Bradley Wallace Murphy just turned thirteen, and he's not happy about it. He doesn't fit in at school, he's no good at sports, a bully torments him, he's a disappointment to his parents, and his only "friends" are fictional characters on a TV show c...
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CHAPTER 10
Fire and Ice
The flight seemed to take forever and was the most harrowing experience of Bradley Wallace's young life. Fortunately for both he and Whilly, he did not get airsick. The nearer they soared to the Big Island, the more violent the winds became and shortly before arriving at their destination, the rains began. No, not began – attacked! The vile black clouds burst asunder and belched forth torrents of unrelenting rainwater, attacking the flying dragon with such force that Bradley Wallace felt certain the clouds were trying to knock them right out of the sky.
He could barely see a few feet in front of him because the wind-buffeted raindrops whipped viciously into his eyes like hundreds of tiny needles, forcing him to squint just to see anything. He also fought a battle for his very life clinging to Whilly's back. Slick from the pelting rain and flung wildly about by the hurricane-like winds, the dragon did not make a very stable perch. But somehow, he didn't know how or why, but Bradley Wallace was still hanging onto the dragon's slippery neck when the Big Island of Hawaii finally came into view.
The object of their journey, Mauna Kea, was not difficult to locate. At thirteen thousand seven hundred sixty-nine feet, it was the highest point in the entire island chain and the sight of its towering, rain-swept slopes sent a chill of fear shooting through Bradley Wallace.
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Whilly remained silent as they approached, putting all of his concentration into combating the elements. Bradley Wallace squinted down at the gaping maw of Mauna Kea, jutting upward as though to swallow the very sky itself. He gasped.
"Whilly, look!" He shouted pointed straight down into the mountain's jaws.
*I see it,* came the dragon's terse reply, his breaths coming in ragged inhalations. The strain of combating the elements was taking its toll.
The open mouth of the volcano glowed blood red, like the glistening lips of a feeding wolf, and Bradley Wallace could see down to the white-hot dome of molten rock rising steadily to the surface. Already, streaks of searing lava spit forth from the opening, and it didn't take a genius to figure out that this volcano was going to explode.
