in this group, she stood up and walked around the cafeteria again.
Icy searched everywhere for any possible friend she could get, but no one seemed to like
her, and she didn’t seem to like anyone else either.
But, there was one dragon she trusted. Kind of trusted.
Solar. Icy hadn’t even seen Solar in about a month, much less talked to her. But maybe
she would entertain her until Sunflower was healthy again.
But how do I walk up to her? The last time we really talked was when we fought, and
she might not even remember me that much. So should I go up to her and introduce myself, or
do I just expect her to remember-
“Is that you, Icy?” Solar asked, interrupting Icy’s thoughts. “Man, we really haven’t talked
in a while.”
Icy looked at Solar and blinked. “Um… No, we haven’t.” She paused for a moment, then
asked, “Can I take a seat?”
Solar let out a long sigh and looked away. “That’s fine.”
“You know, I don’t have to sit here if you don’t want me to,” Icy replied.
Solar bounced her shoulders. “I just don’t see why you would actually want to sit with
me at all.”
Icy stood still for a moment, then sat down next to her on the empty table. Why isn’t
anyone sitting with her? Wondered Icy. She wouldn’t really want to talk or sit with a Night
Dragon, but she didn’t see why other Night Dragons wouldn’t want to sit with Solar.
“How come no one wants to sit with you?” Icy questioned. “I would expect all the Night
Dragons in the whole school to like you.”
“It’s because everyone hates me for such a dumb reason,” Solar replied. “Now the whole
entire school hates me, even the Night Dragons.”
“But what exactly did you do that made everyone hate you?”
Solar sighed. “Secret. I told one of my friends something, then he told all of her friends,
and they told all of their friends, and it kept going on and on. The only reason that stupid thing
 Dragons of Wonder
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stopped was because I told everyone something seriously bad would happen to them if they told
anyone.”
Icy looked down at her talons. “I promise I won’t tell anyone…”
“That’s what the dragon said,” Solar replied. “And yet he told everyone. And those
everyones told even more everyones. There were so many everyones, that I have to say
everyones instead of everyone.”
That must be everyone in the school. Icy thought. Which means I'm probably one of the
few dragons who don’t know. Icy frowned. “Okay. I’ll just sit right here and eat,” Icy replied to
Solar. “Not saying anything.”
Icy ate in silence, while watching Solar get bullied as dragons walked by. She kind of felt
bad for her; being hated by hundreds of dragons in the best school ever. Icy couldn’t believe how
mean other dragons were sometimes.
Right as Icy had finished her dinner and was catching some dessert, a dark blue Tidal
Dragon came up to Solar and shouted, “Look everyone! It’s the puny little Night Dragon with the
evil father!” Everyone near the Tidal Dragon started laughing and mocking her, telling lies and
jokes about how bad and evil Solar’s father was. “Oh no, is she going to cry? Cry and run away to
her bad daddy?”
Icy stood up to try and defend her. Even if it was a Night Dragon, she couldn’t stand to
see how mean everyone acted. “Don’t call-”
Solar immediately stood up and pushed Icy down. She stomped up to the Tidal Dragon,
then using all her strength, she punched his face.
Everyone gasped and exchanged looks. The Tidal Dragon’s nose was bleeding, and his
face was steaming red hot with anger. “You don’t dare punch me in the face!”
“I can do what I want you freak!” Solar shouted. “Now get out you stupid blobfish dragon
before another fist comes to your face!”
The Tidal Dragon chuckled. “Ah, you see everyone? The evilness from her father runs in
the family! So evil, so mean, so-”
Solar roared louder than a ferocious lion. She punched the Tidal Dragons face as she said
she would, then stepped on his foot and clawed his chest. Solar turned around and took a few
heavy breaths, then she pushed the Tidal Dragon down to the floor. “NEVER CALL ME OR MY
FAMILY BAD AGAIN!” She shouted.
The Tidal Dragon quickly nodded, stood up, and ran away as fast as he could.
When Solar sat back down on the table, Icy stared at her for a while, then asked, “All that
for a little thing?” She started to wonder- who was this evil guy, and what did he do that made
him so bad?
Solar looked away and frowned. “Don’t even mention it,” She demanded slowly.
Icy thought of all the evil Night Dragons she knew of, but none of them seemed to match.
There was Coldecho, a Shadow Dragon that stole thousands of amethysts in Shera, but he was
captured and put into prison twenty years ago, which was before Solar was born, so it couldn’t
be him. There was also Crooshair, but he died two years ago and was only twenty four when he
died, so he was too young to have a living fifteen year old daughter. Slitherwick was just a little
rude, and definitely not scary or evil.
Icy kept thinking, when she realized that Solar was staring at her. “Um, what are you
staring at me for?” She asked.
“You should go to bed,” Solar demanded, for what seemed like no reason at all.
 Dragons of Wonder
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“Uh, why?”
Solar lowered her eyebrows. “Because I don’t want you here.”
Icy lifted herself up. “Good night... I guess,” Icy said. When she saw Solar get even more
angry, she quickly ran away and up to her room. She didn’t really have a reason to go up, but if
she couldn’t make friends with anyone else, there was no reason for her to stay down there.
When Icy got to her room, she sat on her bed and looked out the window, still thinking of
who was Solar’s dad, and what he did that made it such a big deal.
While Icy was thinking, she came across a thought that she couldn’t forget. If Icy had
only started hearing about how Solar’s father was evil after the Rainforest Dragon got hurt, then
could Solar’s father be the one who attacked him?
Icy kept wondering about that. She fell back on her bed and looked up at her ceiling. It
could just be a mere coincidence and Solar just told everyone the same time the Rainforest
Dragon was attacked, but it also could be that whoever attacked the Rainforest Dragon... was
Solar’s dad.
After a few more minutes of thinking, Icy closed her eyes and let out a long exhale. Today
was a hard and stressful day, and she needed some rest. Slowly, as thoughts spun around her
head, sleep overtook her.

* * *

A couple hours later, Icy woke up and was unable to fall back asleep. The pale yellow
moon was at its highest point in the sky, and the only sound around her was her breathing.
Icy laid in bed for a while and tried to go back asleep, but with thoughts of Solar and the
Rainforest Dragon, she just couldn’t.
The Rainforest Dragon… is he okay? Thought Icy. If I can’t go back to sleep, maybe I
could check on him.
Icy pulled off her blankets and stood up from her bed. She walked through the door and
silently crept through the halls, the only one awake and moving in the quiet castle. The only
thing Icy could hear was the small sound of her feet as she walked, until she started to hear a
small sound of crying.
She stopped walking towards the school hospital and decided to follow the sound. It was
when she was only about a few meters away when she realized that the crying sound was coming
from the hospital.
Icy walked up to the doors and opened it just a peek. The lights were all on, and the first
bed on the right was surrounded by four Rainforest Dragons. One was Kuluca, one was
Arthiena, and one was Tagmazza. The last one looked older and bigger than all of them, so Icy
guessed it was their mother. The four Rainforest Dragons were all weaping and crying.
Oh no… Icy thought. Is he dead?
“Kuluca…” A male voice said. It wasn’t Kuluca, which meant the dragon talking had to be
the father, which meant he wasn’t dead yet. “You have been a wonderful son, an amazing
brother and a helpful friend. Your name means life in the ancient language… so I want you to
help and continue to make the rainforest lively and strong.”
Well, he’s not dead, but… I think he’s saying his last words.
The Rainforest Dragon grunted. “Arthiena, I have very much enjoyed you in our family.
From the moment you were born to forever more, I have seen no one as kind and as honest as
 Dragons of Wonder
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you. Your name means intelligence, and I am so happy to say that you have that intelligence in
you, and you’re using it so well.
“Tagmazza, your name means happy in the ancient language, which is no wonder for
you. Your spirit is bright and your soul is wonderful. You are by far the most happiest Rainforest
Dragon I have ever met, and I hope you spread that happiness to others.”
The mother who was there stood next to the Rainforest Dragon for a moment, her face
covered with tears of sadness. “Oh, honey…” She squeaked. “I’ll miss you too much.”
The mother leaned down to kiss him, and when she let go, the Rainforest Dragon’s
breath had stopped, and not a muscle moved from his body. The Rainforest Dragon was dead.
Icy couldn’t believe it. How? Why? Who attacked him, and how come he never healed?
The doctor she had talked to said that he might earn a bit of luck that’ll heal him, and he did
look like he got better. How come he died?
Icy started to cry too. She never really knew him, but she definitely knew Kuluca,
Arthiena, Tagmazza and their mother loved them. She kind of knew how they felt- Icy had never
had any family pass away, but her father was divorced with Rasiena when Icy was only seven
years old. Icy never saw him since.
Four doctors came to him and put a white blanket over his body, one of which was the
doctor that Icy talked to. “I told an Ice Dragon that he might earn some luck and he’d live. I am…
terribly sorry that he didn’t earn that luck,” the doctor told the mother, putting a talon on her
shoulder. “What was his name?”
“His name… Jabuticaba,” the mother answered. “He was the greatest man I’ve ever
known.”
The doctor nodded. “We’ll decide what to do with Jabuticaba tomorrow morning. For
now, you should all get some rest. It’s midnight.”
Kuluca, Arthiena and Tagmazza started to walk out of the hospital. Quickly, before any of
them could see Icy, she ran away and back up to her room.
As Icy walked through her apartment door and layed back down on her bed, thinking
only of Jabuticaba and whoever Solar’s dad was. Whoever Solar’s dad is, he just has to have
some part in killing Jabuticaba. I just know it.
Icy had to be right. If dragons were only starting to talk about how evil Solar’s dad was
when Jabuticaba was attacked, then it meant Solar’s dad had to be the one that attacked him. It
was only logic.
But what if it isn’t? A part of her mind asked her. She closed her eyes. No, it has to be.
Icy tried to stop all of her thinking and go to sleep. Tomorrow was the first day of the
weekend; she could figure it all out in the morning.

* * *

Seven hours later, a few minutes after Icy woke up, she thought about how she wasn’t
friends with Rebecca and Scarlett anymore, and about the Rainforest Dragon that had died last
night. Thinking about that made her not want to eat.
Icy opened her door and flew down to the bottom floor. She wanted to check on Kuluca,
Arthiena and Tagmazza and see if they were okay.
 Dragons of Wonder
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She opened the castle doors and walked outside. She followed the dirt pathway through
the rainforest, then noticed a couple wooden houses and buildings. Shortly after, she found
Tagmazza and Arthiena, both of them with a sad face.
“Hey, Arthiena, Tagmazza…” Icy greeted. “What’s with the sad face?” She knew exactly
why they were sad, but she couldn’t tell them that she was awake at that time of night, spying on
them.
Tagmazza ran to Icy and hugged her. “Daddy’s gone…” She mumbled with tears of
misery and sadness.
Arthiena walked up to Tagmazza and pat her shoulder. “Yeah… he kicked the bucket last
night.
“Oh… I’m so sorry to hear,” Icy replied. She paused for a moment, then added, “Most
dragons will say sorry and don’t mean it. I want you to know that I really am.”
Arthiena slightly smiled. “Thanks.”
The three of them stood in silence for a few moments, then Icy asked, “Where’s Kuluca?”
Tagmazza and Arthiena pointed over to the burnt and destroyed kindergarten. “He’s over
there helping repair the school,” Arthiena answered. “He’s not very happy.”
“I think I’ll go visit him,” Icy said. She waved goodbye to Arthiena and Tagmazza, then
headed over to the school.
As Icy walked, she saw a big group of Rainforest Dragons repairing the school. The
school was a big building of wooden planks that curved together in the center, making a
structure that looked like an upside-down bowl. The windows had a bed of seeds on the sill, and
was surrounded by beautiful emerald green vines. The school was beautifully decorated on the
outside, but the inside was still covered in ashes and broken-down pieces of wood. She looked
around the school for a moment and saw a team of happy Rainforest Dragons fixing and
cleaning up, then saw Kuluca looking outside a window.
Icy walked up to Kuluca and looked out the window as well. She waited until Kuluca
knew she was there, then started, “I heard your father died last night.”
Kuluca bit his lip and continued to look out of the window.
When he didn’t reply, Icy started talking again. “I feel so sorry for you. I can’t imagine
how bad you’re feeling right now.”
Kuluca took a deep breath in, but still didn’t say a word.
Icy waited for a few seconds, then continued. “At least he loved you and cared for you.
My dad never really cared for me for the last few years before he got divorced with my mom and
left me forever. For all I know, he could be dead as well.”
“That’s exactly the point,” Kuluca interrupted, finally speaking. “Your dad never cared
for you. If he dies, then that’s not a problem to you. It doesn’t disturb you. It doesn’t get you sad.
But my dad did care for me. He loved me, and I loved him back. And it’s a bigger loss when you
lose somebody you love!” He yelled with anger. He sat down and rested himself on the wall.
“Family is the most important thing… and I’ve lost it.”
“Not all of it,” Icy reminded him, putting a talon on his shoulder. “You still have two
amazing sisters. I wish I had siblings like you.”
Kuluca smiled back, but slowly, his smile turned into a frown. “You’re right… but it’s too
hard without dad.”
 Dragons of Wonder
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“It is hard,” She agreed. “I know from experience. My dad used to be a great dragon… I
don’t know why he got so bad. It broke my heart when he became that way. I… well, I sort of
know what you’re going through.”
Kuluca lightly chuckled.
“And besides, he will always be there, you just can’t hear him or see him.”
“That’s good,” He replied. “Thanks for telling me that, Icy.”
Icy smiled. “Anything to make my friends happy.”
Kuluca stood up and smiled. “I feel a lot better. Better enough that I can be happy and
help repair this school.” He walked around to pick up a tool, then faced Icy and asked, “Don’t
you have school?”
Icy shook her head. “Remember, it’s Saturday.”
“Right, right,” Kuluca replied, hitting his head. “Me and dates. I’m always forgetting.”
Icy laughed, then remembered about Solar. “Hey, how much do you know about Night
Dragons?”
“Well, they’re black, creepy, and they have a lot of secrets. Secrets about things that no
one even thinks would even be a secret. Once I asked a Night Dragon how old they were, and
they told me it was a secret. Sometimes I feel like their whole life is a secret,” He replied.
“So, you’ve met a Night Dragon?”
“Yeah, a bunch.”
“Do happen to know about a Night Dragon named Solar?”
Kuluca burst out in laughter. “Wait, hold on, a Night Dragon named Solar?”
Icy nodded. “Yeah, another secret. And I take it you don’t know her?”
Kuluca shook his head. “No, I don’t. Sorry.”
“Well I’m going to find out more about her. She has this big secret that I want to learn
about,” She told Kuluca. Icy waved goodbye to him, then flew back to the castle and started
looking for Solar.
Icy looked everywhere where Solar could’ve been, but she didn’t see her anywhere. She
looked in the library, the cafeteria, and even asked some Night Dragons if they knew where she
was. But no one had seen her since last night.
Finally Icy caught Solar running away from a mean group of dragons making fun of her.
One of them was throwing books at her, and another one was trying to blow ice on her feet.
Icy sighed. “What am I doing?” She asked herself. If Solar wants to keep some secrets to
herself, then that’s fine. I shouldn’t put her under more pressure than she needs to. I should just
go and eat breakfast and not bother her.
Icy walked to Sunflower’s room to see if she was feeling better. She didn’t want to sit
alone at the cafeteria, or sit with someone she didn’t like.
Before Icy even made it to Sunflower’s room, she saw Sunflower skipping across the
halls, happy and healthy again. She smiled in relief, then ran to Sunflower and asked, “Have you
eaten breakfast yet? I was just about to go down.”
Sunflower shook her head and stopped skipping. “Yeah, I have, but only a small toast
with jam. We’d be glad to go down with you and have some pancakes and waffles though!”
“Hold on a second, we?”
“Oh right! So this morning I met a new friend to replace Scarlett. I’m still not over the
fact that Scarlett betrayed-”
“Who is she? Your new friend?” Icy interrupted.
 Dragons of Wonder
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“Her name is Leopard. She’s a Rainforest Dragon that lived near Silekia, and she loves
art too! Her parents are both artists, and I’m really excited to work on a painting project with
her next weekend,” Sunflower explained. “You should meet her! She’s super nice.”
Icy was kind of mad at Sunflower. She didn’t want Sunflower to pay too much attention
to her new friend and not enough time with Icy. “A painting project, huh? That sounds cool!
Maybe I could join!”
Sunflower gasped in happiness. “Oh my Majesta, that would be awesome! I’ll go tell-”
“Tell me what?” A voice from behind asked. Icy turned around and noticed a plum purple
Rainforest Dragon with strawberry pink spots going down her sides. She guessed this was
Leopard.
“Leopard! This is my friend Icy. We’ve been friends since the beginning of the year,”
Sunflower replied. “Icy, meet Leopard, Leopard, meet Icy.”
“Um, hi,” Icy slowly greeted as they shook their talons. “Sunflower was saying that you’re
doing an art project next weekend…?”
Leopard nodded. “Yeah, we are. We’re doing paintings of the beach.”
“And I was telling her that we’d be glad to invite her,” Sunflower said. “How about we go
down for a bigger breakfast and get to know each other!”
“That would be great!” Leopard exclaimed. The three of them walked down the stairs and
into the cafeteria. They sat down on an empty table, then got themselves a big and healthy meal.
Icy sat down next to Sunflower and got herself a pancake and some syrup. She cut a bit of
butter and dropped some berries on top of her pancake, then realized Leopard was doing the
exact same thing as her. Suspicious, she picked up a banana and put it by her plate, watched as
Leopard did the same thing, then put the banana back where it was. As Icy thought she would;
Leopard put the banana back as well.
“Why are you copying me?” Icy questioned.
Leopard bounced her shoulders. “Just trying to see what you like.”
Icy poured herself a glass of orange juice, watched Leopard copy her, and was about to
ask again why she was copying her, but was interrupted by Sunflower. “Hey Icy, what happened
to Scarlett last night? Did you talk to her?”
Icy sighed. “I didn’t, but I think we’re pretty much done. I don’t want to make our bond
even worse, making us enemies.”
“I guess that’s a good point.”
Before Icy could say anything more, Leopard started a conversation with Sunflower. “Oh
my Majesta, I forgot to tell you! You know about Sarah Teika?”
Sunflower smiled. “My all time favorite painter? Yes!”
“Apparently she’s making eleven paintings and auctioning one of them to one dragon in
each country!”
“Really? Including Saphireu, the country that entirely lives on flying clouds?” Sunflower
questioned with a big smile of excitement.
“Yes!” Leopard exclaimed.
The two of them kept talking about Sarah Teika and other famous painters, while Icy sat
and ate quietly with no words to say. She tried to jump in at some points, but since she didn’t
care too much for art and she definitely didn’t care for painters, she didn’t know what to say.
“And that’s why Hornet Horem is my favorite painter,” Leopard concluded after a long
story. She was silent for a while, then asked, “Icy, right?”
 Dragons of Wonder
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Icy poked her head up from eating. “Uh, yes?”

“Who is your favorite painter? I can tell that you love art.”
Icy thought about telling Leopard that she didn’t really care for art, but decided not to.
Maybe Leopard wouldn’t be a very good friend to her if Icy told her she didn’t like it. “Oh, my
favorite painter is Hornet Horem, too,” She lied.
“Really? I think we’re going to be great friends!” Leopard exclaimed. “What other things
do you like? Writing? Sports?”
Icy smiled. Maybe she’ll be just as good a friend as Sunflower, she thought. “I do have a
thing for dragon battles. It’s a pretty popular sport in the part of Navitee that I lived in.”
“That’s cool! So what is it like? Do you have teams or something?” Leopard asked.
Icy explained how she fought her dragon battles and some stories of the battles she was
in. Sunflower joined in and told her that she went to Navitee once and watched a battle- and
soon all of them were talking and having fun.
The rest of the day was a lot of fun, too. Icy, Sunflower and Leopard went swimming at
the beach, played in the rainforest, and even flew to the cliffside a few miles away. They got to
know more about each other, and by the end of the day, Icy was glad to call Leopard her friend.

* * *

On Monday morning, two days after Icy met Leopard, Icy started to pack up her bag for
school. As she finished the last of her packing, she heard a knock on the door. She swung the
leather bag over her shoulder, then walked to answer the door.
“Hey, your first class is with Mrs. Fern, right?” Leopard asked once Icy had opened the
door.
“Yeah,” Icy replied. “Your first class is with Mrs. Fern too, I assume?”
Leopard nodded. “Come on, it’s seven fifty five, let’s go before we’re late!”
Icy and Leopard ran downstairs and out of the school. They sped towards Mrs. Fern’s
greenhouse, and got in the classroom just in time before the school bell rang.
Icy and Leopard sat in the last two seats in the classroom as Mrs. Fern wrote down the
attendance. After she had finished, she put a notebook down and clapped her talons together.
“Alright class, today we will be finding and hunting one of the most dangerous and unknown
plants in Shera. We will go on a hike in a few minutes, after we get everything prepared.” Mrs.
Fern leaned down and picked up a few backpacks, then passed one out to everybody.
After Icy had received her backpack, she opened the top and looked inside. There was a
giant pair of gardening scissors, twice as big as her talon. She studied it carefully, then put the
scissors back. She then pulled out a stiff dead rat, and immediately dropped it and quivered in
fear. “What exactly are we hunting?” Icy asked.
“A Kandra,” Mrs. Fern answered. “Everyone put their backpacks on. I’ll teach you all
about Kandras while we hike.”
Icy put her satchel in her backpack and put it on her back. Everyone gathered up in a
single file line and followed Mrs. Fern into the rainforest.
As they walked, Mrs. Fern started talking about Kandras. “Kandras are ranked the most
dangerous plant in all of Shera. They’re usually found near rivers and streams. Kandras are
predators, although they only like to eat things that are already dead, since they move too slow
to eat something as fast as a bird or a squirrel.”
 Dragons of Wonder
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Icy leaned her head out of the line. “What exactly do you mean by they’re too slow?” She
asked. “Are they literally moving from one place to another?”
Mrs. Fern tilted her head back at Icy. “Yes, Icy. Their roots stick up from the ground, and
they walk to eat their prey. Fascinating plants, they are.”
Just then, Icy saw something move through some plants. Icy stared at the plants for a
second, then thought, It’s probably just some wild animal.
“Feel free to ask any questions you may have,” Mrs. Fern told the class.
A Lightning Dragon poked his head out of the line. “What’s the population of these
Kandras? They’re kind of freaking me out.”
“That is an excellent question,” Mrs. Fern started, “because no one really knows. Every
Kandra you see are disguised as plants. There is a point one percent that every plant you see in
northern Shera is a Kandra.” She paused for a moment, then started speaking again. “More than
half of the Kandras are disguised as ferns, though.”
A Fire Dragon raised his talon and asked Mrs. Fern another question. “If Kadras walk to
eat their prey, does that mean that they could eat a whole dragon? Or another big animal like a
cow?”
“Yes, Kandras can eat dragons,” Mrs. Fern answered, “but only the dragons that are
already dead. We are way too powerful to let a Kandra eat us alive, even in our deep sleep. So no
worries.”
“If a Kandra can eat a whole human,” The Fire Dragon continued, “then how long would
it take? A year? A month? A day?”
“They eat about three pounds a day, so if it’s a single Kandra, then about fifty days. But if
a whole group of Kandras were to eat a dragon, it could be gone within a few days.”
A Light Dragon raised her talon. “Do Kandras even need sunlight to live?”
Mrs. Fern brushed her tail along a patch of grass. “Yes, like all other plants, Kandras still
need sunlight to live, but since they get most of their energy from solid food, they do not need as
much.”
Icy and the rest of the class continued to ask questions and hike through the rainforest
until fifteen minutes passed by. The trees became taller and covered most of the sunlight, and
creepy bugs started appearing on the ground and on the trees. The rainforest also seemed to get
more and more humid and wet; the whole trail started to get very muddy and soggy.
As Icy was walking, a couple mosquitos flew around her head. She tried swatting them
away before they bit her, then she ended up stepping in a big puddle of mud. “Mrs. Fern? Are we
almost there? These bugs are the worst, and the mud is absolutely disgusting!” Icy complained,
trying to wipe off the mud on her feet.
“Yes, Icy. Right after we pass this bush then we’ll be there,” Mrs. Fern answered. She
pushed herself through a tall leafy bush, then called for everyone to follow her.
When it was Icy’s turn to go through the bush, she thought about flying over and the
ginormous trees above it. Oh, come on. If everyone else was willing to go through that creepy
bug-filled bush… Icy took a small step forward, then was pushed by a dragon behind her. She
exclaimed in surprise and anger, then realized a beautiful and lively river crashing through the
rainforest. It was at least ten meters to the other side, where another beautiful part of the
rainforest lived. The river was surrounded by fresh emerald green grass, a perfect place to rest
and sit down for a moment.
 Dragons of Wonder
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Icy dropped her backpack onto the grass and dipped her feet into the water. She rested
there for a couple minutes until the whole class had made it through the bush.
“Alright everyone,” Mrs. Fern started. “Today we will be finding if a plant is a Kandra or
not. Now, look inside your backpacks. There should be a dead rodent or bird somewhere in
there. Take that animal out, and place it near a fern.”
Icy looked inside her backpack and picked up the dead rat. She took her feet out of the
water, then placed the animal near a fern. “And I’m feeding a plant a dead animal,” Icy mumbled
to herself.
“The next step is to disguise yourself. Kandras don’t like to eat while they’re being
watched, but you don’t want to hide, come back later, and realized that your animal has
disappeared,” Mrs. Fern instructed. “But you don’t need to disguise yourself entirely. Kandras
have incredibly bad eyesight, so all they can see are blurs.”
Icy looked around and saw a fallen branch covered with leaves. She quickly ran to it
before anyone else caught it, then picked it up and ran back to the plant. Icy held it over her
body, then peeked at the plant from behind.
Icy waited for a few minutes, completely bored and tired of holding the branch up. She
wanted the fern to be a Kandra so badly.
She started humming her favorite song and swinging her tail side to side. She regretted
not picking a plant near Leopard, at least she could actually talk to her while she watched.
“Mrs. Fern?” Icy called out. “What will we even do with the Kandra once we find it?”
Mrs. Fern looked over at Icy and replied, “If we do happen to find a Kandra, we will take
it back to the greenhouse and study it.”
“What do you mean ‘If we happen’? Are Kandras really that unpopular that we might not
even see them?” Icy asked.
“Unfortunately, yes. Out of the seven years that I’ve been teaching students about
Kandras, I’ve only ever seen one. And that one that we discovered died shortly after we found it.”
Seven years? Mrs. Fern has been teaching Dragons of Wonder about Kandras for seven
years and she’s only ever seen one? Icy thought. She sighed, then looked back at the plant.
The rat was gone.
“How did this happen?” Icy exclaimed, accidentally saying her thoughts out loud. Was it
taken by a Kandra? She wondered. It could have been anything; the fern could’ve been a
Kandra, a wild animal took it, or a Kandra from another place stole it. There were too many
options to make a conclusion.
Icy checked her bag to see if there were any more animals, but she couldn’t see anything.
She looked around her to see if there were any small animals she could hunt, but the best thing
she could find was a tiny fly.
She turned around and looked at the river. Should I tell Mrs. Fern that I lost the rat? She
thought, watching as the water splashed and fish hopped above the river.
Wait a second… that’s it! Icy thought. Maybe she could catch a fish and use it as she did
with the rat.
“Mrs. Fern? Do Kandras like fish?” Icy questioned.
“Well… I’m not sure anyone has done the experiment, but maybe I could try it with
another class. That’s a good question Icy,” Mrs. Fern complimented.
Well, may that other class be this class, Icy thought as she watched a few fish jump
above the water.
 Dragons of Wonder
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Icy was about to use her ice to freeze up a fish and catch it, but then realized it would be
too loud and would grab too much attention. She needed to go away so that nobody would
question her.
“Mrs. Fern, I, um, I need to… I need to go to the bathroom,” She lied. “I’ll quickly go back
to the castle then come back when I’m done.”
“Okay, just make sure that you put your animal back in your backpack so that nothing
else grabs it,” Mrs. Fern told her.
Icy looked down at her backpack. “Already done,” She mumbled. Icy spread her wings
out and took off into the air.
Icy followed the river for half a minute, then stopped at a spot where the water was
mostly calm and a few schools of fish swam. She landed on a dry rock sticking out of the water,
then looked for a healthy fish to catch.
She found a good-sized rainbow trout swimming besides her. Icy reached her talon out to
grab it, but before she even touched the water, something hit her harshly, and she fell right into
the river.
“Help!” Icy screamed. She accidentally swallowed a large gulp of water, making her
cough. Salt-water got into her eyes and she hit a few rocks, then a slimy moving thing hit her in
the stomach. Icy finally was able to open her eyes, then realized the thing that bumped her
stomach was a fish. Before it could swim away, she froze its body and threw it out of the river.
After a few more seconds of struggling, Icy gained control of herself. She floated to the
right end of the river, then ran back a few meters to pick up her fish.
Icy shook off as much water as she could and picked up the frozen fish. Before flying
back to Mrs. Fern and her class, though, she took three minutes of rest and thought about what
happened.
Who or what pushed me down, and why did they do it? She wondered. I haven’t done
anything bad lately… maybe they just got the wrong dragon, or maybe I just slipped off the
rock. But I’m sure I felt something hit me.
After a few more moments of rest, Icy stood up and spread her wings out. She got a good
grip on the fish, then took off into the sky. As she flew, the ice on the fish melted faster and the
water on her body splashed off.
When she landed, Icy tried to hide the fish as much as she could from Mrs. Fern and
everyone else, then walked back to the plant she was at. She put the fish down by the fern, then
picked up the fallen branch she used before.
“Oh, Icy, back already?” Mrs. Fern called from a few meters away. “Hold on, where did
you get that fish?”
Icy turned her head around and tried to think of an excuse for why she had a fish instead
of a rodent or a bird. “Well, um, the fish was always there, I just put my rat behind the fern, um,
because I wanted to experiment.”
Mrs. Fern grinned. “Oh, that’s nice. I love to see a curious spirit.”
Icy nervously smiled, then turned back to her plant and watched the fish. Please be a
Kandra… She thought.
Only a few seconds later, Icy heard nearby rumbling and felt the ground slightly shaking.
She dropped the branch she was holding and looked closer at the fern, then realized the fern was
growing taller.
 Dragons of Wonder
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“Mrs. Fern! Mrs. Fern I think I found a Kandra!” Icy called, her voice loud and full of
excitement.
Not a second after Icy yelled, everyone ran towards Icy and huddled around her, each of
their eyes wide with awe.
The Kandra raised itself from the ground and stood up on twelve roots. The leaves of the
Kandra all pointed to the fish, then it started shaking. After a few minutes of shaking, the leaves
became still, then moved back to its original place.
Next, the Kandra started moving towards the fish. It walked extremely slow- it only
moved a few centimeters in thirty seconds.
Finally, after two more minutes, the Kandra stood directly on top of the fish. The Kandra
lowered itself down to the fish, then its bottom opened widely. That must be its mouth, Icy
thought as the Kandra started to chew on the fish.
Then Icy noticed a small root still buried deep in the same place that the Kandra was
placed before. She pointed to the small root, then asked, “Mrs. Fern? Why is that root still in the
ground?”
“I don’t know. What do you think?” Mrs. Fern replied. “It’s always good to ask questions
and observe. Few dragons have actually seen a Kandra, so there’s still very little knowledge
about them.”
Icy looked closer at the little root. She put a claw on it, then started to scratch it. When
she did, the Kandra smacked a leaf on her talon. “Ouch,” Icy said as she rubbed her talon. If the
Kandra smacked me, then that root must be important to it.
Then Icy realized; if the root was in the same place where the Kandra had previously
been, then maybe it was its guide to get back home.
Icy reached for her backpack and pulled out the large scissors. She wanted to see what
would happen to the Kandra if she cut the small root.
Icy was about to cut it, then hesitated and pulled back. If she cut the small root, would
the Kandra still live? She wasn’t sure, and given that Mrs. Fern didn’t even know about the small
root before, Icy guessed she wouldn’t know if the Kandra would die if the root was cut.
Well, there’s only one way to find out, Icy told herself. She opened up the scissors again,
then cut the root.
The Kandra slowed down to a stop. Its leaves sagged and fell to the floor, and it stopped
eating the fish. It looked dead- but the twelve thick roots were still standing, so it probably
meant it was still alive.
Icy leaned into the Kandra and poked its roots. She started to scratch it, and fortunately,
the Kandra’s leaves lifted up and it resumed eating. She sighed in relief.
Mrs. Fern came up closer to the Kandra and watched it eat its fish. “May I ask you Icy,
why exactly do you have a fish instead of a bird or a rodent?”
“Well…” Icy started. “I might’ve been distracted and my rat disappeared.” She told Mrs.
Fern the story of how she lost her rat, and how she left to catch a fish. Icy skipped out on the
part where she fell into the water and how something hit her, just in case Mrs. Fern would get
too worried.
“So… you used a fish, and just a minute later, the Kandra got up and ate it?” Mrs. Fern
questioned. She put a claw to her chin, then gasped and put her talons on her head. “Oh my
Majesta! How could I have not figured this out before?” She exclaimed.
Icy cocked her head. “Figure out what?”
 Dragons of Wonder
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“The reason why only a few dragons has ever found a Kandra is because they haven’t
been using fish, they’ve been using birds and rodents! So that’s also why Kandras live near the
river, it’s because of how much fish there are!” Mrs. Fern exclaimed.
“And maybe that’s also why the Kandra that you found years ago died shortly after,” Icy
added. “Maybe that Kandra was so sick and so desperate for food that it actually ate what you
gave it, and then it died later.” She drifted her talon down the Kandras leaves. “Mrs. Fern, can
we keep the Kandra?”
Mrs. Fern nodded. “Yes, I have a pot and a trowel. Let’s put the Kandra in the pot, then
we can start walking back.” Mrs. Fern walked to her backpack, then came back with a silver
trowel and a clay pot just big enough to fit the Kandra inside. “Here, Icy. You get the honors.”
Icy took the pot and the trowel from Mrs. Fern. She put the pot down next to the Kandra,
then, with a bit of fear, she picked the Kandra up and dropped it inside of the pot. She made sure
that it wasn’t going to escape, then she dug up some dirt and buried the Kandra in fresh soil.
“Good job,” Mrs. Fern complimented. “Now, since we only have twenty minutes left, I
suggest that we pack up and walk back to the greenhouse. We can place our new Kandra in the
greenhouse, then we write down our homework and finish up class.”
Icy and the rest of the class packed up their tools and put their backpacks on. Icy gave
the Kandra to Mrs. Fern, then the class walked back to the greenhouse.
The route back was the same; muddy, humid, and bug-filled. Icy didn’t like it, but at least
she had found a Kandra and made the trip there and back worth it. She couldn’t imagine how
disappointing it would be to walk that path and not find anything, much less discover anything
new.
When they got back, the class dropped their backpacks in the pile by Mrs. Fern while she
put the Kandra by a pot full of fresh water. “Well, that was an exciting adventure,” Mrs. Fern
exclaimed. “We found a Kandra, we discovered something new, I mean, we had a few tough
times; mosquitos, mud, spiders, but at least we had fun. Now, for homework, I want you all to
read Garden Nature pages one hundred thirty four to one hundred fifty six.” She paused for a
moment as she looked at the Kandra, then said, “And, if you ever have some free time, then feel
free to come and help me study the Kandra.”
Icy picked up her leather bag and put it on her shoulder. She took out her homework
notebook and wrote down her assignment, and also reminded herself to visit the Kandra that
week.
Icy closed her notebook and put it back in her bag. She waved goodbye to Mrs. Fern, then
met up with Leopard as they walked out of the greenhouse.
“What class are you in next?” Leopard asked Icy once they had left the greenhouse.
“Professor Storm,” Icy answered.
“I’m with Mrs. Star,” Leopard replied. They both walked into the castle, then waved
goodbye as they separated to go to their classes.
Icy walked through the halls and corridors, then as she turned right around a corner, she
finally made it to the Dragons of Wonder garden. She opened the doors, and was shocked by the
status of the garden.
The garden was all messy and brown. Dead leaves and petals covered the ground with a
blanket of mess, and even the tree’s branches were crumpling up and dying. The sparkling blue
water fountain in the middle was now a fountain pouring out polluted water, which at the
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

bottom was layered with soaking dead leaves. Every bright color that had once been there was
now lost.
What is going on these days? First there was a forest fire, then I lost almost all my
friends. Then I was randomly kicked into the river, and now this? Is the world ending? Icy
thought as she looked at the dead garden. She could see a large group of servant dragons trying
to fix up the garden by watering plants and planting new seeds, but it seemed like nothing
worked.
Icy noticed Xelexia, the servant that brought her to her room in the beginning of the
year. She hurried to her and asked, “What happened to the garden? Why is it all dead?”
Xelexia turned her head and looked at Icy. “Oh, it’s you,” She started. “I wish I could tell
you why. I really do, but this morning it was doing fine, then it all started crumpling up.”
Icy sighed. “That’s too bad,” She said. “I wonder why it started happening.” She was
about to ask another servant dragon, then remembered about her class with Professor Storm.
Icy spread out her wings and jumped into the air, then soared to the cloud.
When Icy arrived at the cloud, she realized that the dragons that arrived before her were
screaming. Not screaming in excitement, and not screaming in anger. But screaming in fear.
Most dragons turned away and closed their eyes, and some dragons too scared to move.
Icy pushed through the screaming crowd to see what was the problem, then wished she
hadn’t looked at all. Professor Storm was laying on the cloud, his left wing torn up and ripped.
Long claw marks stretched from his neck down to his chest, and he didn’t move at all. Icy started
to scream too, but was thankful that she could see him breathing.
Icy stepped back into the crowd and looked away. She couldn’t stand to see anyone hurt,
especially her favorite teacher.
Icy flew down back to the castle and ran to the queen’s quarter, pushing through dragons
and flying above the ground. When she got there, she knocked on the door rapidly while
shivering with fear.
Queen Akcrista opened the door and looked at Icy. “You look scared. What’s wrong?” She
asked.
“It’s Professor Storm,” Icy replied. “He was attacked.”
Queen Akcrista gasped. “Oh no… What happened?”
Icy shrugged. “I don’t know. I was looking at the dead garden, then when I went up to the
cloud and everyone was screaming. Then I saw him.”
Queen Akcrista sighed. “If only King Dansher was still here. He’d figure all of this out
and everything would be normal again.”
Icy looked at Queen Akcrista and nodded. “Crime is definitely rising. I wish King
Dansher was still here too,” she responded. “Is there anything I could do to help? Anything at
all?”
Queen Akcrista took a deep breath in. “I’m sorry, I can’t think of anything you can do. If
someone is attacking dragons as strong as Professor Storm, then I really don’t think you can be
of any help. Sorry,” She told her.
“What will we do with class?”
Queen Akcrista thought for a moment, then said, “Tell your classmates to go to Mrs. Star.
We can merge the two classes today while Professor Storm heals.”
“Okay,” Icy replied. She waved goodbye to the queen, then ran back to the garden.
 Dragons of Wonder
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Icy lifted herself up from the ground and flew up to the cloud, then started yelling to get
everyone’s attention. “Everyone! Quiet now! Everything is going to be okay!” She shouted. Once
everyone had their eyes on her, she continued, “Queen Akcrista has asked us to merge with Mrs.
Star for today while the doctors take Professor Storm in to heal. Now everyone follow me!”
Icy led her classmates back to the castle and to Mrs. Star. When she and everyone else
made it to the top floor, Icy opened the door and interrupted Mrs. Star’s conversation. “Mrs.
Star, I need to tell you something.”
Mrs. Star looked at the class. “Icy? What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be
in class with… Wait, why do you have a whole class behind you?” She questioned.
“Professor Storm was attacked, so Queen-”
“Storm was attacked?” Mrs. Star interrupted. “Oh dear… how? Why?”
“I don’t know why, and I don’t know how, but Queen Akcrista asked us to learn class
with you today. She wants us to merge the classes,” Icy answered.
Mrs. Star looked around the classroom. “Very well. I have a few spare seats in the back.
Go ahead and sit down there.”
Icy walked to the back of the classroom and sat down on an empty seat along with
everyone else. They started learning about biology- and the whole class seemed to learn without
a problem, except for Icy. She got distracted and couldn’t take her mind off Professor Storm.
Who attacked him? His wing also looked pretty bad… will he ever be able to fly again?
Will he ever be able to teach again? Icy sighed and looked out of the window. She saw a group of
Sky Dragons flying and playing through the air, and hoped that Professor Storm could fly like
that again. She would hate to lose her favorite teacher.
Icy rested her chin on her talon. Please, please be okay.

Chapter 8
Attack in the Rainforest
 Dragons of Wonder
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It was June first. There were twenty days left until school was over, and Icy couldn’t wait for
school to end. With King Dansher gone and attacks and crime happening, she just couldn’t stand
living in Shera anymore. She went there thinking everything would be great and awesome, then
King Dansher turned evil, she went into a weird and almost magical staircase, Professor
Slitherwick put her in detention, Garrick and his friends bullied her, the beach turned black then
became normal, she saw some strange dragon that might’ve been Queen Majesta, there was a
strange black thing on Queenmas, Scarlett became mean and wasn’t her friend anymore, there
was the fire in the rainforest village, she got knocked into a river by who knew what, then
Professor Storm was attacked. She knew school wasn’t going to be perfect, but it was much
worse than she thought it would be.
Another strange thing was that Moonlight hadn’t sent a letter back to Icy. She knew that
sometimes the letters would get delayed a day or two, and sometimes Moonlight wouldn’t write
to her if she was busy, but it had been over fifteen days. The most delayed Moonlight had ever
been was six days.
Icy also found that Solar had been bullied even more. One night she and Sunflower went
down to eat dinner, and they found Solar sitting alone at a table while being called mean names
by a group of Fire Dragons.
Thankfully, Professor Storm healed fast. The day after the attack he had already been
able to walk, but he was still too weak to teach. Queen Akcrista tried to hire a substitute while
Professor Storm healed, but the earliest anyone could come was in a month, and that was after
school finished, so all of Professor Storm’s classes were canceled.
More strange things happened as well. The garden never became better, and when the
servants went into the rainforest to replace the flowers and trees in the garden, all of them came
back coughing and tired. Icy could understand why they were tired- but coughing?
She also overheard that a Lightning Dragon walked through a mysterious staircase by
Professor Fannick’s classroom. He said that it was lit by candlelight, and when he blew out one
candle, all the other candles went out. She didn’t hear the rest of it, but she knew that he had
walked through the same staircase she had at the beginning of the year.
But how come only me and him walked through the staircase? Can no one else see it?
She wondered, sitting on her bed and looking around the room. Her glance shifted towards the
ice-ball she had gotten during Queenmas. She reached her arm out and grabbed the orb on her
nightstand, then sat back down and looked at it closely.
 Dragons of Wonder
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What is this? Icy wondered to herself. It can’t just be some nicely carved diamond. It’s
too smooth and it’s always cold. Plus, you can’t see through it, and it looks just like ice, except…
harder.
Icy looked even closer at the ball, turning it around and shifting it in her talons. Then she
caught something that confused her, but also made her amazed.
She saw a faint color on the ball, and that color looked like it was moving. She saw some
shades of purple, some shades of green, and a very faint shade of silver.
Please… Icy thought. She shook her head. Why did I just think that?
Don’t…
Go...
Icy looked at the ball strangely, then put it back on her nightstand and stood up. Why on
earth did I just think that?
Icy walked to her window and opened it up, letting a cool evening breeze into her room.
Thinking normally, thinking normally, all of my thoughts are my own, thinking all the same.
She turned around and looked at the ice ball again. There were still faint colors swirling
around and moving across the ball, and Icy felt all of her thoughts belonging to her, until
another two words came into her mind.
Say no...
Icy stomped over to the ice ball, picked it up, then raised her arm to throw it on the floor.
She was very close to letting loose of the object and letting it fall to the floor, then sighed and
just tossed it onto her bedsheets. Maybe I’m just losing my mind. Whatever I’m doing, I’m not
breaking a thing like that.
Icy gently picked up the ball and hid it inside her drawer, making sure that she couldn’t
see it.
Just as Icy closed the drawer, she heard the school bell ring. It only rang when school
started and when lessons were finished, but it had been over three hours after her last lesson
was completed.
Somebody must’ve accidentally rung it, Icy thought. She walked to her desk to start her
homework, then heard hundreds of feet pounding on the ground outside her room.
Icy opened her door and found exactly what she heard- hundreds of dragons running
down the stairs and to the nearest exit. At first Icy became worried; was there a fire or another
attack? Why were all these students in such a hurry to leave the building?
Then Icy saw that everyone had a giant smile put on their face and everyone was jumping
and laughing in excitement. Icy tried to ask what was going on, but all the dragons she asked
were too busy and excited to answer her.
Icy took a step closer to the crowd to ask another dragon why everyone was running, but
she tripped on a Stick Dragon’s tail which made her fall into the crowd. She was pushed around
and moved by the giant crowd of dragons, until after a few moments she finally gained control of
herself. She started running along with the group, and after three minutes, she found herself
outside of the castle and standing in a crowd. She couldn’t see everyone- but she knew that the
whole school was there. She was standing next to dragons who looked at least six years older
than her, but she also saw many dragons who were about the same age as her.
It took a minute for the rest of the school to come out, then another minute for everyone
to be settled and have enough space to move around.
 Dragons of Wonder
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When a few tall Sand Dragons in front of her moved to the side, Icy noticed Queen
Akcrista standing on platform about a foot tall so everyone could see her.
Queen Akcrista was quiet for a few more seconds, waiting for everyone to come outside.
When the last few students of school made it out, she raised her large and colorful wings and
started shouting to get everyone’s attention. “Silence everyone! I need silence to speak! Please be
quiet now!”
The school’s yells became quieter, then their conversations became mumbles. As their
last sentences finished, the whole school became completely silent.
Queen Akcrista smiled and thanked all of the dragons for being silent, then folded in her
wings and started talking. “As students from their second year to their last year all know, I
choose ten special students from each year to go to a famous location. I’ve chosen some
wonderful places to go these last few years- Some of us have been to the Great Cloud Canyon,
some to the Bụraý Tundra, some to Silekia, some to the Lone Mountain, and
some even near the palace in Saphireu. Many trips we’ve done was to
Ruéfal, and some to a small island in Bakalori called Hawimas. The point is- I’ve made many
trips to so many places, and today is where I announce where the next trip will be. This time,
though, I will have my students decide. You have three options- which I will announce now.
“The first option is the Crescent Islands. The Crescent Islands are a part of Maré, and
they belong in between Maré and Shera. There are five of these- the one closest to Shera is called
Heroa; the second closest to Shera is called Hamie, the middle one is called Hokai, the second
one closest to Maré is called Hiehi, and the closest one to Maré is Haem. These five islands were
named after the five princesses of the ancient Queen Hope and King Yulem. If we do visit the
Crescent Islands, we will be visiting both Hokai and Hamie.
“The second option is Silekia. This school has visited Silekia plenty of times, but the last
time I visited it was nine years ago. Silekia is the capital of Shera, and is the second most
populated city in the world. It’s quite cold down there, during the winter months it can get down
to negative temperatures. But since it’s summer, we have perfect, breezy and warm weather.
“The third and final option is the Crystal Desert Caverns. This school has only visited the
Crystal Desert Caverns seventy years ago, and a lot has changed since then. The Crystal Desert
Caverns is a massive place; it stretches out to ninety square miles. It has hundreds of caves that
go underground for hundreds of miles, and it’s also where dragons mine seventy percent of all
amethysts in the world. It’s very hot there- if we are to go there, then it’ll be hundreds of degrees
and will have very low humidity. The majority of the Crystal Desert Caverns has a hard flooring
of sandstone, and almost all of that sandstone is cracked.
“Now it is time for you all to decide,” The queen said. “Give me a cheer for the Crescent
Islands!”
A third of the school cheered loudly, while the rest remained quiet. Icy cheered slightly,
but what she was most excited about was the Crystal Desert Caverns. She knew it was hot and
dry, but Rasenia was in Juníl, which wasn’t too far away. She would be overjoyed to go to the
Crystal Desert Caverns and see her mother.
“Give me a cheer for Silekia!” The queen shouted.
About a hundred dragons in the school cheered, most of them were the older dragons.
“And finally, give me a cheer for the Crystal Desert Caverns!”
 Dragons of Wonder
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Icy and nearly the whole school cheered excited and loud for the Crystal Desert Caverns.
Some dragons even started jumping and flying, and Icy copied them by jumping high into the
air.
Queen Akcrista laughed. “I think we have a final decision,” She concluded. “But just
remember, not all of you will get to go to the Crystal Desert Caverns. I will only bring one
hundred of the most special dragons in this school, so only ten dragons in each year. So, about
one seventh of the students here will go, while the rest stays here in Dragons of Wonder. Any
questions?” She asked.
A bunch of dragons burst out in questions.
“What part of the Crystal Desert Caverns are we visiting?”
“How far away is the Crystal Desert Caverns?”
“How long will we stay there?”
“When will we leave to go?”
“Have you already chosen who is going to go?” Icy asked.
“All good questions,” Queen Akcrista answered before anyone could ask any more. “First
of all, we will be visiting the southern part of the Crystal Desert Caverns about two miles from
the coast. Second, the Crystal Desert Caverns will be about six hours away, third, we will stay
there for six days, we will leave on Saturday at seven in the morning and come back Friday the
following week, and… I have mostly chosen the dragons who are going to go. I’ve been watching
everyone since the beginning of the year, and my students on the list right now will most likely
go, so anything you do in the next few days will probably not change who is going and who is
not.”
I wonder if I’ll go, thought Icy. She looked around her and saw a bunch of dragons in
their first year. There’s more than seventy other first years. I’m probably not going to be lucky
enough to go.
But… there is still a chance.
Queen Akcrista raised her wings out again and started speaking. “For now, return to your
rooms or continue what you were doing.”
The school turned around and started walking back to their rooms, this time a lot quieter
and peaceful.
Icy started to follow everyone else, but then she turned the opposite direction and
headed towards Mrs. Fern’s greenhouse. She didn’t have any reason to go back up and get into
another crowd, and she wanted to see the Kandra she had found.
Icy opened the doors to the greenhouse and smiled as she breathed in the fresh minty
air. She walked around a row of colorful and sweet-tasting berries, then noticed Mrs. Fern
walking towards the Kandra at the end of the greenhouse.
“Hello Mrs. Fern,” Icy greeted as she followed her teacher to the Kandra. “Has the
Kandra eaten anything today?”
“Twice! The Kandra’s eaten twice today and it still wants more!” Mrs. Fern exclaimed.
“Fetch me a fish, will you Icy?” She asked as she started tending a tomato plant.
“A fish? Where would I find a fish here?” She questioned. Icy looked to the right of the
pot the Kandra was in and saw a large clay pot. The pot came up to her chest and was about
three feet by both width and length, and was filled with water to the top. She reached her talon
in and felt a slimy thing move around her claws. “You keep fish here? For the Kandra?”
 Dragons of Wonder
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Mrs. Fern nodded as she cut on leaves from the plant. “Yes. I brought about twenty of
them here the night you found it, and just today I found the Kandra climbing up the pot to eat
fish in the middle of a lesson! The whole class started staring at that!”
Icy laughed. “It probably eats as much as we do. How big are the fish you give it?”
Mrs. Fern stayed quiet for a few moments as she thought, then replied, “They’re four or
five inches long. Feed the Kandra a fish and you’ll see.”
Icy reached her talon back into the giant pot and waited for a fish to swim by her. When
she felt a fin rub against her, she froze the fish with a thin layer of ice then picked it up. The thin
layer of ice was just barely cold enough to kill the fish, but it melted within a dozen seconds
when the ice was exposed in the warm and humid air. Icy put the dead fish down and waited for
the Kandra to notice.
A half-minute later, the Kandra stood up on all twelve roots and walked towards the fish,
one small step at a time. When it finally stood directly over the fish, it spiraled down and started
munching.
“It’s wonderful.”
Mrs. Fen turned her head around. “What was that?”
“The Kandra,” Icy replied. “How it eats its prey. The twelve roots are like bars, and it’s so
quiet that it could sneak up on anything- even a swift squirrel. It just captures the prey in its bar
like roots, then it digs its roots in the ground and eats its prey.”
Mrs. Fern walked over to where Icy was and looked at the Kandra. “I never really thought
of it that way. So, even if its prey is alive and want to escape, it can’t get through its roots. That
is… smart.”
Icy nodded her head in agreement. “These Kandras are like magic. I know all plants have
life, but Kandras… It’s like they’re just another animal. It really does seem like it’s living.”
“Kuluca.”
Icy turned her head towards Mrs. Fern. “I’m sorry?” She questioned.
“Kuluca means life in the ancient language. So I’m going to name this Kandra Kuluca. It
sounds nice, right? Kuluca the Kandra?”
Icy smiled. “It does sound nice. I have a friend named Kuluca.”
“My brother’s name is Kuluca too,” Mrs. Fern added.
“Really?”
Mrs. Fern nodded. “It’s a very special name. One that good dragons definitely deserve.”
“Is your brother a good dragon?” Icy questioned.
“Yes, he’s an amazing little brother, even if he was a lazy pickle for a while.”
Icy laughed. “I should probably go visit Kuluca and my friends in the rainforest. It’s been
a couple weeks since I’ve seen them.”
“Okay, go ahead and have fun. Thanks for visiting!” Mrs. Fern said, waving goodbye.
Icy left the greenhouse and entered into the rainforest. She leaned down, then jumped
into the air and flapped her wings, raising herself up near the white puffy clouds.
Icy flipped in the air and spun through a cloud. She flapped her wings more and lifted
herself higher, her chest and feet drifting on the soft clouds.
She turned her head to the right and looked to the horizon; the bright yellow sun slowly
coming down below the endless plain of clouds, turning the sky into a rainbow color, orange and
yellow near the bottom, and bright sky blue at the top. Everything was bright and colorful.
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

Until she saw another dragon dash above the clouds. The dragon was big, black and scary
violet. The dragon was only about ten yards away, but it blocked the sun and had no light on the
other end that all Icy could see was black.
“Who are you?” Icy called out to the dark dragon.
The dragon turned its head to Icy and looked at her with pumpkin orange eyes.
Icy waited a few moments for the dragon to answer, but all Icy could hear from the
dragon were its wingbeats. She decided to start a conversation if the dragon wouldn’t say its
identity.
“Nice view, isn’t it? It’s bright and colorful and all?” She questioned. “The sky looks like a
rainbow.”
“It’s beautiful during the summer months,” The dragon replied. The dragon was surely a
male; his voice was low and a rough. “I used to come up here everyday.”
“Used to?” Icy questioned. “Why’d you stop?”
The dragon let out a slow growl, then huffed, “You.” Then before Icy could question why
he said that, he dove down below the clouds and disappeared.
Icy looked at the clouds he flew down to and made a puzzled look. After a few seconds,
she plummeted down into the clouds and decided to follow him.
The strange thing was, when she made it below the clouds, Icy didn’t see him at all. He
would have to dive extremely fast to be down to the rainforest already, but she was sure that he
had gone down below the clouds.
He must have changed direction and went back up or something, Icy thought. She
wanted to continue to look around and find the strange dragon, but she wanted to visit her
friends even more, and the rainforest village was only a fourth of a mile away. Icy locked her
wings and soared down to the village.
Icy landed on the forest floor a minute later, right next to the repaired school. The
school’s flower beds on the sills of the windows had bright and colorful roses and tulips growing,
and around the windows and at the top of the school the wood was painted lilac purple and
sunflower yellow. The inside had soft carpet and paintings of the map on the wall, along with
thirty small pillows on the floor.
Icy also noticed a little Rainforest Dragon looking through a telescope on the second
floor. His three friends were all with him, talking nicely and sharing with each other.
There was also a few groups of kids playing simple games and laughing with each other
happily. Icy felt happy walking around the rainforest village; it warmed up her heart and made
her smile. Everyone was so peaceful, kind and sharing.
Icy looked at a friendly group of dragons playing a fun game of tug-a-war, then she heard
someone yell her name in excitement.
“Icy!” The voice called out behind her.
Icy turned around and noticed Tagmazza running towards her. “Tagmazza!” Icy
exclaimed. “How are you doing?”
“Awesome!” Tagmazza yelled. “Me and my friends are having a playdate at my house!
Wanna join us?”
“Sure. Where is your house?” Icy asked, leaning herself down so she could be eye-level
with her.
Tagmazza pointed behind them. “Right over there. Come on, I’ll show you!”
 Dragons of Wonder
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Icy followed Tagmazza as she raced through the kind neighborhood. They walked for two
minutes, occasionally stopping so Tagmazza could take a breather or talk to some of the dragons
in the village.
“Here it is!” Tagmazza exclaimed once they had reached her house. Her house had three
floors, but was only about eight feet long and fifteen feet wide. It was quite narrow- but it was
absolutely beautiful.
Her family had a garden full of purple flowers, most of them were lilacs. The house also
had flower beds on every window, and all the flower beds had painted leaves and petals. The
doors and windows were all open, and inside she saw Kuluca on the second floor, Arthiena on
the bottom floor with a paintbrush in her talon, and six dragons sitting on the floor who all
looked about Tagmazza’s age.
“Come on inside!” Tagmazza said. “I’ll show you all my friends!”
Icy walked inside, following close behind Tagmazza. Once she entered the house, all of
Tagmazza’s friends jumped up and started talking about her.
“Wow! Who is that?!” One exclaimed.
Arthiena turned around and dropped her paintbrush. “Oh, Icy! How’s it been? We
haven’t seen each other in like-”
“Shh! Quiet Arthiena!” Tagmazza interrupted. “Icy doesn’t want to talk to you, she wants
to talk to me and my friends.”
Icy and Arthiena laughed. “I’m pretty sure she wants to talk to me too, Lieutenant
Noisy,” Arthiena replied.
“For the LAST TIME Arthiena! I am NOT noisy!” Tagmazza yelled at the top of her lungs.
“I speak totally normal!”
Arthiena laughed. “I think you speak TOTALLY LOUD!” She shouted back. Arthiena
turned to Icy and said, “There’s not a day that goes by where she doesn’t scream at least once. I
think I’ll become deaf one day.”
Icy laughed. “Back in Navitee, I get surprised when the house gets loud. It’s quiet every
day, especially since my mom is out of the house five days a week.”
Tagmazza pulled on Icy’s talon. “Come on Icy! I really, really, really want to-”
“Oh, hey Icy,” another voice interrupted. Icy turned around and saw Kuluca coming
down the stairs with an empty cup in his talon. “I was just coming down here to refill my-”
Tagmazza groaned loudly in frustration. “Kuluca! I was talking to Icy! Can you all just
talk another time? Is it that hard?”
Kuluca stared at Tagmazza. “I literally was just coming down here to refill my cup with
water.”
“Well too bad! You’re going to have to refill it another time, because right now I’M
talking to Icy!” Tagmazza yelled.
Kuluca turned the opposite direction and started heading up the stairs. “Sorry, geez.”
“Tut tut tut!” Tagmazza yelled. “Zip your mouth like a zebra with a zipper and go
upstairs!”
Arthiena chuckled. “Why don’t you go and talk with Tagmazza? We’ll find another time
to chat.”
“Yes, thank you,” Tagmazza said. “Now sit down Icy, and let me introduce you to my
friends.”
 Dragons of Wonder
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One of Tagmazza’s friends raised her talon. “Oh! I have an idea! How about we all say a
few words and then we can tell her who we are?” The dragon asked. She was a bright orange
color with bright banana yellow eyes and white horns. “I’ll go first. My name is Tangerine, I’m
six and a half years old, and when I grow up, I want to be a princess!”
A magenta pink dragon with tiny yellow spots on her wings and on her crest went next.
“My name is Pargranian, I turn seven in exactly three weeks, and I love parrots!”
“My name is Kiwi, I’m seven, and I’m kind of shy,” A dragon whispered. She was brown
with small green speckles on her face and down her sides. Her underscales were snow white and
were covered with brown spots.
Another dragon started speaking, and she looked exactly the same as Kiwi. “Um, I’m
Coconut, um, I also seven, and uh, I’m twins with Kiwi, but I’m older by twelve minutes!”
The last one, a bright yellow dragon with green eyes stood up. “I’m Balaba, I’m six, and I
love to SING!” She exclaimed. “Wanna hear my new song? It goes like: Buh Na Na Na, Buh Na
Na Na, Banana! Banana! BANANA!”
Icy laughed. “Okay, so, Tangerine, Pargranian, Kiwi, Coconut, and Balaba? Those are all
wonderful names,” She complemented.
“Who are you? Can you tell us about yourself?” Balaba asked. “Come on, tell us!”
Icy smiled. “I’m Icy, I’m an Ice Dragon, and I saved Tagmazza from the fire.”
“Woah!” Tagmazza’s friends all said at the same time.
“Was it really scary?” Tangerine asked.
Icy nodded. “It was probably one of the scariest moments of my life,” She told them.
Coconut raised her talon. “I have a question. How old are you?”
“Try and guess.”
Coconut put a claw to her chin and thought. “Hmm… Well, you look like you’re older
than all of us… are you nine?”
Icy burst out in laughter. “No! I’m fifteen. My birthday was in January,” Icy told them.
“Any more questions?”
All of Tagmazza’s friends gasped, then asked a series of questions.
“How long have you lived in the Changing Forest?”
“Are you made out of crystals?”
“Do you live in a castle?”
“Oooo, are you a princess?”
“Can you sing?”
Icy made herself more comfortable, knowing that she would stay with Tagmazza’s friends
for a long time. She had fun answering all their questions, and she knew Tagmazza’s friends had
fun asking them.
While Icy was talking to Tagmazza’s friends, Tangerine suggested that they should play a
board game. Tagmazza pulled out a game that Icy had never heard of before, and so the young
dragons ended up teaching her how to play.
Arthiena, at one point, ended up playing too. Tagmazza didn’t like it when Arthiena
joined in, but after a few rounds, everyone was happy.
They played the same game for twenty minutes. The game was simple and easy, but very
fun. Icy very much enjoyed playing with them.
 Dragons of Wonder
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“Yes, my third win!” Coconut shouted. “Hey! Why don’t we all go on a walk outside, and
maybe pick some fruits, and maybe some starberries! Those are my favorite! And I know where
some really tasty starberries are, too. They’re just a few minutes away! Follow me!”
Everyone headed out the door and followed Coconut. They walked behind their house
and followed a narrow trail through the rainforest. The trail was messy and dirty, Icy would
often find herself stepping on sharp twigs and rocks. She wished she could have soft padding on
her feet like the Rainforest Dragons.
Their walk was mostly quiet; everyone spoke and talked to each other, but their footsteps
were light and didn’t make much sound. Icy would be the loudest one walking, and she was
thankful when the trail became cleaner.
Then Icy heard loud stomping and twigs snapping. Some bushes rumbled, and she heard
a loud bonk. “Ow!” A voice shouted.
“Icy, was that you?” Arthiena asked, looking back to see her.
Icy shook her head, and was about to reply when the voice yelled again.
“Shut up!”
Before Arthiena could respond, Icy said another thing to make sure Arthiena didn’t think
Icy was the one to yell. “Um, no it wasn’t! Walking perfectly find here!”
“Oh, okay,” Arthiena replied, turning around and looking forward again.
Icy focused on the forest for a second. She couldn’t see any movements except for the
leaves softly moving in the calm wind, and she couldn’t hear any breathing or footsteps that
weren’t her own or one of the Rainforest Dragons’.
Then all of a sudden, something black moved over her head so fast that she only saw a
blur, heard a growl, then a scream. She looked behind herself to see what happened, but she
didn’t see anything but an empty trail behind her. Everyone also looked back in shock.
She started to hear screams from inside the forest, but then those screams slowly faded
to a stop, and the only sounds she heard was the sound of a dragon struggling, and even then the
struggles became quieter and quieter until the rainforest was left in silence.
“What the heck just happened?” Arthiena questioned.
Icy shrugged. “I was just walking, then I heard a growl, a scream, and then it was quiet. I
also don’t know what happened.”
“I also looked back to see what happened, and I think I saw a tail. I was too scared to see
what color it was, though. Sorry,” Coconut said.
“Is everybody here?” Balaba asked.
Icy counted the dragons out loud. “Me, Arthiena, Coconut, Balaba, Tangerine, Pargra-”
“KIWI!” Tagmazza shouted. “Where is she?” Tagmazza started pacing in a circle,
breathing heavily and putting her talons on her head.
“That must be who was screaming!” Tangerine observed. “Her screams are very high and
loud, and that’s exactly what I heard!”
“But her screams…” Icy started. Both her and Arthiena looked at each other. “They
stopped. She might be…”
“Dead?” Coconut finished. “Kiwi...?” Her eyes became watery and her voice started
trembling. Icy couldn’t even begin to imagine how Coconut was feeling. Her twin sister, the
dragon she had spent her entire lifetime with, was gone.
 Dragons of Wonder
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Coconut’s face was covered in her tears. She could barely stand, and just a few seconds
later she fell to the ground and sobbed. She shouted Kiwi’s name multiple times, then slammed
her face to the ground and continued crying.
Icy walked up to Coconut, also crying. It wasn’t so much that she missed Kiwi- she had
barely even known her- but the fact that someone would just kill a child… that was heartless and
downright evil. She kneeled down and pat Coconut on the back. “I am so, so sorry,” Icy told her.
Coconut lifted her head up and looked at Icy. “B-but my s-sister,” she started, “gone!”
She continued sobbing and crying, wetting the ground with her salty tears. “Why did she have to
die so soon? Why couldn’t she live for at least sixty more years? Why her? Why me?” She
shouted.
“She shouldn’t have died,” Icy agreed, patting her talon on Coconut’s back. “Whoever
killed her was a black hearted dragon.”
Tagmazza shook her head. “No! She can’t be dead. Kiwi is strong, she’s probably just
unconscious! We need to find her!” She yelled. Tagmazza almost ran into the forest at full speed,
if it wasn’t for Arthiena pulling her back.
“No, it’s too dangerous there, and no place for a little Rainforest Dragon to go in. You can
barely even fly,” Arthiena told her.
“I can fly!” Tagmazza argued. “And I can fight! Hyah!” She yelled as she swung her claws
around and tore up a leaf.
“Just think about what happened to Kiwi,” Icy told her. “If Kiwi died that easily, then-”
Icy was interrupted by another scream, and soon everyone looked back. Coconut was
breathing heavily, and her right arm was badly cut. The claw marks were deep, and it was
covered in dark red blood.
“Help…” Coconut pleaded weakly. “Black… Dragon… Evil…” She mumbled a few more
strange words, then became light-headed and passed out.
Arthiena gasped. “She’s losing too much blood! We have to get her back to the village!”
She exclaimed. “Quick, Icy, help me.”
Icy and Arthiena ran to Coconut. Arthiena picked her up by the pits, and Icy picked her
up by the ankles. Together, they lifted Coconut up.
“What about Kiwi…?” Tangerine asked before they started walking back.
Icy stayed quiet for a moment. “Tangerine,” She started, “Kiwi isn’t coming back.”
Arthiena sighed. “I’m sorry, even if she was just passed out, whoever attacked her surely
wanted her dead. There’s too small of a possibility that’s she’s alive that we don’t want to go in
and end up getting killed too.”
Icy nodded. “But right now let’s get Coconut to safety. It’s better to save one than to lose
two.”
Icy and Arthiena carried Coconut down to the rainforest village, with the three little
Rainforest Dragons following close behind. There wasn’t any more attacks, and there wasn’t any
more creepy sounds either, which made Icy relieved.
Once they were a few feet from the nearest house in the rainforest village, a few of the
dragons started staring and gasping in worry and shock.
“What happened?” A female Rainforest Dragon asked.
“Was she attacked by a jaguar?”
The curious dragons kept asking questions as Arthiena walked to the hospital. Arthiena
whispered to Icy to not answer any of their questions and make chaos occur, but Icy knew she
 Dragons of Wonder
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had to talk to a certain dragon when she ran to them. “Coconut!” She shouted. The dragon was
russet brown with large green spots going down her sides. She had to be the mother of Kiwi and
Coconut. “My Majesta, what happened to my daughter?!”
“Don’t say anything,” Arthiena whispered out of the corner of her mouth. “We really
don’t want to cause chaos and swarms of questions…!”
Icy looked down at Coconut, then back at the mother. I can’t just say nothing. There’s
going to be even more chaos and swarms of questions if nobody says anything. “Um, she, uh,
got a little…”
Arthiena nervously laughed. “It’s no big deal, really. It’s not as bad as it looks.”
“Not as bad as it looks?” The mother yelled. “Those are claw marks! Huge claw marks!
She’s been attacked! Take her to the doctor!”
“We’re taking her to the doctor right now,” Icy replied. “Now if everyone would please
stop asking questions we can take her there faster.”
Icy’s wish wasn’t granted. Once the mother was done speaking, dozens of dragons ran
toward them and started asking every question possible.
Icy ignored the Rainforest Dragons and looked down at Coconut. Her head shifted to the
side and her tail twitched, while the blood from her arm ran down to her elbows and fell to the
ground.
The worst thing though, was that Coconut’s breathing became heavier and faster. That
was very bad, and it meant that she had a high possibility of death if she didn’t take her to the
hospital faster.
“Everybody move out of the way!” Icy yelled. “If we can’t get her to the hospital quickly,
she might die!”
The word ‘die’ made everyone quickly back away and make a clear path for Icy and
Arthiena to bring Coconut to the hospital.
The two of them picked up speed and sprinted as fast as they could to get Coconut to
help. Tagmazza, Tangerine and Pargranian were lost in the crowd, but Icy couldn’t worry about
them right now. It was an adrenaline rush to save the poor little dragonet.
They ran for a dozen more seconds, when they finally came to the hospital. Some
dragons were standing outside the door, and when their eyes met Coconut, they quickly helped
by carrying her up the stairs. Four Rainforest Dragons took Coconut in their arms and laid her
on a bed.
“Honeyhive, animal skin and Vulture Forest vines,” A Rainforest Dragon commanded as
she put her head on Coconut’s chest. “Preferably polar bear skin.”
A harvest yellow Rainforest Dragon ran to a closet and sorted out some skins, then
pulled out a thick white skin about two square feet long, then pulled out five meters of dry vines
and ran to Coconut. “Here you go Barksong,” Honeyhive said as she gave the objects to the
Rainforest Dragon.
“Thank you,” Barksong replied. She wrapped the polar bear skin around Coconut’s right
arm, then tied it up with the dry vines. She then cut off the rest of the dry vines to use later, then
said, “That should hold it for now.”
“Will she live?” Icy questioned.
Barksong smiled. “Most certainly, yes,” She replied. “Within a few days she’ll be able to
play and walk and dance again.”
Icy sighed in relief. “I’m so happy to hear that.”
 Dragons of Wonder
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A few seconds later, Tangerine, Pargranian, Tagmazza and Coconut’s mom burst in
through the doors and hovered their heads over Coconut. The three friends looked sad and
worried, but the mother looked as though she would rather die than see her child harmed. Her
breath was fast and her voice quivered when she spoke.
“My poor, poor Coconut,” the mother said as tears rolled down her face. “Why did this
have to happen to you?”
Barksong put a talon on her shoulder. “Be thankful that she’ll heal well and isn’t dead.”
Icy’s mind immediately went to Kiwi. Coconut might not be dead, but Kiwi is. How will
we ever tell her? She thought, more terrified about the mother’s reaction than the state of
Coconut.
“Where is Kiwi?” The mother questioned. She looked over at Icy and Arthiena. “You were
with her, right? Kiwi always follows Coconut, and since you were with Coconut…”
Arthiena and Icy exchanged glances, each with the same worried faces that said, ‘what do
we do?’.
Finally Arthiena spoke up. “Oh, I bet that she just got lost in the crowd somewhere and
went back home to her dad!” She lied.
“Their dad has been in the Harvé Plains for the last three weeks and isn’t coming back
until another month,” the mother responded.
Arthiena nervously laughed. “Did I say dad? I meant bed! Went back home to go to bed!
Yes, we were on a very hard walk, and she’s probably very tired.”
Pargranian made a confused look. “Arthiena, we all saw it! Kiwi is dea-”
“Definitely!” Arthiena covered Pargranian’s mouth before she could finish. “Kiwi is
definitely tired!”
“You’re hiding something from me,” the mother said. “She didn’t go home, didn’t she?”
Icy sighed and patted her talons on her sides. “I’m sorry, but Kiwi has… She’s not in this,
planet, anymore. Her spirit and body are in separate places,” She told her.
“Are you saying that Kiwi is,” the mother paused to sniff and wipe her tears. “dead?”
Icy nodded slowly. “She was attacked, and now she’s dead.”
The mother’s face became flooded with her tears and she dropped from a stand to a
crawling position, one talon on the ground and the other holding her head. She started
breathing heavily and making loud sounds of crying. “Why Queen Majesta, why!” She shouted.
“She wasn’t ready for this yet! Queen Majesta of the planets and moons, give her another chance
and bring her back!”
Watching the mother’s pleads and cries made Icy cry too. She’s right, it isn’t fair that
Kiwi died. She’s just a poor, innocent dragon that will never get the chance to live a full life.
The mother crawled over to Coconut, too sad to have the strength to stand. She grasped
Coconut’s left arm; the arm that wasn’t hurt; and squeezed it tightly. “Oh Coconut, your twin
sister is dead… Your best friend, your pal… It shouldn’t have to be this way but it is…” The
mother kept sobbing and shouting things to Coconut and Queen Majesta, then she started
shouting at herself for not being protective enough of her children.
“I’m a horrible mother! Terrible, awful, horrible mother!” She continued to yell. Her
head dropped to the bed and her voice fell quieter. “It shouldn’t be this way…”
Barksong put a talon on her shoulder. “Mrs. Seeda, why don’t you go home so you can
have a rest? This is all very stressful for you, and a good and long sleep will help you to calm
yourself down.”
 Dragons of Wonder
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Mrs. Seeda nodded her head and wiped her face. She said goodbye to Barksong and Icy,
then put a talon on Coconut’s forehead, leaned down to her ear, and whispered something so
light and quiet it seemed like she didn’t say anything at all.
She then gave a long, two minute hug to her only living daughter, then left the hospital
without another word to say.
After Mrs. Seeda left the hospital, the room was filled with silence. Nobody moved,
nobody spoke, and the only sound anybody could hear was the faint shouting of little dragons
playing outside.
Barksong turned to Icy. “If you don’t mind me asking, what killed Kiwi?”
Icy bounced her shoulders. “I honestly have no clue whatsoever,” She told her. There was
a long silence among them. “But… Before Coconut passed out, she said a few words: Black, evil,
and… I know she said three, but I can’t remember what the other one was.”
Barksong thought for a moment. “She was probably attacked by a panther. We’ve had a
few panther attacks since the last four years, although panthers don’t usually feast on dragons.”
Feast on dragons… On dragons… Suddenly it came to her. “Dragon! That was the word
she said!”
“That means that she couldn’t have been attacked by a panther. It means she was
attacked by a dragon. Which means… Our rainforest village is in danger.”
Icy started pacing. “That is bad. That is very bad. You won’t be safe here in the village if
this guy keeps attacking.”
“Another big question is: who is this guy?” Arthiena questioned, jumping into the
conversation.
“Well, Coconut said it was a black dragon, so it’s probably a Night Dragon,” Barksong
guessed.
“It could also be an Arctic Wolf Dragon,” Icy mentioned. “Or maybe a very dark red Fire
Dragon. I’ve seen a few at my school.”
Nobody said a word for a few seconds, then Barksong spoke up. “I can’t think of any
criminals living in Shera that are black. Except…”
Icy looked at Barksong with wide eyes and full attention. “Except what?”
“Nevermind. It’s a ridiculous guess. It couldn’t possibly be true. He’s definitely dead
right now,” Barksong said.
“Whoever it may be,” Arthiena said, “doesn’t matter. The point is that we aren’t safe here
in the village.”
Icy started to freak out. “What will you do? Where will you go?”
Barksong shrugged and bounced her shoulders. “I don’t know,” She replied. “Shera
hasn’t been in a war since thirty two years ago, and we’ve never even been attacked since then.
This rainforest village has been calm and peaceful, even when I was born.”
“What… what happened? Did I win?” A raspy, young female voice said. Icy turned
around and saw Coconut. She pushed herself up from the bed, and she looked extremely
confused.
Icy was a little confused too. “Win what?” She questioned.
“Wolf race,” Coconut answered. “The game we were playing today?”
Does she not remember anything? Icy thought. “Well, yes, you won the last game, but
then we went to pick starberries.”
“Oh,” Coconut said. “How many did we pick?”
 Dragons of Wonder
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Arthiena took a few steps closer to Coconut. “You don’t remember?”

“Remember what?” Coconut thought for a few minutes. “My last memory before I woke
up was me rolling a five, then I was only two or three steps away from getting to the finish line.”
Arthiena turned around. “She doesn’t even remember…” Her voice dropped lower so that
only Icy could hear what she was saying. “That Kiwi is dead.”
“What are we going to tell her?” Icy asked, her voice also too quiet that nobody could
hear except for Arthiena.
“The truth,” Arthiena replied. “Not it.”
Icy let out a deep, long sigh. “Fine. I’ll tell her.” She walked around Arthiena and looked
at Coconut. “Coconut… I’m sorry to break this to you, but Kiwi is…” She paused and looked at
everyone. “Dead.”
Coconut’s face became more confused and shocked. “What? No, that can’t be true. That’s
a lie. A joke. You’re just messing with me. I bet Kiwi’s gonna jump through the door right now.”
“I want her to as much as you do, but she’s not,” Icy told her. “Somebody attacked her,
we don’t have a clue who did it, and now she’s dead. Your village isn’t safe.”

* * *

Icy laid on her side, her fire-red blankets covering half of her body. She shifted in place
and faced her head to the wall, then pulled up her blankets to her chest and closed her eyes. She
tried to sleep, but she just couldn’t. It was ten minutes before midnight, she should’ve fallen
asleep two hours ago. Instead, she had been twisting and turning for two hours. She just
couldn’t take her mind off Coconut.
Icy turned around again, then faced her window. It was dark outside, thick clouds hid the
moon and the stars away, and she couldn’t see any life; not a bird or a dragon in sight. Of course,
everyone else had gone to bed already. Who would be able to stay up at this late hour? No one.
That’s who. No one was awake, except for Icy.
Go to sleep! Icy shouted at herself. She turned around again and looked at her door
again. She kicked the blankets off her body, then sat up and pulled them back on again. No
matter what place she slept, she was always uncomfortable. It wasn’t the blankets, it wasn’t the
mattress, she just couldn’t rest her mind.
Don’t think about Coconut. She’ll be fine. Don’t think about Kiwi, she’s dead and there’s
absolutely nothing I can do about it. Dozens of dragons die every day, it just so happened that
Kiwi died. Only think about what I see in front of me… Which was nothing. Her eyes were
closed, she saw nothing but darkness and black.
Slowly though, a picture started to form in her mind. It wasn’t Coconut, it wasn’t Kiwi, it
was the Crystal Desert Caverns. Yes, she wasn’t only thinking of how dangerous the rainforest
was now, she also really wanted to go to the Crystal Desert Caverns. It was a once in a lifetime
trip! She could be able to go and see her mother there, and also see the wonderful caves and
amethysts! It would be absolutely amazing!
Stop it! Icy thought. No thinking of the Crystal Desert Caverns!
Icy turned around again and thought of snow falling down to the ground. Snowflake after
snowflake after snowflake. It was completely boring, nothing important about it, and
distracting. She could feel herself starting to drift off into sleep…
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

The snow kept falling. It started to pile up on the ground. It reminded her of home.
Sweet and cold Navitee. She could imagine herself landing on Navitee soil again. Back in the
Arctic Forest, back with her friends Snowflake and Shirree, back to her big house and back on
her soft, comfortable bed. She missed home.
I can’t wait to get back into the dragon battles. Just imagine how good I’d be after
Dragons of Wonder! I’ve learned so much here, with Professor Storm and Mrs. Hollen and
Professor Cliff and all… She thought about all of her teachers and how they helped her do so
much more. I’d be able to defeat Ash in just a minute, now that I know so much more about ice.
Wait, I’m thinking! Stop thinking!
She started to imagine a storm. A rain storm. Little droplets of water falling from the
clouds and landing on the ground, in… Lâkera. Yes. What did Lâkera remind her of? Nothing.
Navitee was her home, Shera had the endangered rainforest village, Kahori had the Crystal
Desert Caverns, Whatation reminded her of Scarlett (Who Icy was still mad at), but Lâkera
reminded her of jack squat nothing. She had no Lightning Dragon friends, there was no place in
Lâkera that she really wanted to visit, even the Great Cloud Canyon wasn’t that interesting to
her.
Rain kept pattering on the ground in Lâkera. Rain… Rain… Rainforest… The rainforest
is in danger! Who in the world attacked Kiwi today? She sighed. If only there was a teacher or
a servant awake so they could unlock the library doors and maybe I could read about some
black dragon criminals living in Shera.
Wait a second, there is! Icy had completely forgotten about Professor Slitherwick. He
was a Night Dragon, he probably always stayed up until one or two in the morning, and with
him, Icy wouldn’t need to go inside the library. Professor Slitherwick was a walking library
himself!
Icy sat upright on her bed, then hesitated. But all students should be in their rooms by
ten o’clock. I’d be disobeying the rules going outside, and I know how Professor Slitherwick
deals with rules.
And I really, really don’t want to eat a rotten grilled cheese sandwich again.
Icy stayed sitting in bed for a few minutes, going back and forth in deciding whether to
go to Slitherwick’s class.
Well, if I told Slitherwick I have a question, then maybe he’ll allow it, and if he does
know who it is, then maybe it’ll clear my mind and I can go to sleep.
Icy stood up and tip-toed along the floor. She dropped down to the ground and peeked
out under the small gap between the door and the floor to check if anyone was there, then stood
up, slowly opened the door and walked outside.
She crept through the school silently, checking everywhere for anyone who might report
her. She walked for ten minutes, then made it to Slitherwick’s office. It brought back terrible
memories; She remembered Pipes and Robert, the most disgusting dragons in all of Ermana,
she remembered how she couldn’t sleep and all the dust and spider-webs everywhere, and she
remembered having one of those awful rotten grilled cheese sandwiches.
Icy heard a book shut close and a drawer open. She then heard footsteps getting louder
and louder, then a handle twist. He’s going outside…! Icy thought. She was about to change her
mind and run for her life, but it was too late. Slitherwick opened the door and noticed Icy before
she could even turn her body.
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

“Icy? What are you doing?” He whispered angrily. “Go back to your room!” He started
pushing her away with the back of his talon.
“Wait, I have a question,” Icy told him quietly. She turned around, and Slitherwick
looked both interested and annoyed at the same time.
“Alright, well, ask away,” Slitherwick replied, closing his door. “But make it quick, I have
loads of homework I need to correct.”
Icy rubbed her tired eyes. “Do you know any black dragon, a Night Dragon or an Arctic
Wolf Dragon or anything, that’s a criminal and lives in Shera?”
Professor Slitherwick closed his eyes, tapped his foot on the ground, and breathed in a
large breath. “Come inside. I have a few books.”
Slitherwick reopened his door and led Icy inside. He looked around his bookshelf for a
while, then moved to the right and picked up a book from the top shelf. “There’s Blackcrest,” He
started, pulling out the book and tossing it into Icy’s arms.
Icy quickly caught the book. She wanted to examine it and look at the first few pages, but
Slitherwick had already tossed another two books into her talons.
“That’s Nebula and Narwhal, twin Star Dragon sisters who robbed a bunch of rainforest
villages,” He said, already reaching for another book on the middle of the second shelf. “That’s
Bluebreath, an Arctic Wolf Dragon.” Slitherwick threw the book over, then pulled out three
books from the second to top bookshelf. “And there’s Cobra, Coldecho and Skiyer.” He placed
the last three books on top of the other four books, then said, “There are plenty of others that I’d
be glad to give you, but I don’t have them. If you want to know more then go to the library
tomorrow morning. For now, goodbye and goodnight.”
Icy looked at the seven books she was given. She hadn’t heard of any of the dragons,
except for Coldecho. She knew he was put in prison over twenty years ago, so it meant that some
other dragons could’ve been dead or put in prison also. And if they were dead or put in prison,
then it meant they couldn’t have attacked Kiwi. “Can I ask another question?”
Slitherwick let out a long sigh. “Fine. What is it?”
“Would any of these dragons attack the Changing Forest?”
“Blackcrest could, he’s in his mid-forties and is still making crime, Nebula could, she was
put in prison but escaped three years ago, her twin sister Narwhal can’t, she was killed in an
explosion, Bluebreath theoretically could, but he’s eighty nine I think, and he lives in the Goana
Mountains. Cobra died sixteen years ago, so she couldn’t attack, Coldecho was put in prison
twenty three years ago, and Skiyer moved to Warkana and is now working as a servant for King
Drykill.”
“So, Blackcrest and Nebula could attack here in the Changing Forest? Would they attack
a child from a rainforest village?” Icy asked.
Slitherwick walked to his desk and sat down on his chair. “I don’t see why anyone would
attack a northeastern rainforest village. They’re poor, peaceful and harmless, and even if a
Rainforest Dragon were to start a fight with Blackcrest or Nebula, they would most likely ignore
them. And, if Blackcrest or Nebula attacked any rainforest village in the Changing Forest, Queen
Akcrista would have them sent to prison immediately,” He explained while writing a sentence
down on a piece of paper.
Icy started to put the books back where they were. “Can you really not think of anybody
who would attack a rainforest village?”
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

“Nope,” Slitherwick mumbled as he wrote a check on a homework essay. He was quiet for
a second, then poked his head up and looked at Icy. “Wait.”
Icy opened her mouth and smiled and looked at him in excitement. “There’s somebody
you know?”
“Oh, nevermind. Sorry, it was someone from a fictional book,” He replied. “Why are you
asking these questions anyway?”
Icy felt her eyelids becoming heavier. If I tell Slitherwick the truth, then I’ll have to stay
awake longer, She thought. “Uh, after school today I heard someone saying that the rainforest
village near here was attacked, so I was just kind of worried.”
“It certainly wasn’t today though.”
“What do you mean?”
Slitherwick looked up and pointed at his clock. “It’s twelve o’one. It’s no longer Tuesday,
it’s now Wednesday. GO. TO. SLEEP.”
Icy sighed and lowered her head down. “Good night professor.”
Icy walked out of Slitherwick’s office and back to her room. She gently closed her room
door, then slammed herself on the bed.
If it isn’t anyone Slitherwick can think of, then who is it? Icy wondered. She curled up on
her bed, pulled her blankets over her body, and asked herself that question repeatedly. Not
Blackcrest, not Nebula or Narwhal, not Bluebreath, not Cobra, not Coldecho or Skyier. Not
anyone Slitherwick can think of.
And that probably means whoever attacked the rainforest village is a new villain.

* * *

Icy had been awake for about half an hour. She tried to go back to sleep, but the sun
coming from her window was too bright and her mind still wasn’t rested from Kiwi and Coconut.
She had a very late night, and she woke up too early. Why couldn’t she fall asleep?
She peeked her eyes open and looked at the clock by her door. It was seven thirty, she
guessed she should go and eat breakfast with Sunflower and Leopard. But she was so tired… Icy
finally went to bed at twelve thirty at night, and woke up at seven. She really only had six and a
half hours of sleep.
Icy turned around in her bed and looked out her window. It was a perfect summer day;
the sun was bright and warm, the ocean sparkled, and only a few clouds were in the sky.
A snow-white seagull flew up to Icy’s window and sat there for a few moments. It pulled
a few feathers from its back, then fluttered its wings and started to turn around.
The seagull faced its rear end to the window and lifted up its tail. Icy widened her eyes.
Don’t you dare do it, She thought. Her room was cleaned every day when she was at school, her
bed was made, her floor was swept, and the windows were cleaned, but never the outside of her
windows. If a seagull pooped on the outside of her window, she would have to clean it up, and
that was something that she did not want to do.
Icy quickly pushed the blankets off her bed and ran to her window, then slammed her
talons on the hard glass, scaring the seagull away.
Icy sighed. Well, since I’m already up, I might as well go get breakfast, she told herself.
She walked over to her door, her eyes heavy and her back slouched. She felt like not doing school
because she was so tired.
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

She walked down to the cafeteria and met Sunflower and Leopard at a table. They were
talking about the Crystal Desert Caverns and how they imagined it would be, and their
breakfasts were mostly finished.
Sunflower turned her head to look at Icy. “Oh, well hello Icy! You surely slept in. You
have a good night?”
“No! Terrible!” Icy responded, grabbing a plate and snatching some toast. “I didn’t go to
sleep until twelve thirty last night!”
Leopard looked at her with wide eyes. “What? WHY?”
“Homework?” Sunflower guessed.
Icy shook her head. “Something bad happened yesterday,” She started. “Don’t tell
anyone about this yet, but someone in the rainforest village nearby here got attacked.”
“Oh my gosh, who got attacked? Did they die?” Sunflower questioned.
“Two little girls got attacked. They’re twins. One of them is named Kiwi, and another is
named Coconut. Coconut got scratched in the arm, she looked like she was going to be okay, but
her twin sister Kiwi… didn’t make it.”
Leopard gasped. “My Majesta, who the heck attacked them?”
“That’s why I stayed up,” Icy told them. “I couldn’t fall asleep because I couldn’t put my
mind to sleep. I kept thinking of Kiwi and Coconut. Coconut also passed out, but before she
passed out she said three words: Black, evil, and dragon, so I suspected that she was attacked by
an evil black dragon. That night, I asked Slitherwick if he knew any black dragons who were
criminals living in Shera. He gave me a few options, but none of them seemed to match,
especially since most of them are dead or in prison.”
Leopard narrowed her eyes, looking a little suspicious. “You said Professor Slitherwick
gave you options, and none of them seemed to match. What if Slitherwick is the one who
attacked the rainforest village?”
Both Sunflower and Icy swung their heads at Leopard with a of-course-not-why-would-
you-think-that face.
“No, think about it. In the Ermana War, Night Dragons allied with War Dragons and
fought the Nature Dragons. Slitherwick is super rude to the Nature Dragons because they were
on opposite sides of the war, and he usually teaches us about historical dragons and their
attacks,” Leopard explained, “so he must know a lot about it, because he’s been planning to
attack the rainforest village.
“And don’t forget, you said the nearest rainforest village was attacked. Slitherwick
couldn’t go too far away to attack a rainforest village since he’s a teacher and he has a lot of work
to do, so that’s why he attacked the village only a few miles from here.
“Slitherwick also only attacked two little dragons because little dragons are easy to kill.
The reason why he didn’t kill the other one was probably because someone was looking, and he
didn’t want to spoil his identity.”
Sunflower and Icy exchanged glances. Leopard could be right.
“I know, some parts still don’t completely make sense, but a mystery can’t just be solved
with only one clue,” Leopard told them. “So, whaddya think? Could Slitherwick be the one?”
“It does make sense,” Icy agreed, “but then again, there is probably a bunch of criminals
living in Shera that Slitherwick didn’t mention.”
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

Leopard smiled. “And tell me, why would a criminal want to attack in the Changing
Forest, where Queen Akcrista of the world lives? She’s the most powerful dragon living in
Ermana, and Queen Akcrista would find who attacked a rainforest village in a day.”
“If Queen Akcrista can find out who attacked a village in just a day, then why don’t we
just tell her and she can get the mystery solved?” Sunflower asked. Icy nodded in agreement.
“Because if we can get this mystery solved, then maybe she’ll love us so much that we get
to go to the Crystal Desert Caverns without a doubt. And besides, Queen Akcrista will never
guess Slitherwick, and he seems like he’s the one. So, who else is with me?”
Icy thought about what Leopard said for a moment. She was right. Completely right. If
they were to figure out a big mystery like this, then it was definite that they would be in the
Crystal Desert Caverns in a week.
But then again, what if it wasn’t Slitherwick, and the attacks kept happening?
Whatever. The chance of it being Slitherwick is so high, and I really want to go to the
Crystal Desert Caverns, so I guess I’m in? Icy thought. She didn’t want to tell Leopard yet, just
in case she changed her mind. “I’ll think about it,” Icy told her, “and I’ll tell you at lunch. Okay?”
“I’ll tell you at lunch too,” Sunflower chimed in. “Right now we’ve got ten minutes until
class starts, so we better get ready.”
Sunflower and Leopard waved goodbye to Icy and walked back up to their rooms, leaving
Icy alone to finish her breakfast. Icy spread butter and honey on her toast and ate it quickly,
then had a fried egg and had a small drink of milk. She stood up after she finished her breakfast
and walked back to her room to pack up for school.

* * *

Icy sat in Professor Slitherwick’s class, resting her head on her talon. She was sitting a
foot away from Solar, and Icy was a little suspicious about her. Solar’s dad was evil, and since
Slitherwick could be the one who attacked the rainforest village, then could Slitherwick be
Solar’s dad? She was planning to ask her when class finished.
Thankfully, class would end in just a few minutes. They had been learning about the fight
moves and strategies of Queen Starseer, the last queen of Niáll, for fifty five minutes, and in just
another four or five minutes, Icy would be able to ask Solar.
“And because Queen Starseer taught all three of her daughters these strategies, Princess
Owlfeather killed her mother when she was ill and became Queen Owlfeather, the current queen
of Niáll. Queen Owlfeather has reigned Niáll for twelve years,” Slitherwick said.
Professor Slitherwick kept talking about Queen Starseer and Queen Owlfeather.
Everyone was clearly bored; the Ice Dragons looked like they were going to fall asleep, the Night
Dragons were all looking somewhere else, and even Slitherwick looked like he didn’t want to be
there. Professor Slitherwick’s lessons were usually not too interesting, but this one was
extremely boring.
Maybe he’s bored and looks like he doesn’t want to be there because he would rather
attack the rainforest village, Icy thought. Or… maybe this lesson just is boring. She caught
herself. She still wasn’t one hundred percent sure that she agreed with Leopard.
Two more boring minutes went by, then finally Slitherwick concluded his lesson. “And
finally we’re done. No homework this week; just remember to study for your test.”
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

Everyone stood up from their seats, eager to get out of Slitherwick’s class. The dragons
started walking out of the classroom, Icy and Solar near the back.
“Solar, can I talk to you for a moment?” Icy asked, tapping on Solar’s shoulder.
Solar turned around and stopped in her tracks before they got out of the classroom.
“Yes?”
Icy looked at Solar, then swung her head around and looked back at Slitherwick. “Um,
let’s talk… outside.”
Icy and Solar continued their walk outside, then stopped when they were a few meters
from the door. “Okay, so what did you want to talk about?” Solar questioned.
Should I ask her? Icy wondered. She was so excited to get out of class and ask Solar if
Slitherwick was her dad, but now she felt kind of worried about asking her. She didn’t know
why, but she did.
Solar drifted her gaze to the nearest clock, then looked back at Icy. “I have class with
Mrs. Heroa in four minutes, make it quick.”
Icy thought about all of her classes. She didn’t have any other class with Solar except for
Professor Slitherwick, and if one of them were to go to the Crystal Desert Caverns and the other
stay in Dragons of Wonder, then Icy wouldn’t be able to ask Solar until next year. By then, Icy
might not even remember that Solar had an evil dad, so it was now or never.
“Okay, um, I have, uh, one question for you,” Icy said. “Is Professor Slitherwick your
dad?”
“PROFESSOR SLITHERWICK?” Solar shouted. “That’s the dumbest thing I have ever
heard! First of all, he’s a teacher. A teacher! Teachers aren’t evil! Second of all, I know we’re all
both black dragons, but do I look anything like him at all? Third of all, I’m pretty sure Professor
Slitherwick is only in his early thirties, so too young to have a fifteen, almost sixteen year old kid.
Sorry Icy, but I just don’t understand how you could guess him!”
“Oh, right, I knew that,” Icy lied. “I don’t know why I asked such a dumb question. You’re
right, Professor Slitherwick couldn’t be your father.”
Solar turned away from Icy and started walking to Mrs. Heroa’s class, while she started
mumbling about how wrong Icy was.
Icy headed the opposite direction to meet with Professor Fannick, but before she and
Solar were more than ten yards apart, Icy noticed a light blue Lightning Dragon with a black
crest, which quickly reminded her of the villain Blackcrest. Blackcrest was in his mid-forties;
which was old enough to have a fifteen year old daughter, and he was evil and still committing
crime. He could be Solar’s father.
Icy quickly swung around and yelled, “Solar! What about Blackcrest?”
Solar didn’t turned around to show her face, but she stopped in her tracks and her voice
sounded a little nervous. “The villain?”
Icy nodded her head. “Yeah, Blackcrest.”
“He, uh, no, not my dad either,” Solar replied. Once she finished talking, she jumped off
the balcony and flew down two floors, clear that she didn’t want to talk to Icy and wouldn’t tell
anyone who her father was, even if they got the answer right.
Which, Icy thought she did. Solar sounded very nervous and shocked when Icy said the
name Blackcrest. But, then again, maybe Blackcrest was just a brother to Solar’s dad, and she
got nervous that I was getting close to discovering. Or maybe the name Blackcrest was similar
to another evil guy, like maybe Shadowcrest or Blackcloud or whatever.
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

While Icy was walking, she looked into Professor Slitherwick’s classroom and studied
him carefully. He was waiting patiently for the rest of his class to show up, drumming his claws
on his lectern. Slitherwick stopped drumming his claws, then leaned down and pulled out a book
of his choice from under a clipboard. Before Slitherwick set down the book and opened it,
though, Icy quickly noticed what the book was called.
The book was entitled Rainforest Villages.

* * *

Icy met up with Sunflower and Leopard forty minutes after lunch started. Students had
an hour lunch break from eleven o’clock to twelve, and Icy liked to take thirty or forty minutes to
start on her first homework assignments, then go to lunch and eat.
It was a good thing that Icy came down when she did; It looked like both Leopard and
Sunflower just barely sat down too. Leopard was squirting ketchup on a warm hot dog, and
Sunflower was selecting a sandwich with the most cheese.
Icy sat down next to Sunflower and in front of Leopard. She got herself a sandwich and a
bowl of salad, then looked at Leopard and announced, “I’m in.”
Leopard turned her head. “And what about you Sunflower?”
“Um, I guess I’m in since Icy is in too,” She replied.
“Okay, then after school we all meet each other in my room, where we’ll discover the
secret of the professor.”
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

Chapter 9
The Secret of the Professor

Icy and Sunflower were both walking to the seventh floor and twelfth room, where Leopard’s
room was. Icy felt so confident that they were going to catch Slitherwick and turn him into the
queen, but Sunflower seemed worried and not-so-confident.
“Um, Icy, are you sure that Leopard is right?” Sunflower asked when they walked by a
few Night Dragons. “I mean, yeah, the clues lead us straight to Professor Slitherwick, but what if
it’s just a coincidence?”
“Come on,” Icy told her, “it’s so obvious that it can’t be anyone else. In class today, we
had the most boring lesson of all time, and I know exactly why. Professor Slitherwick didn’t
want to be there because he would rather be committing crime and attacking the rainforest
village, so he was kind of bored. And when he’s bored, he makes everyone else bored. Then,
while I was leaving to go to Professor Fannick’s class, I saw him open a book that was called
Rainforest Villages. Of course that means that he’s studying the rainforest villages so he can
plan strategies to attack them.”
Sunflower sighed. “Yeah, I suppose so.”
Icy and Sunflower walked up another pair of stairs and halfway across the hall. When
they made it to Leopard’s room, Icy lightly knocked on the door, and immediately the door
swung open.
“Yay, you guys are here! Took you long enough!” Leopard exclaimed.
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

“School only ended seven minutes ago,” Icy said. “Did you really expect us to get here the
second school finished?”
Leopard nodded. “Of course! Professor Slitherwick is a Moon Dragon, and all Moon
Dragons like to be on time. Slitherwick is probably already heading out of the castle as we speak!
Come on girls, let’s go!”
Leopard ran past them and jumped off the balcony, soaring down to the first floor as fast
as she could. “Hurry up!” She shouted once she reached the bottom.
Icy got a five-foot running start, then jumped off the balcony and followed Leopard with
Sunflower close behind. They landed on the bottom floor and stood next to Leopard, then she
announced the plan.
“Okay, here’s the plan,” Leopard started. “I’ll circle around the castle and wait for
Slitherwick to come. Sunflower, you check inside Slitherwick’s office and see if he’s there, and
Icy, you check inside his classroom. We meet each other outside in ten minutes.”
The three dragons gave a single nod at each other, then ran off in separate directions.
Leopard turned left and ran out to the nearest exit, Sunflower ran straight and headed towards
Slitherwick’s office, then Icy turned right and ran across the halls in the direction of Professor
Slitherwick’s classroom.
As she ran, she noticed Mrs. Star carrying a patch of cookies. She wondered why she was
holding them as Mrs. Star walked out of an exit with Professor Cliff, but stopped thinking about
Mrs. Star holding cookies when she came closer to Slitherwick’s classroom.
She skipped across a hallway and flew up to the floor of his classroom. The door to his
class was three quarters of the way closed, but Icy could see a black tail inside of the room.
Icy lowered her eyebrows and smiled, knowing she would catch Slitherwick inside of the
classroom. She ran and burst open the wooden door the whole way, then stared at what she
thought was Slitherwick.
In a fraction of a second, Icy’s staring face became a confused face. She saw three Night
Dragons in there; one was a third year Shadow Dragon sitting on the bleachers and reading a
book, one was a Night Dragon whom Icy did not know, and the last one was Solar. Solar and the
Night Dragon were standing at the end of the classroom lightly talking to each other, but both of
them stopped when Icy swung the door open.
“Hello Icy,” Solar greeted. “What are you doing here?”
“Looking for Professor Slitherwick,” Icy told her. “Know where he is?”
The Shadow Dragon on the bleachers closed his book and looked up at Icy. “He just
barely left the classroom a few minutes ago. He told us he was going to… to the rainforest village
near here. No wait, maybe it was the cliffside village? One of those two, I can’t remember.”
“Oh, thanks,” Icy replied. She turned away and walked out of the classroom, then
clenched her fists and growled lightly. He went to the rainforest village nearby here of course!
He’s going to attack them right now!
Icy closed the classroom door, then jumped off the balcony and flew down to the first
floor. She noticed Mrs. Heroa walk out of an exit ten feet away from her, then she ran towards
the exit and left the castle. Icy was in a hurry; She needed to watch Slitherwick and see if he
really was the one to attack the rainforest village.
Icy jumped into the air and flapped her wings. She started circling around the castle to
look for Leopard, but before she found Leopard, she found Sunflower who looked panicked and
worried.
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

“Icy! I was wrong about what I said before!” Sunflower called. She flew closer to Icy and
started speaking calmer. “When I was heading to Professor Slitherwick’s office, I saw him
leaving out of the exit, then I saw a Night Dragon wave goodbye to him, and the Night Dragon
said: Hope you have fun at the village! The village Icy! That probably means he is going to attack
the rainforest village!”
Icy gasped. “Sunflower, you find Slitherwick and keep an eye on him. I’ll go find Leopard
and then we’ll meet you.”
Sunflower flew away and descended ten yards, while Icy turned around and resumed
searching for Leopard.
A few moments later, as Icy was circling clockwise around the castle, she flew into
Leopard, who had been flying the opposite direction.
“Leopard, a Shadow Dragon told me that Professor Slitherwick went to the rainforest
village, and Sunflower overheard a Night Dragon saying: Have fun at the village. He’s going to
attack the rainforest village, I know it!”
Leopard gasped. “We have to go follow him, now!”
Icy led Leopard to Sunflower, who was keeping a keen eye on Slitherwick. Sunflower was
twenty yards behind him, making sure that she wasn’t noticed.
“Hello,” Sunflower whispered when Icy and Leopard flew beside her. “Remember to keep
quiet, or else Slitherwick will hear us.”
Icy, Leopard and Sunflower continued to follow Slitherwick, not daring to take their eyes
off him. A few minutes ticked by, all of them silent and cautious.
Then out of nowhere, all of them heard a loud squawk behind them. Leopard took a look
behind them, but Icy and Sunflower didn’t dare move their eyes.
Leopard breathed in a long gasp. Sunflower’s face became worried, and she turned her
head to look at what was going on, then Sunflower gasped too. Icy, determined to follow
Slitherwick, didn’t move her eyes, even though she wanted to look at whatever Sunflower and
Leopard were looking at.
“That is the most adorable bird I’ve ever seen in my entire life!” Sunflower exclaimed,
still keeping her voice quiet. “I didn’t think I would ever see such a beautiful macaw ever!”
“Aw, he’s looking at you Sunflower!” Leopard noticed. “Icy, you need to look at this bird.”
“I can’t,” Icy whispered back. “I need to watch Slitherwick!”
“Just look for a second! Professor Slitherwick won’t go too far!” Sunflower replied.
Sunflower and Leopard kept saying wonderful things about the bird, which made Icy
want to look more and more. She knew it was just a bird; but Leopard said it was a rare hybrid,
and Sunflower said it was a once in a lifetime scene.
Oh well, it’s probably okay. Professor Slitherwick has been flying straight for three
minutes, and the rainforest village is two minutes more of flying straight. I can look for just a
minute…
Icy turned her head and looked at the bird. Sunflower and Leopard were right, it was a
beautiful macaw. It had an amber orange belly and beautiful wings that stretched from emerald
green to indigo blue. The top of it’s head was a shining shamrock green, and it was looking
straight at Sunflower.
“Wow,” Icy admired. The bird was so beautiful and cool that even Icy had a hard time
taking her eyes off it.
“I know, right? It’s so pretty.” Sunflower smiled a huge smile and waved at the bird.
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

Icy smiled at the bird too, then blinked her eyes and stopped what she was doing. Why
am I looking at a bird? A bird! The whole rainforest village depends on us! She thought. Icy
swung her head back at Slitherwick, but saw nothing but a few clouds on a bright summer
afternoon sky.
“Leopard! Sunflower! We lost Slitherwick!” Icy shouted. She looked up, right, left, down
and behind them, but didn’t see anything. “We shouldn’t have looked at the bird, the whole
rainforest village needs us! Come on, spread out and find him!”
Leopard nodded and flew ahead of them at top speed, Sunflower turned back around and
west, the way back to the castle, and Icy dove down to the rainforest floor. Her guess was that
Slitherwick heard them and didn’t want any of them to see what he was doing, so he flew down
to the rainforest floor to escape from them.
The problem was, though, there was a lot of forest floor between where Icy was and the
rainforest village. He could be anywhere.
So, instead of landing on the forest floor like Icy guessed he did, she merely hovered
above the trees and looked down from where she was flying. That way Icy could search the forest
faster and easier without getting muddy and bitten by strange bugs.
Icy searched for five minutes, but couldn’t find Slitherwick anywhere. The only dragons
she saw was a wandering Rainforest Dragon and a few Light Dragons having a picnic. She didn’t
see Slitherwick at all.
Wherever he went, he’s probably already at the rainforest village, ready to attack
another innocent dragon. I got to get Sunflower and Leopard and get to the rainforest village!
She thought.
Icy swerved around and saw a moving purple speck above her, which she guessed was
Leopard. She flew straight up for half a minute, then caught up with her.
Leopard started speaking when Icy was a couple meters below her. “Did you find
Slitherwick?” She asked.
“No, but I think he already went to the rainforest village. I didn’t see him anywhere, and
unless Sunflower or you spotted him, I don’t think he’s anywhere else.”
“My Majesta, we gotta get Sunflower and head over to the rainforest village now!”
Leopard and Icy spun around and flew back to the castle, but met up with Sunflower
before they had even gone a quarter of the way back. Sunflower was flying back to them at a
rapid speed, but her face didn’t look nervous or terrified at all.
“Hello, Leopard, Icy,” Sunflower greeted. “Any news on Professor Slitherwick? Did any of
you find him?”
“No, we didn’t. You have any news?” Icy asked.
Sunflower shook her head.
“Well, we’re guessing that Slitherwick already went to the rainforest village and
somehow escaped us without being seen,” She told her. “Now let’s go before more time is
wasted!”
Icy and Leopard turned around and started to fly away, but Sunflower stopped them.
“Wait,” she said, “I do have some news about Slitherwick.”
Icy and Leopard both swung their heads at Sunflower.
“I flew back to the castle because I thought that Professor Slitherwick heard us and
decided to attack the village another time, but as I was going back, I passed a Night Dragon and
a Fire Dragon talking to each other, and since Fire Dragons and Night Dragons were allies in the
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

war thirty years ago, I think that maybe Slitherwick didn’t tell only Night Dragons, but also Fire
Dragons.”
“Yeah yeah, but what did they say?” Leopard questioned.
“The Night Dragon said: I really hope they have fun at the village.”
“But what does ‘they’ mean? Wouldn’t Slitherwick attack on his own?” Icy asked. The
three dragons were quiet for a second. “Oh well, maybe the Night Dragon misspoke or you heard
him wrong. Now let’s go! Anything else can be talked about on the way!”
Icy, Sunflower and Leopard faced to the rainforest village and continued flying. Their fly
wasn’t quiet, though, Sunflower was guessing every possibility of why the Night Dragon said
they.
“Maybe he was being sarcastic and he hoped the Rainforest Dragons had fun dying in
Slitherwick’s claws! Or, maybe Professor Slitherwick has a secret brother and they’re both going
to attack the village! Or, maybe Slitherwick actually has a mate and-”
“A mate?” Icy questioned. “You really are guessing every possibility. Slitherwick is the
last dragon I’d guess to have a love life.”
Sunflower shut Icy’s mouth with her talon. “Hey, do NOT interrupt my train of thought
Icy!” She yelled. “Okay, as I was saying, maybe Professor Slitherwick has a mate and children
and his family is going to attack the village!”
“Out of all dragons, why would Slitherwick have a family?” Icy interrupted again.
“Icy! I like you and you’re my best friend but I cannot afford to get interrupted while I
think of the best possibility of why the Night Dragon said ‘they’!”
Leopard jumped into the conversation. “Sunflower, as Icy said before, you probably just
heard the Night Dragon wrong. I’m sure that the Night Dragon said ‘he’.”
“But what if he didn’t? What if he had an ally, any ally, a friend, a brother, a cousin, and
they both attacked the village?”
Icy was quiet for a moment, realizing this was probably her most reasonable guess.
“Sunflower, you need to calm down. There is no way Professor Slitherwick has an ally,”
Leopard told her.
Icy opened her mouth to speak, but closed it when she noticed that the rainforest village
was only thirty meters away. “Hey! We’re almost at the rainforest village!” She shouted just as
Sunflower was about to make another guess. “Come on, let’s fly!”
Icy, Sunflower and Leopard dove down and landed in the village. The rainforest village
looked happy; young dragons were playing simple games all around the houses and the wide dirt
roads, older dragons were politely talking to each other and trading fairly. The village looked as
pretty and happy as it always did, but Icy knew that it wouldn’t be safe when Slitherwick
launched another attack.
“Okay, everyone spread out and search for Slitherwick,” Icy ordered. “If you see him, yell
out ‘moon’ and bring him back here. If none of us finds Professor Slitherwick in the next twenty
minutes, come back here and we’ll talk.”
Sunflower and Leopard nodded and ran in opposite directions, leaving Icy to run
straight. She examined every dragon and their houses, and looked extra carefully in every hiding
spot. She tried to avoid any distractions like sales and kids asking her to play games with them,
but it was hard.
 Dragons of Wonder
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Icy then started to worry about Sunflower. Icy wasn’t convinced easily, but she knew
Sunflower was. I’m just going to have to believe that Sunflower won’t buy or get distracted
with anything.
“Icy! Icy!” A high voice called out behind her. Before Icy turned around to see who it was,
she assumed Sunflower had called her. Her voice was always high and excited, and the voice
who had yelled her name was both high and excited.
But when Icy turned around, she saw a child running toward her. The little dragon had
one arm waving at her, but the other arm was down in a right angle, which was covered with
white animal skin.
Coconut stood in front of Icy and caught her breath. “Hey Icy, I was just barely going to
go to Balaba’s house to have a play-date, but then I saw you while I was walking out the door! I
just wanted to thank you again for saving me.”
“Oh, yeah, it was no problem. Anyways, I have to-”
“My Majesta, that reminds me! I went back home about ten minutes after you left the
village, and I was super sad about Kiwi. So I was playing with this round apple on my window. I
kept playing with the apple, but then I rolled it off the window! But I really loved that apple,
because it was the last thing Kiwi gave to me before she… before she died. Anyways, I rolled it off
the window, and I was so scared that I jumped off the window and caught it! But then I was
falling to the ground, and so I flapped my wings so hard and just barely missed the ground!
Then, the COOLEST THING HAPPENED TO ME. I did a full flip in the air! Isn’t that cool?”
Icy nodded. “Super cool. Now excuse me, but I have to go.”
“Ooh! Let me take you to the best fruit shop ever! I’ll ask my mom to pay so you don’t
have to. They’ve got bananas, pineapples, dragon fruit, and all the berries you can imagine! I
would always order a strawberry juice, but then I tried a bunch of new things and now I know
that everything is good! You should order a magic fruit combo!”
“Yeah, but I’m really busy, so maybe we could do it tomorrow?”
“Oh, it’s okay. Maybe while you’re there you will become super smart and you’ll know all
the answers to your homework!” Coconut shouted. “Hey! You should take the super strawberry
smartness! That’s one of their specials. Once I had one of those, and then afterwards I was so
smart that I got so fast and I ran around the village twice in five minutes! Mom called it a sugar
rush, but I think it was the smartness in the super strawberry smartness.”
“You know what? That sounds great. You should definitely go have one of those with
Balaba,” Icy told her, hoping that Coconut would go away so she could focus.
Coconut gasped. “That would be so awesome! Me, Balaba, and you! Come on, I’m taking
you there now!” She grasped Icy by the arm and pulled her back the way she came. “MOM! I’m
taking Icy to the fruit shop nearby. Can you get Balaba and her mom and we can go together?”
Mrs. Seeda poked her head out through a door. “Oh, is that the Ice Dragon that helped
save you? Of course! I’ll pay anything to make it up to her.” She closed the door for a few
seconds, then opened it up again with two cushion amethyst in her talons. “You go ahead and
order for yourself, I’ll catch up in a few minutes.”
Icy sighed. I can’t do this! I’m going to waste so much time eating fruits! She yelled at
herself. She wanted to tell Coconut that she really did not want to eat with her, but then thought
about her arm and her sister. She felt too bad for her that she just couldn’t say anything mean to
Coconut.
 Dragons of Wonder
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It’s probably okay. I’ll order something quick and keep searching, She thought as
Coconut approached the fruit shop.
Coconut led Icy to an empty table, and soon a waiter came to take their order. “What
would you like today?” The waitress questioned.
Before Icy could ask what the smallest meal was, Coconut burst out talking and ordered
for both of them. “We’ll have two large super strawberry smartnesses please.”
“Right away ma’am,” The waitress said. She walked away from them and told another
dragon their order, then started taking somebody else’s order.
A few minutes later, Mrs. Seeda and Balaba showed up and sat down next to them. Mrs.
Seeda asked what Coconut ordered, and she looked both upset and shocked.
“A super strawberry smartness? You’re going to have another sugar rush! You already
had five sugar cookies from grandma this morning!”
“It’s okay mom. Icy wanted it anyways.”
Just then, the waitress came out with two large super strawberry smartnesses. It was a
huge wooden bowl with at least seventy chocolate-covered strawberries. It was sprinkled with
sparkling sugar, and it covered almost half of the bowl. There was a swirl of chocolate fudge, and
in the center had one big candy-shaped strawberry. There was absolutely no wonder about why
Coconut got a sugar rush from this.
“That will be fifteen amethysts for each ma’am,” the waitress told Mrs. Seeda.
Mrs. Seeda gave both her cushion amethysts to the waitress, then faced towards
Coconut. “You can eat it, just don’t be mad at me when you get tummy aches.”
Icy looked down at the super strawberry smartness. She couldn’t eat this! It contained
enough sugar to last a whole month, and it would take at least an hour to finish. By then
Slitherwick might already lay his attack.
But then again… It did look terribly delicious.
“Hey Balaba, want to share with me?” Icy offered. It looked too good to walk away from,
but she knew Coconut really wanted to eat with her. Besides, Balaba didn’t order anything
anyways.
Balaba smiled and ran over. She dragged a chair next to Icy, then stole a fork from
another table and started munching it all down.
Icy picked up her fork and stabbed a strawberry. She dragged it on the sugar, then
plopped it in her mouth. It was super sweet and super delicious.
Icy picked up and ate another strawberry, then heard a loud, worried scream. She
dropped her fork and looked outside of the shop, and was relieved to see that it was only a little
girl playing pretend with her older brother.
Well, that pretend won’t be pretend when Slitherwick comes, Icy thought. She looked at
Coconut, then at Balaba, then at her super strawberry smartness.
“Coconut,” Icy said, “I think the super strawberry smartness is really getting to me. I
know the solution to… to my homework now, I think. I should go. Balaba, you can have the rest.”
Coconut smiled. “Well, I am glad to be of some help! Hope you do good with your
homework!”
Icy smiled, pushed the giant bowl towards Balaba, then stood up and waved goodbye.
She thanked Coconut and Mrs. Seeda for inviting her, then left the shop and resumed her
search.
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

While she continued searching, she felt awful. I shouldn’t have eaten at that fruit shop!
Unless Slitherwick is taking his time or searching for the perfect dragon to kill, he’s probably
already attacked a Rainforest Dragon. I’m such an idiot! I could’ve said no to Coconut and
she’d probably be just fine.
Icy regretted her choice more and more as she went. Any other time. Any other time! I
could’ve gone with Coconut to eat at the fruit shop tomorrow. Instead I’ve wasted five minutes
eating when I could’ve been looking for Slitherwick. I bet that if I hadn’t eaten anything I
would have found him already.
Icy started to walk faster. She turned to look behind the houses, looking extra carefully in
the shadows and listening carefully for any movements in the forest.
There was nothing, though. There was no sound except for Icy’s feet patting on the dirt
and a few birds flapping their wings around in the forest. There was also a few squirrels here and
there, but nothing as big as a dragon.
She looked for ten minutes, and continued to find nothing. It was about time for her to
go back, so she turned herself around and started walking the opposite direction, when she
heard leaves rustling behind her and a branch break.
Icy swung around. Slitherwick had to be here.
“Stop!” A voice whispered. “Don’t!”
He has to be here. Professor Slitherwick is going to come out this second and run to a
Rainforest Dragon. It’s going to happen right now, Icy thought.
She heard footsteps running, faster and faster and louder and louder. More leaves were
rustling, more twigs were snapping. Icy got ready to freeze Slitherwick when he would come out.
A few more seconds ticked by, then someone jumped out from the forest at top speed,
running and using their wings to make themselves even faster. Everything happened so fast that
Icy wasn’t even sure that it was Slitherwick, but thankfully she froze the dragon’s tail and feet to
the ground before they escaped. She closed her eyes in fright, worried that maybe it was
Slitherwick and he was going to attack her, but she opened her eyes to see someone else.
“Hey! Icy, what are you doing?” Garrick yelled. “I’m trying to win a race with my friends!
Let me go!”
“Garrick?” Icy questioned. “I haven’t seen you in a while. Have you seen Professor
Slitherwick recently?”
Garrick leaned down and punched the ice, breaking it into small little pieces. He got
ready to run again, then told her, “He went to the village a bit earlier than everyone else.”
“A bit earlier than everyone else?” Icy asked him. It was too late, though, Garrick had
already ran off and into the village. What does that mean?
A few seconds later, two of Garrick’s friends; the Scorpion Dragon and the Metal Dragon
came running out of the forest and headed in the same pathway as Garrick.
Icy moved out of the way and walked back to the large road of the rainforest village. She
spread her wings out, then quickly flew back to where Sunflower, Leopard and Icy started.
Icy landed on the road a minute later. She stood there and waited for Leopard and
Sunflower to come back, fidgeting with her claws and looking around the village from where she
stood. A half a minute later, Leopard came in from behind and house and bounced her
shoulders.
“I couldn’t find him anywhere,” Leopard said. “And I didn’t even find more evidence that
he is here, and I swear I covered every inch of the village at least three times.”
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

“I didn’t see him either,” Icy told her, “but I came across an old friend that said Professor
Slitherwick went to the village a bit earlier than everyone else.”
Leopard face a confused expression. “A bit earlier than everyone else? What does that
even mean?”
Icy shrugged. “Don’t ask me, I have no idea what he meant as well.”
Leopard sat down on the dirt road. “Well, let’s just hope that Sunflower has some better
news.”
Icy sat down next to her. They waited and waited and waited, then waited some more
and some more. Leopard was about to go searching for Sunflower, but Icy didn’t want Sunflower
to come back and have Leopard still out there looking.
Leopard let out a long sigh. “It’s been ten minutes. Where is Sunflower?” She exclaimed.
“I don’t know. Hopefully she didn’t get distracted with anything.”
Just then, Sunflower came out from behind a house as happy as a first grader who got a
puppy, and was holding a metal cage that was a foot tall, wide, and long. Inside the cage were
two sticks that stretched from one side of the cage to the other, and sitting on one of the sticks
was a small grey finch with a white belly and a bright orange beak.
“Hello guys! Want to meet Daisy?” Sunflower asked.
Icy stood up and stared at her with wide eyes and a dropped jaw. “You bought a bird?”
She exclaimed. “Sunflower, we’re on a mission!”
“But it only cost twenty amethysts,” Sunflower said. “I was looking for Slitherwick, then I
found this guy who was selling the sweetest birds! So I flew back to Dragons of Wonder and got
three marquise amethysts, then I bought the bird for twenty and the cage for ten. Thankfully,
that’s all the money my dad gave me before I left to go to Dragons of Wonder!”
“Sunflower!” Icy yelled. “We are trying to find Slitherwick and see when he’s going to
attack! Buying a bird is the least relevant thing to do right now!”
Sunflower looked at the bird, then at Icy. “Oh, well, I’ll put Daisy in my room then I’ll
come back out and help you guys,” she said. Sunflower held the cage tightly with both talons,
then jumped into the air and soared back to the castle.
Icy sighed as she turned back to look at Leopard. “Um, it’s okay. We can probably solve
this mystery without her.”
“We might not even be able to figure out with mystery with her,” Leopard said. “We don’t
have any more clues as to where he is. Professor Slitherwick might not even be here!”
Icy thought for a moment. “Actually, you might be right,” she said. “When I was asking
the Shadow Dragon if he knew where Slitherwick was, he said that he might be in the rainforest
village… or the cliffside village.”
“So does that mean Slitherwick might not even attack the rainforest village?”
“No, it doesn’t mean that. Professor Slitherwick doesn’t have any weapons, right? And
when I went to the cliffside village near the beginning of the year, I saw a few dragons selling
weapons. Slitherwick probably went to the cliffside village to get armor and weapons to attack
the rainforest village. Makes sense, right?”
“Oh no.”
“What?”
“You’re absolutely right!” Leopard exclaimed. “It’s so obvious! How did I not think of
that before? Professor Slitherwick might already be done buying weapons if he hasn’t finished
already! Come on, let’s go to the cliffside village now before we lose more time!”
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

Icy and Leopard jumped into the air and flew away from the rainforest village and in the
direction of Dragons of Wonder. They flew that way for half a minute, then turned to the shore
and soared that way for about three minutes. They flew fifty feet above the cliffside village and
looked for Slitherwick up above, knowing it would be too crowded and too hard to find
Slitherwick on ground.
“Where could he be?” Leopard asked as they flew northward.
Icy looked down. They were flying above a place that was crowded, but not as crowded as
in the center of the cliffside village. About two hundred dragons were in sight, three fourths of
them buyers, and the other fourth sellers. Icy noticed a dragon with a hickory brown dragon
with copper colored underscales, then saw another dragon standing next to the brown dragon.
“Look! Professor Slitherwick! He’s standing next to Mrs. Horrale!” Icy shouted.
Leopard and Icy flew down and hit the floor softly, a few yards away from Professor
Slitherwick and Mrs. Horrale.
“Okay, on the count of three, we both jump in front of Slitherwick and confront him,” Icy
said. “Right in front of Mrs. Horrale too, so she’s a witness.”
Leopard nodded. “Okay.”
“Good,” Icy said. “One, two, three.”
Icy and Leopard both jumped in front of Professor Slitherwick and Mrs. Horrale, and
yelled, “Slitherwick!” at the same time. Mrs. Horrale looked utterly confused, but Slitherwick
just stared at them making no expression at all.
“What is all this?” Mrs. Horrale asked.
Icy looked deeply into Slitherwick’s charcoal black eyes. “You,” she growled, “were the
one.”
“Icy, this is getting weird. What are you doing?” Slitherwick questioned, folding his arms
and lowering his brow.
“Ha!” Leopard shouted. “Saying you don’t know, do you now? Let’s just see if you know
when we tell you that YOU ATTACKED-”
“Leopard,” Mrs. Horrale interrupted. Leopard stopped what she was saying and looked
at Mrs. Horrale. “Didn’t you say that you wanted help with studying dinohead marshes for the
test? You seemed eager to learn, but you didn’t show up at my class after school today.”
Leopard blinked her eyes twice. “Um, yeah I did, but uh, I, um, well-”
“Well Leopard, it’s now or never. I just finished my shopping at the cliffside village, but
in fifteen minutes me and Professor Slitherwick need to do our part. Now come on, let’s go back
to the castle now.”
Leopard lowered her head and sighed. “Yes Mrs. Horrale,” she obeyed. Within a few
seconds, Leopard and Mrs. Horrale jumped off and flew away, leaving Icy and Slitherwick alone.
After a few more seconds of silence, Professor Slitherwick looked back at Icy and asked,
“So, what exactly did you need?”
Icy remained quiet. What do I say? I don’t want to confront him without Sunflower and
Leopard! There’s no way I’m doing this alone! She quickly thought of an excuse. “Right, um, I
just wanted to say that I’m attacking this upcoming test! Uh, I’m doing really great. I just…
wanted to tell, you, uh, that.”
“Okay, that’s fantastic,” Slitherwick said, not meaning it at all. He walked around Icy and
continued walking around the cliffside village, looking at some shops but never stopping at any.
 Dragons of Wonder
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Icy looked down. Well, if I’m not going to confront him, then there’s no point in being
here. She looked back at Slitherwick one last time, then jumped into the air and soared back to
the castle.

* * *

A few hours later, at six o’clock, Icy was walking down the stairs to get to the cafeteria,
hoping that Sunflower and Leopard would be there. She also hoped that after dinner they would
be able to face Slitherwick and prove him guilty to the queen.
Icy walked through the open doors and looked for Sunflower and Leopard. She started to
get worried when she looked for five minutes and still didn’t see them, but then Sunflower
walked through the doors and met up with her. The two headed over to an empty table near the
doors so that when Leopard came in she would see them quickly.
Icy got herself a plate and scooped up some pasta. “When you left us, we figured out that
Professor Slitherwick went to the cliffside village. We were right, he was there, but we didn’t face
him.”
“Why?” Sunflower asked with her mouth full of mashed potatoes. She took a few seconds
to swallow, then continued talking. “Did you realize that he wasn’t the one that attacked the
rainforest village?”
“No,” Icy replied. “It’s just that he was with Mrs. Horrale, and apparently Leopard asked
Mrs. Horrale if she could have some help with studying for the final tests of the year, and so
Leopard had to leave to study with her, and I didn’t want to do it alone, so I just left.”
“Doesn’t that mean that Slitherwick might’ve attacked the rainforest village without you
knowing?”
Icy bounced her shoulders. “I don’t know. I hope not.”
Icy and Sunflower ate without talking for a few minutes. Icy was about to start a
conversation with Sunflower when she felt like things were too quiet, but then Leopard ran
through the doors with three scarlet red markers and a large white piece of paper. She sat down
with Sunflower and Icy, then spread out the large piece of paper and gave both of them a red
marker.
“And… what is this for?” Sunflower questioned, moving the pot of pasta out of the way so
Leopard could spread the paper out.
“For Professor Slitherwick,” Leopard answered. “And, Mrs. Horrale.”
Icy had to catch herself from spitting out her water. “Mrs. Horrale?” Icy questioned.
“She’s one of the coolest teachers! Why would she be attacking the rainforest village, especially
when she’s an Earth Dragon that fought alongside the Nature Dragons?”
“Aha!” Leopard laughed. “Maybe you haven’t heard her backstory yet, then. While Mrs.
Horrale was helping me study the dinohead marshes, she told me that she grew up there. I asked her
what life was like there, and she said she actually lived at the edge of Ruéfal first. Then one day when
she was very young; just a few months old in fact; some Earth Dragons raided her home and said
that they were working with War Dragons.
“But the truth was that her parents just attacked some War Dragons that made it past the
Mosquito Plains and past the Viẽtda River without getting killed. The thing was, though, her
 Dragons of Wonder
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family didn’t kill the War Dragons, then just attacked them and felt so bad for them that they left the
War Dragons alive. Her mother took in the four or five War Dragons and helped them, too.
“But when the Earth Dragons found out about this, they killed the healing War Dragons in
their sleep and robbed them. Thankfully her family made it out of Ruéfal before the Earth Dragons
hurt them too much.
“While they flew over Bãcaxís, they ran into some Night Dragons. Her parents told the
Night Dragons their story, and the Night Dragons offered to help them. They said they had a
base at the dinohead marshes, so the Night Dragons led them to their base, and her family
fought the last few months of the Ermana War along with the Night Dragons and War Dragons.”
Icy dropped her jaw. “Really?” she questioned. “Wait a second…”
Leopard smiling. “You thinking the same thing I’m thinking?”
“So that’s why Mrs. Horrale was walking with Slitherwick, they were both going to get
weapons, and they were going to attack the rainforest village! That’s exactly why the Night
Dragon said they! And that’s exactly why Slitherwick didn’t attack when Mrs. Horrale was gone,
because both he and her needed to attack the rainforest village together!”
Sunflower stopped Icy from talking any more. “But Leopard, how come they didn’t attack
after Mrs. Horrale finished helping you?”
“Because they went to do exactly what we’re going to do now,” Leopard replied. “Which
is plan.”
Icy opened her marker and leaned her elbows on the table. “So what do we do first? Get
Mrs. Horrale and Slitherwick in the same room?”
“Yeah, go ahead and write that down,” Leopard commanded.
Icy was about to write it down, but stopped herself when she didn’t even know where
they would meet. “Okay, but what room do we have them meet in? Slitherwick’s office? Mrs.
Horrale’s classroom?”
Leopard thought for a moment. “Uh, Professor Slitherwick’s office. The good thing is that
we don’t even need to shove Mrs. Horrale into his office, because she’ll already be there,
planning with him.”
“And just exactly why would they be planning in there?” Sunflower questioned.
“Because nobody likes Slitherwick’s office. Nobody would choose to go there, and it’s like
a completely secret room, like a room that hides in plain sight. Right?”
“Oh yeah, that’s a good point,” Icy commented. She leaned down and wrote: Meet in
Professor Slitherwick’s office.
“I still don’t get it,” Sunflower said before Icy and Leopard started talking even more.
“Get what?”
Sunflower breathed in deeply. “I feel like… Why would our teachers attack a rainforest
village? They’re our teachers for crying out loud!” She shouted.
Icy didn’t really know how to answer that, but eventually she thought of the right words.
“Professor Slitherwick is mean and always wants to prove that the Night Dragons are best. It’s
only reasonable that he’d convince Mrs. Horrale to help him attack the rainforest dragons and
say that Night Dragons are the best. I’m sure even Mrs. Horrale would agree, since Night
Dragons helped her and her family be safe.”
Sunflower sighed. “Every time I think about it I get less and less sure that it is our
teachers,” She mumbled.
 Dragons of Wonder
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“It might not be,” Icy replied, “but no other dragon seems to match. If you have any
better ideas then let us know.”
Icy and Leopard continued to plan. Sunflower mostly sat silent; eating her mashed
potatoes and pasta without a word to say. Sometimes Sunflower would speak up and introduce a
new dragon that might attack the rainforest village, but there was always something missing and
many parts that didn’t make sense.
After an hour, Icy and Leopard had come up with the completed plan. They were both
happy and satisfied with it, but Sunflower wasn’t so much.
“I don’t believe it. Professor Slitherwick I kind of do, but alongside with Mrs. Horrale? I
just don’t how how any of you can believe it.”
Everyone was silent for a while. Leopard and Icy had kind of ran out of ideas how to
convince Sunflower.
“Have you heard what Professor Slitherwick and Mrs. Horrale are planning to do? It’s so
amazing,” a voice said from behind them.
Icy turned her head around and saw two Sand Dragons talking to each other.
“Shh, other dragons can hear you! Don’t say it too loud; not everyone knows!” the second
Sand Dragon whispered.
“Oh, sorry. I’m just really excited. I heard they’re going to launch it tomorrow, when the
queen isn’t there. So… unfortunate.” The Sand Dragon covered her mouth and chuckled.
When Icy and Leopard turned their heads back around and gave each other a worried
look, Sunflower grasped them both by the arm and stood up. “We’re going. Now.”
“Where?” Asked Icy.
“To Professor Slitherwick’s office,” Sunflower replied. She dropped her voice quieter and
continued speaking. “Did you hear those Sand Dragons say launch? Unless it’s the future and we
can travel outside of Ermana with a fantasy rocket or anything, I think they mean launching
their attack on the rainforest village.”
“So only now you’re believing us?” Leopard asked.
“Yeah, well, it’s because I-” Sunflower stopped. “We’re wasting time! I can explain later.
Right now we gotta go and see Slitherwick and Horrale!”
Icy quickly stuffed the rest of her dinner in her mouth and gulped down her water as if
she had been starving for weeks. Leopard finished the last bites of her dinner and gathered the
large paper and markers, then they all left the cafeteria and headed towards Slitherwick’s office.
Sunflower, Icy and Leopard turned left when they exited the cafeteria and stood in front
of his office. Icy smiled and looked at both Sunflower and Leopard, then put her talon on the
cold handle and swung the door open at full strength.
It was exactly what Leopard and Icy were thinking. Professor Slitherwick was sitting at
his desk with two shiny daggers in both of his talons, as well as Mrs. Horrale. She was leaning on
the edge of the table, scraping the daggers together.
And right when Icy burst the door open, both Mrs. Horrale and Professor Slitherwick hid
the shiny daggers behind their backs. They were definitely hiding something, and they knew
exactly what it was.
“Icy? Sunflower? Leopard? What are you all doing here?” Mrs. Horrale asked. “Shouldn’t
you be at dinner?”
Sunflower stepped up in front. “We could,” she said, “but we’d rather save the rainforest
village from YOUR CLAWS. Show us what’s behind your back!”
 Dragons of Wonder
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Professor Slitherwick and Mrs. Horrale exchanged glances, then they both revealed the
daggers.
“Aha!” Icy exclaimed. She put her talons behind her back and walked around Horrale
and Slitherwick. “So you’ve collected weapons. Weapons to attack the innocent rainforest village
just to prove Night Dragons are the best.”
“What?”
“First you attacked the twins, Coconut and Kiwi. You successfully killed Kiwi, which I
assume you both are proud of, but you didn’t kill Coconut. She’s healing now, and the whole
rainforest village is aware of you,” Icy continued.
Professor Slitherwick looked at Mrs. Horrale, then back at Icy, Sunflower and Leopard.
“Excuse me, but what are you talking about?”
Sunflower folded her arms. “Denying the truth, eh?”
Leopard stomped her foot on the floor. “YOU attacked the rainforest village! You and
Mrs. Horrale, going on an adventure together just to prove that Night Dragons are the best at
everything! Oh, Night Dragons are the best fighters! Oh, Night Dragons are the smartest
dragons ever! Oh, NIGHT DRAGONS ARE THE BEST KILLERS.”
Professor Slitherwick stood up from his chair and smacked his talons on the desk. He
was about to yell at the top of his lungs, but he quickly stopped himself before he could say
anything. He took a deep breath in, then asked at a normal voice, “I have no idea what you’re
talking about, and I think you all are being ridiculous.”
Icy scoffed. “No idea? Nice try, but we’re not just walking away from this. This is serious
business, and if we were to walk away dozens of lives would be lost because of you.”
“Icy, what are you talking about?” Mrs. Horrale asked sternly.
“Professor Slitherwick, do you remember that night when I couldn’t fall asleep and I
asked you those questions about black dragon criminals living in Shera?” Icy questioned. “You
didn’t answer all the criminals, because you didn’t mention yourself. You wanted me to leave
because you didn’t want to keep lying.
“Then there were clues everywhere. We’ve heard Night Dragons, Fire Dragons, War
Dragons AND Sky Dragons saying things like ‘I hope they have fun at the village’ and ‘they’re
going to launch it tomorrow, when the queen isn’t there’. And we both know very well that War
Dragons, Night Dragons, Fire Dragons and Sand Dragons were allies in the Ermana War.”
Sunflower stepped in front. “Then, Mrs. Horrale, you come in. We were first confused
about why a Night Dragon said ‘they’, but we figured it out when Leopard told us your backstory.
You heard about Slitherwick’s plan, and now you’ve decided to work with him!”
“And then that lesson you taught us about Queen Starseer?” Icy added. “I know exactly
why it was boring. It was because you would so much rather attack the rainforest village, and
you just wanted to get things over with, so you were bored, and when you’re bored, you make
things boring.
“Don’t forget, while I was leaving the class that day, I saw you open a book that was titled
Rainforest Villages. You’ve been studying them, just so you can attack them in the best ways!”
“Icy, Sunflower and Leopard. I can’t possibly see why you would think us, your teachers,
would attack a simple little rainforest village. They’re boring, peaceful, and are never included
in anything. We all know they can fight, too, and we don’t want to get into another war with
them. You know the Rainforest Dragons were a big part of why the Light Dragons won the war,”
Professor Slitherwick reasoned.
 Dragons of Wonder
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Leopard pushed through Sunflower and Icy. “Stop trying to deny the truth! You know
you’re going to lose this fight! YOU attacked that rainforest village, and I, we, know it.”
Mrs. Horrale sighed. “You’re wasting a lot of yours and our time. I have no idea what you
are trying to propose, and whatever you’re accusing us of doing is… well… we’re not the ones.”
“Then explain,” Icy replied, “why you’re holding daggers, why dragons were saying ‘I
hope they have fun at the village’, and why you were reading a book called Rainforest Villages.”
“First off, I don’t know how you three haven’t heard this already, the queen has asked all
the teachers to pair up with each other and perform something for the students who stay at
Dragons of Wonder. Me and Mrs. Horrale decided to pair up and prepare something, and a part
of that includes juggling. Professor Slitherwick was just holding my daggers real quick so I could
sharpen the other two.”
Icy narrowed her eyes. “Okay, then why’d you hide them behind your backs? And how do
we know that you’re not lying?”
“Well, we want the surprise to be a surprise,” Mrs. Horrale said. “And to prove that we
are just doing this for the end of school project…” Horrale snatched the other two daggers from
Slitherwick and tossed them into the air. She juggled them perfectly, as if she had been
practicing it all day.
She probably has been practicing all day if she’s going to perform for the end of school
project, Icy thought. She quickly pushed that thought away. No, it’s probably just a trick she
learned in the past and she’s probably lying. There’s no way that she could be telling the truth.
“Then, the reason why you’ve been hearing some dragons say ‘I hope they have fun at the
village’,” Professor Slitherwick continued, “is because all the teachers, all of them, not just me
and Horrale, were selling some freshly baked goods made by Mrs. Fern and Mrs. Star. While we
were there, me and Horrale took a break to buy some thing for our end of school presentation. A
few minutes later, you two, Icy and Leopard came in.”
Even though she didn’t want to, Icy started to believe it. She remembered seeing more
than just Professor Slitherwick leave the building before she left to follow him. She saw Mrs.
Star and Professor Cliff before she left, and she saw Mrs. Star holding a batch of cookies in her
talons.
And that seems more than just a coincidence. Mrs. Star holding cookies while she
walked out of the school with Professor Cliff, I also saw Mrs. Heroa walking out of an exit,
Professor Slitherwick and Mrs. Horrale walking in the cliffside village. It does seem
reasonable…
But what if Slitherwick and Horrale knew that Mrs. Star was holding cookies and used
her as an excuse? Ooh, that seems like something that a mastermind criminal would do.
“So explain to me why you were reading a book called Rainforest Villages, Professor
Slitherwick,” Icy argued. “There’s no excuse for that.”
“I read it because it’s a good book,” He answered. “A good fictional book. I honestly don’t
know how you haven’t read it yourself.” Professor Slitherwick paused for a moment while Icy
narrowed her eyes and looked at him suspiciously. “Icy, do you remember in October, when I
asked you to write about one of your favorite books? You told me about the book Acid Claw. It’s
one of my favorites too.”
“So?” Icy questioned.
“Rainforest Villages is a sequel to Acid Claw. It’s about one of Acid Claw’s descendents,
whose name is Jaguar. She’s a Rainforest Dragon, and she finds out about Acid Claw’s history in
 Dragons of Wonder
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an old, hidden book. From the book, she is given magic and she saves her rainforest village from
destruction later on.”
Icy folded her arms. “Give me proof that you’re not making this up!”
Slitherwick opened up a drawer and showed Icy the book. “This is the one you’re talking
about, yes?”
Icy examined the book. It had a hard green cover and had a twinkling silver star just a
few inches below the middle. In fancy gold writing, the book wrote: Rainforest Villages. At the
bottom of the book, also written in fancy gold, it said Sunray Glêure, who was the author of Acid
Claw. “That’s the one,” she replied. “Give me the book. I want to see it.”
Professor Slitherwick tossed the green book to Icy. She opened it near the middle, at
page two hundred fifty four, then started reading.

Jaguar had been feeling strange all day. Her head hurt and her talons were
sore, but she hadn’t done anything in the last few days that would make her talons
feel that way.
Suddenly the strangest thing happened to her. She lifted up her talon to pick up
her glass of cold ice water, and a burst of orange light came shooting out of the
palm of her talon. The orange light moved so fast that Jaguar could barely see it,
then it hit her cup and destroyed the glass. Water, ice, and broken pieces of glass
spilled and shattered as it hit the floor and table. She was shocked.
Could she have magic?

That was all Icy needed to believe that the book wasn’t informational, or even a true story
at all. Yes, there was a reason for everything. A reason for everything that Slitherwick did, and
all the reasons made sense.
“I…” Icy mumbled. She tried to think of all the other reasons why Slitherwick could be
the one, but she had used up all her ideas to prove him guilty.
Professor Slitherwick half-smiled and folded his arms. “Believe me?” He finished. “I
don’t see why you didn’t believe me earlier. I’m a teacher, not a murderer. Now, scoot along, me
and Horrale have work to do.”
Leopard, Sunflower and Icy exchanged glances, then they all slouched and looked down.
“Yes, professor.” They turned around and headed out of the office in disappointment, then
closed the door gently.
“I don’t believe it!” Leopard shouted as soon as they closed the office door. “It made so
much sense, I just can’t believe that he’s… well, innocent!”
“I agree!” Icy shouted. “I just don’t understand! If it’s not him, then who else could it
be?”
They all sat silent for a while, then Sunflower spoke up with an idea. “I think I might
know,” she volunteered.
“Who?” Icy cried.
“Well, it could be Ki-” She stopped. “No, nevermind, it can’t be. There’s no way. I don’t
know why I thought of such a dumb idea.”
Icy sighed. “So it’s not Slitherwick and Horrale, it’s not any of the villains Slitherwick
mentioned to me, so who could it be?”
 Dragons of Wonder
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* * *

The next day Icy, Sunflower and Leopard spent their time at the library in their free time.
They thought about every possible dragon that would’ve attacked the rainforest village, but even
with hours of searching, the closest anyone was to finding an answer was Sunflower; when she
found a dragon named Spidertoe, who was a Shadow Dragon that stole some special artifact
from a museum in the Vulture Forest, but he was sent to jail for a few years and came out as a
kind dragon and an author.
Leopard had also found a dragon that was a bit close; she was a Moon Dragon that
brutally destroyed a rainforest village near the north marshes. Her name was Natalie, and
apparently she had a partner who betrayed her and proved her guilty, and Natalie was sent to
prison.
In the next chapter, though, it explains who she escaped from prison a few months later.
Icy, Leopard and Sunflower were really excited to hear this story, and they thought that Natalie
might be the one who attacked the rainforest village.
They accidentally cheered a little too loud when they found out about this dragon, and
the math teacher and librarian; Mrs. Kihara, came over to tell them to be quiet. Sunflower
explained to Mrs. Kihara that Natalie might’ve attacked the rainforest village, and Mrs. Kihara
just laughed.
She told them that Natalie was a fictional dragon, and Natalie never existed at all. Icy,
Sunflower and Leopard didn’t believe her, but they went to ask Professor Slitherwick just in
case.
Slitherwick looked busy when the three of them entered his office; loads of homework
pages spread over his table, a bright red marker in his talon, and not taking his eyes off the
papers to look at them. He also sounded a little annoyed when Sunflower questioned him about
Natalie, but he thought about it for a moment (At least Icy guessed he was, he might’ve been
thinking about something completely different), and told them that Natalie was a real dragon.
They weren’t completely sure that Slitherwick had told them the right answer. They all
knew he was often sarcastic, and sense he seemed so concentrated on correcting homework, he
might’ve forgotten what the question was. When he answered them, he also said he instead of
she.
“Yeah yeah, he is,” was his exact words.
At the end of the day, Icy, Sunflower and Leopard flew down to the rainforest village and
asked a few dragons if there were any more attacks. All the dragons they had asked answered no,
and the village seemed quite peaceful.
While they were at the rainforest village, Icy checked on Coconut, who was healing well.
Coconut just barely came out of the hospital for another check-up on her arm, and she told Icy
that she would be fully recovered in a few weeks. Icy wished she could see everyone in the
rainforest village during the summer.
Icy, Sunflower and Leopard asked a few more dragons if anything unusual had happened
in the last few days before leaving. When the only answers they got was, “No, nothing unusual,”
they flew back to the castle.
When they got back to the castle, they went straight to dinner. Their dinner wasn’t quiet
or peaceful, they were constantly speaking about the rainforest village. Who would attack only
Kiwi and Coconut, then leave the rainforest village and never attack anyone else? Icy started to
 Dragons of Wonder
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wonder if Coconut said dragon just because she thought the attacker looked like a dragon, and it
was actually just a panther or a jaguar.
After dinner, Icy, Sunflower and Leopard left to go back to the library. They looked at a
few more books, but after they each scanned four more books, they each said goodbye and went
back to their rooms.
Icy spent the rest of the time before she went to bed studying for her tests. At the end of
the year, all students had to do their final tests. She made sure that she studied hard and fast;
because if she were to go to the Crystal Desert Caverns, then it meant she would have to do all
her tests earlier.
In fact, Queen Akcrista and all the other teachers let all the students have their tests so
they could work on it whenever they wanted. Icy wanted to get all her tests done fast; she had
already finished with Professor Fannick’s test and was halfway done with Mrs. Coral’s test.
After an hour, Icy finished working on Mrs. Coral’s test and Mrs. Hollen’s test. She let
out a big yawn, then tucked herself in her blankets and fell asleep.

* * *

Icy sat upright and stretched her arms. She opened her eyes and blinked a few times,
getting used to the bright sunlight that shone inside her room. She sat there in her bed for a few
minutes, taking her time to wake up and thinking about her dream.
She dreamt that she was in the Crystal Desert Caverns, exploring a cave by herself. None
of her friends were with her, and the cave was closed up and there was no way out. Then she got
superpowers for some reason and fought someone. She wasn’t sure who that dragon was, but in
her dream she knew it was the dragon who attacked the rainforest village.
Icy kind of hoped it might turn out to be déjà vu and she’d be able to go to the Crystal
Desert Caverns, get superpowers, and find out who was attacking the rainforest village, but she
highly doubted that all those things would come true, especially the superpower part.
Finally Icy chose to get up. She climbed out of bed and left her room, then walked down
the stairs and across the hall to where the cafeteria was. She looked around the room to see if
Leopard and Sunflower had already sat down and chosen a table, and when she didn’t see either
of them, Icy sat down at a table by herself.
A few minutes later, Sunflower came into the cafeteria and sat down with her. She looked
excited and full of happiness, and when she sat down at the table and slammed her talons down
and stared at Icy with unblinking eyes and a happy smile.
Icy thought about what Sunflower was excited about as she finished chewing a bite of her
breakfast burrito. “What is it?” She finally asked.
“It’s today!”
“What’s today?”
“The super-awesome-special day of course!” Sunflower replied. “Today is the day where
the queen…” She trailed off, waiting for Icy to finish her sentence.
Icy thought about it for a long time. Where the queen… what? She asked herself.
Sunflower sighed. “Come on Icy, do you really not remember? Today is the day when the
queen announces who’s going to go to the Crystal Desert Caverns! I’m so excited! I have to make
sure that I’m SUPER GOOD today and maybe I’ll be so nice that I’ll get to go! Or maybe the
 Dragons of Wonder
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queen has already chosen for us two to go! Oh, and Leopard of course. We’re the greatest friends
in the whole school, of course Queen Akcrista will choose us to go!”
Icy smiled. “Oh my Majesta, I’m so excited!” She exclaimed. “I really do hope at least one
of us will go. It would be an awesome experience.”
Sunflower bounced in her seat. “I just can’t wait!”

* * *

Later that day, at five o’clock p.m., Icy, Sunflower and Leopard walked down to the
cafeteria. Queen Akcrista told the whole school at breakfast that she’d be announcing who would
go to the Crystal Desert Caverns in the cafeteria, and students were reminded at every class to
meet in the cafeteria to see who would go to the Crystal Desert Caverns.
The cafeteria was mostly empty. All the tables were gone and put away, and there was
only about seventy dragons inside the cafeteria, because only the first year students were in the
room. The queen separated each grade into different hours so she could rest and think deeper
about who was going to go.
Sunflower smiled and looked at Leopard and Icy. “I can’t wait to see who’s going to go! I
hope at least one of us goes so that we can talk about the Crystal Desert Caverns afterward. But
wouldn’t it be great if all three of us went?”
Icy chuckled. “That would be awesome, but I highly doubt that all three of us will go.”
Queen Akcrista stepped up to the middle of the room and spread her large wings out.
“SILENCE!” She shouted loudly. The room became quieter and quieter, until everyone stopped
speaking and remained quiet for the queen to speak.
Queen Akcrista smiled at the first-year students. “Thank you everyone. It has been a
wonderful year with you all and I have spent much time with each of you. You are all very special
and gifted to be in this school, and I am very happy to know that you all are learning well and
having loads of fun here. Know that you are all great learners and special kids, and you don’t
need to go to the Crystal Desert Caverns to know that you are.
“And now, I will announce the ten students who get to go to the Crystal Desert Caverns.
The first student is…” Queen Akcrista paused for a few seconds to give a dramatic effect.
“Isabelle Pari!” She finally yelled.
A happy pink Friendship Dragon jumped into the air and ran up to stand next to the
queen. “Thank you thank you thank you Queen Akcrista!” Isabelle shouted.
Queen Akcrista smiled. “Thank you Isabelle, for being such a wonderful student and a
joyful dragon. There isn’t a day that goes by where I see you angry or upset. You’re a helpful
dragon, a great friend, and a good example. You are, by far, the happiest dragon I’ve ever met in
the history of this school.”
Isabelle smiled greatly. “Thank you Queen Akcrista.”
Queen Akcrista turned her head and looked back at the first year dragons. “The next
dragon who will be visiting the Crystal Desert Caverns is, Bolt Jum!”
A Lightning Dragon near the front exclaimed happily and ran up to stand with Queen
Akcrista and Isabelle. “Awesome!” He yelled.
“Bolt, you have been one of my favorite students. You’re always coming up with amazing
technology, ways to better improve the school, and you’re such a great example to others. You
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

have a large group of friends, and I see you go and do everything together without leaving
anyone out.”
Queen Akcrista announced another dragon named Kyle, and then another dragon named
Daniel, then another named Nicole, then one named Peter and one named Thunder. She would
announce three more dragons, and Icy hoped it would be her, Leopard and Sunflower, even
though she knew it would be highly unlikely that all three of them would be able to go.
“The next dragon is Solar Flare!” Queen Akcrista yelled.
Icy heard a happy scream from Solar, who was in the back of the room, then heard a
bunch of dragon yell mean things to her. Solar had to run up and stand next to the queen quickly
before some dragons hit her. In fact; Icy was one of the only ones who didn’t shout or hit her.
“I can’t believe it!” Leopard yelled. “Her? Her and her evil dad?”
Icy swung her head towards Leopard. “You know her father?”
Leopard looked back at Icy. “I suppose you don’t?” She stayed quiet for a while as Icy
didn’t reply. “Well, I can’t tell you. Solar and Queen Akcrista says that anyone who tells anyone
who doesn’t know goes home for the rest of the year. Queen Akcrista doesn’t want more dragons
bullying her because it’s getting out of hand.”
“What do you mean out of hand?”
“It’s been going on since the beginning of the year. She told a few dragons about her dad,
then those dragons spread the word. I was one of the first ones that knew.”
Then who is so evil that everyone’s talking about it?
The students kept yelling at Solar and Queen Akcrista for choosing her, but became
silent when Queen Akcrista yelled, “QUIET! There will be no complaining about who I chose!”
She turned her head to look at Solar. “Solar, you have been a very brave student. You’ve been
bullied by almost everyone in the school, yet you stand strong and keep yourself brave. You are a
fearless fighter, a wonderful learner, and you never quit, no matter how hard things get.
“The second to last dragon who is going to the Crystal Desert Caverns is Moon Huma.
Moon, you are a very kind Night Dragon. You love exploring and going on adventures, but the
greatest thing about you is that you stand up for your friend, Solar. You are one of the only
dragons that show kindness to her, and you are an amazing dragon for doing that.”
Moon cheered for herself, then ran up to stand with Queen Akcrista and the eight other
chosen dragons. There was only one more dragon that would go to the Crystal Desert Caverns
with the queen, and Icy hoped it would be her or Sunflower or Leopard.
“And now, for the final dragon who will be going to the Crystal Desert Caverns with me
this year is…” Queen Akcrista paused, building up tension and drama in the whole room. Each
one of the students either looked nervous or excited. The seconds ticked by very slowly, each
second Icy’s heart pounding another scary beat.
Queen Akcrista opened her mouth and then shouted, “Icy Lakita!”
A bolt of surprise jerked through Icy’s body. She had to try as hard as she could to stop
her jaw from dropping, but eventually she couldn’t stop it. Her mouth fell open and her eyes
were wide. She rattled her head, then smiled and ran up to stand with the queen. Her smile was
so big she thought that it would come off her face and lift up to the ceiling.
“Icy, you have progressed so much throughout this past year. You are an excellent
learner and a great fighter. I have looked out of my window and see you practice fighting with
your friends and Garrick. You’ve learned so much, you’ve discovered so much, and that is why I
have chosen you to be going with me.
 Dragons of Wonder
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“And for the rest of you,” The queen said, looking at the unchosen dragons, “you will stay
here until the day we all come back. You can leave in the morning, or leave later in the night so
you can participate in the end of school dinner. It will have the greatest food you can ever taste,
made by our wonderful servants and chefs that have spent all this time cooking and baking for
you. Once again, thank you all for being here in Dragons of Wonder.”
A small groan went through the whole room, except for the queen and the ten special
dragons. The unchosen students mumbled quietly and said to their friends the reasons why they
should have gone instead, slowly walking out of the cafeteria since the queen’s announcement
was finished.
Queen Akcrista waited until all the other dragons left the room, then turned to the ten
special dragons. “Alright everyone,” she started. “Tomorrow early in the morning, specifically at
six o’clock, we fly out of Dragons of Wonder. We’ll fly over and out of the Changing Forest until
we get about two hundred miles into the Tulip Forest, then we’ll take a twenty minute break
there. We will be only a hundred miles from the equator, so note that it will be extremely hot
and humid, even more so than here.
“So, after we take out twenty minute break there, we will fly straight over the ocean for
about five and a half more hours. We’ll make it to the Crystal Desert Caverns at around noon,
and then I’ll tell you all what we are going to do there when we get there. Got it?”
“Got it,” the dragons replied.
Queen Akcrista put her thumbs up. “Good. Now you all go back to your rooms and start
packing for the trip. Water and food will be provided on the trip, so all you need is a couple of
your blankets to sleep in for the nights and some snacks to eat on the flight. If you have any
questions, feel free to ask them to me.”
Since none of the dragons had questions, they all left to go back to their rooms. Icy
walked along with all the other dragons, then stopped at the third floor and fourth room. She
opened her door and headed inside, took her fire-red blankets off the bed, then folded it up
nicely and put it on her table. She picked up her bag from off the chair and emptied all the pens,
papers and notebooks from out of her bag and placed it neatly on the table, then stuffed her
leather bag with her blankets. Her blanket was big when it was stretched out, but it was pretty
thin so she could fold it up easily.
Icy also took one of her small pillows from her bed. She used the end of the pillow case to
tie her pillow to her bag, pulling it tightly to make sure that the pillow wouldn’t fall off during
her flight.
Now it’s time to get some snacks and water bottles in the cafeteria, Icy thought. She
hung her leather bag back on the end of her chair, then left her room and walked down to the
cafeteria. She usually would have flown; but since she was in no rush and she knew she would fly
for almost six hours straight, she decided to walk while she could.
When Icy arrived at the cafeteria, she realized the servants had already put back half of
the tables back in the room. There were some older dragons standing at the basket of snacks, (a
large basket at the entrance of the room that held snacks like fruits and crackers), and some
dragons just talking to each other while sitting on the tables.
Icy looked in the basket and tried to decide a snack. She almost picked up a bag of
crackers, when she turned around and saw Solar sitting alone at a table.
She thought about all the times she had talked to Solar. It wasn’t much, but she
remembered that every time she did talk to her… well, she wasn’t the nicest. And since Icy didn’t
 Dragons of Wonder
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know any other dragons who were going to the Crystal Desert Caverns with her, Icy guessed she
might as well be Solar’s friend.
Icy walked over to Solar’s table and sat down across from her. She looked up at the Night
Dragon, then looked down and started making shapes with her talons. What do I say to her?
She questioned herself.
Icy and Solar were quiet for a long time. Icy switched from looking up at Solar and back
down to her talons every five or ten seconds, and Solar just stared at her, not confused, not
angry, not excited… she seemed not to have any emotions at all.
Finally Solar decided to speak. “You don’t have to be friends with me.”
Icy had been playing with her claws, but she looked up when Solar spoke. “What do you
mean?”
“You’re going to find out sooner or later who my dad is, and then you’ll hate me. There’s
no point in trying to be my friend if you’re just going to learn and hate me anyways.”
“It doesn’t matter who your dad is. It matters who you are.” She paused. “I once read this
book called Acid Claw. A few times, actually. Ever heard of it?”
Solar nodded her head. “I read it when I was seven or eight. I remember that it’s a good
book, I just don’t remember what it’s about.”
“It’s about a Rainforest Dragon in ancient times,” Icy explained, “half Rainforest Dragon,
half War Dragon. Her father was the War Dragon, and her mother the Rainforest Dragon. Her
parents; King Flame Spider and Queen Plum Jumper, wanted her to work for them. So Acid
Claw moved to Warkana and worked; not as a princess; but as a servant.
“At the end, Acid Claw kind of goes on strike and defeats her father in a battle and turns
her mother to the light. She was good- great, even when both of her parents were the worst
dragons on Ermana.
“Anyways, I’m telling you this because you can be something great, even if your father is
the worst dragon anyone can imagine.”
Solar stared at Icy, again showing no emotions. She was quiet; quiet for a long time. Icy
thought she might’ve been a statue. Not saying anything, not a muscle moving from her body, it
didn’t even look like she was breathing. The only thing she was moving was her eyelids, blinking
every few seconds.
Finally Icy stood up from the bench of the table. Solar’s eyes followed her. “I, um,
thought you might’ve wanted to know.”
Icy was about to walk away, then Solar finally spoke. “Thanks,” she said, “for telling me
that.” She and Icy were quiet for a few seconds. “I think I’ll add you as a… close acquaintance.”
Icy smiled. “A friend?”
“No, a close acquaintance.” Solar stood up and swung her scaled bag over her shoulder.
“I’ll see you later.”
Icy waved goodbye, then walked out of the cafeteria in silence. It felt good making
friends with someone who had only one.
As she walked out, she picked up a bag of pretzels and a fresh banana. She smiled. In the
morning she would be flying out of Dragons of Wonder and out to the Crystal Desert Caverns in
Kahori. Hopefully the Crystal Desert Caverns would be so great that it would make up for all the
bad things that happened during her school there.
 Dragons of Wonder
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Chapter 10
Flight to Kahori

The rest of the day was super fun. Icy, Sunflower and Leopard had an amazing dinner and a fun
night. They went swimming, flying, and exploring in the rainforest. They also went fishing with
Mrs. Coral and her old fishing rods, then brought their fish back to Mrs. Fern’s greenhouse and
gave it to the Kandra. Sunflower and Mrs. Fern even made up a song for Kuluca the Kandra, and
Leopard and Icy enjoyed it a lot.
After they met up with the Kandra, they all played some sports with Professor Ruth, the
exercise and sports teacher of Dragons of Wonder. Icy even taught Sunflower and Leopard how
she fought dragon battles in Navitee, and she had plenty of fun watching Sunflower and Leopard
try fighting each other.
Then after all the fun, Sunflower and Leopard stayed up until ten thirty at night, talking
and chatting and playing simple games. Sunflower brought her bird Daisy over too, and they all
enjoyed feeding and watching her.
They had been having so much fun together because they knew that they would only be
seeing each other a few more times before the end of the school year. Tomorrow Icy would leave
to go to the Crystal Desert Caverns probably before either of her friends would wake up, and
then they would only see each other for a few more hours before they all left to go back to their
homes. Icy would be leaving to go back to the Arctic Forest in Navitee, Sunflower would be going
back to Silekia, and Leopard would be going back to a neighborhood that ran down the edge of
the Tulip River.
Finally, Icy told Leopard and Sunflower to go back to their own rooms so Icy could sleep.
She told them that she’d be flying a very long distance and she’d have to wake up very early in
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

the morning, and so they all hugged each other and left. The world was still warm and humid
(Since it was summertime the Changing Forest didn’t change into an evergreen forest), and so
Icy slept soundly without her blankets.
She had a long, peaceful sleep filled with dreams about how fun the Crystal Desert
Caverns would be. In her dreams she was with Sunflower and Leopard, and all three of them
explored the Crystal Desert Caverns together. Everything was absolutely perfect in her dream,
but she knew whoever she explored the Crystal Desert Caverns with; she was going to have fun.

* * *

Icy woke up with a nudge on her back. She squeezed her eyes shut and pushed the nudge
away, but a few seconds later the nudge came back. Icy let out a big yawn and sat upright on her
bed, then opened her eyes and saw that Queen Akcrista was in her room.
“Ah!” Icy screamed. “What are you doing here?”
“Sorry,” Queen Akcrista apologized. “I’m just waking everyone up now. It’s five thirty in
the morning, so that’ll give everyone half an hour to get ready, pack up the last of your things
and eat breakfast.”
“So is everyone else awake?”
Queen Akcrista nodded her head. “A couple. I’m going to wake up everyone else now.
You stay here and get ready for the trip, then go down to the cafeteria. That’s where we’ll meet.”
“Okay, got it.”
The queen stood up and walked to Icy's door. “I'm going to wake up everyone else now.
You stay here and get ready for the day.” Queen Akcrista waved goodbye to Icy, then opened the
door and left Icy alone in her room.
Icy got up from sitting on her bed and walked to her bathroom. She turned on the shower
water and grabbed a towel, then stepped inside her shower and cleaned herself.
After her quick three-minute shower, Icy dried herself off and hung the white towel back
where it was before. She closed the door to her bathroom, walked to her desk, picked up her
leather bag, but had a hard time leaving her room. She was read to leave and had the silver key
in her talon, but she knew she was going to miss this place.
And, for some reason, she felt a lot safer here. Like if she chose not to go to the Crystal
Desert Caverns then lives would be saved and she would be healthy and happy.
It’s probably not any of that nonsense, Icy told herself. It’s just because I’m going to
miss this room. And besides; I’ll come back to Dragons of Wonder in September, and I’ll get a
room that’s almost exactly like this.
Icy opened her door and walked out of her room. She almost locked it, when she
remembered about the strange ice orb.
Icy walked back inside the room and opened her drawer. Sitting there with nothing else
beside it, laid the ball.
She picked it up. She remembered the last time she was in contact with it; somehow it
changed her thoughts and something strangely shaped was on the ball. It was weird, weirder
than weird, but she had to keep it.
Icy opened her satchel and stuffed the ball in, squishing it in between her folded up
blanket. She searched her room for any more things she might’ve forgotten, and when she found
nothing, she exited her room and locked the door with the silver key.
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

Icy left her room for the last time as she walked down towards the cafeteria. She saw a
few other dragons awake, and all of them were heading down to the cafeteria as well. Icy guessed
they were all going to the Crystal Desert Caverns too.
Icy walked through the cafeteria doors and saw about twenty other dragons there, eating
and gulping down their breakfasts as fast as they could. She noticed there was also no food set
up at the tables; instead they were served inside the kitchen. So, Icy walked to the kitchen and
grabbed some oatmeal, toast, and two fried eggs. She piled the food on a white paper plate, took
a plastic spoon, and sat down at an empty table.
Six minutes went by as Icy finished her two fried eggs and half of her oatmeal. She sat
alone and merely listened to the light conversations around her, even though she knew she had
to make some friends while she was at the Crystal Desert Caverns.
Oh well, I’ll meet some dragons on the flight. Right now I need to eat, Icy told herself,
scooping another bite of warm oatmeal into her mouth.
Suddenly a bright rose pink Light Dragon ran up to Icy and sat down at the same table
with her. She had three bacon pieces and a plate full of scrambled eggs, and she had her
scrambled eggs shaped as a smiley face.
“Hello! What’s your name? Oh, I remember you! You were the last one chosen to go to
the Crystal Desert Caverns! Your name is… Ivy? No, that’s not it… What is it?”
“Icy,” She answered. “And you’re…” She tried to remember the pink dragon’s name.
“Annabelle?”
The Light Dragon laughed. “No, it’s Isabelle. It’s nice to meet you Icy!” She exclaimed.
Isabelle picked up her fork and scooped up three bites of eggs into her mouth, then picked up a
piece of crunchy bacon and stuffed it in along with her scrambled eggs.
Icy smiled at Isabelle, then looked down and finished the last few bites of her oatmeal.
She set the empty bowl aside, then picked up her toast and ate.
When Isabelle swallowed her bacon and eggs, she looked back at Icy and asked, “Aren’t
you excited for the flight? We can fly together! We can have races, talk, make some more friends,
play some flight games, we would have so much fun!”
Icy nodded. “Sure!” She replied. “I’d love to. Both of my friends didn’t get chosen to go to
the Crystal Desert Caverns, so I’d be happy to make friends with you.”
Isabelle bounced in her seat. “Yay!”
Just then, Queen Akcrista stood at the back of the room and spread her wings out to grab
everyone’s attention. “Students,” she shouted, “I will give you all ten more minutes to finish your
breakfast. After that, we’ll all go to the garden and we’ll take off. Again; we will fly for about half
an hour, then we’ll take a twenty minute break in the Tulip Forest. After that, we’ll fly for five
and a half hours to get to the Crystal Desert Caverns. Any questions?”
One dragon raised his talon and asked a question. “What will we do when we first get
there?” he asked.
Queen Akcrista looked the dragon’s way. “When we first get there, we will get some lunch
and then have a picnic together.”
Icy only slightly payed attention to the dragon’s questions as she finished her toast. After
she finished eating and all the questions stopped, she had a conversation with Isabelle until ten
minutes passed and Queen Akcrista stood up in the back of the room again.
“Attention!” Queen Akcrista yelled. “By now I assume all of you have finished your
breakfast. We will start walking to the garden now; So come on, follow me.”
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

The queen walked to the front of the room and stood in the door entrance, as well as all
the students. Icy and Isabelle stood up and walked to the entrance together, and as soon as all
the dragons gathered, Queen Akcrista turned around and led them to the garden.
Queen Akcrista walked the students through the hallway. They turned down a corner and
Queen Akcrista opened a door, revealing the garden as dead-looking as an abandoned house.
Each soft green leaf that had once been on a tree had turned brown and crispy, and only
a few leaves remained on the tips of each tree. The water from the fountain had been turned off;
dirt and dead leaves crowded inside. The few patches of grass on the rough roil was dry and
barren, and not a single living flower was in sight.
Except…
When Icy turned around to look at the dead garden some more, she saw one, living
flower. A scarlet red flower, scarlet like the red scales of a Magma Dragon. The stem was a bright
parakeet green color; a green Icy admired and loved.
But why is only one flower here? Icy questioned. She broke from the group and walked
towards the flower. She leaned down and touched the petals of the rose-like flower. It was soft,
silky, and absolutely beautiful to the touch. “Wow…” She mumbled.
Isabelle tapped Icy on the shoulder. “Icy, come on! We have to go real soon!”
Icy blinked her eyes and turned around. “Oh, yeah, um, sorry,” she apologized.
As Isabelle led Icy back to the group, Icy realized that all the dragons had aligned in age
order; Queen Akcrista was in the lead, followed by a row of ninth year dragons, a row of eighth
year dragons, and on and on until the first year dragons stood, leaving two spaces open for
Isabelle and Icy.
Icy and Isabelle stood in the row of first year dragons, then Icy took a deep breath in.
Wow, this is really happening, she told herself.
Queen Akcrista looked back at the ninety dragons behind her. “ARE WE READY?” She
shouted.
Icy and all the other students shouted back, “YES!”
Queen Akcrista cracked her talons, took one large step back, then leaned down and put
the tips of her talons on the ground. “THEN DRAGONS OF WONDER, HERE WE GO TO THE
CRYSTAL DESERT CAVERNS!”
Queen Akcrista jumped into the air and spread her large wings across the sky. The ninth
year dragons followed her next, then the eighth, the seventh, the sixth, the fifth, the fourth,
third, second and finally the first.
Icy smiled and lifted herself into the sky with the nine other first years. She was so happy
to be in the air; almost as happy as when she first learned how to fly. She was overjoyed to be in
the sky with everyone else, a trip with the queen. How amazing was that?
Isabelle nudged Icy on the side just a little bit. “We’re in the air! Flying to the Crystal
Desert Caverns!”
Icy nodded her head. “I know! Never in my lifetime would I think that I’d be flying to
Kahori, the sand continent, with the queen of Ermana!” She laughed. “What if we were on a trip
with Queen Akcrista and Queen Majesta?”
Isabelle laughed along with her. “That’s crazy! Queen Majesta? Even if Queen Majesta
was controlling anybody, or did a spell that made someone follow her exact orders, you know
we’d be dead meat!”
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

Icy pretended she was being controlled by Queen Majesta. “Oh, hello Isabelle, this is
Queen Majesta controlling your friend’s body. Would you mind killing yourself for no reason at
all?”
Isabelle laughed. “You’re so funny,” She said in between giggles.
Icy smiled and did a flip in the air. “Crystal Desert Caverns, here we go!” She exclaimed.

* * *

“And then my sister said: Flowers? Oh, I thought you said powers!” Isabelle concluded
after a long story. They had been flying for twenty minutes, which meant there would be ten
more minutes until they stopped and took a break.
Icy laughed. “Oh my Majesta, wow.”
The dragons flew over mostly forest; but they were coming up to a rainforest village
soon. It was a small rainforest village– smaller than the rainforest village back by the castle, but
it was just as beautiful.
Isabelle nodded. “My sister is so weird,” She said. They were quiet for a moment, then
Isabelle flew a few feet higher than everyone else and looked at the queen. “Queen Akcrista? May
I use the bathroom?” She shouted.
Queen Akcrista turned her head around. “Yes, Isabelle. Make sure to catch up.”
Isabelle nodded her head. “Okay!” She waved goodbye to Icy, then soared down to the
small village below them.
Icy watched Isabelle go down to the rainforest village. She stared at the village for a while
as if it was going to move or shoot out rockets.
Then all of a sudden, a dragon two years above her bumped right into her side. The
dragon was catching up to a few of his friends, and he made Icy bump into a Night Dragon.
Icy gasped. She didn’t want to get into a fight with a Night Dragon in the air. Quickly,
she apologized.
“Oh my goodness, I am so sorry, I promise I won’t do it again,” Icy said to the Night
Dragon.
The Night Dragon blinked her eyes at Icy. “Oh, it’s okay, I should’ve been looking where
I was going,” she replied. The Night Dragon had midnight black scales and shadow gray
underscales. Her wings faded into a shiny silver at the end, and her eyes were bright tangerine
orange. And, she was flying right by Solar.
Icy was surprised at the Night Dragon’s response for her bonking right into her side. She
thought that maybe not all Night Dragons were bad.
The Night Dragon looked at Solar. “Hey Solar, do you remember who this dragon was? I
remember an Ice Dragon being selected to go to the Crystal Desert Caverns…”
Solar moved forward and glanced at Icy. “Oh, yeah, she’s Icy,” Solar replied. “My close
acquaintance.” She smiled and laughed a bit.
“Oh,” the Night Dragon said. She switched from looking at Solar to looking at Icy. She
smiled. “Hi, I’m Moon. I’ve been Solar’s friend for a long time, even before we went to Dragons
of Wonder.” Moon reached her arm out and shook Icy’s talon.
Icy let go of Moon’s talon quickly to fly again. “Hi, I'm Icy, as you already know,” Icy
introduced. Maybe I can ask her if she knows Solar’s dad. Icy thought. I just have to wait for
the right time.
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

Moon glanced at Icy’s wings. “How does it feel like? To have your wings and arms
connected to each other? Doesn’t it make it extremely hard to fly?
Icy shrugged. “Ice Dragons began in the Bụraý Tundra, which is
covered in the deepest snow in the world. We needed to be light so we
could easily walk in the snow without falling in, and we also needed
to be strong, because the population of polar bears are super high in
the Bụraý Tundra. So, over time, our arms and wings connected to each
other to lose weight and become stronger.”
“Wait, but how does having your wings and arms connected to each other make Ice
Dragons stronger?” Moon questioned.
“Ice Dragons needed to fly, and since we used our arms to fly so much, our arms got
stronger,” Icy answered.
“Ohh,” Moon said. “I get it now. That’s cool!”
Solar blinked. “I didn’t know that either. That is pretty neat.”
Icy smiled. She looked at Moon, then Solar, then she looked down. She noticed Isabelle
ascending back up to the group from the rainforest village.
A few seconds later, Isabelle approached Icy and flew beside her. She studied Solar and
Moon for a bit, then decided to introduce herself. “Hello, I’m Isabelle! What are your names?”
Moon pointed a talon to her chest as she told Isabelle her name. “I’m Moon, nice to meet
you.”
“And I’m Solar,” Solar said. “I bet you knew that already.”
Isabelle missed a flap of her wings and almost fell down. “Oh! Right. Nice to see you…
again. Hm.”
Solar looked at Moon, Icy and Isabelle. “I’ll give you all one try to guess how many caves
are in the Crystal Desert Caverns.”
Icy chuckled a bit. “How do you even know how many caves there are?”
Solar smiled and raised her brow.
“Oh,” Icy realized, “a book?”
Solar nodded.
Isabelle raised her talon. “My guess is… three hundred and forty five!”
“One hundred seventeen!” Moon blurted.
Icy thought about it for a long moment. Anything less than one hundred is too low…
“Two hundred seventy… nine?”
Solar closed her eyes and laughed. “Nope! The answer is: one thousand, three hundred
twenty seven.”
Icy dropped her jaw. “Holy cow, that many?”
Solar nodded her head. “That many. The Crystal Desert Caverns is crazy huge.”
Moon smiled at them, then backed up a little bit to see Solar, Icy and Isabelle at the same
time. “Hey! What if we all got in the same group?”
Icy, Solar and Isabelle exchanged glances, then they all looked back at Moon and asked,
“What group?”
Moon hit her head with her talons. “Oh, I forgot. I was the only first-year who asked
Queen Akcrista how all ninety of us would explore the Crystal Desert Caverns at one time, so
that’s why none of you know.”
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

Solar looked up at the foggy sky for a moment, waiting for Moon’s explanation, then she
looked at Moon and asked, “So… What groups are we doing?”
Moon stared at the ground, acting as if she didn’t hear a word Solar said. She looked as if
she’d forgotten that Icy, Isabelle and Solar were even there.
Finally, Icy had to repeat what Solar said to get her attention. “Can you explain how we
are going to explore the Crystal Desert Caverns?”
Moon moved her eyes from looking at the ground to looking at Icy. “Oh, sorry, I was
staring off into space. I do that a lot. Mostly. Actually, only sometimes. A few times. Maybe
actually two time. Actually, I think it was only that one time. Anyways-”
“Wow, that went from a lot to once pretty quickly,” Icy examined. She smiled and looked
over at Solar. “Hey Solar, does Moon do that a lot?”
Solar laughed. “Yeah she does it a lot. Maybe only mostly. You know what? Maybe only
sometimes. Rarely. Maybe only three times. Or-”
Moon sighed. “Okay, I get it now. I only did something like that once.”
Icy, Solar and Isabelle laughed for a minute, and soon, Moon joined into the laughter.
The four new friends kept talking about the Crystal Desert Caverns and how amazing it would be
as they flew over the Changing Forest.
Icy grinned and barreled in the air. In a couple of hours, she would make it to the Crystal
Desert Caverns, and have the best time in her life.
But she kept having a small feeling inside her saying she was going to die there.
Was that true?

* * *

Ten minutes passed by as Icy, Solar, Isabelle and Moon flew over the Changing Forest
and the Tulip Forest. They crossed from the Changing Forest to the Tulip Forest when they
noticed ten times as more palm trees and huge patches of colorful tulips spread all across the
forest floor. It was absolutely beautiful.
But, despite the beauty of the Tulip Forest, the heat was just unbearable for Icy. Even
early in the morning, at six thirty a.m., Icy already felt like freezing herself up into an ice cube
was a good idea. She couldn’t imagine how hot and humid it would be at noon, when the sun is
high and little shade was around. She couldn’t wait to stop and rest under the shade while
drinking a nice cup of water.
They started to fly over a modern village. The houses were made of black painted clay
and smooth jungle wood, unlike the rough wood that was used in the rainforest village by
Dragons of Wonder. The houses were all neatly designed and laid out in an order; all of the
houses and stores were circling a huge water fountain. The whole village was beautiful, but
because of the extreme heat, Icy only wanted to stay for a little bit.
Queen Akcrista turned her head back to look at her students. “Everyone, we’re going
down to the village now. I have an old friend that will be glad to invite us into her house, so
follow me down and through the village.”
Icy locked her wings and circled around the modern village with Queen Akcrista. She
enjoyed the last few moments of wind whipping on her face as she flew, knowing that once she
was down on the ground walking, the heat would be unbearable.
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

Soon, the ninety students landed down on the street. The streets were ten meters wide
and were made of cobblestone, not like the dirt roads in the rainforest village. Dragons carried
wagons and carriages behind them, and even early in the morning, the village was lively and full
of dragons trading and selling.
The students gathered around Queen Akcrista, trying their best to take as less space on
the road as possible. Once everyone was settled and standing in the right place, Queen Akcrista
started speaking.
“Students, please follow me as we go through the village. Once we get to my old friend’s
house, I want you all to be respectful and quiet. She is ninety four years old, so please be kind to
her,” Queen Akcrista told all of them. “Now, let’s go.”
The dragons followed Queen Akcrista as she led them through the village; through roads
and around corners. Icy was standing with Solar, Moon and Isabelle, and all of them were
complaining about the heat.
Solar groaned. “The heat is so unbearable. It’s like a hundred degrees out here.”
Icy slowly nodded. Her back was slouched and her eyelids were heavy– the heat was
making her tired.
“Hey Icy,” Moon asked, “mind freezing me into a huge ice cube? I will never complain
about being cold after this.”
Isabelle nodded. “Being cold is fine… it just means you’re not hot.”
Solar looked up and asked Queen Akcrista, “Do you know the temperature?”
Queen Akcrista turned her head back to look at Solar. “It’s one hundred ten degrees,”
She answered.
Solar dropped her head backwards. “Oh my goodness, I could cook eggs out here.”
Icy wanted to laugh, but she was too tired and hot to.
Finally, after about three more minutes, they approached a large house. It was two floors
high and was about seven thousand square feet. Queen Akcrista walked up to the house, then
knocked on the door.
Icy heard a door open, but too many dragons were ahead of her that she couldn’t see how
the dragon looked like.
“Akcrista? Is that you?” An old voice asked.
“Yes, Fatum. It’s me,” Queen Akcrista replied. “I’m taking ninety students to the Crystal
Desert Caverns, but it would be great if we have a break. Do you mind if we visit you for twenty
minutes?”
“Of course. Anything for the amazing Dragons of Wonder students,” Fatum said.
Queen Akcrista walked into the big house, and soon the rest of the students followed. Icy,
Solar, Moon and Isabelle were one of the last ones to walk in, and as soon as they did, they
wished they were the first. The house was full of fans blowing in every direction, and the whole
house was cool and windy.
But, besides the coolness in the house, Icy enjoyed being inside because the house was
decorated very nicely. There were pictures of families hung up on every wall, each table was
covered with an animals skin table mat, and nice decorations were everywhere.
Icy looked to her right, and saw Queen Akcrista’s friend, Fatum. She was an old Future
Sky Dragon, a very old dragon. She looked like she might’ve been in her nineties. Fatum wore at
least fifteen golden bracelets on each arm, and her scales looked exactly like Mrs. Star’s. Winter
sky blue scales and cotton white underscales. She looked exactly like an old version of Mrs. Star.
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

“Hello,” Fatum said to Icy. “I’ve never seen an Ice Dragon out here in the Tulip Forest.
Hot, isn’t it?”
Icy nodded. “If it wasn’t for your fans in here, I would’ve frozen myself up into a huge ice
ball,” She replied with a hint of laughter.
Ice ball… Her mind echoed. She remembered about the crystal ice ball she had gotten
during Queenmas. Queen Akcrista had found it fifty years ago when she captured an assassin, so
maybe Fatum would know about the ice ball.
Icy opened up her leather bag and picked up the ice ball. She showed it to Fatum.
“Excuse me, but do you have any idea what this is?” She questioned.
“I’ve never seen an Ice Dragon in the Tulip Forest. Hot, is it?”
Icy nodded. “If you didn’t have a fan in here, I would’ve froze myself up into a huge ice
ball,” She replied with a smile.
Ice ball… Her mind echoed. She remembered about the crystal ice orb she got during
Queenmas. Queen Akcrista said that she got it when she captured an assassin fifty years ago… I
wonder if Fatum knows about it.
Icy reached into her leather bag and pulled out the ice orb. She showed it to Fatum.
“Excuse me, but do you have any idea what this is?”
Fatum looked at the ball closely, squinting her eyes and gently dragging a claw down it.
“Hmm,” she mumbled. “Follow me.”
Fatum took the ball from Icy and walked away. Icy followed her across a hall and
through a corner, then Fatum opened a door and led Icy into a small room. The room was
painted blue, and had a long table that stretched from the far end of the room to only a few feet
from the door. The table was full of papers and pens, a telescope and a big magnifying glass, and
hung up on the wall were pictures of… dragons. Icy assumed that these pictures were Fatum’s
family, but she wasn’t sure.
Fatum ran inside the room, placed the ice orb on the table, then started organizing her
papers. Icy helped and stacked up a few papers, but her gaze drifted off to the pictures. She
looked at a picture of a six young dragons standing together. The oldest two had snow white
underscales and bright orange eyes, the third had white scales and silver swirling patterns, the
fourth had silver scales and dark blue swirling patterns, the fifth had bright butter yellow scales
and green eyes, and the sixth and last one had bright blue scales and emeralds green eyes.
“Who are these dragons?” Icy questioned. “Your kids?”
Fatum nodded. “Yep, all in age order. There’s Feather, Heron, Swan, Mosquito, Sunny
and Rainbow. Six little girls.”
Icy smiled. She looked at the next picture, and immediately became confused. “Wait,
who is that?” She questioned. Icy was pretty sure she knew who it was… She just wanted to be
sure.
Fatum looked up again. “Ah, yes. You must know her. She’s Star, the youngest one of my
nineteen grandchildren. Quite a sweet one, she is.”
Icy blinked. “Mrs. Star…” She muttered under her breath. I can’t believe it… Fatum is
Mrs. Star’s grandmother!
“Now, Ice Dragon-”
“Icy,” She corrected.
“Ah, yes, Icy, come here. Take a seat.”
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

Icy walked towards the table and sat down across from Fatum. Fatum put some glasses
on her face and looked closely at the ice ball, then, along with her glasses, she picked up a
magnifying glass and looked even closer at it.
“Hmm…” Fatum mumbled.
“Do you see anything?”
Fatum closed one eye and continued to look. “I don’t know what this is… I can’t tell what
it’s made of, what it means or anything about it. It’s quite a mystery.” Fatum opened both of her
eyes and put down the magnifying glass. She tapped the strange orb with her claw, then sighed.
“I’m sorry, I really can’t tell you anything about this. It’s all a clouded mystery. I’m sorry, Icy.”
Icy looked down and sighed. “It’s okay. I’m sure I’ll figure out what it means someday.”
Icy stood up and almost grabbed the ball, when Fatum said something.
“Wait,” she said, “I feel something.” Fatum was silent for a moment as she looked up at
Icy with a worried face. “Something bad.”
Icy immediately sat back down across from Fatum. “What is it?”
Fatum looked back down at the ball. “I don’t know what it is… But I can feel something
bad.” She stood up and opened a closet door. She opened up a box and took out a teacup and
half a handful of dry leaves, then she ran back to the box and took out a container of salt. Fatum
opened the container, grabbed a pinch of salt, and dropped it into the teacup.
Fatum then picked up the teacup and walked outside of the room for about ten seconds,
then came back with the teacup full of water. Finally, Fatum went back into her closet, found
another box, and pulled out a Spring Berry. She gave the Spring Berry to Icy.
“Now, go on, pick the green circle. Drop it into the teacup,” Fatum instructed.
Icy picked up the Spring Berry. Future tea, She thought. She looked around the berry and
found the lime green circle, then gently picked it and watched as it turned from a green to a red
color. After a second, the red circle became white.
“Oh…” Fatum mumbled worriedly. “Red… that means danger. Danger is upon you, Icy.”
She looked up to see Icy’s face. “Well, don’t just sit there, stir it.”
“Oh, right.” Icy lifted her talon and stirred the teacup with her index claw. She stirred the
mixture for about a minute, then Fatum took the teacup and stood up. “Follow me.”
Fatum left the room, and Icy followed. She led Icy into her kitchen, then Fatum put the
teacup on a rusty stove and turned the stove on.
While the tea was boiling, Moon came up to Icy with a large cup of lemonade with ice.
“Hey Icy, where have you been? Queen Akcrista made lemonade for everyone who was hot! Can
you believe it? That’s like, eighty lemonades, which means at least fifty lemons!” Moon
exclaimed. She started sipping her drink.
“Actually, I’ve been with Fatum. She’s making me future tea.”
Moon nearly spit out her lemonade right onto Icy. “FUTURE TEA? Icy, I thought you
said you were hot! You can’t be drinking tea! Tea will make you more hot! You should only be
drinking tea when you’re at the top of the Icepoint Mountains!”
“Yeah, but Fatum said that she feels something bad. She just wanted to make me future
tea just to see what the bad thing is.”
Just then, Fatum picked up the hot teacup with a mitt and gave the tea to Icy. “Go ahead,
have a sip.”
 Dragons of Wonder
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Icy took the teacup from Fatum and held it in her talons. She lifted the cup up to her
mouth and gently blew on it to cool it down, then drank one sip of the warm tea. After, she
lowered the cup and looked at the tea, and saw something that frightened her.
The tea showed herself, screaming in pain and agony as a pitch black talon scratched her
wing. She saw herself screaming for her life and help as her face was flooded in tears of pain.
“Oh my goodness Icy… What’s going to happen to you?” Moon questioned.
Icy couldn’t even begin to wonder why such a thing would happen. She stared at the
image, trying to find out who would attack her, but eventually the image on the tea faded away.
Icy looked at Moon’s talons. It couldn’t be her; the dragon who would attack her had
much bigger talons than Moon’s. Also, Moon’s claws were silver, and the talon that would claw
Icy had black claws.
Black scales, large talon, black claws… Who could it be? Icy looked around the room and
examined all the black dragons. There were a few other Night Dragons who were older than Icy,
but everyone she saw had silver or gray claws instead of black.
Icy looked at Moon and Fatum. “Do you have any guesses as to who it might be?”
Moon thought for a moment. “Maybe a War Dragon with black talons? I have seen a few
at Dragons of Wonder.”
“Maybe, but that’s unlikely. Why would a War Dragon attack me anyways?” Icy replied.
“Why would anyone attack you?” Fatum reasoned. “It is just the future. Things will be
revealed in time. Before you go, though, I will tell you one thing. Do not ever go into any place
that your friends don’t want to be in.”
Icy was about to ask what else she could do, but an Earth Dragon came up to Fatum with
an empty cup and distracted her with a question.
Icy turned around and finished the rest of her tea. She then put the empty teacup on the
counter, then walked to the living room and sat down on a couch, next to Solar, Moon and
Isabelle.
“Hello Icy,” Solar greeted. She and Isabelle were holding large cups of lemonade as well.
“Where have you been?”
“She was talking to Fatum,” Moon answered, “drinking something super-duper HOT.”
Icy sighed. “Moon, if I hadn’t had the future tea, I might’ve not known about the things
that will happen to me. I might’ve died. But now that I know, I probably won’t die.”
Isabelle looked at Icy with a confused face. “I’m sorry, what’s happening?”
“Icy took a future tea and saw a talon attacking her wing. She was screaming,” Moon
answered. “I mean, in the tea she was screaming. But really she was just staring at it.”
“Oh my… who’s going to attack you?” Solar questioned.
Icy bounced her shoulders. “That’s what I’ve been wondering. I have no idea who would
attack me, and why.”
Just then, Queen Akcrista came into the living room and clapped her talons twice to get
everyone’s attention. “Students, we will be leaving in five minutes. If you need to get a drink of
water or anything else then do it now.”
Solar stood up. “Come on. Let’s all go get a cold drink of water for the trip.”
The four friends stood up and walked to the kitchen, then pulled out a cup from one of
the top cabinets. Isabelle picked up a pitcher and poured them all a cup of cool water, then Icy
made five ice cubes for each dragon.
 Dragons of Wonder
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Once everyone had finished their water, they went back to the couch in the living room
and talked while they waited for all the other students to finish drinking their water and
preparing for the flight.
Then, after five minutes, Queen Akcrista told all the students to go outside. Icy, Solar,
Moon and Isabelle were the last ones to leave the house; they didn’t want to stay hot and sweaty
in the heat while they waited for everyone else to come out.
As they walked out of the house, Icy thanked Fatum for letting her stay and for the tea,
then they left and walked to the street where all the other dragons stood.
The students arranged themselves from the ninth years first to the first years last, and in
a few minutes, Queen Akcrista leaped into the air and the rest of the students resumed their
flight to the Crystal Desert Caverns.

* * *

Five hours had passed since the dragons left the village at the Tulip Forest. The air
became a few degrees cooler, but it was all still hot; one hundred and ten degrees or one
hundred and five? Icy was covered in sweat. It looked as though she just dipped herself in the
water. Being this hot, she started to wonder if any Ice Dragons made it to Kahori.
Wait, but mom made it to Kahori, she reminded herself.
She started to wonder how on earth Rasinea made it to the desert without falling into the
ocean and dying of heat.
The air was also super dry. When they left the Tulip Forest Icy felt like it couldn’t get
more humid, but now, all Icy wanted was to drink a gallon of water and she was constantly
licking her lips.
Icy’s wings were also so sore. She didn’t have to flap her wings every two seconds, she
mostly just glided through the air, but just holding her wings up for five hours made her so sore
and tired.
Flying over the ocean definitely didn’t help. If she were to fall from the sky and land in
the ocean, the splash against the water would kill her. But if it didn’t kill her, then she would
drown to death. Icy’s wings were so tired and sore that she wouldn’t be able to swim up if she fell
in the water.
Icy licked her lips and looked down. She noticed a small rock sticking up above the
water. Was this her chance? Could she take a five minute break and get some rest for a bit?
“Queen Akcrista?” Icy shouted. “Can I take a break for five minutes and sit down on that
rock?”
Queen Akcrista was about a hundred feet in front of Icy, but Icy could still hear the
queen’s sigh. “No, Icy, we only have about fifteen more minutes until we reach Kahori. We can
take a break there.”
Icy groaned in disappointment. She had half a mind to disobey the queen and sit down
on the rock, but they were already way ahead of the rock and Icy would lose track of where the
group went if she stayed there for even one minute.
Icy looked over at Solar, who was flying a few feet to the right of Icy. Solar looked just as
tired as Icy was; heavy eyelids, slouched neck, and slow flying. Even though the two of them had
been flying next to each other for five hours, they only talked to each other for three hours. The
last two hours they had been too tired to use their voice.
 Dragons of Wonder
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Almost everyone had been too tired to use their voice. When the dragons first took off
from Dragons of Wonder and the Tulip Forest, the whole group was loud and talking, but now
that they had been away from Dragons of Wonder for about six hours, everyone’s conversations
had died down and it was unusual for anyone to hear anything but the wing beats of the
dragons.
“Hey, Isaac, you look tired,” a voice said.
Icy looked up to see who was speaking. With her eyes being really tired, her ears became
more useful, so she noticed who the voice was pretty fast.
And as soon Icy did find who spoke, Icy dropped about fifteen feet from the air. She saw
a crimson red and marmalade orange Lightning Dragon who was flying perfectly fine in the air.
How on earth was a Lightning Dragon flying so well?
Icy took three minutes to be level with the group again. Her wings were so tired that
getting up was one of the hardest challenges she’d ever met.
After Icy was level with the rest of the group, she looked at the Lightning Dragon again.
It was then when she realized it wasn’t a Lightning Dragon, it was a Sky Dragon. His horns were
curvy and his wings were twice and long as a Lightning Dragon.
That’s how I know I’m dead tired, Icy thought, I can’t even tell the difference from a Sky
Dragon and a Lightning Dragon.
Icy wished she could have the wings like a Sky Dragon. It would be so easy to fly literally
anywhere. She could fly all around the world in a day, she could fly all around the coast of Shera
and not be tired, and she could travel anywhere!
Icy had gotten so deep in imagining how amazing it would be to be a Sky Dragon that she
didn’t realize that she had dropped at least twenty feet.
Urgh! Now it’s going to take ten minutes to fly back up and get level again! Icy thought.
And it did. With one flap of her wings every three seconds, it still took her twelve minutes
to get level with the group. Eventually she gave up when she was only three feet below everyone.
Going up three more feet was too hard.
“Queen Akcrista?” Icy questioned tiredly. “When- when are we- going- to see- Kahori?”
“If I am correct,” Queen Akcrista said, “we should see Kahori coming up to the horizon in
just a few minutes.”
Icy slightly nodded, then looked up at the sky. Oh, why couldn’t it be cloudy or raining
or anything? She wondered. It was so hot and she was so thirsty… If only her arms and wings
weren’t connected, then she could reach into her leather bag and grab her water bottle.
Icy looked back down at the ocean, then looked to the horizon. The continent Kahori was
coming up. Icy could see a land of endless golden sand and literally no life at all. Not a dragon,
not an animal, not even a tree or a bush. Just golden sand that stretched until Icy couldn’t see.
Almost every dragon in the group cheered. In just a minute, only one minute, everyone
would be able to take a break. One minute.
And soon, that minute came. Icy zoomed ahead of ten dragons and spiraled down to the
desert beach. She flapped her wings once to slow her fall, but she still crash-landed, half of her
body soaking into the water. About two seconds later, the rest of the group arrived, a third of
them doing the same thing Icy did.
Icy stayed there for about ten seconds, her legs and the tips of her wings covered in the
dirty water of the Kahorian beach. She only got up because she needed to drink water.
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

Icy pulled herself up and opened her satchel. She quickly found her water bottle, and
sighed as she realized her water was boiling hot. She pressed both of her talons to the bottle,
then gently froze it to cool it down. After that, she twisted open the cap and dumped the water
into her mouth. She had never been so thirsty.
After Icy dumped the last few drops of water into her mouth, she heard a splash in the
ocean. She looked at the water and noticed a Sea Dragon standing up from the ocean.
“Eugh! This water is nothing like Bakalorian water!” The Sea Dragon shouted. The Sea
Dragon had tropical teal scales and turquoise underscales. His wings and the webs on his talons
were light blue, and the patterns on his underscales and wings was a misty aqua. His eyes were
pumpkin orange, and his claws, horns and crest was a darker shade of the teal scales on his
body.
Queen Akcrista turned her head to the Sea Dragon. “Ah, yes. The beach by the Crystal
Desert Caverns is ranked one of the dirtiest beaches in the world, Isaac.”
Isaac stepped out of the water and looked down at his feet, which was covered in
seaweed and trash. “Yeah, I can see that,” He said, shaking the seaweed off his feet.
Icy smiled and slightly laughed when she saw Isaac’s feet covered in seaweed. She was
about five meters away from him and she covered her mouth, but she still got Isaac’s attention.
Isaac looked at Icy and smiled back. The two of them looked at each other for a minute,
and it made Icy feel… well, she wasn’t exactly sure what she felt. She felt happy, but strange at
the same time.
After the strange moment passed, Isaac turned around and jumped right back into the
water, as if he completely forgot that the water was dirty.
He’s probably just so hot that the seaweed doesn’t bother him, Icy thought. She sat down
on the sand and opened her satchel, then started looking for a snack.
Before she could find a snack, though, she heard a loud huff and a few footsteps. Icy
swung her head around and looked behind herself, but when she couldn’t find anything after a
few seconds, she turned back around and resumed looking for a snack.
Icy stuck her talon in at the bottom of her satchel, then put her claws around a banana.
She had almost pulled the banana out of her bag when Isaac looked over at Icy and yelled, “HEY
WATCH OUT!”
Icy looked up from her bag and saw weird vine-looking things that were surrounding
her. The black vine-like things moved like snakes; they all spun and twisted and turned around
each other as they were getting…
Sharper and closer to Icy.
Icy immediately stood up and jumped away from the black vine things, and thankfully,
all the vine-like things went underground and disappeared. Icy sighed in relief.
Isaac looked at Icy in a concerned and confused way. “What was that? Are you okay?”
Icy nodded as she brushed sand off her scales. “I’m fine,” She answered. Icy looked up,
then saw a black inky ring moving closer to Isaac.
Icy shrugged. I wonder if there’s an octopus there, she thought. Well, of course there’s
an octopus, why else would the water be black... and moving in a strange ring-like figure
while it’s moving closer…
“Hey Isaac! You watch out!” She shouted.
Isaac moved his eyes from looking at Icy to looking at the water. He gasped and used his
wings to fly out of the water, and a second later, he landed on the beach and stood next to Icy.
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

“What was that?” Icy questioned. “Both the vine-like things and the ink?”
Isaac bounced his shoulders. “Don’t know.”
Icy looked up in the sky to see if there were any clues as to who made the ink and the
vine like things. When she didn’t see anything in the sky other than a few clouds and the sun,
she looked behind herself and around the beach. She couldn’t see anything though.
Icy was about to turn her head to look another direction, when Isaac stopped her. “It
doesn’t matter who did it. It doesn’t look like they’re even attacking. Surely, by now, if they
wanted us, they would’ve done something.”
Icy nodded. “You’re right.”
Right away, Queen Akcrista jumped up into the air and called to the dragons, “We start
flying again now! We only have about three miles to go!”
Isaac groaned and slouched his back. “Three more miles… then we wait seven days and
fly back to Shera,” He mumbled.
Icy laughed, even though she knew it was true. Hopefully by seven days her wings would
be all rested and she would be able to fly for a long distance.
About ten seconds after, the whole group was in the air. Queen Akcrista turned herself
around, then started flying over hills of nothing but golden sand.
Icy looked to her right and saw Solar, Moon and Isabelle talking happily. She thought
about going to her friends and chatting with them, but she found herself flying closer to Isaac.
Icy found out that Isaac was also edging closer to her. After a moment, he smiled and
asked, “You’re in your first year, right?”
Icy nodded. “Yep. My first crazy year.”
Isaac laughed. “My first year was crazy too. I’m in my second year, by the way.”
“I guessed that,” Icy replied.
Isaac smiled as he looked at Icy, then asked, “What’s your name?”
“Icy,” She answered. She looked at Isaac’s teeth-showing smile, then said, “You’re quite a
smiler, aren’t you?”
“Oh,” Isaac said, stopping his grin. “Well, when you have eight younger siblings then you
kind of have to learn to smile.”
“Oh my Majesta,” Icy realized, “eight younger siblings?”
Isaac laughed. “Right, so I have a family of seventeen, including myself.”
Icy’s jaw dropped.
“So there’s dad, mom, Moray, Lionfish, Atlantis, Gill, Bay, Reef, me, Turtle, Cray, Orca,
Vialo, Kelpy, Surf and Shore; the twins, and little Mary-Sue.”
“My Majesta, wow. I’m the only child in my family, so I have no idea what it feels like to
have siblings, especially fourteen of them.”
“Well, the house is definitely loud, especially when you have a lot of competitions with
each other,” Isaac explained.
The dragons flew over a high dune, then immediately everyone knew they were at the
Crystal Desert Caverns. The land was endlessly flat, the only things that went very high were the
caves that stuck up from the ground. There weren’t as many caves as Icy thought there would be;
Icy imagined a cave around every corner and just by looking you’d see at least a hundred caves,
but Icy only saw four caves so far. One that was straight ahead and only a hundred yards away,
two that were about two or three miles from where they were, and a tiny one a thousand yards
away to the right.
 Dragons of Wonder
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All the caves had the same type of rock, a midnight black stone that at some parts was
smooth and other parts were rough. The caves randomly stook out of the ground, and every cave
that she saw so far had a massive opening. There was only about two feet from the ground to the
opening of the cave, and about three feet from opening to the top of the cave.
The ground wasn’t at all hilly and full of sand like any other part of the desert was. The
Crystal Desert Caverns had flat sandstone flooring, with cracks everywhere that Icy first thought
that it was cracked mud. There was still a lot of sand, but she could tell that about five inches
below all the sand was the cracked sandstone.
Icy smiled. “Wow!” She shouted. “We’re finally here!”
Isaac faced towards Icy. “Race you to the first cave!” He shouted.
The two dragons both flapped their wings as fast as they could and raced to the first cave.
Near the end, Icy enclosed herself by hugging her wings around her body, making her faster,
then she spun and barreled to the ground. She noticed Isaac did the same thing she did, and just
a second later, both of them crash-landed on the ground, neither of them sure who had won.
Icy stood up half a second before Isaac did. “I won!” She shouted.
“No way!” Isaac yelled back. “I totally hit the ground before you did!”
“No, I hit the ground and then I heard-” Icy immediately stopped talking when from the
corner of her eye she saw Queen Akcrista staring right at them.
“Oh,” Isaac said, “sorry, we were just having fun.”
Queen Akcrista went from a frown to a smile. “It’s okay,” She started. “Fun is good, but
right now we must all gather together. Now come on, follow me to the rest of the students.”
Queen Akcrista led Icy and Isaac to everyone else. Everyone was standing up and talking
to each other, then Queen Akcrista silenced them by raising her wings.
“Alright students, we’re all here in the Crystal Desert Caverns. It’s half past noon, and
I’m sure you all are hungry. Thanks to our ninth and eighth year students, they were so kind to
make us some food. Will you bring it out please?”
All of the ninth year dragons were holding two feet long red coolers that was one foot
wide and one foot tall, and all the eighth year dragons were holding large paper bags. Eight
ninth year dragons placed down their coolers and opened them, revealing peanut butter and
starberry jam sandwiches, then nine of the eighth year dragons opened their paper bags and
each pulled out ten water bottles, and the last eighth year dragon pulled out a roll of masking
tape and ten markers.
Then, the ninth year dragons started handing out sandwiches, and all the eighth year
dragons started handing out water bottles and markers.
Isaac and Icy both sat down on the ground, as well as all the other students. A few
minutes later, a Nature Dragon handed Icy a sandwich, and five seconds after, a War Dragon
handed Icy a water bottle with a strap of masking tape on it, and written on the tap was her
name. Queen Akcrista came a second later holding a pitcher full of cold, icy water.
“How did you keep that cold the whole way here?” Icy questioned.
Queen Akcrista used her ice power to make a huge clump of ice inside the pitcher. She
then blew a plume of fire inside, and quickly, the ice melted into cold water. “A little bit of heat
can melt ice pretty quickly.”
“Oh wow,” Icy admired as Queen Akcrista went to pour another dragon’s water. Icy
turned to look at Isaac. “Now I wish I was a Fire Ice Dragon.”
Isaac chuckled. “I’d be a… whatever Queen Akcrista is.”
 Dragons of Wonder
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Just then, Queen Akcrista stood up in front of everyone and spread her wings out. “Now
that we are all together in the Crystal Desert Caverns, I will announce groups. Each time I go on
an adventure at the end of the school year, I have all the students get into groups. There will be
five groups, two dragons of each year. Your group will do everything together; explore together,
sleep together, go to meals together, etcetera.
“The first group will include: Solar, Nicole, Jason, Octo, Thunder, Shark, Flower, Jackal,
Stemy, Havren, Sandfox, Annie, Peanut, Spike, Connie, Wendy, Adam, and Sun. Your group will
be the Alder group.”
Queen Akcrista continued to announce names and groups. There was the Elm group, the
Rowan group (Which Isabelle was in), and the Hawthorn group.
After five minutes, Icy heard her name. “And the last group is: Icy, Moon, Mark, Isaac,
Sparkice, Emerald, Berrie, Zack, Anna, Mallory, Flame, Cactus, Sunset, Orchid, Oliver, Jake,
Snaketooth, and finally, Cameron. You will be the Maple group,” Queen Akcrista announced.
Icy and Isaac both looked over at each other and grinned, then Icy looked over at Moon,
who was about ten feet across her. She was glad to be in the same group as her two new friends.
She also couldn’t wait to meet everyone else in her group.
“Now, after you all finish your lunches, I want you to find your groups. You will find a
place to camp, whether that is in a cave or out in the desert doesn’t matter to me, but make sure
you know where base is. The base will be right here, where I will sleep and cook the meals. Ninth
years, if you want to come to base and help me with cooking, that would be great. Thank you.”
About three minutes after, Everyone had finished their lunch. The dragons stood up and
found their groups, which took about five minutes since barely anyone knew each other’s names.
Dragons had to ask other dragons what their names were, and they had to work together to
remind themselves what Queen Akcrista’s list was.
But, after a while, everyone had found their group. The Maple group just sat and talked
to each other for a while, then Cameron, a ninth year Light Dragon decided to leave base and
find camp.
“Alright Maples, let’s go find out our camping place. I’d prefer if we slept out in the plain
sand, but near a cave so that we can wake up and explore immediately. What do you all think of
that?”
Everyone nodded. Cactus, a sixth year Sand Dragon leaped up into the air. “Well then,
let’s go find our camp!” Cactus shouted.
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

Chapter 11
Trip With The Queen
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

It took five hours for everyone to find a perfect spot and set everything up. Everyone kept
disagreeing on things; The cave was too small, the sand was too hard, the oasis was too far away,
all these little things that made the whole group move to an entire different place.
Icy was annoyed when dragons came up with an excuse and made the whole group move
to a different place, but she had to remember, Icy was one of those dragons at least three times.
But finally the group came to a spot that had a patch of soft sand around clean, flat
sandstone. There was a big cave just ten yards away, so they could all wake up and explore the
cave right away. There was also an oasis half a minute away by flying, and two minutes away by
walking. Icy couldn’t imagine a more perfect spot, and that was why it took five hours to find it.
Right now, everyone was setting up their places to sleep. Icy pulled out her fire-red
blankets and set up a place in between Isaac and Moon. She laid her blankets flat on the ground,
then folded them up in half so she could sleep on top of part of the blanket and have the other
part of the blanket covering her. After that, she got her pillow and put it on top of the folded up
blanket.
Moon and Isaac were doing the same thing Icy was. Moon had a navy blue blanket and
Isaac had a lime green blanket, and both were working happily.
Everyone in the group was working happily. They all formed a large circle, and in the
middle of the circle was two thick vines criss-crossing each other. The vines were made by the
Vine Dragon, Emerald, who was in her third year. When the sun set, Flame, a sixth year Fire
Dragons was planning to set the vines on fire and they would have a campfire.
The sun was setting pretty quickly. The sun was a third of the way below the horizon, and
pretty soon, Flame would have to set the vines on fire.
Isaac kneeled down, brushed off some grains of sand off his blanket and stood up. “I’m
going to the oasis. You wanna come, Icy?”
Icy looked up and smiled. “Oh, sure!” She replied. She overheard Moon chuckle, so she
turned her head around and saw Moon looking down and smiling. “What?” She asked Moon.
“Oh, I just think it’s funny that Isaac specifically asked you to go and not anyone else,”
Moon replied.
“Do you… have a problem with that?” Isaac questioned.
Moon shook her head. “No, it’s just that you asked her and only her to go to a place to be
alone.” She chuckled again.
Isaac frowned. He walked past Icy and Moon, then told Icy to follow him. Icy followed,
and then they were off walking to the oasis.
“So… We’re going to be in the Crystal Desert Caverns for a week. How many caves do you
think you’ll explore?” Isaac asked Icy once they had started the walk.
Icy shrugged. “As many as I can. I want to see a humongous cave at least. One that goes a
hundred feet underground and full of crystals...”
“Well, in Professor Canyon’s last semester of the year, we learned a lot about the Crystal
Desert Caverns. I think the biggest cave is only about a hundred miles away from here, so some
day we could probably visit it. I heard it’s full of crystals…!”
Icy smiled. “Then I definitely want to go there.”
Icy and Isaac walked for about another minute, then Isaac jumped from about a meter
from the oasis and dove right into the center, making a beautiful splash that sprayed cool water
all over Icy.
Icy laughed as Isaac floated on his back in the water. “Icy, you wanna come in?”
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

“Nah, I think I’ll stay dry out here. You go ahead and have fun, though,” Icy replied. She
didn’t want to get in, but she did sit down and dip her toes in the water.
Icy and Isaac spent ten minutes at the oasis, then finally Isaac got out of the water, shook
himself to dry out, then he started walking back. “You coming?”
Icy stood up and followed him. They walked back, talking about how awesome the caves
would be and how much fun they’d have exploring, then finally they made it back to their camp.
“So,” Moon started when Icy and Isaac made back to camp. “How was your little thing?”
“Fun,” Isaac replied. “Icy was so scared of drowning in the four feet oasis that she didn’t
go swimming though.”
Icy playfully punched Isaac’s arm. “I was not! I just didn’t want to get wet!”
Isaac laughed. “Icy the little cat.”
Moon and Isaac both burst out in laughter, while Icy stared at them and folded her arms.
She stared at them for a while, then eventually, she couldn’t help it, and she laughed along with
Isaac and Moon too.
The three of them were interrupted by the loud sound of crackling fire. They turned
around and saw that Flame had lit the vines on fire, and the vines were burning with fire high
and strong.
The dragons gathered together and sat in a circle around the campfire. Half an hour
later, the sun sank below the horizon and all sunlight disappeared. The sky was black and full of
stars, and the desert became cold. They used the heat from the campfire to warm themselves up.
After the dragons spent three and a half hours talking, telling stories, playing games and
getting to know each other, Icy used her ice to put the fire out. Using the light of the moon and
the stars, everyone found their blankets and soon, fell asleep, filling their minds up with dreams
of the Crystal Desert Caverns.

* * *

Icy say upright, stretched her arms and far as they could go, and yawned. She sun hadn’t
even began to come above the horizon, but a bright pink color had emerged in the sky.
Icy looked around to see if anyone else was awake, but everyone had been fast asleep.
Isaac was softly snoring and his face was pushed against a pillow, and Moon was-
Awake?
Pushing the blankets off her body, Icy stood up and walked over to Moon. “You awake?”
She questioned.
Moon shifted in her blankets and opened her eyes. “Yeah,” She answered. “Is something
wrong?”
Icy shook her head. “No, but do you want to explore that cave?” She asked, pointing to
the cave beside them.
Moon immediately stood up and acted as if she never fell asleep. “Yes!” She whispered.
Moon and Icy both walked to the entrance of the cave. They both lifted themselves up
and walked inside, and even with no crystals or amethysts in sight yet, it was beautiful. The cave
looked as big as a living room, but at the far right end of the cave there was a dark hole that Icy
assumed led to the next part of the cave. The flooring was mostly flat, given the fact that there
were no stalagmites or big rocks everywhere. Both the floor and ceiling looked like waves that
had suddenly stopped and turned into stone.
 Dragons of Wonder
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Icy and Moon walked to the center of the cavern and looked around. “Wow, it’s already
beautiful,” Icy said. “Just wait until we get to see some crystals and amethysts!” Icy looked at
Moon, who was smiling as well, then their smiling faces became confused and a little worried
when a strange voice started speaking.
“You know, not all caves have amethysts. Miners take the amethysts and bring them to
the Palace of Light,” the voice said.
Icy and Moon immediately turned around, and Icy was relieved to see that it was only
Isaac.
Moon, though, sounded angry. “Isaac! You scared us! Maybe your first words can be like,
Hi guys I just came to meet up with you, or I’m coming in the cave just so you know!”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I guess I’ll only give you nightmares for the rest of your life.” Isaac came
through the opening of the cave and walked inside, then stood next to Icy.
Moon glared at Isaac for a while, then sighed and continued walking. “Well come on, let’s
not just stand here, there’s a reason we’re exploring this cave!”
Icy, Moon and Isaac walked down the cave, then traveled through the dark walkway. The
walkway went down very far; Icy couldn’t see anything, but she felt the floor going steeper and
steeper.
“It’s pretty dark in HERE!” Moon screamed. Icy heard Moon trip, fall, and slide down all
the way to the bottom.
“Moon!” Icy shouted. “Are you okay? Where are you? Are you hurt?”
“OH MY MAJESTA! ICY, ISAAC, YOU HAVE TO COME HERE RIGHT NOW!” Moon
yelled at the top of her lungs.
Icy blinked, standing still, then raced down the steep walkway. She ran for about ten
seconds, and she heard Isaac’s footsteps patting on the rocky floor as well.
After about seven seconds, Icy noticed the hole had gotten brighter. The light wasn’t
white or yellow or anything, it was purple. She wondered why the light was so purple.
When they got to the end of the hole, they didn’t see another cavern, or even a fork in the
road. They saw the end of the cave. “Wait, where is Moon? And where is this light coming
from?” Icy questioned.
Isaac bounced his shoulders. He looked confused for a moment, then his face told Icy
that he had discovered something. “Wait a second…”
Isaac leaned down and looked at the bottom of the floor. “Look, it’s an opening. I knew
the light had to be coming somewhere.” He got down on all fours, then crawled underneath the
small opening of the cave.
Icy followed him not soon after he got down. Icy crawled for a few seconds, then stood up
in a cavern and couldn’t speak at all.
The cavern was the same size as the first cavern in the cave, but it was a lot taller and
literally filled with amethysts. Clumps of amethysts were on the ceiling, on the floor, on the walls
and even on top of stalactites and stalagmites. The whole cavern was lit with purple light.
A big amethyst was on the left corner of the cavern; the amethyst was as tall as Icy and at
least three feet wide. Moon was pointing to the big amethyst and was smiling just as huge as it.
“Icy! Isn’t this amazing?!” Moon shouted. “I’ve never seen so many amethysts IN MY
WHOLE LIFE!” She screamed. “And the echo in here in here is so fun! ECHO!” She screamed.
Her voice echoed throughout the whole cave, and as soon as it finished, a big shake went
through the room, unbalancing everyone.
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

Just as quickly as it started, it stopped. It only lasted for a few seconds, but it still scared
Icy and she was worried that something would fall and hit her or her friends.
“What was that?” Icy questioned once it had stopped.
“An earthquake?” Isaac guessed.
Moon shook her head. “No, it couldn’t have been an earthquake. It felt more like an
Earth Dragon pound.”
A loud roar came from the cave, then Icy heard huge footsteps pounding into the ground.
Icy, Moon and Isaac backed up a few steps, then Moon ran to Icy and Isaac and stood next to
them.
Isaac backed up a few more steps. “Let’s go before someone attacks us. I think this might
have been someone’s cavern,” Isaac explained.
“Yeah,” Icy agreed quickly. She, Moon and Isaac kept walking backwards until they hit a
wall, then a dragon three times as big as Icy came out of a corner and scratched Icy on her arm.
Icy was closing her eyes and screaming too loudly that Icy didn’t hear or see how he looked like.
“ICY!” Isaac yelled. He took Icy’s talon, slid under the small opening, then flew up and
out of the cave. Moon was no less than five inches behind him, getting even more scared because
now the dragon was roaring and trying to break the opening. The dragon’s roars were so loud
that Icy thought he might’ve been a Quake Dragon. Loud roars, big quaking pound, what else
could it be?
Then, just as soon as Isaac, Icy and Moon jumped out of the cave, a huge fire explosion
went from the cavern they were in to the hole and out of the large opening of the cave. The
massive explosion woke everyone up at camp. It was super scary and Icy felt the extreme heat as
she jumped out of the cave with Isaac and Moon.
“What was that all about?” Mallory, a fifth year Jewel Dragon questioned. “I only heard a
scream, roar, someone yelling Icy, roar, boom, and another scream,” Mallory copied. “And then
I saw the explosion, and you three running out,” she finished.
“Someone attack-” Icy started to say.
“Woah, what’s that scratch on your arm?” Flame examined.
It was then when Icy realized she was bleeding from the sharp talons of the attacking
dragon. “Oh, well, me, Isaac and Moon were exploring the cave when some huge dragon five
times bigger than me came and scratched my arm. If it wasn’t for Isaac and Moon, I’d be dead.”
“Woah,” All the listening dragons admired.
“Well, at least we know one thing,” Anna, a fifth year Light Dragon started. “Do not
explore that cave.”
“No,” Mark, the second year Sky Dragon said, “I saw a dragon fly out. He flew crazy fast
that I didn’t even get to really see how he looked like, so I’m guessing he’s a Whirlwind Dragon.”
“Well, whatever it is, we have to get that scratch cleaned up. Let’s all go to breakfast and
see if Queen Akcrista has anything to help that,” Snaketooth, a ninth year Snake Dragon said.
The Maple group stood up and folded up their blankets, then Cameron did a head count
and they took off into the air and flew to base.
They flew for about twenty minutes before they made it back to Queen Akcrista’s base.
Icy, Isaac and Moon told the story of what happened in the cave tons of times to their group
because they kept forgetting or they wanted to know more, and the three friends barely got to
talk to each other at all.
 Dragons of Wonder
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Once they landed at base twenty minutes after they left, Queen Akcrista immediately
turned to Icy. “Oh, my goodness Icy, what happened to your arm?”
Icy walked up to Queen Akcrista and showed it to her. “Me, Moon and Isaac woke up and
explored the cave, then we went inside this cavern and some dragon attacked us.”
“Wait, let me get this clear. You went exploring without anyone else in your group except
for Isaac and Moon?” Queen Akcrista demanded. “You need to explore with your whole group
next time.”
Icy looked down at her feet. “Sorry, Queen Akcrista,” She apologized.
Queen Akcrista sighed, then turned around. “Well, let’s get you something for your cut. It
doesn’t look too deep, so that’s good, and it’s only bleeding in one spot. I’ll just patch it up with
some…” She trailed off and opened up a small bag, then turned back around and faced Icy.
“With some deer skin. It’s thin, and you probably only have to wear it until tonight.” Queen
Akcrista kneeled down and wrapped the chocolate brown deer skin around Icy’s cut. She shot a
thin and short vine out of her tail, then picked up the vine and tied the deer skin onto Icy’s arm
with the vine. “How does that feel?”
Icy moved her arm around a bit, then looked at Queen Akcrista. “It feels good. Thanks,”
Icy replied. She smiled at the queen, then turned around and walked to Moon and Isaac.
Moon handed her a paper plate. On top of the plate was two fried eggs and a bunch of cut
up bananas. “I made something for you.”
Icy sat down and grabbed the plate from Moon. “Thank you,” She replied. Icy picked up
two banana slices with her claws and dropped them into her mouth. She looked up into the sky
and saw a herd of dragons flying overhead. She didn’t recognize most of them, then she saw
Isabelle near the back of the group.
Isabelle and the rest of her group landed by Queen Akcrista. Queen Akcrista spoke to
Isabelle for a moment, then Isabelle screamed, shouted a bunch of things, and sighed in relief.
Icy didn’t know what that was all about, and thought about asking her when she sat down by Icy.
Icy went back to eating her breakfast, then almost choked on her food a minute later
when Isabelle jumped right in front of her and yelled in the loudest voice, “ICY! I GOT SO
SCARED FOR YOU!”
“And… why?” Icy questioned.
“Well, Queen Akcrista told me that you were hurt, and she told me that you went in a
cave and there was an explosion and some dragon attacked you and you were bleeding and I
thought that you might’ve DIED and I thought that maybe you were EXTREMELY hurt and I got
super-duper scared and I screamed and I shouted at her for not being protective enough of her
students but then she told me that you weren’t dead and that you were safe and you only bled a
little bit and you were okay and you were just eating right here.”
“Wow, okay,” Icy replied. “You said a lot without breathing.”
Isabelle sighed in relief and plopped herself on the ground. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”
Icy, Moon, Isabelle and Isaac ate their breakfast and talked for about fifteen minutes
before the Alder group (The group Solar was in) flew into base. Solar got some breakfast for
herself, then sat down in between Moon and Icy.
Solar stuffed a bite of fried eggs into her mouth. “So,” She started, pausing to chew and
swallow her food. “How was your sleep?”
“I had a great sleep, and a terrible day,” Icy replied.
“Me too,” Moon added.
 Dragons of Wonder
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Isabelle nodded her head quickly. “I got super scared to death this morning when I came
over to breakfast!”
“Yeah, it really was pretty scary,” Isaac commented.
Solar looked at Icy, Moon, Isabelle and Isaac for a while. “What happened?” She finally
asked.
“Icy, Moon and… The Sea Dragon got stuck in a cave and Icy’s arm got scratched and
there was an explosion and they almost got set on fire,” Isabelle explained. “When the Queen
told me about that I got super scared.”
“Wow,” Solar replied. “So all three of you went exploring without the rest of your group?”
She questioned, looking at Icy, Isaac and Moon. “That’s pretty dangerous.”
Icy sighed and looked down at her plate. “Yeah, I know. Queen Akcrista told me that
already.”
A few minutes later, the Elm group and the Hawthorn group flew over to base and got
started on breakfast. Since all the groups were at base, Queen Akcrista decided to make an
announcement.
“Hello, students. I hope you all slept well, because after breakfast we are going to go
explore our first cave together! The first cave will be huge; it will have nine huge caverns and it
goes down five hundred feet. So, finish up your breakfasts quickly, and then we will go on our
first exploration!”

* * *

About half an hour had passed since Queen Akcrista announced to everyone that they
would explore the first cave. Dragons took their time to talk and eat their breakfasts, but now
everyone was huddled together and all of them were about to take off.
Queen Akcrista stretched her wings out, as well as everyone else. She leaned down and
put her claws on the desert sand, then she jumped into the air with everyone else following her.
There wasn’t an order in flight like when they flew from the Changing Forest to Kahori; some
ninth year dragons were in the back, some first year dragons were in the front– everyone was in
different places.
Icy was flying with Solar, Isaac, Moon and Isabelle near the back of the group. There was
also a Sky Dragon flying with them; the same Sky Dragon that Icy spotted when they were close
to reaching Kahori.
“Hey, Thunder,” Isaac said to the Sky Dragon, “remember that time when James brought
his family over to visit Dragons of Wonder and Flora asked me to go to a big cave a get lost? It
looks like I’ll be going to a big cave. Her dream will come true.”
“Ha ha, I hope you don’t get lost though, am I right?”
Icy stared at Isaac’s Sky Dragon friend for a while, then she turned to Solar, Moon and
Isabelle. “Do any of you know who this dragon is?” She asked quietly so the Sky Dragon wouldn’t
hear.
Both Solar and Moon nodded, but Solar was the one to speak. “He’s in the Alder group
with me. His name is Thunder, he’s in his third year, and guess what? He’s a prince.”
Icy’s jaw dropped. “A prince?” She questioned. Icy swung her head back at Thunder. She
looked at him for a while, then started to recognize him when he smiled and laughed at one of
Isaac’s jokes. Wow, he’s a prince… That’s cool.
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

They continued to fly for about fifteen more minutes, then Queen Akcrista landed on the
sandy desert floor. There was a big opening of a cave and Icy guessed that was the cave they
were going to explore.
But Queen Akcrista walked right past the big cave and went to the back of it. About thirty
yards ahead of them was a small hole that was surrounded by a few black rocks. Icy wondered if
it was even considered to be a cave.
Queen Akcrista walked right up to the small hole. When she stood directly above it, she
put her talons on her hips and asked, “Well, who wants to go first?”
Everyone stared at her for a moment, nobody saying a word. Were they actually going to
go inside the small hole?
After a while of nobody speaking, Queen Akcrista took another step closer to the hole
and sat down, putting her legs into the hole. “See you all later then!”
Queen Akcrista put her talons on her shoulders and jumped inside. Her whole body–
Her legs, her wings, her head– it all went in the hole. Icy heard the queen whooping and sounds
of something dragging on smooth rocks, then twenty seconds after, the dragging sounds stopped
and she heard footsteps on the ground.
“Come on everybody, come down!” Queen Akcrista’s voice shouted from in the deep hole.
Not a second later, dragons of all years were pushing to the hole and sliding down. There
were about twenty dragons that went down before Icy, Isaac, Solar, Moon, Isabelle and Thunder
went down.
Thunder and all of Icy’s friends went down the hole, and from all of their happy shouts
and joyful screams, Icy guessed it was going to be fun. So Icy dipped her feet into the hole, took
a deep breath, then dropped herself down and went sliding down.
“Whoo!” Icy shouted. For the first five seconds she couldn’t see anything and it was pitch
black, but then a bright and shiny amethyst stuck out from above the ceiling, then another, and
another, and another. Soon the whole ceiling was filled with bright amethysts, then she stopped
sliding as she dropped down and landed in a cave with Queen Akcrista and all the other dragons.
Icy looked around the cave. Surprisingly it wasn’t too dark; in fact, it was quite bright.
Bright amethysts stuck out from walls and ceilings, and at every corner there was a big fire drum
that had flames burning high and bright. Icy saw Queen Akcrista use fire to light one of the fire
drums.
Icy looked at the wall behind the hole. There was a walkway that some dragons started to
go through, and every five meters there was a small fire drum to light the way. As far as Icy could
see, all of the fire drums in the walkway were lighted. She guessed that maybe other dragons
were exploring the cave.
“Icy!” Moon shouted after a minute. "Wasn't the slide super-duper fun?!
“Yes!”
“I was just wondering though, how are we going to get back up?" Moon questioned. “And
if we go back up by climbing up that hole… I mean, what if someone goes down and hit us and
then we have to start all over again?”
Icy shrugged. “Well, Queen Akcrista has lived for more than five hundred years. She’s
smart; She’ll figure something out.”
A few minutes passed, and soon all ninety dragons were down in the cave. The room
where the hole was located was pretty small, and Icy thought that if there were even ten more
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

dragons in the room, they would have to start moving down the hallway and they would start
getting squished together.
Once everyone was down, Queen Akcrista went a few steps into the walkway and looked
in the students’ direction. “Everyone, we will now start exploring this cave. This cave is pretty
basic; this long walkway goes straight through the whole cave then comes to an end. There will
be a small hole at the top of the end of this walkway; don’t go through it. Anyways, to both the
right and left of the walkway there is a cavern, and each cavern varies different sizes.
“I’ll let you all explore with your friends. As long as we’re all in the same cave we can
easily help each other and see if we’re all safe. So go along and have fun!”
The crowd of students rushed through the cave like a stampede running for life. Icy,
Isaac, Solar, Thunder, Moon and Isabelle ran together, and while most of the students had an
idea of going from the first cavern to the last cavern, the six friends thought of going from the
last cavern to the first. So they all immediately ran to the thirteenth cavern and went inside.
The cavern was as big as a house, and a large fire drum was placed in the back of the
room. Shiny amethysts were everywhere, but amethysts weren’t the only gemstone in the room.
There were also massive rubies that stuck out between the wall and the ground. On the ceiling
there were tons of stalactites that dripped small drops of water every second. Because of all the
water dripping from the stalactites, there was a small pool of clear water that got higher and
higher by the second. The pool was also surrounded by small amethysts and rubies.
Moon and Solar went directly to the rubies, Thunder flew up to the top of the cave and
found a platform that he could stand on, Isaac went to the pool of water and Isabelle ran to
touch the amethysts. Icy, though, couldn’t move. It was so beautiful, she couldn’t make a choice
as to where she would go first.
Finally, Solar and Moon made the choice for her. “Icy! Come here!” Solar shouted.
Icy ran to Solar and Moon and looked at some rubies, then noticed that the two Night
Dragons were bending over and looking down. She looked down as well, then saw a small black
sparrow with a twisted wing.
“Aww,” Moon said with a sad voice. “Its wing is all twisted up. It can’t fly.”
The sparrow backed up from Moon by hopping a few steps backward. Moon picked up
the worried bird in her talons, then gently dragged a few claws on the twisted wing. “How’d you
get all twisted up like this? Let’s see if I can help you.”
Moon put the sparrow back down on the ground and used both talons to shift the wing
back in place. The sparrow let out a loud screech of pain for a second, then Moon brushed a few
of its feathers and moved her talons away.
The sparrow opened its closed eyes and looked at its wing. The wing was all fixed and not
twisted anymore. The bird fluttered its wing, then looked at Moon and gave her a chirp of
thanks. The sparrow turned around, then spread its black wings out and jumped into the air.
Moon smiled as she watched the sparrow fly in circles around the cave. “No matter how
your wing gets broken, you’ll always be able to fly again,” She said to Icy and Solar. “That’s the
rule of birds and dragons.”
Icy watched the sparrow for a while and pondered on what Moon said. All birds and
dragons… no matter how much you hurt your wings, you will fly again. She looked at Moon.
“You would be able to fly… unless you’re a Pearl Dragon.”
Solar laughed. “Good one, Icy.”
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

Moon glanced at Solar and slightly smiled, then she turned to Icy. “It is true, though, I
mean– unless you are a Pearl Dragon– but all dragons will be able to fly again if their wings are
damaged.”
“Well… what if your wings get cut off? We don’t have the power to grow back our wings,
unless we’re secretly all Coral Dragons,” Solar mentioned. She burst out into laughter.
Just then, before Moon could reply, Thunder, Isabelle and Isaac walked up to them. “We
better start exploring the next cavern. We don’t have that much time to hang around and talk
about Coral Dragons or– whatever you were talking about,” Isaac told them. “So let’s go explore
the next cavern!”
The six dragons left the cavern and went to the next one. There were two other dragons
in the next one, and the two dragons looked very impressed with the cavern, but it was nowhere
near as beautiful as the last cavern. It had a couple of amethysts here and there, but no rubies
and not even cool-looking stalagmites or stalactites. So after a few minutes of looking, climbing
and flying through the cavern, they moved to the next one.
The next two caverns were amazing; they were like mazes with walls that went every
direction and stalagmites that confused them and made them turn a whole other direction.
There weren’t any gemstones in those caverns, but the caves were very fun.
The cavern after that didn’t have a single fire drum anywhere, because so many rubies
and amethysts lit up the room with their natural glow. The cavern was fairly small, it was about
the size of Mrs. Fern’s greenhouse, but there was almost no place where Icy could step. She had
to fly around the cavern to look at it, and the reflection from the gemstones in Icy’s eyes made it
look like her eyes were a gemstone itself.
After the six dragons looked at the cavern for fifteen minutes, they finally decided to
leave and go to the next cavern. Icy wanted to stay in the beautiful cavern full of gemstones for
the rest of the trip, but she had to remind herself that there were plenty of other beautiful caves
that Icy would be able to explore, and a lot of those caves would have lots of gemstones that she
could look at.
Then, the rest of the caves were mostly the same. A few amethysts here and there, some
stalagmites on the ground and stalactites on the ceiling, and lots of places to climb and search.
There was one cavern with a pile of amethysts on the floor, and Icy looked at that for a while.
She saw an amethyst that was loose and wasn’t attached to the ground, and so Icy picked it up. It
was then when she realized it was polished, cut nicely, and had a stone in the middle. It was a
marquise amethyst; She freely earned ten dollars.
Finally, when all ninety students were done with exploring all of the caverns, Queen
Akcrista gathered all of them back into the room with the hole to speak with them.
“Students, how was your first cave? Was it fun?”
Positive and excited shouts went through the entire room. Icy yelled, “It was the most
amazing thing ever!”
“Okay, okay,” Queen Akcrista said to calm everyone down. “Now, I bet a lot of you have
been wondering how we are going to get back out.”
Icy and Moon exchanged glances, then looked back at Queen Akcrista.
“And, I’ll give you a hint. We don’t go up the way we went down. At the end of the
walkway, there is a small opening at the top. That’s the exit. Now, follow me and let’s get out of
the Sobic cave!”
 Dragons of Wonder
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Sobic? Icy wondered. Did I miss something that the queen said earlier, or what on all of
Ermana is a Sobic?
While Icy kept wondering what Sobic meant, Queen Akcrista led them through the
walkway. A few moments later, when Queen Akcrista made it to the end of the walkway, she
jumped up to the small crack at the top of the walkway, then she crawled through the crack and
called for everyone else to follow her.
A few dragons went before Icy, then it was her turn to go through the crack. She put her
talons on the top of the crack, then pulled herself up and got down on all fours. She leaned down
her neck and crawled through the crack, then after a few seconds of crawling through darkness,
she saw a light ahead of her. She quickly crawled through the rest of the small crack, then met
up with Queen Akcrista, who had just barely lit a small fire drum ahead of them.
Icy went through the last few feet of the crack, then she was able to stand up by Queen
Akcrista. She opened her mouth to ask what “Sobic” was, but then Queen Akcrista started
speaking to a ninth year dragon beside her.
About five minutes later, everyone had gone through the small crack. They all crowded
with each other, then Queen Akcrista did one last check to make sure everyone had come and
then, she led the students through another walkway.
The next walkway had a steep hill, and it raised two feet for every three steps. They
walked up for about five more minutes, then they came above a rock and they saw sunlight and
the desert sand again. The bright sun hurt Icy’s eyes, and it took a few minutes for her eyes to
get used to the light.
“Aw, man,” Moon said as she put a talon above her eyes. “I feel like a vampire. I just want
to hide in the dark forever.”
“Me too,” Solar mumbled. “Maybe it’s just because we’re Night Dragons.”
Icy shook her head. “Nope. The light bothers me so badly. I do want to hide in the dark
forever. It’s what I’m used to.”
Cameron and Snaketooth, the ninth year dragons, flew up to Icy and Moon with most of
the Maple group with them. Snaketooth landed on the ground and announced to Icy and Moon
what they were doing.
“So, what did you both think of the cave we just explored?” Snaketooth questioned.
“Absolutely awesome!” Moon replied. “I really loved the maze-cavern. It was super fun;
Me and my friends played hide and seek in it and it took us ten minutes to finish one round!”
“Then I know you’ll like this next one. Us Maples are going to explore a cave that is super
crazy and is a complete maze. So come on, we better start flying!”

* * *

That night, after the Maple group had finished exploring all the caves they wanted to
(Which was seventeen large caves, not including the first cave that all ninety dragons had
explored), they started to fly to base for dinner. The sun started setting, the sky was pink and
orange and absolutely beautiful. There was a nice breeze in the air, and Icy had a good feeling
about tonight.
They started to fly over base. Snaketooth was leading the group– Cameron was already at
base because she volunteered to help cook for dinner.
 Dragons of Wonder
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Sobic… maybe it means cave in the ancient language? Maybe I just misheard her… or
maybe she’s using a word I just don’t know, Icy thought. She had been wondering what Sobic
meant all day long. She even asked some dragons in her group, and she learned from Sunset, a
seventh year Sand Dragon, that Dragons of Wonder students learn a few words in the ancient
language in their fifth year. Sunset taught her the words “Hello,” and “How are you doing?” but
Icy had already forgotten what both of the words were, but they were irrelevant to figuring out
what Sobic was.
Snaketooth led them to the ground when they were completely over the base. Icy could
tell that Moon and Isaac were going to get dinner, and she knew that Moon assumed that Icy
was going to do the same. But Icy went straight through the place where all the dinner was and
went to Queen Akcrista.
“Queen Akcrista?” Icy questioned. “May I ask you a question?”
The queen turned around and looked at Icy. “Ah, yes Icy. Go ahead.”
“Well, earlier today, when we were exploring the first cave, you said the word Sobic some
time. What does that mean?”
Queen Akcrista smiled. “This is a good question. So, in your fifth year, you will learn the
ancient language from Professor Slitherwick. Two of the many words he’ll teach you is sô, which
means good, and bíc, which means spirit. Now, if you-”
“Wait, sô and bíc? That sure sounds familiar,” Icy replied with a little sarcasm.
“Yes. So if you put the two words together, you get sôbíc, which means good spirit. Well,
anyways, the cave we explored today was also called sobic. I’m not entirely sure that the dragon
who named it called it that in relation to the ancient language, or if they just realized that Sobic,
spelled S-O-B-I-C, made an acronym. Small opening, big cave. I mean, if you take out the I.”
“Oh,” Icy replied. “That’s cool. S for small, O for opening, B for big and C for cave. That’s
really neat.”
Queen Akcrista chuckled. “It indeed is. Now, go ahead and get some dinner. You’ll need
to eat quickly so you can go to bed earlier. I’m sure you’re tired.”
Icy laughed. “I am. Nearly ten hours of climbing, flying, walking around caves and barely
sitting at all… It’s almost as bad as flying from Shera to Kahori.”
Queen Akcrista and Icy laughed, then Icy turned around and left Queen Akcrista. She got
herself a paper bowl, then poured herself some vegetable soup. She saw Solar, Moon, Isabelle
and Thunder sitting in a group, and thought about sitting when them, then she noticed that
Isaac wasn’t there. Instead, he was sitting alone, looking to the sunset.
Icy walked over to Isaac and sat down by him. Isaac didn’t say anything, nor did he even
look at Icy. He just sat there, his bowl empty on his left, and looked into the sunset.
Icy waited for him to say something, but when he said nothing for a minute, Icy scooped
a bite of soup into her mouth and ate.
Finally, when Icy was halfway done with her soup, Isaac said something. “You have fun
exploring today?”
Icy nodded. “Yeah, why?”
Isaac shrugged. “Nothing. I was just wondering.”
Isaac turned his head back and looked at the sun for three more minutes as Icy finished
her soup. When she finished, she placed the bowl and spoon to her right, then looked at Isaac
for a while.
 Dragons of Wonder
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“Icy, I-” Isaac started. He stopped and took a deep breath in, then looked at Icy and
smiled. “I was thinking about you today.”
Icy started to blush. “You were?” She asked. She bit her lip to stop herself from smiling,
but she couldn’t help it.
“It’s, um, probably not what you think it is. I mean- okay. Let’s admit it. I like you, Icy.
Like-like you. But… I got this strange feeling about you. A really weird feeling.”
“I’m feeling it a little bit too.”
Isaac backed away a bit. “No, it’s not that. It was… really weird. I felt like you were going
to… Like you were gonna…”
“Going to what?” Icy questioned, becoming more concerned about herself than having
feelings for Isaac.
Isaac quickly stood up. “You know what? Nevermind. I think a lot of weird things a lot of
times. It’s probably nothing. Everything’s fine. No need to worry about anything.” Isaac leaned
down and picked up his bowl, then walked away from Icy.
Icy watched him go for a moment, then looked at the sunset. Isaac sounded a little bit
worried…
What’s going to happen to me?

* * *

Two days passed by quickly. After Icy had dinner and talked to Isaac, she and her group
flew back to their camp and went to bed. They had a good night’s rest of sleep, and since Icy was
one of the last dragons to wake up, there was no time to explore any caves before everyone went
to breakfast.
After breakfast the next day, the Maple group explored eight big caves, then they went to
lunch at base. When they were at lunch, some teenage Sand Dragons came to base. The Sand
Dragons explained that they walked around the Crystal Desert Caverns and sold drinks five days
out of the week, and nearly everyone bought a cold drink with ice. Icy, using her marquise
amethyst she found in the Sobic cave, bought four lemonades for herself, Solar, Isabelle and
Moon.
Once they finished their lemonades and their lunches, the groups went separate ways
and continued to explore the Crystal Desert Caverns. Before they left, though, Icy and Moon bet
Solar that they’d explore more caves than her. Icy and Moon told the group this, and Cameron
and Snaketooth both agreed to explore at least twenty more caves.
And so, by the end of the day, the Maple group explore a total of thirty one caves.
They easily beat Solar in the bet, and so Solar, in return for exploring less caves than Icy
and Moon, had to go up to a random male ninth year dragon and say that she liked them. Icy
and Moon watched Solar say it three yards behind her, and right when Solar finished, Icy and
Moon burst out into laughter.
Once the Maple group finished their dinner, Snaketooth and Cameron led them back to
camp. They stayed up for three hours before they went to bed, and Icy got to know her group
even more.
During the time that they stayed up, Isaac brought up to everyone that they should
explore the largest cave in the Crystal Desert Caverns, and everyone agreed right away. Cameron
told them that it would take a full day to explore even half of the cave, but she said that if they
 Dragons of Wonder
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went to bed early then they would be able to stay up longer to explore the cave for as long as
possible, and that’s what the did. Not five minutes after Cameron told them all to go to bed, all
of the dragons were in their blankets and were drifting off into sleep.
Early in the morning (At six o’clock), the whole Maple group flew as fast as they could to
get breakfast. They had to wake up Queen Akcrista, and all of them volunteered to help cook.
They really wanted to start exploring that cave as fast as possible.
After a quick breakfast of scrambled eggs, the Maple group left base and flew northward.
They flew for about thirty minutes, then Icy immediately knew when they approached the cave
then a humongous opening appeared in the middle of the desert. The opening was as tall as a
tower and as wide as two mansions standing next to each other. As soon as the Maple group
landed at the opening of the cave, Icy felt like an ant standing next to a big Earth Dragon.
The dragons went inside the massive cave and explored it for about an hour. The tunnels
in the cave were huge, and the whole cave reminded Icy of a tree. There was the main tunnel
that went for a long distance, and every few minutes there was another tunnel that represented
branches. Those branches had even more tunnels, and those represented stems. Each stem had
usually one, but sometimes two, caverns.
Each dragon had a torch of fire in her their talons to help them see in the cave. There
were a bunch of thick pieces of wood by the entrance of the cave, and Flame helped light each of
the thick pieces of wood on fire. Having the torches also helped them light the fire drums in the
cave.
Right now, Icy, Isaac and Moon were exploring one of the branches of the cave. There
was a fork in the cave, and the three of them were debating on which side to go.
“So, right or left?” Isaac questioned Icy and Moon.
Icy was about to answer, then Cactus, Flame and Mallory saw the three dragons. “Hello,”
Flame greeted. “You going right or left?”
“We’re going right,” Icy answered.
“Well, then I guess if you’re going right, we’ll go left,” Mallory replied. “We’ll see you
three later!”
“Oh, but only if you come out alive,” Cactus added. “Maybe since you three will be
exploring the cave alone then the creepy attacking monster dragon will attack you!”
Icy laughed. “Well, maybe the creepy attacking monster dragon will attack you first!”
Flame and Mallory walked into the cavern, but Cactus stayed out for a second longer to
say, “We’ll just see about that!”
Icy used her torch to light up a huge fire drum at the entrance of the cave, but she didn’t
really need to. The whole cavern was lit up with huge, glowing rubies, sapphires and topaz. So
far, it was the most beautiful cavern Icy had seen. There was a rushing waterfall at the top of the
cave that went down and filled a large portion of the cave with water. The water was so clear that
Icy could see every single detail on the floor below the water. Inside the water was also some
shiny sapphires and emeralds.
The sides and ceiling of the cave was filled with amethysts and small pieces of topaz.
Never in Icy’s entire life did she ever think she would see something so beautiful, wondrous, and
interesting. Icy was about to leap into the air and look at everything inside the cave...
Then there was a loud roar that shook the ground. Icy covered her ears, then when it was
done, she turned and looked at Isaac and Moon.
“Was that from our cavern? Please tell me that was from another.”
 Dragons of Wonder
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“It was,” Moon told Icy. “It sounded like it was from-”
“HELP!” Icy, Isaac and Moon heard. “HELP ME! THE DRAGON!” the voice screamed
again.
Icy recognized that voice right away. “Isaac! Moon! That’s Cactus! We need to help him!”
She shouted.
Icy, Isaac and Moon immediately ran to the other cavern beside them, each of them
dropping their torches on the way. Icy ran into the cavern first, then saw Cactus hanging on the
ceiling. Although… he wasn’t attached to the ceiling, he looked as though he might’ve been…
Floating.
Then Icy saw crimson red eyes and wool-white teeth. She only saw the two things, then it
came to her; Whoever was attacking Cactus must’ve been a Camouflage Dragon.
“ISAAC! ICY! ANYONE!” Cactus shouted. “MALLORY! GET SOME HELP!” he screamed.
Flame jumped from the floor and rushed to help Cactus, but before he could get close to
him, something whacked his face and he went flying to the wall. The hit knocked Flame out, but
thankfully he became conscious a moment later.
Moon was so scared, she started crying and screaming. “By the name of Queen Akcrista,
make this stop!” She screamed.
Icy saw the dragon’s eyes turn to her. A few seconds later, the eyes disappeared and
Cactus fell on the ground. Isaac and Mallory went to slow Cactus’s fall, but Icy had her eyes still
in the same place. The place where the dragon’s eyes were.
Why did he look at me, then disappear? She questioned. Icy shook her head, then
focused on Cactus. She ran to him and noticed that he was all scratched up on his chest, and
bleeding on his arm because of a long claw mark.
Then, Queen Akcrista ran inside the cavern. Icy thought at first that she was dreaming
and Queen Akcrista never really came into the cavern, but she wasn’t. There the queen was, as
lucky as the students could possibly be; there Queen Akcrista was, helping take care of Cactus.
Queen Akcrista put a talon underneath Cactus’s head, and the other talon on his chest.
“The only good news I can give is that he’s not dead,” Queen Akcrista said. She moved her talon
from Cactus’s chest to his legs. “He’s not dead. He isn’t. But I’m bringing him back to his home
by the large oasis.”
Queen Akcrista carried Cactus and left the cave, without another word to say. Icy, Isaac,
Moon, Mallory and Flame watched as Queen Akcrista left the cave with Cactus.
I hope that doesn’t happen to me, Icy thought. Or anyone else.

* * *

Icy shifted around in her blankets. It was too early in the morning; The sun hadn’t even
risen yet, but she could see a little bit of pink and yellow in the horizon. Icy didn’t remember
why she woke up.
Then she remembered, it was her dream. It was crazy, scary, but very unrealistic. Some
crazy black dragon attacked Cactus and Queen Akcrista when Queen Akcrista was taking Cactus
back to his home. Queen Akcrista died, and Cactus was left to suffer in pain for a long time, until
eventually he died of hunger and thirst.
It wasn’t a dream, Icy told herself, It was a nightmare. Either way, it’s not real. It’s not
true. Both of them are alive, and Cactus is probably in a Kahorian hospital, taking care of him
 Dragons of Wonder
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this moment. Queen Akcrista has the power to fly as fast as a Whirlwind Dragon, and she’s
probably already back, sleeping peacefully at base.
Everything is okay.
Icy pulled her blankets back up to her chest, then started thinking of rain falling down
from storm clouds. After a few moments of thinking of only that, she started to drift back into
sleep.
But there was one thought, so quiet, peaceful and gentle that she might’ve not thought it
at all. The few words that Icy thought just the fraction of a second before she feel asleep.
He’s coming to kill...

* * *

Today was the last day of exploring the Crystal Desert Caverns. Queen Akcrista let all the
dragons explore on their own; as long as they had at least one friend with them. There was also a
rule to not go any further than a mile away from base, in case the big scary dragon came and
attacked anyone.
Icy had been exploring with her friends, Solar, Isabelle, Moon, Isaac and Thunder for the
last few hours. They explored a few caves, but nothing anything as cool as the Sobic cave or the
massive one that Cactus was attacked in.
For some reason, Icy had been thinking of Cactus a lot. She felt a little paranoid, too, as if
the big scary dragon was going to attack her.
She had to remind herself that the chance of her being attacked was very low, and
whoever attacked Cactus must have had a reason for doing it. Maybe the dragon had some
problems with Cactus’s parents, or maybe Cactus stole something from him. There was all sorts
of possibilites, but nobody would attack somebody for no reason at all, and even if there was
somebody who would just attack a dragon for no reason, then why did he only attack Cactus and
not Flame, Mallory, or anyone else?
Right. Whoever attacked Cactus surely had a reason for doing it, Icy told herself. She
looked ahead and saw a cave ahead of them. It was surely further than a mile from base, but it
wasn’t too much. If they needed help in that cave, Thunder could get Queen Akcrista faster than
anyone else could get her in less than a mile.
“You want to go exploring that cave?” Icy asked her friends as they kept walking closer.
Isaac shrugged. “Sure. Why not?”
The six dragons took three minutes to walk to the entrance of the cave. They stood about
a meter from the entrance, but no one took a step closer.
In fact, Moon and Solar took a step away. “I have a bad feeling about going into that
cave for some reason,” Solar said.
“Me too,” Moon agreed, standing behind Solar. “I don’t know why, but I feel like the
dragon is going to attack us.”
Isabelle flew a few feet backwards, then when she landed, she continued to walk
backwards. “You know what? I, um, I think I have to use the bathroom, so, uh, I’ll just catch up
with you all later. Go ahead and explore the cave as much as you want for now… or maybe we
could explore that other cave?”
“Oh come on you guys! This cave doesn’t have a single tunnel, how bad could it be?”
Isaac asked the trembled dragons. It seemed as if he all of a sudden learned something bad
 Dragons of Wonder
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about the cave. “But, um, Icy, why don’t you take the honors in… going first?” He questioned,
taking a step backwards.
Thunder nodded. “Yeah, you go ahead and go…”
Icy stared at all her friends with a confused face. “Um, sure?” What on Ermana is wrong
with them?
She stared at her friends for a little bit more, then turned around and jumped up to the
cave entrance. Icy looked at her friends one more time before she walked into the cave.
She looked around the cave. It was fairly small; maybe the size of a large classroom.
There were no crystals, no pools, not even a single stalactite or stalagmite. Maybe this cave was a
waste of her time.
Icy heard a light whisper. A whisper so quiet she could only catch a few words. “I will…
her… Rainforest Dragon…”
Icy looked around the cave and searched for anyone who might’ve said that. When she
didn’t see anyone or anything, she turned to look back at her friends. “Are you guys coming?” Icy
questioned.
“Um,” Thunder started, “yeah! We’re… going.”
Icy swung around and continued to look for any dragon who said those words. But, after
a few moments, she gave up and thought, It was probably just one of my thoughts. I can think
of a lot of weird things sometimes.
Icy took a few steps forward and stood in the center of the cave. She looked around for a
little bit more, then decided to leave.
“Now,” A whisper said.
Icy swung around and looked back at the entrance of the cave. She saw a few rocks from
the ceiling fall, so she closed her eyes, covered her head, and bent her back and legs. When all of
the loud sounds stopped, Icy opened her eyes. Thankfully she didn’t get hurt, and the rocks only
covered...
The opening of the cave.
“Icy!” Isaac called out from the other side of the cave. “What’s happening?”
Icy flew to the opening of the cave, which was now closed with giant rocks. She put her
talon on one of the big rocks, then shouted, “It’s okay! I’ll find a way out. We don’t need to get
Queen Akcrista yet.”
Icy turned around and walked about a meter from the center of the cave, then stopped in
her tracks when she heard wingbeats. Loud wingbeats. She looked up slowly, then saw the
dragon she wanted to see the least. She didn’t know how, but she just knew this dragon.
It was the same dragon who attacked Cactus.
He had midnight black scales, as black as the rocks in the cave. His underscales were a
dark, saturated grape purple, and dark violet circles went down his sides. His claws and horns
were dark silver, like a stormcloud in the winter.
He looked exactly like King Dansher when he turned evil at the beginning of the year.
Then it all came to her. King Dansher was the evil attacking monster that scratched Icy’s
arm and nearly killed Cactus. Then even more things made sense: King Dansher was the one
who killed Kiwi and attacked Coconut. He was the one that injured and killed Arthiena’s father.
Icy thought Queen Akcrista killed King Dansher at the beginning of the year, but no; somehow
he was still alive. Somehow he managed to kill and hurt all those dragons without anyone
knowing. Why did he attack all those dragons? Icy had no idea.
 Dragons of Wonder
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But now, she was about to be killed.

Chapter 12
Everlasting Fight
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

“You were the one!” Icy shouted, tears running down her face. “You attacked those poor,
innocent Rainforest Dragons! You killed a father of three children, you killed a young seven year
old, you attacked the seven year old’s twin that could’ve died because of you, you almost killed
Professor Storm and now he can’t even fly, you hurt Cactus and made Flame pass out! Worst of
all, you betrayed the whole school and you’re becoming evil? What the heck is wrong with
you?!”
The huge dragon snorted. “I attacked them for a reason, and a big reason at that,” The
king answered. He looked straight into Icy’s eyes. “And now… you are going to be killed for an
even bigger reason.”
Icy knew she was going to die. She knew it. But there was a spark in her that made her
feel like she had to fight, even if it was all going to be pointless and she would die anyways.
King Dansher roared so loud it shook the floor and hurt Icy’s ears, then, while Icy was
covering her ears, he flew as fast as a Whirlwind Dragon to Icy, then breathed hot, dark fire onto
Icy’s face.
But, before the fire could hit her, Icy created a huge clump of ice to protect herself from
being burnt. The clump of ice melted quickly as King Dansher kept blowing the fire, then finally,
when he couldn’t blow the fire onto her, he stopped and backed a few steps away.
Icy threw the melting clump of ice onto the ground, then lifted up her tail and aimed at
King Dansher. Using Mrs. Hollen’s teachings, she shot fifteen icicles at King Dansher’s feet.
King Dansher avoided all of the icicles easily, except for the last one. The last icicle hit
the king’s ankle, which made him stumble and almost trip and fall on the floor. But quickly,
before he could fall, he used his enormous wings and started flying.
Then King Dansher opened his wide mouth and breathed a huge cloud of smoke. The
smoke covered the entire cave, and Icy couldn’t see anything. The smoke also made Icy cough
repeatedly.
Icy looked around the cave for a few moments and tried to search for King Dansher as
she backed up and coughed. She took one step backwards, then felt something scaley and soft;
King Dansher’s foot.
King Dansher wrapped his arm around Icy’s neck and started to choke her, but it wasn’t
much different from the smoke. She couldn’t really breathe before; what difference was it if she
was choking?
Icy bit King Dansher’s arm and moved her talon backwards with all of her speed and
strength to punch him in the face. King Dansher immediately let go and howled in pain, giving
Icy just enough time to run to the end of the cave and start to think of a plan.
Ice in his eye? No, that’s too small of a target; freeze his feet to the ground? Step on his-
Icy’s thoughts were immediately interrupted when the king flew right at Icy. Icy screamed and
tried to run away, but it was too late.
 Dragons of Wonder
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King Dansher grabbed Icy’s right arm, and using the strength of an Earth Dragon, he
bent Icy’s bone in a way that it wasn’t supposed to be, then continued bending Icy’s wing until
Icy heard a snap. That wasn’t good at all.
Icy let out a high pitched scream and cried. The pain was more than Icy thought she
would ever be feeling, and it was more than she could handle. She felt like just letting the king
kill her would make the rest of her short life less painful and better. But she still had a hope that
she would win.
Oh Moon, I hope you weren’t just kidding when you said that no matter how bad you
hurt your wing, you’ll always fly again… Icy thought as she cried and held her wing with her
left talon.
The king heavily stomped over to Icy slowly, an evil smile on his face and claws twitching
as he got closer and closer to Icy.
When King Dansher was only a foot away from grabbing Icy, Icy lifted her leg and kicked
King Dansher in the face, giving her just enough time to run away. She held her wing with her
left talon and ran to the blocked entry of the cave. “ISAAC, SOLAR, ISABELLE, THUNDER,
MOON HELP!” Icy screamed at the top of her lungs. Thankfully, Icy heard banging, pounding
and shifting on the rocks, and Thunder saying he’d get Queen Akcrista.
The king came storming for Icy again. “STOP FIGHTING!” he screamed. “YOU KNOW
YOU ARE GOING TO DIE!” The king flew a few feet above the ground and picked up Icy’s tail.
He carried her to the center of the cave, then dropped her head-first on the rocks. Next, he blew
a ring of fire around Icy.
Fortunately, the king couldn’t really make a tall ring of fire around Icy. The fire only went
above the ground about an inch, so all Icy had to do was freeze it with a few cubes of ice.
After Icy was done putting out the fire, she ran up to King Dansher, who looked like he
was concentrating on doing work around noisy kids. She wasn’t exactly sure what he was doing;
but she didn’t care. She ran up to him and jumped…
Then fell down on the floor. For some reason, the bottom of her foot was in so much
pain. She sat down and looked at it, then noticed her foot was covered in crimson red blood. She
looked around to find what could’ve hurt her so badly, then saw a small silver spike that stuck
out of the ground. That was what she must’ve stepped on.
Then she realized a moment later that the spike was growing larger and larger, and seven
more spikes were growing around her. She tried to run away, but before she could; she was
surrounded.
Well, if I can’t fly over these, I might as well climb, Icy told herself. She stood up and
touched one of the spikes with her talon, then immediately pulled back.
“I would recommend not touching those, they’ll BURN you to DEATH!” the king shouted
with an evil smile on his face. He circled Icy as the spikes got higher and higher.
Icy roared louder than an exploding star, then she used her ice to freeze up the burning
spikes. The spikes stopped growing, and the heat was cooled down. Icy easily climbed up the
metal spikes, then when she was at the top of a spike, she jumped off and used her left wing to
fly to the king.
“RRRRAAAAAA! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” The King shouted as Icy jumped onto his
back.
Icy looked down and ripped off at least twenty scales on the king’s back, then was about
to scratch his neck when the king threw Icy off.
 Dragons of Wonder
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Icy screamed and fell onto the cave floor. She didn’t have the time to use her ice and
freeze the king up or anything, so she picked up a rock and threw it at the king’s face.
King Dansher had been flying towards Icy, but he stopped when the rock hit his face. The
whole cave was quiet, just for a second, as King Dansher made a confused face at Icy. He started
flying again, then Icy threw another rock at his face.
“ARGH! ENOUGH OF THIS!” He shouted. The King flew at full speed and hit Icy’s head
with his body. After he hit Icy, he backed up and rubbed his side.
Icy blacked out for a few seconds and couldn’t see anything at all. In those few seconds,
she reached her talons back and felt her horns, and gasped when she felt her horns cracked in
various places. Ice Dragon horns were supposed to be as hard as diamonds, yet King Dansher
easily broke them. And the thing was; horns didn’t grow back, so Icy would be stuck with
cracked horns for the rest of her life.
But out of all things happening, cracked horns was the least important thing to worry
about. King Dansher was charging at full speed to hit Icy’s head again, and so Icy had to quickly
move out of the way.
Then, while Icy was rolling away from King Dansher, she remembered how Kandras
attacked and killed their prey. Instead of running to them, they attacked from above. Using her
adrenaline, Icy climbed up the wall and held onto some rocks on the ceiling, then climbed
directly above King Dansher.
Before King Dansher could react to Icy climbing on top of the ceiling, Icy dropped herself
and landed right on top of King Dansher’s back. She rolled over and held onto King Dansher’s
horns for safety, and was about to freeze his feet to the ground when she was just too excited
about her small success.
“I did it, I DID IT!” Icy screamed in excitement. “You’re going down, King Dansher!” She
opened her mouth and got ready to freeze his feet to the floor, but before she could, King
Dansher reached back and punched Icy’s face.
Her nose hurt and a river of blood went from her forehead and dropped onto the king’s
back. Tears flooded her eyes and she stopped holding onto King Dansher’s horns to hold her face
and touch her forehead. In that small amount of time when she wasn’t holding onto the king, he
knocked Icy off and she fell right onto her back.

The king turned around and looked at Icy, who was trying her best to get back up again.
“MY MAJESTA,” King Dansher shouted. “YOU KNOW YOU’RE GOING TO DIE, SO JUST STOP
FIGHTING AND LET ME KILL YOU!”
Icy grunted. “Never!” She yelled back. Using all the strength she could possibly use, Icy
stood up and shot a shard of ice at King Dansher’s wing.
Icy was amazingly surprised when the sharp shard of ice actually hit King Dansher. It hit
King Dansher’s wing, and he immediately stopped flying and stood on the ground instead. His
left wing was still up and high, but his right wing (The wing that was hit by the shard of ice) was
dragging on the floor.
“YOU STUPID, DUMB, IDIOT ICE DRAGON!” King Dansher insulted. “THIS DAY WILL
BE A LOT NICER IF YOU JUST COOPERATE WITH ME!” King Dansher lifted up his tail and
shot ten black razor-sharp leaves.
Icy was somehow able to dodge all of the spikes, except for the last one that the king hit.
The last razor-sharp leaf cut Icy’s leg, and a bit of blood showed up. Then, while Icy looked down
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

at her left leg, King Dansher flew over to her and punched her shin. Her lower part of her left leg
was broken; and Icy couldn’t walk or fly at all.
Icy used her arms to push herself to the closed entrance of the cave. “Moon? Isabelle?
Anyone?” Icy cried softly. She wiped her eyes to remove all the tears from her face, but it wasn’t
worth it. Just reaching her arm up to her face hurt.
Then, she heard wingbeats from outside. “Icy! Queen Akcrista is here!” The voice of
Thunder yelled. Two seconds later, she heard both Thunder and Queen Akcrista pounding on
the rocks.
The king roared, flew up to Icy and grabbed Icy in his talons. “You’re going to die. Even if
those jerks do happen to open up the entry, they’ll have to get over me.”
King Dansher opened his mouth widely to breathe fire onto Icy’s head, but before he
could breathe fire, Icy breathed ice and filled up the king’s mouth with hard, cloudy ice.
King Dansher let go of Icy so he could punch the ice, but after a few punches and no ice
breaking, he breathed fire and about five seconds later, all of the ice melted into hot water.
In that time that the king was figuring out how to remove the ice from his mouth, Icy ran
to the back of the cave. She punched the rocky wall many times, as if punching the wall would
save her from dying.
Once King Dansher was done getting rid of the ice in his mouth, he came storm to Icy.
He was flying at full speed, ready to kill her with the final blow. As fast as a Whirlwind Dragon
could fly, as fast as a cheetah could run, as fast as a falcon could dive. He beat his wings as hard
as he could, his mouth wide open, his lungs ready to breathe deadly fire, his long, sharp claws
ready to scratch Icy like a cat would tear up a cushion.
The there was a beam of light, a light as bright as the sun. Icy thought she died and this
was the light that sent her to heaven, but then the light faded away just a half a second later.
Somehow, as if it was magic, she moved just two feet away, and the king bonked his head onto
the rocky wall. A miracle had happened; that was for sure. She didn’t know if Queen Majesta
saved her life or if it was something else that made her live. But somehow, she moved just a foot
or two away, and instead of King Dansher attacking Icy; blowing fire, scratching her up and
killing her, King Dansher bonked himself onto the rocky wall.
Rocks started to fall from the ceiling of the cave, and every rock that fell hit the king and
piled up. Icy used her left wing to fly away from the falling rocks to the closed opening of the
cave.
The whole ceiling and the wall behind the king fell onto him. He roared loudly and grun-
ted and screamed for help, but Icy wouldn’t dare help him, not after what he did to her.
Then the rocks stopped falling, and the rocks covered every part of his body except for
his left talon. His talon reached for Icy and shook as he reached further and further, then his
talon fell to the ground and didn’t move one bit. Icy didn’t know if she killed the king or just
knocked him out, but as long as the king couldn’t hurt her any longer, then she was fine.
Then a rock from the opening of the cave was pulled away, and just a few seconds later,
half of the rocks that covered the opening of the cave was pulled away. Knowing that she was
safe, Icy lied down on the floor, and the last thing she saw before she fell asleep were the worried
faces of Solar, Isaac, Moon, Isabelle, Thunder, and Queen Akcrista.

* * *
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

Icy woke up in Dragons of Wonder. She was in a hospital bed. Queen Akcrista was
standing beside her, and it felt like the whole school was there too. Kuluca, Arthiena and
Tagmazza were all standing close to her, plus Mrs. Seeda, Coconut, Pargranian, Tangerine and
Balaba. And also, the face she wanted to see for nine months now was there, too. Mom.
“Oh honey, why did I ever let you go to Dragons of Wonder?” Rasinea asked, dragging
the back of her talon onto Icy’s face. “I should’ve known bad things would happen to you if you
weren’t home in Navitee…”
Icy opened her eyes a peak and moved her head. “I'm- I'm still alive?” Icy questioned in a
hoarse voice. Every dragon in the hospital room brightened up and put a smile on their face.
“She’s alive!” Tagmazza exclaimed. She turned to her friends. “I was right and you were
wrong!” She chanted in a sing-song voice.
Moon and Isaac pushed through the crowd of dragons. They both hugged Icy tightly, and
didn’t let go for what felt like a minute. When Isaac and Moon finally let go, Isaac looked at her
in a worried, yet happy way, while Moon was crying and flooding her face with tears. “I- I can’t
tell if these are sad tears to see you like this, or if these are happy tears to see that you’re alive. I
honestly can’t tell,” Moon told Icy. “You know what? Maybe they’re both happy and sad.”
Isaac sighed. “I’m happy to see you alive, but I absolutely hate to see you like this,” Isaac
told her. He took his tail in his talons, then leaned back down and kissed Icy on the cheek. Then
immediately he walked back into the crowd.
“Aww,” Basically every dragon watching her said.
All of a sudden, Isabelle ran through the crowd and hugged Icy, her face wet with tears.
“I love you and I hate to see you like this and I hate that you got in trouble and I love you!” She
screeched. “But… don’t get involved in any more fights, okay?”
Icy softly laughed. “I will certainly try.”
Sunflower and Leopard ran up to Icy and hugged her for a few seconds, then both let go.
“Man, Icy, Queen Akcrista told me about the Crystal Desert Caverns, and I’m kind of glad that I
didn’t go,” Sunflower said first. “Anyways, what you did, Icy, was amazing. Queen Akcrista said
that it was King Dansher you defeated, because she recognized King Dansher’s voice when he
was screaming. I just… I can’t believe that King Dansher turned evil.”
“Yeah,” Leopard agreed. “I actually can’t believe he’s alive. I thought Queen Akcrista
killed him at the beginning of the year.”
“Me too,” Icy commented. “I also figured something out. King Dansher was the one who
attacked all those Rainforest Dragons.”
“What?!” Sunflower, Leopard, and all the Rainforest Dragons shouted.
Mrs. Seeda growled lightly. “If King Dansher ever becomes good again, I’m going to have
a word with him.”
Sunflower nodded. “Yeah, I’m really surprised though… I mean, King Dansher? I almost
guessed him, but then I reasoned with myself and I thought: There’s no way King Dansher
attacked the Rainforest Dragons. Turns out, he actually was the one!”
Leopard nodded. “Yep. Anyways, let’s go back Sunflower, in case anyone else wants to
talk to Icy.”
Sunflower and Leopard backed up and walked into the crowd, then some dragons moved
away and Icy could hear footsteps getting closer to her.
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

A golden Lightning Dragon with black underscales, shiny sapphire blue eyes, and misty
light gray horns walked up to Icy. “You don’t know me,” He started, which made Icy a little
confused. “I mean, I’m sure we’ve met, but you probably don’t remember me.”
“Just tell me what you’re going to say,” Icy said to him.
The Lightning Dragon took a deep breath. “Gather your thoughts James, Gather your
thoughts,” He told himself, closing his eyes and patting his talons on his sides. “I'm James. We
met when I got you for the dinner thing on the first day we were at Dragons of Wonder. No, I
didn’t like you, I mean, I didn’t know you, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t, not, like you. Right? Is
um, is that what you’re supposed to say? Anyways, I just thought that what you did for all of us,
or, you, or, whatever you did, I thought, I just thought that was pretty brave of you. And cool. I
mean, not that you got hurt, but that you defeated a dragon bigger than you. Wait, was he bigger
than you? Of course he was- um, smaller? Bigger, bigger, right. But his- his brain was definitely
smaller-”
“We get it,” Queen Akcrista interrupted.
“Oh, um, right. Yeah. So, yeah. That was pretty cool,” James concluded. He looked at
Queen Akcrista, then backed up into the crowd.
Then, surprisingly, Scarlett ran up to Icy and hugged her. “I am so, so sorry,” She said
under tears. “I don’t know why I decided to not be friends with you, I was just being a dumb
jerk-face, ignoring you and betraying you- Just because you didn’t want to talk to me at the
moment? That happened to me a lot, I told you that I didn’t want to talk, and you completely
accepted that. Yet when you didn’t want to talk to me… Oh, I’m such an idiot.”
Icy smiled. “I forgive you. I know how Fire Dragons can act.”
Scarlett let out a small laugh. “Yeah, I guess it’s in my blood, then.”
Scarlett backed away into the crowd, then all of the school teachers came up. Professor
Slitherwick was the first to talk. “That was… very brave of you Icy. I have to admit that. Even I,
Slitherwick Shadow Eclipse, could not have done anything like that,” Slitherwick told her,
making Icy laugh a little.
Slitherwick ignored Icy’s laughs and sighed, backing into the crowd. Next, Professor
Storm came up. “Icy, I have no idea what you did, or how you did it. No idea at all. But how you
survived and defeated a dragon that size... I don’t think anyone could do that. You’re special.
And doing that,” Professor Storm looked over at Slitherwick, then turned back at Icy. “I give you
a pass for any detention in Dragons of Wonder,” Professor Storm told Icy. “I mean, I don’t think
you’ll need it, but, just in case,” he said, nodding his head over in Slitherwick’s direction.
Icy brightened up, then looked over at Slitherwick, whose face was as red as a tomato.
“Sorry Slitherwick, for ruining a thousand futures,” Icy laughed.
Mrs. Coral came up to Icy, with a notebook in her talons. “I have no idea WHAT ON ALL
OF ERMANA YOU WERE THINKING, but I love it. I know I’m not much of a writer, but I
would love to write a story about what you did. Sometime next year, if you do come to Dragons
of Wonder, I would like you to tell me every detail of what you did,” Mrs. Coral said.
“I will,” Icy promised. “I’ll come back to Dragons of Wonder, and I’ll tell you every detail
on what I did.” She looked over at Mrs. Coral as she smiled and backed away into the crowd of
dragons.
Queen Akcrista smiled. “Does anyone else have anything to say?” She asked the crowd.
Solar came up, with a few dragons pushing her around, insulting her with rude words
and making fun of her.
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

When Solar approached Icy, she said, “I hate to see you like this. I really do. But
whatever you did back there to, uh, King Dansher, I think you did good. You’re amazing. You
really are. And… It was really cool.”
Icy smiled at Solar. “Thank you, Solar. You’re pretty amazing too.” She turned her head
to look at everyone. “All of you. You’re all amazing. Being here, helping me get back to Shera,
comforting me and teaching me throughout Dragons of Wonder… This year has had bad times,
a lot of bad times, but it’s also had a lot of good times, because of you all. So, once again, thank
you.”
The whole crowd smiled. Icy felt good. She was extremely hurt, with tons of broken
bones, but she knew who she was now. She was a fighter, a warrior. And whatever it took, she
knew she would fight for her family, her friends, and Dragons of Wonder.
I’m a hero.

Epilogue

Queen Majesta hated this. She hated every single bit of it. Her daughter’s husband, the king,
had just been defeated. Maybe even killed. And most importantly, she was in a little girl’s body.
And not just any little girl, she was in a Rainforest Dragon’s little girl’s body. Also, it was so hot
in the Crystal Desert Caverns. Why did Dansher choose such a hot place to live in? Why did he
kill a Rainforest Dragon for her to live in? If Dansher is alive, he’s going to receive a lot of my
complaints.
But I can’t attack a dragon! That is just so MEAN!
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

That was the other thing. Part of her thoughts were thoughts of her own, and the other
half was a little girl’s thoughts. All about Coconut, whoever that was, and friends and saving the
world. She wanted to be a REAL dragon. Not a half sinister, half loving-friendly-little-girl
dragon.
Coconut, I wish you were here. You’re my best friend and amazing sister! Queen
Majesta shook her head. I'm a six hundred year old dragon, and I am the evil Galaxy Dragon
watching over the Star System and I absolutely love to blow up planets from other galaxies.
But that’s bad, I should never do that. Ugh, get out of my head! Queen Majesta thought.
Majesta flew over to another cave to see if King Dansher was in it. She saw a giant pile of
rocks, and a dark purple talon sticking out from the rocks. Majesta used her powers to remove
all the rocks from above him. Her chest hurt for a few seconds, then she regained her strength.
When the king opened his eyes and coughed, Majesta started to argue. “You couldn’t
even kill a small Ice Dragon. SERIOUSLY?!” she started.
The king stood up, tucked his wings in, and raised his head high. “Well, I had a feeling
that maybe it was Reyla-”
“DON’T YOU DARE SAY THAT NAME!” Queen Majesta shouted. She hated that name.
It reminded her of too many bad things. Queen Majesta never ever wanted to hear it again.
“Even then, I made you so that you’d be more powerful than her! MORE POWERFUL, AND YET
YOU ALMOST DIED,” Queen Majesta shot back.
The king raised his head up higher. “Well, it takes a long time, more than ten months to
learn how to use powers I had not had for five hundred years!” He argued. “But I’ll make it up to
you, I promise.”
Majesta snorted. “I gave you dark powers. Except for the fact that it’s dark, it’s not much
different from your all-powers you had. First it was fire, now it’s dark fire. First it was spikes,
and now it’s dark burning-to-death-spikes,” she explained.
The king sighed. “I’m sorry. It’s just, not what I was used to before. But now I’ll learn to
control these new powers, and soon enough, it’ll be like I always had these powers,” He said
truthfully.
“Good,” Queen Majesta replied. I’m being really mean. Ugh, get out of my head you
baby dragon! Hey, that was rude! I should never say that to anyone! Queen Majesta shook her
head. “And also, why’d you get me a seven year old dragonet for me to live in? I keep having
these weird thoughts about being nice! When was the last time I was nice?” Queen Majesta
argued.
The king thought about that for a minute, then lowered his head. “You were nice until...
you saw me fall in love with Queen Akcrista. Ever since then… you’ve just been evil and cruel,
destroying planets, stars, even whole star systems...” The king admitted.
Queen Majesta sighed, frowning, then smiled. She put her talon under the King’s chin.
“Oh, you are correct,” She said. “But now, you have a better life with your mother-in-law. And
I’m giving you a second chance. So obey my orders, and then, and only then, I’ll let you be with
my daughter, Queen Akcrista,” Queen Majesta promised.
King Dansher bowed his head. “Yes queen,” He obeyed.
“Good again.”
There was a pause. “Oh, and also, the next hideout you choose, make sure it’s not in the
desert, because I HATE the heat,” Queen Majesta ordered.
“Easily done,” The king responded.
 Dragons of Wonder
The Big Change

Queen Majesta and King Dansher were silent for a long time. Finally, Majesta broke the
silence, saying, “Get me a Lightning Dragon. I quite like those dragons. I fell in love with one,
actually, when I was only a little girl, about eighteen. Get me one with scales bright, shiny
golden, and make sure he’s a smart one. One who’s good with electricity. That’s exactly how Karl
was,” Majesta said. She sighed. “I wish he was still here.”
The king fidgeted with his claws. “Isn’t that too much to ask? What if there isn’t even a
dragon who’s like that? Golden-scaled-Lightning Dragons are super rare, much less good with
electricity,” King Dansher asked.
Respond nicely. That’s what mommy and daddy would want you to do. There was that
voice AGAIN! Queen Majesta escaped the little girl’s body, even if it meant she was just a spirit
that would leave to space in just a few seconds. She just couldn’t stand having all those thoughts.
“Don’t make me mad, son-in-law. I've looked at all the dragons in our star system. There is one,
and he even talked to that Ice Dragon that attacked you,” She told King Dansher. “And he’s even
a descendant of Karl,” She continued. Queen Majesta paused and did an evil chuckle.
“His name, is James.”