Nelag shrugged. “It does not say. Watch!”
Suddenly, there was a splash in the marsh, and it seemed as if the air blurred for a second.
And there they were — fingers flying out of the darkness. Black fingers. In a flash, they plucked Urik’s wand right from Galen’s hand.
“No!” cried the wizard. He struck back and the wand fell into the marsh with a splash.
As they struggled for it, Galen tore off his cape and tossed it over the goblin.
“I can see you now, fiend!” the wizard cried.
The goblin’s form was suddenly visible, but it twisted sharply, flinging the wizard into the water. Spinning around Galen with lightning speed, the goblin wove a chain of marsh grass and spiky reeds around him.
“Let him go!” shouted Eric.
Suddenly, a short, plump man leaped in from nowhere. “I’ll help you, young wizard!” he squeaked. Then, snapping his fingers, the little man made the air explode like fireworks in the goblin’s face.
Pop! The goblin backed away, howling.
“Ha-ha!” the man twittered. “Don’t like light, do you, you ugly thing? Here’s more —”
Pop-pop-pop! The goblin sloshed off through the reeds, struggling to tear Galen’s cape off, but the little man leaped onto his back.
“Friend! Wait!” called Galen. But the little man and the goblin disappeared into the darkness. Straining to free himself from his prison of grass and reeds, Galen snapped his fingers.
Pop! The air lit up suddenly and his bonds fell away. Galen jumped up laughing.
“Quite a neat trick, after all,” he said, snapping his fingers several times and making the air pop with little explosions of light.
“Galen taught me that trick,” said Keeah.
“Now, come to me, Wand,” said the wizard. “Let us be on our way.” But the wand did not come. As Galen searched the marsh around him, he realized that Urik’s wand was not there.
“Ko’s goblin has stolen it! No!”
Galen fell to his knees and cried out in the night. Then the light faded, and he faded, and the marsh below them was as empty as before.
“Poor Galen,” said Max. “To lose the precious wand! Nelag, what happened next?”
“ ‘I never held Urik’s wand in my hand again.
But whoever reads these words, know this —
The wand will save Droon, but only if it is found.’ ”
The friends were silent for a long time.
Finally, Max spoke. “This Moon Scroll, these ancient words of my master Galen, have made the past of Droon come alive. We’ve seen things from hundreds of years ago — as if they were happening now! Such a story it is …”
Keeah put her arm around Max. “But now we must look to the future,” she said. “If the goblin stole the wand for Ko, it will be in Ko’s palace.”
“And Galen said that’s in the Valley of Pits,” added Neal.
Boing-boing-boing!
“What was that?” said Julie. She leaned over the side of the stone and suddenly jerked back.
There was a face coming up at her. A red face.
“Ninns!” she cried. “Don’t they ever give up?”
“Not if your boss is Lord Sparr!” said Neal.
Boing-boing-boing! Some Ninns were lying on their backs while others were jumping on their stomachs, bouncing up higher and higher.
Suddenly — thwap! — one Ninn managed to grab the stone, wrapping his claws over the side.
“Is there room for me?” he grunted.
“Sorry, we’re full!” cried Max. Together, the kids peeled the Ninn’s claws off, finger by finger. All six of them.
“Not nice!” the warrior howled as he plummeted back onto the pile of his chubby friends.
“Go, stone, go!” said Keeah. “Lead us to the wand!” The flying disk lifted away from the vast marsh, and soared high over the dark earth once more.
It was nearly morning when the floating stone began to drift lower. The marsh lay far behind them. Now the sun peeked over the horizon of a vast and empty desert.
“The Valley of Pits is in the desert?” asked Julie.
Without warning, the disk settled softly at the top of a ridge of sandy hills.
“Is this the end of the road?” asked Neal. “I mean flight?”
“I’ve never been in this part of Droon before,” said Max as the six friends hopped off the stone and onto the soft warm sand.
“Galen said Ko had a big palace,” said Keeah, looking around. “It should be easy to find. From higher ground we’ll be able to see pretty far.”
She trudged to the crest of a tall sand dune and looked around. “Oh, no …” she said.
“What is it?” said Eric, running to join her.
“The Valley of Pits,” she said. “But we’re too late … too late!”
Below them stood a great valley. The sides were rugged brown rock, leading steeply into a basin that seemed to spread for miles across the flat desert floor.
And all across the valley were pits.
Big black holes had been dug into the brown earth. Some were deep shafts, others were wide gouges cut into the rocky ground.
“I bet treasure hunters did this,” said Neal. “I learned about this kind of thing from the mummy magazine. People know there’s a hidden palace or tomb. They dig up everything to find it.”
Eric shook his head. “Treasure hunters have sure been here. The whole valley is dug up.”
“What if someone found the palace of Ko?” said Julie. “What if Sparr already has the wand —”
“Ah, the Valley of Pits, how lovely,” said Nelag suddenly. “How happy and peaceful!”
The kids turned. Nelag was staring into another, smaller valley on the other side of the dune.
Neal snorted a laugh. “No, Nelag, the Valley of Pits is this way. And we’re too late.”
“I see pits here, too!” said Nelag. “A whole valley of them. Mmmm. Makes me hungry.”
Eric followed the pretend wizard’s gaze. “A valley of pits? Where do you see … whoa!”
In the smaller valley was a cluster of palm trees waving in the desert breeze. Fluttering about them were several large green birds.
One of the birds swooped into a palm tree, then flew out again, with a juicy brown date in its beak. When it had finished eating, it dropped the date’s black pit into a pile not far away.
The other birds did the same thing.
The date pits, dropped by many birds for many years, had spilled out across the valley.
Keeah jumped. “Nelag, you found it! The first valley must be there to trick people. This is the real Valley of Pits! We aren’t too late to find the wand!”
Without another word, the six friends slid, ran, and tumbled down to the valley below.
The earth was brown with a mixture of dry rock and fine sand as far as they could see.
They made their way to the cluster of palm trees and stood before the largest pile of pits.
Julie made a face. “Such slimy pits. Could the lost palace of Ko really be under here? Eww —”
“Often, things worth the most are hidden by things worth the least!”
Nelag chuckled. “That’s silly. Did I say that?”
“No,” said a strange voice. “I did!”
The kids wheeled around.
Sitting cross-legged on top of a nearby rock was a bearded man dressed in flowing white robes; he wore an enormous blue turban, at least three feet across. The turban cast a shadow that covered him entirely. “Hoja!” he said to them.
“Um, Hoja to you, too,” said Keeah.
The old man chuckled merrily. “No, no, I am Hoja! Hoja is my name. What are yours?”
Keeah stepped over and bowed. “I am Keeah. These are my friends.” She introduced everyone.
“Pleased to meet you,” said the man, his beard wagging as he spoke. “Welcome to my abode.”
Julie looked around. “Abode? Do you live out here all alone? I mean … ou
tside?”
Hoja laughed. “Who needs a house who has such a hat as mine? As for being alone, I am not alone. You are here! And where your friends are, so is your home. A wise man told me that once.”
“What are you doing in the desert?” asked Max.
“I am a herder of animals,” said Hoja. “By the way, you haven’t seen my flock, have you?”
“Flock?” said Neal. “You mean like sheep?”
“They’re called fluffems,” said Hoja. “And they are sort of … kind of … and they have … well, they’re fluffy like sheep. But enough about them. You seek the lost palace of Ko, don’t you?”
Keeah started. “How did you know that?”
“No one comes to these parts for any other reason,” Hoja said. Then he laughed. “Come to think of it, no one comes here for any reason!”
Nelag laughed, too. “Well, we have plenty of time to find the palace.” Then Nelag promptly fell asleep.
Eric shook his head. “What he means is, a ton of Ninns have been following us.”
“Then dig for the palace door right under the mound of date pits,” said Hoja. He handed the children dried-out palm leaves for digging.
“Now, you’d better get going. I must wait here until my flock returns.”
Neal looked about at the vast desert around them. “How long have they been gone?”
“Oh, let me see …” Hoja began. “It’s nearly noon … today is … oh, about five centuries!”
Eric blinked, wondering just how old the man was. “You’ve been waiting here that long?”
“No time is long, if you have hope,” said Hoja. “The main thing is that you get to work. But remember, once you get inside the palace, you’ll be in Goll. It’s a bad place, where evil has the upper hand. Best of luck to you and don’t forget your sleepy friend!”
Keeah smiled and gently woke Nelag.
“Are we there yet?” the pretend wizard asked.
The children headed for the mound of pits.
“Oh, and Urik, here!” said Hoja. He slung a small sack at Eric. “You’ll need some help!”
Eric caught the bag. “Thanks, but my name’s Eric — huh?”
When he looked back, the man was gone, turban and all. As if he had never been there.
“Okay, he’s strange,” mumbled Eric.
“Odd disappearing fellow!” said Max. Then he peered in the sack and frowned. In it were six small candles. “But these candles are mere stubs. They won’t last a minute.”
“But a minute may last forever,” said Nelag.
Neal made a face. “Uh-huh.”
“Let’s start,” said Keeah. “It’s nearly noon.”
Using their dried palm leaves, the six friends dug as quickly as they could.
They scraped and shoveled and dug at the date pits. An hour passed. Two hours.
When the sun grew its hottest, Max took a small container of water from his pouch and passed it around. Nelag gave everyone handfuls of curious dried fruit while they worked.
Finally, Keeah’s palm leaf struck something hard. It snapped in half. “I found something,” she said. “Maybe it’s the door to the lost palace!”
“And the way to the wand,” said Julie.
More quickly than before, the six of them shoveled away the pits and the sand.
And, suddenly, there it was, glinting under the afternoon sun. A shiny black door.
And in the center was a strange golden design.
A triangle, pointing down, with two horns thrusting up the sides.
“That symbol is here,” Nelag said, tapping the unfurled Moon Scroll. “It is the symbol of Ko himself, ancient evil emperor of Goll.”
Keeah gasped. “Then we’ve found it —”
Thwang! A flaming arrow whizzed past her ear.
“And the Ninns found us!” cried Neal. “Let’s get in there — now!”
The children pulled open the heavy door and jumped through just as an army of Ninns swarmed over the ridge and into the Valley of Pits.
The friends pushed past the large black door and tumbled into a narrow stone corridor.
“Help me close the door!” urged Max.
Wham-am-am! The slamming of the door echoed around and around in the darkness.
“Scary sound,” said Neal. “Plus it’s real dark.”
Using sparks from their fingertips, Eric and Keeah lit each of the six small candles Hoja had given them. The flickering light cast strange shadows on the black walls of the passage.
Julie turned and looked at the door. “Wait a second. Did we just trap ourselves in here?”
Eric looked at the door, too. He wished he could make some kind of joke about something. But he couldn’t think of anything funny. Entering the ancient palace of the old evil emperor of Goll wasn’t a funny thing. It was maybe the scariest thing imaginable.
But it was too late to turn back now.
Eric gulped. “I guess we are trapped in here.”
“Then there’s only one direction to go,” said Keeah. “Straight ahead. Let’s find the wand.”
The corridor slanted down. Slowly, cautiously, they descended into the gloom.
“Today is fun, isn’t it?” said Nelag suddenly. “Let’s hope yesterday will be even more fun!”
“You mean tomorrow, right?” said Neal, taking a careful step. “When we’re safe at home?”
“Wherever that home is,” added Julie.
Nelag shook his head. “No. I mean yesterday. For behold … look at our wonderful candles!”
Instead of melting down, the stubby candles Hoja had given them were growing larger and brighter with every step they took.
Max shivered. “Either the candles are magic, or … or … we are going back through time. We are … entering the past!”
A sudden sound of moaning wind came up — whoom-oom! It started loudly from the darkness ahead, rushed over the children, then died out in the corridor behind.
“That wind went right through me,” said Julie.
“It’s warm air,” said Keeah.
“Then why am I shivering?” said Neal. “Plus, we’re inside here. So where did the wind come from?”
Eric moved up beside Keeah. “There, where the passage narrows. There’s an opening.”
He stepped forward and the others followed behind. The passage continued to narrow until the walls were only a foot apart.
“This scares me,” Max whispered. “I wish my master were here.”
“I think we all do,” said Keeah. “Eric, can you get to the opening?”
“I think so.” Turning sideways to make himself as flat as possible, Eric edged toward the narrow opening and slid his candle through it. He let his eyes get accustomed to the flickering flame, then he peered in.
Strange shapes began to loom out of the darkness. His pulse started to race. He gasped softly.
“Eric, what do you see?” asked Keeah.
He felt barely able to speak.
“What’s in there?” asked Julie, sliding closer.
“Wonderful things!” Eric said finally. “Incredible stuff. Golden pots, swords, jewels, statues!”
Keeah drew a deep breath. “Any wands?”
“No, not yet,” he said. “But these stones are loose. I think I can make the opening bigger.”
He struck one of the loose stones with his palm. It tumbled into the chamber beyond. Then another went, and another. Soon, the opening was large enough to enter. One by one, the kids slid down a wall of rock to a floor on the other side.
Huddling together and holding their candles high, they found themselves in a large stone chamber. Heavy stone columns held up the distant ceiling. The walls were covered with thick layers of dust.
“This place needs a decorator,” said Julie.
“Or a vacuum cleaner,” said Neal. “My allergies are going to go nuts in here.”
Piled right up to the ceiling were mounds of treasure. Silver daggers, bronze cups, shields, helmets, even a golden cha
riot. Here and there were stacks of spears, leaning against one another, their tips touching to form a deadly cone.
“Unbelievable riches,” said Max. “Ko was famous for trying to conquer all of Droon.”
“Is that where Sparr got the idea?” said Julie.
“The wand should be in plain sight,” said Nelag.
Keeah laughed. “You mean it’s most likely hidden, perhaps in a secret room.”
Neal suddenly clutched his nose. “The dust … I can’t take the … a-choo!” He sneezed in the shadows and blew a huge cloud of dust off the wall nearest him. “Sorry!”
“Don’t be,” said Keeah. “Look what you did.”
Underneath the centuries of dust were …
“Pictures,” said Keeah. “The walls are covered with them.” She brushed her hand on the wall, and an image appeared. It was a terrible beast with three eyes, black horns, and a pair of curved tusks. Its body was covered with shaggy black hair and it had four thick arms and two tails.
“Is that —” Eric said, his heart pounding.
“Ko,” said Nelag, unrolling the Moon Scroll. He read what was written there.
“ ‘By force and fear the beast called Ko
Ruled the wicked empire of Goll.
But Goll was not enough for him.
He wanted all of Droon. And more than Droon.’ ”
“More than Droon?” Julie asked.
“Galen stopped him,” said Keeah. “But these paintings show him in his prime.”
The walls were covered with pictures of Ko.
Ko in battle.
Ko seated on his throne.
Ko ascending a steep black stairway.
Eric wondered where that stairway led.
Max snorted angrily. “It’s Ko, Ko, Ko, and nothing but Ko. He’s everywhere you look.”
“Not everywhere,” said Eric as he blew the dust off a symbol carved into the far wall.
The symbol was similar to Ko’s, a triangle with horns. But this one had a lightning bolt right through the face of the triangle.
Nelag peeked over his shoulder. “Perhaps the Scroll says something about this one….”
Eric shone his candle over the carving and ran his fingers over it. But the moment he touched it, he heard a grinding sound, as if stones were moving, one against the other. Suddenly — vrrrt! — the stone beneath Eric’s feet moved.