“Galen?” she said. “What is it?”
He answered in a faraway voice, as if he spoke from somewhere distant. He did not look directly at Julie.
“By the time you see me here — whoever you are — I shall be gone. Even a wizard cannot choose the moment of going. But listen close! Fearing for the safety of Jaffa City, I have stolen and hidden its most precious artifact, the Moon Medallion —”
“You stole it!” said Julie.
But the wizard continued. “To keep it safe … none shall lay eyes upon it … for a hundred years!”
“But we need it! Eric asked for it —”
As before, a second shape and voice appeared from the swirling smoke. “Wizard, come….” And both figures vanished into thin air.
When the vision cleared, Julie looked down where Galen had stood. There, so tiny she might have missed it, lay a small silver vial.
“The fazool!”
But when Julie bent to reach for it, the vial’s top came loose, and a single drop of green liquid seeped out. It hissed where it struck the floor. Right before her eyes, the drop transformed itself into the monster with fiery scales and snapping tentacles.
Julie blinked. When she opened her eyes again, she saw only the empty vial on the floor.
The image repeated time and again in her mind with the sound of bells chiming, until finally she understood what it meant.
“That’s what happened!” she cried. “It’s not a vision of the future. It’s a vision of the past! Just like my vision of Galen in the violet fog!”
And Julie realized that there was nothing to find in the passages but the fallen remains of an ancient empire. She and her friends had already discovered the elixir.
Three hundred paces behind her, Neal, Keeah, Hob, and the nightfox were battling it right now!
The elixir was the monster.
The monster was the elixir!
She laughed aloud. “Seeing into the past is an amazing power! It is helpful! It’s important. It can help save Droon!”
When Julie picked up the vial, she found it frosty cold to the touch. Holding it tightly, she sprinted back through the dark passages. This time she knew every turn to make.
Crawling out beyond the collapsed wall, Julie found her friends deep in battle with the monster.
“Don’t hurt it!” she cried.
“But it’s hurting us!” shouted Neal. “It’s burning me — ouch!” He swatted the beast’s coiling tentacles, but they were too swift and too many for him. Grabbing him by the legs, the monster hoisted him off the floor and dropped him with a thud. Neal’s shirt smoked as he staggered to his feet. “See what I mean?”
“Julie, stand back!” said Keeah, aiming her fingers to blast the monster.
“Wait!” cried Julie. “Don’t shoot! The monster is the elixir. I saw it in the passage. The vial is cold, but the heat of the air made it grow. We need a spell to turn it cold again —”
All at once, Neal jumped up. “Snow!” he said. “This is what my dream was all about. I can do this. Genies are great at making snow —”
“Please do it quickly!” said Hob.
As Keeah sprayed sparks here and there and the nightfox barked at the monster, Neal uncoiled his miniature scroll of instructions and recited an ancient charm. In moments, the first tiny snowflakes, as green as spring grass, began to fall in the passage.
As the flakes fell, the monster stopped its attack. It raised its tentacles to the falling snow as if to capture each flake. And it grew smaller and smaller by the instant.
Soon all that remained was a single drop of green liquid, which Julie urged into the empty vial. She snapped on the lid and locked it. The fazool was theirs!
“Safe and sound,” Julie said.
“That was amazing,” said Keeah. “How did you know that?”
Julie smiled. “It’s as simple as remembering stuff I never knew! Guess what else. The ruins of Koomba lie beyond that cave-in. I saw a vision of Galen there, only this time, I heard every word. He stole the Moon Medallion and hid it away — for a hundred years, he said.”
Hob murmured to himself. “A riddle, no doubt. Hob shall put his devious mind to work on it immediately!”
“Another thing I discovered in the passage is that the roads lead out to the surface of the sand. We can escape —”
At that moment, they heard yells echoing down the passages to them. “Heeelllp!”
“We can escape to the surface,” said Hob. “But Mashta needs our help!”
“Then that’s where we’re going,” said Keeah. “Stand back.” She blasted the rocks around the tuskadon, freeing it.
Climbing inside, the five friends powered it up, turned it around, and thundered back down the passages to the cavern and Mashta and her people.
When they arrived, the sand folk were huddled at the bottom of the wobbly stairs, right under the entrance hole.
“It’s terrible!” said Mashta. “That horrible Captain Grunto has called more beasts than I have ever seen! They will destroy our little Koomba!”
“Your big Koomba,” said Julie. “The lost empire still exists! I found it beyond the Forbidden Passages —”
Suddenly, a great roar came from the surface. It was only when the friends climbed the stairs to the opening and peeked out that they heard one particular voice.
“You don’t have to be so rude,” it said. “Even if you are a giant snake.”
“S-s-silence, old ones-s-s!”
“Please don’t speak that way to my wife,” said another voice. “And for the last time, take your paws off my jacket!”
The children turned to one another.
“The Hinkles?” whispered Keeah. “At the trading post? That means the snakelings are here, too!”
“Snakelings? Here?” said Hob. “My goodness. They are legendary!”
“Legendary, my foot,” said Neal as the kids stood at the crest of the star dune. “Snakelings are plain old nasty!”
A column of the snakelike beasts assembled in front of the trading post, while the lion-headed Captain Grunto and Slyvor the snakeling leader dragged Mr. and Mrs. Hinkle inside.
Even from that distance, the kids could hear Eric’s parents complaining.
“I don’t think the Hinkles really understand the danger they’re in,” said Julie.
“People, we need to get down there,” said Keeah. “We have to get them free.”
“And we shall help,” said Mashta. The Sand Children murmured agreement.
Keeah thanked the empress. “It could get very dangerous. I wouldn’t want you and your children to be hurt. You can always use the passages Julie found to escape to the desert beyond.”
“We will not run,” said Mashta, “but wait for your signal to help, if you need us.”
“Good,” said the princess. “Julie, Neal, Hob, come on.”
Julie secured the vial of fazool in her belt, and she, Neal, Hob, and the nightfox followed Keeah down the dune. Keeping out of sight of the horde of snakelings, they circled around the back of the trading post and peeked through the broken planks.
“We could cause a distraction,” whispered Hob. “More genie snow, perhaps?”
“There are far too many of them,” said Keeah. “Even with some good bad weather.”
“How about that one word that we don’t like so much?” asked Neal.
Julie smiled. “You mean ‘attack’?”
“That’s the one,” said Neal.
The children looked at one another. They all nodded in agreement.
“One … two … three … attack!” said Keeah.
The five friends burst into the tavern just as the snakelings chained Mr. and Mrs. Hinkle into chairs. The slithering creatures hissed and growled when they saw the kids.
“Let Eric’s parents go!” said Keeah, her fingers sizzling with violet sparks. “Or fear the wrath of Keeah!”
“And the wrath of Julie!”
“And the wrath of Neal!” said Neal.
>
“And Hob,” said Hob.
“Halt!” Slyvor slid forward, grinning. “You children don’t want to ris-s-sk a battle. These Upper Worlders-s-s could get hurt. Wait. Did I s-s-say hurt? I meant … very hurt!”
Captain Grunto growled. “So give us the fazool and the nightfox.”
“And you can have the old ones-s-s,” added Slyvor.
“I still don’t like it when you call us old,” said Mrs. Hinkle. “Ever hear of being polite?”
“Ever hear of being s-s-silent?” hissed the snake leader.
“Let’s think about that,” said Neal. “Mmm … no. Wait. Did I say no? I meant very no.”
Captain Grunto grunted. “Lord Gethwing comes soon. He will be angry if you don’t do what we say. First give me the fox.”
The nightfox growled. “Rrrr …”
“And if we won’t?” asked Julie.
“Yeah, if we won’t?” said Neal.
“Then we overpower you all,” said Grunto. “Ninns, surround them!”
“Yes … Captain,” Bludge grumbled. He signaled his entire troop of red warriors to surround the children.
“What do you say we talk about this?” said Mr. Hinkle. “One or two friendly words might help sort this out —”
“No words!” said Grunto. “Time for words is over. I prefer numbers….”
“Numbers?” said Neal scornfully. “Can you even count?”
“What kind of numbers?” asked Keeah.
“Numbers like … ten!” said Grunto. “And … nine!”
“Oh, those numbers,” said Mrs. Hinkle.
“Eight!” said the beast.
“I bet I know where this is heading,” said Neal.
Bludge unslung his war club and began swinging it in the air.
“Seven!” boomed Grunto.
Neal nodded. “Yep, I know what’s coming!”
“Six! Four!”
“No fair, you skipped five!” said Neal.
“Three … two … one!”
No one moved.
“Wait for it,” said Slyvor. He breathed in, then squealed his favorite word.
“ATTACK!”
Before the Ninns could move, there came a sound from the dunes outside.
“Laaaa!”
“What’s-s-s that?” demanded the snakeling.
That was Empress Mashta.
At the sound of her war cry, Sand Children flooded into the tavern from every direction. There were hundreds of them. The tiny silvery folk leaped on the Ninns, they dived at the snakelings, they nipped, they pinched, they poked at Captain Grunto.
“Oww!” cried Bludge, swatting the air with his club, but managing only to hit his own foot.
Mashta urged her people on. “Steal their weapons! Untie their bootlaces! Flick their noses! Pinch their ears!”
The snakelings shrieked. The Ninns howled. The lion-headed beast bellowed.
“Cool!” said Mr. Hinkle. “A real Droon battle!”
“Which we’ll survive only if you follow me,” said Keeah. “We have the elixir to cure Eric.”
“Yes!” cheered Mrs. Hinkle. “Let’s go!”
With a quick blast, Keeah broke the chains binding Eric’s parents. “Come on!”
Together with Julie, Neal, Hob, and the nightfox, she hurried the Hinkles away from the snakes. While the chaos of battle continued all around them, they crawled out of the tavern and slunk along the back of the building straight to the pilkas.
Seeing the children leave, Bludge knocked his way out of the building.
“This time you’ll not escape!” he boomed.
“Princess, hide in the underdune and escape through the passages!” shouted Mashta. “We’ll cover you all! Hurry!”
“The underdune,” said Mr. Hinkle. “I’m not sure —”
“Honey,” said Mrs. Hinkle, “do what the little woman says.”
The four friends, the nightfox, and Eric’s parents charged to the crest of the dune.
“Wow, a drain,” said Mr. Hinkle. “Is that why they call this the world of Drain?”
“It’s Droon,” said Neal. “And hurry up down there. Please?”
Seconds later, they were racing down the stairs into the underdune.
Taking his club in both hands, Bludge battered the opening to the dune above them.
Sand fell away until the hole was large enough, and he jumped in. His band of Ninns followed him.
“Into the passages. And freedom!” said Julie.
“That sounds good,” said Mrs. Hinkle.
“Not so fast!” shouted Bludge. Bouncing once, twice, he skidded to the bottom of the stairs, then leaped through the air and slid headfirst down the sandy street. With his massive arms spread wide, he caught the nightfox and Neal.
“Aha!” Bludge yelled. “Captured!”
The three of them slid across the ground, blowing wave after wave of sand over themselves.
Neal sneezed once, twice, and that was it. When the nightfox sneezed, however, something else happened.
Plunk! Plunk! Two masks the color of night fell to the sandy ground. Everyone froze.
Hob jumped up. “Hob’s legendary masks!” he shouted. “The nightfox was wearing them. Hob has found his masks at last!”
But where the nightfox had been, another creature took shape. What stood there was no longer a small, pointy-snouted, long-eared nightfox but a large gray dog with two wide-eyed faces on two furry heads.
Two heads the children had seen before.
“Kem?” gasped Julie.
“Roo-rooo!” barked the creature’s twin heads.
It was Kem, Lord Sparr’s pet dog, whom the children had not seen in a very long time.
“That’s why he recognized Sparr’s tuskadon!” said Keeah.
The Ninn warriors stopped short. Bludge lowered his giant club. There was a moment of silence as Kem’s large brown eyes met his own.
Then Bludge spoke. “Gethwing wants to hide Kem in the far north?”
“Hide such a cute guy?” said Mr. Hinkle, stooping to scruff Kem’s four ears.
Bludge nodded. “But why?”
Julie knew the answer. She had seen it in her vision. “Gethwing wants to hide him from Lord Sparr. Because if Sparr saw Kem, he might remember his good side and turn against Gethwing!”
“Just like Eric did when he saw the photograph I gave you,” said Mrs. Hinkle.
Bludge sniffled. He blew his nose. “It’s good to have Lord Sparr’s doggie back. If Kem is free, Sparr can return to the way he was … and to us —”
Right then, they heard thumping on the sand above.
“Bludge!” called Grunto from outside the dune. “Bring the nightfox! And the elixir! And the children!”
“And the old ones-s-s, too!” added Slyvor.
“Okay, we’ve had just about enough of that!” said Mrs. Hinkle.
“Ninns have had enough of Grunto and Slyvor, too!” said Bludge.
“S-s-surrender,” continued Slyvor, “or we attack you all, and nothing below the s-s-sand will s-s-survive!”
As if to prove his point, the army of snaky beasts slithered around and around the dune entrance, until sand from the ceiling began to sift down through the air.
“Ninns!” boomed Grunto. “You are traitors to the great moon dragon! You will suffer with the others! Ten … nine …”
“We have just recovered the ancient empire of Koomba. Is it to be buried all over again?” said Mashta.
“And is Hob to be crushed?” whimpered Hob.
“… three … one!”
The snakelings growled and hissed and gnashed their fangs, waiting for the signal.
Then it came.
“ATTACK!”
“I really don’t like that word,” sighed Neal.
The ceiling of the giant cavern quaked, and sand showered everyone like rain.
“Children, escape to the passages and into the desert,” said Mashta. “We shall look for a new home.”
“No,??
? said Bludge. “Ninns will defend the Sand Children. And the humans. And Koomba! We will do this for the Lord Sparr we once knew!”
“Rooo!” howled Kem. Then he ran for the tuskadon and leaped into its cabin.
“Wait a second. Sparr’s toy,” said Julie. “Of course! Everyone, come on. We can defeat the beasts, and we can do it right here!”
It was decided in an instant. Bludge would lead his red-faced warriors and the Sand Children through the passages and up to the surface, while the kids would defend the underdune.
Neal, Julie, Keeah, the Hinkles, and Hob crowded inside the iron beast with Kem. They revved up the machine’s giant engine. It quivered and wobbled. It shook and teetered. They drove it right under the star dune’s entrance hole.
“Here we come!” announced Slyvor. And the snakelings slid into the entrance and slithered down the stairs.
“Trunks … up?” asked Julie.
“Trunks … up!” Keeah affirmed.
The steam built up more and more until the iron beast seemed ready to explode.
“Now?” said Neal.
“No,” said Keeah.
Sand fell on the trembling tuskadon, and the snakelings came closer.
“Now?” asked Julie.
“Not yet,” said Keeah.
The tuskadon rocked on its iron legs. The plates on its sides rattled and shook. The rivets began to loosen one by one.
“Now?” cried Hob.
“Now!” said Keeah.
Together, the children pulled the lever.
WHOOOOOM!
A gigantic spout of steam burst from the tuskadon’s iron trunks. It shot upward, blowing the top of the dune completely off. Sand exploded everywhere, and the shrieking, hissing beasts were thrown back into the Crimson Desert.
When Slyvor stopped rolling, he was twisted in a knot and struggled to stand. “Where are the little ones-s-s and the elixir?”
At that moment, Bludge and his Ninns clambered out of the distant passages back up to the surface.
Using all the slyness he could muster, the Ninn leader shouted, “Look there! I see them escaping! Far away across the dunes. The children, the elixir, and the nightfox! Hurry, beasts! Let’s go after them!”