IN THE COOL FOOTHILLS, A PAIR OF GREEN parrots with red beaks darted around a craggy tree. Darel watched them for a moment, enjoying the flash of color, then turned back toward the still-distant peaks of the Snowy Mountains.
Behind him, the outback stretched for endless barren miles under the relentless sun, but here a chill wind blew. Darel narrowed his bulging eyes at the cold, slitted his nostrils, and gripped the reins tighter as his mount swayed beneath him.
Then he almost grinned, despite the chill. His mount. His giant mount. His giant armored, fork-tongued mount.
He couldn't believe what he was riding.
A Komodo dragon.
He couldn't wait to tell Gee. Not that Gee would believe him. On the other toe pad, Darel couldn't believe a lot of this himself. That he'd defeated Lord Marmoo…that he'd saved the Amphibilands…and especially that he was on a quest with the Kulipari. Maybe he was still an ordinary wood frog, without the poison that gave the Kulipari their powers, but even so, he was a member of the squad now. Just like his father had been.
Of course, his father had been a Kulipari squad leader, while Darel was still mostly a…tagalong. But that didn't bother him. At least not much.
And he'd gotten to know the squad over the past few weeks. Burnu, the leader, riding in front with his boomerangs crisscrossed on his back, was brave and cocky. The squad archer, Dingo, was superfast and superaccurate and superchatty. The biggest of the Kulipari was Ponto. He was strong enough to uproot a tree when he used his power, but he was also a talented healer. And Quoba, bringing up the rear with her staff, was the scout. She could move as quietly as mist, and flitted over the ground like a shadow.
Then there was Darel…the wood frog with no weapon except his father's old dagger, and no power except his mother's sense of hard work. Still, it had been enough to beat Lord Marmoo.
Another cold breeze drifted down from the mountains, and he stroked his Komodo dragon's rough head. "Don't worry," he told the huge beast. "We'll stay warm somehow." The dragon's scales were as hard as armor, but they didn't ward off the cold.
"Hey!" Dingo croaked, from beside him. "What do you get when you freeze a frog?"
"Us," Ponto grunted unhappily, hopping alongside. He was the only one not riding a dragon. Good thing his legs were so long and strong that he could keep up.
"A hopsicle!" Dingo said, standing on her dragon's back like she was surfing.
"You're laughing now," Ponto told her. "But wait until we reach the snow."
Darel looked toward the mountains again. "I've never even seen snow."
"Because you're not stupid," Ponto grunted. "Frogs are cold-blooded."
"Then we should love the cold!" Dingo ribbeted. "Stop moping, Ponto. You're just grumpy because you're not riding a dragon."
"Crocodiles are one thing," Ponto grumbled. "Whoever heard of riding dragons? I'm telling you, it's not right."
The Komodos had washed ashore in the Turtle Coves after a big monsoon-and they'd immediately taken to the frogs, wordlessly offering themselves as mounts. Darel secretly thought that they found frogs funny. He'd caught a glint of amusement in the big lizards' eyes more than once. Maybe that was why Ponto wouldn't ride one.
"None of us should be riding anywhere," Burnu said, from the front, hurling one of his boomerangs into the air. "We should be back at the Amphibilands, kicking scorpion carapace."
"We need Yabber," Darel said firmly.
After the old turtle king died in battle, his apprentice Yabber had become the strongest dreamcaster in the outback. The responsibility worried him, and he'd immediately started running around-well, as fast as a turtle could run around-trying to figure out how to defend the Amphibilands.
"I don't need anyone," Burnu announced. "I can pound their pincers all by myself."
"Well…," Darel said, thoughtfully. "Maybe Yabber needs us."
"Oh." Burnu's boomerang came flashing down from the sky, and he caught it in one hand. "That's okay, then."
"I just wish he needed us somewhere warmer," Ponto grumped.
"Aw, you poor thing." Dingo twirled on her saddle. "Hey, what do you call a sad frog?"
"You," Ponto said, "after I knock you off that big lizard."
"'Un-hoppy!'" Dingo cried, then she dodged Ponto's big fist.