CHAPTER 7
THE BREWING STORM

With Rainbow doing better, Zuli grabbed her weather gadget and headed outside. She didn’t know what else to do. She wasn’t any closer to finding answers. Maybe doing something else would clear her mind. Then she could make a new plan.

Lost in her thoughts, Zuli hadn’t seen Rainbow follow her. But when the dragon drizzled a little, Zuli turned to see her watching through the light mist. She set down her gadget. Then she gave Rainbow a sad grin and scratched between her horns. “All right then, let’s finally test this gadget.” She gave her dragon a long hug.

Behind her, Zuli heard her gadget whirring and ticking. Startled, Zuli twisted around. Rainbow had stretched out her long neck and was touching the spike with her nose. She had used her magic! And, Zuli noticed, she wasn’t drizzling at all.

“Huh. It’s like your magic is leaking when you drizzle. So it can’t be used for anything else. But when you stop drizzling, you can use your magic again!”

As Zuli said the words, a sprinkle of rain spattered the rocks. The gadget sputtered to a stop. Rainbow shook her mane, and it stopped sprinkling. She quickly touched the spike again with her nose. It started working again.

Zuli grabbed her notebook. She started taking notes on her gadget’s readings.

“What?!” Zuli shouted. “Not again!”

Rainbow let out a huff.

Zuli glanced at her. “It’s just like before. It looks like a major storm is coming again—from the Northern Deserts.” Zuli frowned, puzzled. A thought hit her.

“Rainbow.” Zuli hardly dared to breathe. “What if the gadget is right? Professor Erb’s notes mentioned a desert fungus. It was attracted to water. The last storm came from the Northern Deserts. Then all the water dragons got the drizzles afterward. What if the storm, the fungus, and the sick dragons are all connected?”