In the Shadow of Goll

  “Of course,” Keeah said. She lifted the Medallion over her head and handed it to the king.

  Zello then embraced his wife and daughter and raced away with Max to the city gates.

  “We must steal away, too —” said Galen.

  “Did someone say steal?” piped up a voice.

  Everyone turned as — fwish! — a creature with a long snout and wispy whiskers appeared before them, twining a rope over his shoulder. He was dressed entirely in silky green, from his fancy vest to his curly-toed slippers.

  “Shago!” cried Keeah. “We could use your help today!”

  “That’s why I came,” said the rat-whiskered master thief and longtime resident of Agrah-Voor. “A thief steals everything, including what people say. I heard every word you said. I know the Skorth were stolen. I know you must find this Shadowfog character —”

  “Face,” said Neal grimly.

  “Quite right,” said Shago. “Fogface. But time is wasting. Hurry. Walk this way!”

  He dropped on all fours and scuttled sideways across the main square of Agrah-Voor to its central fountain, his snout pressed close to the ground.

  Galen made a face at the children. “I don’t think Shago means that we actually have to walk that way….”

  “I hope not!” said Keeah.

  “Ah, ah, yes!” called the whiskered thief. “Already I smell the trail. Hurry! Follow the dead skeletons!”

  Eric sighed. “That’s pretty much my favorite thing to do!”

  As quickly as they had come, the friends left Agrah-Voor through the city’s enormous Gate of Life, with Sparr’s pet, Kem, trotting quickly after them. Once outside, they headed for a pool of dark, moving water. Without a pause, they jumped in and soon found themselves back on the surface of Droon, as dry as before.

  Moments later, the little band was speeding away from the city of fallen heroes and heading into the dreaded Dark Lands toward the Serpent Sea.

  “Let’s be on our guard,” said Keeah. “Who knows why Shadowface stole the Skorth, or what he’s really up to?”

  “For the last time, his name is Shadowhood!” yelled Neal. Then he crinkled his face up in confusion. “Wait. No. Sorry. Shadowface. Shadowface is right!”

  “Or, rather, Shadowface is left!” said Shago, pointing. “That way, over the plains to the eastern foothills. His trail is slow but steady. Come!”

  Taking the lead, Shago raced across the plains. The rises and dips in the land were followed by a long, slow incline toward a range of jagged mountains.

  One hour, two hours, they traveled. Finally, at midday they approached the summit of the black mountains.

  “Ho, ho, ho, and what have we here?” Shago said, raising his hand for them to stop.

  “Do you see something?” asked Eric.

  Bending close to a thorny hedge that snaked along the mountaintops, Shago sniffed a tiny leaf that dangled from a branch. He plucked the leaf, crinkled it, licked it, and finally popped it into his mouth.

  “This leaf,” he proclaimed, “is very good for sauces!”

  Keeah frowned. “Now, Shago —”

  “It’s also good for another reason,” said the thief, tugging on his whiskers. “Its fragrance fills the air when it has been broken. This particular leaf was broken by someone walking by it. Very recently, too. Kem, bring your snouts. Let us look further!”

  As Shago and the dog scampered along the ridge, Galen began to pace back and forth, his staff shimmering with light.

  “I have a feeling that the things put into motion today will not end well,” he said. He paused and pulled a small object from his cloak. It was a lump of black stone.

  The children had seen it before. Galen had recently gone on a long journey. It was on that journey that he discovered the stone.

  “Everyone, listen here,” he said. “The time has come to tell you what I know about this object and why I wanted the Moon Medallion far away from us today.”

  Holding the small stone in his hand, Galen explained, “This little lump is one of three my mother, Queen Zara, charmed long ago. She wanted to give one to each of her three sons: Sparr, Urik, and me.”

  Keeah looked as if she wanted to ask a question, but the wizard went on.

  “Together, the three stones form pieces of my mother’s powerful Moon Medallion. You know two of the stones already. From the one I was given, I fashioned the Ring of Midnight. It fits around the Medallion and helps reveal some of my mother’s long-hidden secrets and powers. When Urik’s stone was given to him, he created nothing less than the Pearl Sea —”

  Eric nearly choked. “Wait. What? Urik made the Pearl Sea? But I found the Pearl Sea in my mother’s closet! How did it get into my house?”

  “Eric!” said Galen sharply. “That is a question for another day. For now — for right now — let me finish. My mother died before giving Sparr his stone. This stone. Because it appeared worthless, it was lost. And because it was lost, it has remained all these years an unformed lump.”

  The wizard breathed a deep, long sigh.

  “I tell you this because … because I feel that today we are entering a time in which the forces of evil are changing shape in Droon. A new villain is upon us. My brother Sparr is in grave danger. The battle — the war! — between freedom and tyranny is upon us. This stone, this shapeless little lump, may hold the key to Droon’s future. Unlocking the true power of the Moon Medallion may be the only thing —”

  “Galen, everyone!” Shago said suddenly as he rushed down from the very top of the ridge. “Look what Kem and I have found!”

  Everyone ran with him to where the dog stood, both its heads pointing over the ridge into a deep valley of scorched sand. They hid behind the ridge and carefully peeked over.

  “Whoa, look!” said Neal. “It’s him … himself!”

  In a semicircle of rocks at the center of the valley stood the hooded figure, looming over a pile of bones. A ragged sack lay empty nearby. As the figure waved his arms, hisses and murmurings drifted up the sides of the valley.

  Then the bones began to move — click-clack!

  “Holy cow!” whispered Julie. “It’s just like Sparr did so long ago. Shadowface knows how to bring the skeletons back to life!”

  Eric wanted everything to stop so he could think about how he had found the magical Pearl Sea in his mother’s closet. He wanted to remember once more the milky-white stone and feel its strange beauty and power.

  But nothing stopped. As he watched the clattering bones begin to assemble themselves, Eric thought instead about Sparr.

  The boy had given them countless clues about what Emperor Ko and the moon dragon Gethwing were doing. But was Sparr safe? How long would Ko and Gethwing trust him? Sparr knew that the moon dragon wanted to overthrow the emperor. When would that happen? And how was Shadowface involved in all of it? What, if anything, did Sparr know about him? What was really going on?

  Floing! A skull rose in the air and hovered there. Next a neck and ribs clattered out of the bone pile and gathered under it. Two arms flew up and attached themselves to shoulders. First one leg then the other wobbled from the ground and connected to the other bones.

  At last, the skeleton warrior bowed to Shadowface. When it stood upright once more, it wore a helmet on its head and held a short, curved sword by its side.

  “Not only dead but magically armored, too,” said Keeah. “Is that creepy or what?”

  “Creepy,” murmured Julie. “Definitely.”

  Before long, nine Skorth warriors stood at attention before the hooded figure.

  With a yell that sounded almost like a wail of pain, Shadowface led the warriors across the valley floor and toward the Serpent Sea.

  Galen made a noise under his breath. “The Skorth may be fierce warriors, perhaps even unstoppable, but there are only nine of them. Neal,” he said, a little smile on his lips, “what do you think of using your powers of time travel, my genie friend?”

  Neal grinned. “Really? Can I?”
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  “Go as far back as you can to discover why anyone would want the Skorth,” said the wizard. “Find out if they have a secret. Take Kem with you, if you like. Then meet us at the Horns of Ko. We’ll go there now.”

  As their friends left, Neal and the dog plopped on the ground. The boy crossed his legs, read from his scroll, and — ploomf! — both he and Kem vanished from sight.

  * * *

  Three hours later, the little band arrived at the border of the Dark Lands. As usual, the sky was smoky, black, and foul.

  Standing as sentinels between free Droon and the Dark Lands were two huge floating rocks, each carved in the shape of Ko’s bull-like head. Known as the Horns of Ko, each massive rock bore three enormous eyes of red stone, the twin horns of a bull, and long tusks as sharp as sword blades. They faced each other on either side of a narrow channel. There, the crystal water of the Sea of Droon met the sluggish black waves of the Serpent Sea.

  “The Empire of Goll began here,” said Shago nervously. “Do you think —”

  “I do think!” said Galen. “Ko wants to bring that empire back. Gethwing wants to bring it back. Perhaps this Shadowface wants to bring it back, too. It’s our job to see that they don’t!”

  Together, the friends climbed up the rocks and found themselves atop the northernmost side of the twin Horns of Ko.

  Looking down, they saw Shadowface lead the Skorth warriors behind the Horns. The ten figures were welcomed there by the largest army of beasts the kids could imagine.

  As far as the eye could see, both banks of the channel were covered with thousands and thousands of beasts — furred, scaled, winged, and finned.

  “The army of armies!” Galen muttered gloomily. “It looks like Ko does plan to start his great war today.”

  Eric gazed down the channel. “I remember this place. So does my stomach. I feel sick —”

  “You should have said something. I would have brought more pie,” said a familiar voice.

  Everyone turned, and there were Neal and Kem, waving away a puff of smoke. Neal had a patch over one eye and wore a pair of huge boots. Kem’s heads were wrapped with bright red bandannas.

  “Nice outfits,” said Shago. “Where have you been?”

  Neal removed the eye patch. “Actually, right here. It was about ten thousand years ago, and these two big rocks didn’t have Ko’s creepy face on them yet.”

  “Before the beginnings of Goll itself!” mused Galen. “What did you find out?”

  “Lots,” said Neal. “For instance, did you know that the Skorth were originally pirates? Well, they were. And right here in this channel is where their fleet of pirate ships was sunk in one of Droon’s first-ever sea battles!”

  Galen made a low gasp. “So that is why we’re here! Shadowface has brought the Skorth here to raise their ancient ships. They will become Ko’s navy!”

  “Here’s the other thing,” said Neal, pulling off his boots and revealing his sneakers underneath. “The legend goes that once the Skorth ships are raised, no earthly vessel can sink them —”

  Before they could move, they heard a sudden shout from below. Peering down, they saw the Skorth warriors dive one by one into the black water, cheered on by the beasts. In nearly no time, giant bubbles burst on the surface, and one after another, a fleet of ghostly ships began to rise from the depths.

  “Those ships are huge!” exclaimed Julie.

  “And scary!” added Keeah.

  “Rooo!” agreed Kem.

  What they first saw bursting up from the water were the huge black skulls carved on the prow of each boat. Their jaws were gaping wide in toothless grins.

  Next came the vessels’ rotten sails, hanging in shreds from broken masts. Garlands of seaweed and black vines clung to the remains of the rigging and the shattered decks. Finally, as water rushed off the sides, ugly holes appeared, gaping among the hull planks and showing the wooden “bones” beneath the ships’ ghostly skin.

  And yet, as unseaworthy as each ship seemed to be, they all rose with a great crash of water and bobbed heavily on the surface.

  The beasts on the shore cheered over and over as each new vessel appeared in the channel.

  “I don’t see Shadowface,” said Keeah, scanning the shore. “He must be hiding.”

  “But look there,” said Shago suddenly. “It’s young Sparr himself, flying in on the dragon’s back. Hide!”

  Together, everyone dashed under an outcropping of rock. Peering up, they saw the spiky wings of Gethwing soaring over the channel. On his back sat young Sparr, his black cloak flying up behind him, his pale little face looking toward the ground. When the dragon landed on a wide ledge below, Sparr slid off his back and followed him into an opening in one of the stone heads.

  “If there will be a battle,” said Eric, “then Sparr’s in danger. He’s trapped right in the middle of it now. If only we could sneak down there and get him out …”

  “I can change into a beast,” said Julie. “And maybe even get past the guards. But I don’t think I can do it alone —”

  “Whoa, that reminds me!” said Neal. “I was skimming my favorite scroll and found a genie thing called a triple charm. You can take one person’s ability and share it with three other people. Julie, if you disguise yourself as a beast, we can, too.”

  The children looked at one another.

  “Teamwork,” said Galen, smiling. “It’s what we’re all about, isn’t it? And I’ve just had another thought. If no earthly ship can sink the Skorth vessels, perhaps they can sink one another. I’ll steal down to the shore —”

  “There’s that word steal again!” said Shago, piping up. “Stealing is a job for a thief. Besides, I rather like my shape, curling whiskers and all. So if the wizard will have me, I’ll go with him.”

  “Kem should go with you, too,” said Neal. “He’ll probably be safer.”

  Galen chuckled as he started down the stone head. “And what an excellent team we shall make! Friends, stay safe. Neal, read that charm carefully!”

  Neal grinned. “Hey, I got a C-plus on my last reading test. So we’ll be okay —”

  “Uh, Neal,” said Julie, “maybe I should —”

  Without pausing, Neal waved his hands and began mumbling the triple charm, “Wolly-golly-pumbo-jumbo …”

  In a twinkling, he and his friends began to change into four very large, very strange, very shaggy beasts.

  Thump-squish-thump!

  Pacing the narrow ledge, Eric found himself completely covered in shaggy gray fur from his big head to his tiny feet. His three tiny feet, one of which made gooey prints on the ground.

  Neal laughed at Eric. “Nice look!” But he stopped laughing when he saw that he had three feet, too. “Oh, man! What are we?”

  Julie parted the fur in front of her face and peered out with a pair of tiny red eyes. “Hey, I’m really sorry, guys, but beasts are beasts.”

  “Never mind,” said Keeah. “Let’s get Sparr out of there, and us out of here. Come on.”

  Although climbing with three feet was not easy, the four friends made their way as quickly as possible down the stone head until they arrived at the opening where Gethwing and Sparr had entered. Two beasts stood guard outside the chamber. Each had a face like a potato that tapered to a point, and a thick tuft of hair that fell down over both ears like a fountain.

  “Is mighty Gethwing expecting you?” demanded one of the guards.

  “Yeah, well, not exactly,” said Eric, surprised to find his voice high and whiny.

  “Then you are spies!” said the other.

  “No, no! He’s expecting us!” squealed Julie.

  “Expecting you?” The first beast’s expression grew suddenly fearful. “Do you mean to say that you four are the terrible … Blugs?”

  “Blugs?” said Neal. “Sure. That’s us!”

  “Then Emperor Ko wants to see you right away!” said the first guard. “He must be informed that you are here.” He lifted a small horn and blew into it. Wooo! ??
?Come with us now —”

  “Wait!” boomed a voice from inside the chamber. “Send them in … for a moment.”

  Trembling, the two beasts bowed. “Yes, Lord Gethwing. Of course, Lord Gethwing!”

  The guards parted to let the four friends into the moon dragon’s chamber. When they entered, they found Gethwing next to a large, flaming cauldron, sprinkling something into it. Sparr was standing nearby, his face turned to the ground.

  Eric wanted to speak silently to him but dared not, in case Gethwing overheard.

  But the moment Sparr raised his head and saw his friends, his eyes widened.

  He knows us! thought Eric.

  Gethwing turned. “So, you are the famous Blugs, are you? Emperor Ko has asked for you, but I wanted to see you first.”

  The moon dragon paced slowly in front of the fiery cauldron. Then he spoke in a low voice, almost a whisper. “Find me when you are done with Ko. I have a mission for you. A special mission.”

  What’s this all about? wondered Eric.

  “Emperor Ko wishes to restore the Empire of Goll,” Gethwing continued. “But there are some who do not want to look to the past. They are looking to the future. Do you understand?”

  Eric glanced meaningfully at Keeah. He knew what Gethwing meant. Sparr had been telling the kids for a long time that the dragon was looking for beasts to join him against Ko. He wanted to rule the beasts himself.

  “You want a new Goll,” squeaked Eric.

  With a horrible twist of his jaws, Gethwing smiled icily at the disguised children. “I see we understand one another. After all, I can offer you many things. Look into the flames!”

  He tossed more dust into the fire, and visions began to take shape in the smoke. There were mountains of gold and jewels, great wheeled chariots, and armies of wingsnakes, poised and ready for flight.

  “A new Goll shall rise from the ashes of the old!” cried the moon dragon. “And it can be yours, if you join me. Today’s battle will —”

  “Lord Gethwing!” came a sudden call from outside. “The fleet is ready to sail! Ko has demanded that you inspect the ships!”