PROLOGUE Long ago before our time there was a land called Kumandra where humans lived alongside water dragons The dragons brought water rain and peace to the land to help it flourish And the humans lived in harmony caring for one another Life in Kumandra was paradise But then the Druun came spreading like wildfire to consume life Whoever they touched turned to stone A mindless virus the Druun cared for nothing Their only goal was to spread and multiply Dragons valiantly fought the Druun battling to save humanity but it wasn't enough One by one the great and mighty dragons were turned to stone Until there was only one left When all seemed lost Sisudatu the last dragon summoned every bit of her magic and power and placed
it in a gem Then she climbed to the highest point in Kumandra and brought forth a great explosion When the dust cleared the Druun were gone and so was Sisudatu The humans who had been turned to stone came back to life But the dragons did not And all that remained of Sisu was the glowing blue Dragon Gem the last remnant of dragon magic Without the dragons peace and harmony disappeared Kumandra split into five enemy lands Tail Spine Talon Fang and Heart that fought to possess the Dragon Gem It had to be hidden The Dragon Gem now resides in a secret chamber in Heart guarded by the warrior Chief Benja the baddest blade in all the lands No one has ever gotten near the Gem until now
CHAPTER ONE In a dark room in the Land of Heart a young warrior readied for battle Twelve-year-old Raya pulled on gloves She grabbed her bamboo fighting sticks and tied a dark mask over her face After a quick pause to pull her hair back she slipped out into the night Outside the damp night air felt charged with electricity though whether it was from the thunderstorm or Raya's own excitement it was hard to say She ran lightly over the tiled rooftops of Heart Fortress Her slippered feet hardly made a sound as she leapt catlike from building to building then jumped to the ground The first raindrops splashed down covering Raya's tracks as she hurried toward the Chamber of the Dragon Gem The fortress sat atop a natural stone arch at the center
of Heart Beneath a tangle of leaves and vines Raya found the hidden doorway that led inside She glanced around making sure she was unseen then sneaked in Raya crept through the torch-lit tunnel sliding her hands along the walls She could feel the shapes of dragons that had been carved there centuries before Raya paused Something didn't feel right There was a groove in the wall that was deeper than the carvings She knelt and examined the damp cobblestones that lined the tunnel floor One stone was looser than the rest Carefully Raya pressed it WHOOSH A net dropped from the ceiling right on the spot where she was standing But Raya had been expecting it She rolled backward easily dodging the trap Looks like someone's trying to be clever Raya murmured Reaching into her satchel she pulled out a small ball covered in hard scales When she tapped it with her finger the ball partly uncurled revealing two bright black eyes and a cute furry face All right Tuk Tuk Raya said to the little nimal Let's show em what clever really looks like She placed her pet on the ground Tuk Tuk curled back into a scaly ball then rolled down the tunnel triggering
