CHAPTER 1
FACE-OFF IN TINKER TOWN

Zuli Cloud usually got along better with dragons than with people. She didn’t know why she had thought things would be any different with this Windblast boy. But now her cheeks grew hot. She narrowed her eyes at him. Her fist clenched around her pliers.

Zuli Cloud, a girl with light skin and long dark hair, scowls at Tad, a boy with light brown skin and short light hair, who is arguing with her next to a table filled with gadget parts.

“I should have known you’d ruin it—you’re just a Storm Watcher!” Tad yelled. He angrily threw his gadget onto Zuli’s worktable. Gems, wires, and tools scattered everywhere.

Heads turned to watch them. Tad’s voice echoed through the surrounding tunnels and workshops. All of Tinker Town heard him. The lower levels of the International School of Dragon Training probably did too.

Zuli’s stomach clenched. She had worked hard to place the gems in the exact right spot on Tad’s gadget. She hadn’t seen him test it with his dragon’s magic. But Zuli was sure it would help direct currents of air as planned. She had triple-checked her numbers and measurements. She had even used vinegar to clean off the rust on the metal for him.

“It was broken when you gave it back to me!” Tad shouted.

Well, it’s certainly broken now, Zuli thought. But she kept that to herself.

Aloud, she said, “I don’t think that’s right. I—”

“I never should have asked you to help,” Tad said, interrupting. “You’re supposed to be the best tinkerer! My gadget was better before. Now I don’t have one at all.”

Zuli tried to respond, but Tad wouldn’t listen. He stormed off down a tunnel. No one ever listened to Zuli. In fact, most people didn’t even pay any attention to her. She usually didn’t mind. But this time, she snapped.

“Good!” Zuli called after Tad. “I’ll never have to make anything for you again!”

Or anyone else, Zuli added to herself. She often didn’t mind helping others with their gadgets. But she hated the way Tad made her so angry.

That’s it. I’m done helping people, Zuli told herself. It’ll be better this way. Now I’ll have time to finish my own new gadget.

With a sweep of her arms, Zuli scooped up the scattered parts of her weather gadget. She stormed past the other students who were waiting to get her tinkering help. A few students held out their gadgets. Some had gems tied in strings or wires to other objects. Others had gems molded into clay or stuck on with putty.

“Can you help me…,” one Ridge Rider girl started to ask.

“Could you just look at…,” began a Treefielder boy.

But Zuli hurried away from them all. She’d come back for her tools when everyone went to bed. She wouldn’t waste her time on them anymore.

Zuli followed a maze of twists and turns to the tunnel’s exit. The western sky glowed bright orange with the sunset. Zuli followed the rocky path to the storm serpent caves. She stopped at a familiar entrance.

“Got room for me to stay in here with you, Rainbow?” Zuli called.

Pearly, shiny scales flashed in a beam of sunlight. The long body of Zuli’s dragon glided forward. Zuli grinned, and she ducked inside. She dropped her bundle of items next to the cave wall.

Rainbow’s silky mane tickled Zuli’s cheek. She touched her forehead to Rainbow’s snout.

“Oh, it’s so good to see you!” Zuli said with a sigh. She scratched her dragon’s head between her two horns. Rainbow pushed closer, and Zuli had to step back to avoid being knocked over. She giggled and gave Rainbow a huge hug.