Page 51 of Searching for Thanksgiving

Morah nodded. She looked at Pearl, James, and Leo. They grinned, shifted, and took off down the tunnel. She shimmered, shifted into her golden dragon and raced after them.

The tunnels were narrow, but surprisingly well formed. From the looks of them, Spring had made and upgraded them over the years. Morah wished her dragon could tunnel the way Spring’s could.

I don’t! Get my nails dirty, her dragon responded with a shudder of distaste.

It didn’t take long for the small group to come to the end of the tunnel. Morah reached up and grabbed Leo and James' hands when they reached down to help her out. They emerged between a low hedge and the set of stone steps leading down.

Pearl placed her fingers against her lips and pointed. Morah peered through the leaves. Four warriors stood guard. She nodded and pointed at the locked gated door that led down to the deeper dungeons of the palace. She had never been on this side before.

James crooked his finger and crawled out from behind the bush, slipping down over the shallow wall, and disappearing from sight. Leo followed James. Pearl motioned for her to go next.

Morah crawled out. A cough made her freeze, and she looked toward the guards. Two of the men were talking in low voices.

“Do you think they will be able to destroy it?” the guard was asking.

“Yes. There is a way. Lord Zoran and the others were able to defeat Raffvin and his abominations before,” the other guard replied.

“I read of their battle in training school,” the first replied.

“There is supposed to be a special stone that can capture the evil. When it does, the Priestess is able to call the symbiot to her and release it back into the Hive,” a third guard said.

“I would love to see such a feat. I can’t imagine the pain that traitor to Valdier will experience when he loses his symbiot,” the first guard said.

“His dragon will go mad. He will beg for death,” the fourth guard muttered.

Morah swallowed and slid down into the narrow stoop. Pearl jumped down lightly beside her with a grin. She was in her cat form.

Morah waited as James unlocked the door. Pearl kept a keen eye on the guards. The click of the locking mechanism made all of them cringe. Pearl shook her head when Morah shot her a questioning look. The guards, deep in their conversation about the torture waiting for Devon and his dragon, missed the noise.

Leo pulled the gate open far enough for James to squeeze through. Morah and Pearl followed James before Leo slipped through and carefully closed the gate. They hurried down the long, dark corridor until it reached a large, round room with passages leading in different directions. Dismay filled Morah as she counted eight different openings.

“Do we know which ways to go?” Pearl asked.

James bit his lip and looked at each one. He walked toward one, only to stop and turn to another. He finally stopped on the third opening and looked at Morah with a confused expression.

“Amber and Jade didn’t gives me a map to here. They just told me where it was,” he said.

“I…” Leo started to say before Pearl interrupted him.

“Even if we each takes a tunnel, we might nots find them,” Pearl groaned.

“We don’t needs—” Leo said before James cut him off.

“My communicator isn’t workings down here,” James said.

“Why doesn’t anyone ever listens—” Leo started again.

“We gots to try. We has to find them before my mommy, daddy, and the others gets here,” Morah replied before she stopped when Leo huffed and walked by them toward the fourth tunnel.

“Leo, where are you goings?” Morah asked.

Leo shrugged and looked over his shoulder. “I’m goings to the chamber. No one ever asked me anythings.”

“What are we supposed to asks you?” Morah demanded.

Leo grinned and pointed. “Where all these tunnels go.”

Pearl frowned. “Do you know where they goes?”

Leo’s grin widened. “Yep! I play down here all the times.”

Morah blinked and stared at Leo. “Why?”

“Because I likes exploring,” he replied with a shrug.

“Oh… okay. We’ll follows you,” she said.

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