“That was way too close!” said Julie. “Mrs. H knows something is wrong! Good thing no time passes while we’re in Droon. By the time we come back, we’ll have an excuse. Hurry.”
It was pitch-black, and the three friends could see little when they jumped off the bottom step and landed in something soft.
“Sand?” said Neal.
Keeah bent down and pressed her fingers into the ground under her feet. “It’s damp. We’re on a seacoast. I hear waves crashing on rocks. It must be an island.”
As their eyes became more accustomed to the dark, the three friends made out a rocky coastline extending in both directions.
“Holy moly,” whispered Neal. “We know this place. We’re on Mikos, the island of Queen Bazra’s fortress of stolen treasure!”
They all remembered the last time they’d seen the wicked queen who stole magical objects and hid them in her fortified castle. It was the day they’d first encountered Gethwing, the fierce moon dragon. It was not a happy meeting.
In minutes the sky began to brighten and the early morning fog to lift. They saw the tall black walls of the queen’s palace jutting ominously up from the rocks.
The fortress walls were high, but even from a distance, the kids could make out at least twenty guards patrolling the rooftop. Each guard had two doglike heads, tall, alert ears, keen eyes, and long fangs. They carried nasty-looking spears with spinning blades at the tips. The kids had run into the guards twice before.
Those were also not happy meetings.
In addition to the guards, bright white searchlights scanned the coastline from snake-headed towers at each corner of the vast roof.
“I wonder why Galen wanted to meet us here,” said Keeah. “And why he’s not here yet —”
Suddenly, several shapes, tiny at first but increasing in size by the instant, soared into the sky high over the fortress.
“Look. Groggles,” whispered Julie. “With some strange guys riding them. Ugly guys!”
Keeah narrowed her eyes. “The history of Goll is filled with odd beings. These look like Kindu tribesmen. Sparr will know. Look!”
Whoosh! They saw a flash of purple streaking past the groggles and dipping down toward the island.
“They’re not alone,” said Julie. “Take cover.”
The three friends scrambled behind a boulder and watched a balloon, purple and sleek, descend quickly. Riding in its basket, his cloak fluttering like a giant wing, was none other than Prince Ungast.
“Whoa!” said Neal. “If it isn’t the anti-Eric! He’s got to be up to something.”
The balloon swiftly faded from sight as it approached the fortress roof. A few moments later, they spotted the purple-cloaked boy leaping down from the roof.
“I’ll bet this is why Galen wants us here,” said Keeah. “To see what Ungast is up to.”
Her heart was thumping heavily as she watched the boy who had been her friend for so long. Even dressed in strange armor and a purple cloak, even without his glasses, even with features that were stern and hard and hardly seemed to resemble her friend’s face, Keeah knew that Eric was inside Prince Ungast, struggling to escape.
Searchlights scoured the rocks once more. When they’d passed, Ungast and the creatures scrambled across the rocks to the walls.
“I bet Eric — I mean Prince Ungast — is here to steal something,” said Keeah. “Let’s find out what!”
Searchlights sliced through the darkness as Keeah, Julie, and Neal worked their way along the fortress wall. They paused at the corner and peeked around.
The prince and the trio of odd creatures were crouching together halfway between the corner and the main gate. Ungast was tracing shapes on the ground and speaking to the Kindu tribesmen.
“I wish we could hear them,” said Julie.
“Turbans help genies hear all kinds of stuff,” said Neal. “Here, let’s have a listen!”
He stretched out his turban to fit over all three of their heads. Instantly, they could hear Ungast’s words loud and clear.
“Did you bring the chains?” he asked.
One of the creatures nodded.
“Very good,” said the dark prince. “Now, I know you Kindu guys are from Goll or whatever, but watch this. I picked up some awesome power back at Messy Mitts, and I want to try it out.”
Flapping his cloak over his shoulders, Prince Ungast drew a large circle on the wall with his finger. As his finger traced the stone, it left a narrow line of green flame behind it. When the circle was complete, Ungast murmured a few words, smiled, puffed up his cheeks, and blew directly at the flaming circle.
The stones flared suddenly, and the flames flickered out, revealing a hole in the wall large enough to step through.
The dark beings nodded their heads.
“I know, right?” said Ungast. “Gethwing gave me a whole hunk of Goll power. I’m pretty much amazing now.”
“Eric could not do that!” whispered Julie.
“No kidding,” said Neal. “Ungast learned some strong new magic.”
“Old magic,” said Keeah with a frown. “Green flame comes from only one place: the dark empire of Goll. Gethwing must have bestowed this ability on him in the past two days. Ungast is more powerful than he was in Samarindo. Much more powerful.”
Ungast jumped through the hole. The dark creatures followed him inside.
The three friends waited a minute or two, then Keeah stood. “Our turn.”
“Nice of him to leave the door open,” Neal commented.
Together the children crept cautiously along the base of the wall and hopped through the hole Ungast had made. They found themselves in a vast gallery filled with treasures from every province of Droon and from every era of its long history.
Inside the fortress, it was hushed except for the distant echo of heavy footsteps.
“Guards,” whispered Julie, darting across the gallery. “Ungast went that way. Hurry.”
To Keeah the rooms smelled like the domain of history itself. As they moved deeper into the fortress, she recognized long-lost treasures and precious artifacts among the stolen objects and wished she could return them to their owners.
Another time, she thought. Not now.
The kids hastened through the passages until they saw a glimmer of green light shining from a room to their left.
“Aha,” whispered Neal. “Careful … ”
Peeking in, the children spotted Prince Ungast staring at a golden door on the far side of the room. The Kindu tribesmen, meanwhile, were rummaging through a display of old weapons.
Ungast turned to watch them take three different objects — a wavy-bladed dagger, a wooden ball with spikes coming from it, and a pair of silver boots — and hide them in the sacks hanging over their shoulders.
“What are those dudes up to?” asked Neal.
“I’m sure those treasures come from ancient Goll,” whispered Keeah. “Remember what they are.”
With the flick of a finger and the stamp of a foot, Prince Ungast made the golden door open. He grinned back at the three tribesmen.
“Come on,” he said. “Now it’s time for my mission.”
Together, they entered a room piled high with the litter of battle — dented helmets and twisted spears, cracked shields and broken staffs, fragments of swords and spears and armor, some gleaming as if new, some rusted.
The children watched Ungast stride up to an enormous statue of Lord Sparr as a younger man. A spiked helmet sat on the sorcerer’s head. Fearsome jagged fins grew out from behind his ears. His trademark black cloak reached the ground. His iron fists were ready for battle. And his steely eyes focused on the faraway distance, as if he stared into the future itself.
“That thing scares me,” whispered Neal.
“It scares all of us,” said Julie. “That was Sparr when he was really evil. Shhh …”
Ungast shook his head and stepped through the artifacts until he came to a crumpled heap of yellow metal, twisted and burned and cr
ushed.
It was a complete wreck.
But there was no mistaking what it was.
“Lord Sparr’s old car!” whispered Keeah.
Neal and Julie remembered the first time they had ever seen the strange car, so very long ago.
It was in a deep, dark forest.
Lord Sparr had used it to chase Keeah across Droon and had finally trapped her in the forest. The kids’ first mission in Droon was to rescue her from Sparr’s forbidden city of Plud.
“Why does Ungast want that?” Julie whispered.
“Let’s find out,” said Keeah.
The kids crept into the room and hid behind the statue of Sparr.
“Attach the chain,” Ungast said, looking straight up at the ceiling. “I’ll be on the rooftop. We’ll lift the car out through there.”
Again, the warriors nodded silently. They went to work attaching one end of the chain to the car. Ungast pointed a finger and — poomf ! — the other end of the chain rose up in the air as stiffly as a column of iron.
“Now be amazed!” Ungast clutched the chain, and it rose to the ceiling. When he reached the top, he drew a circle on the ceiling and whispered the same words as before. The circle vanished in a wisp of green fire like the first one. He climbed through the hole and onto the roof.
“Ungast is very powerful,” whispered Keeah. “I doubt even I could do that. But why does he want Sparr’s wreck?”
“Let’s follow him. Come fly with us,” Julie said to Keeah.
As the dark tribesmen continued to grapple with the car, Neal and Julie held Keeah’s hands and silently flew her up to the ceiling, where they slipped outside.
The section of the rooftop they found themselves on was directly in the shadow of one of the search towers. Ungast was several feet away, attaching the chain to something invisible.
“He’s using the balloon to steal the car,” said Keeah, forgetting to keep her voice down.
Ungast whirled around on his heels. “Who’s there?” he whispered.
Keeah’s fingertips sparked. In the violet light, she saw Ungast’s cold, hard features as his eyes met hers. She tried to imagine the face of her friend behind those features.
Ungast snarled. “I know you!”
Keeah’s heart skipped a beat. “Really? You know me?”
The boy cracked a wicked smile. “Sure. You’re the princess who discovers Queen Bazra’s legendary black dungeon!”
“Legendary black dungeon?” Neal repeated. He looked puzzled. “Why would she discover that?”
Laughing, Ungast tossed a ball of sizzling fire up into the air. In his hands — whoomp! — appeared a narrow length of wood.
“A baseball bat?” said Julie.
Ungast swung the bat at the fireball, and it struck the search tower with a loud crash.
The guards inside began to shout. “Thieves! On the rooftop!”
“And that’s how you discover the dungeon,” said Ungast. “Gotta run!”
“Eric!” Keeah said suddenly. “Wait —”
Alarms wailed from inside the fortress. The shouts of the dog-headed guards echoed across the rooftop.
“Let’s get out of here!” said Neal.
“Me first!” Ungast pulled on the chain, and the nearly invisible outline of his purple balloon formed out of the air. He jumped into its basket, and it rose quickly. As it did, the crumpled hulk of Sparr’s automobile appeared through the hole in the roof. Before the kids had time to react, Ungast, the balloon, and the car were floating swiftly away.
“Halt! Thieves!” The two-headed guards raced down the tower after the kids. Their many-pointed spears whirled angrily.
“Hurry to the water!” said Keeah. “Oh, Galen, where are you?”
“Get them!” barked the guards.
“No, don’t!” said Neal. He, Keeah, and Julie joined hands and jumped off the rooftop as a swarm of angry spears spun at them.
From his safe perch in his hot-air balloon, Ungast laughed.
Flang! Whong! Spears crashed against the rocks as the kids landed roughly at the foot of the walls. In no time, another troop of Bazra’s dog-headed guards rushed from the main gate. The kids raced to the shore.
“Those guards move really fast!” said Neal.
“So move faster!” said Keeah. She shot a spray of violet sparks across the rocks, sending the guards scurrying and giving the kids time to get to the beach.
“But where’s Galen?” asked Julie.
Keeah scanned the sea until she spotted a bright blue ship racing across the water toward them. “It’s the Jaffa Wind! Galen’s coming for us!”
She blasted at the guards once more and pulled her friends to the edge of the water.
“Galen, hurry!” cried Julie.
But when they saw a wizard standing on his head and turning the ship’s wheel with his feet, they realized it wasn’t Galen.
It was the wizard’s opposite, Nelag.
The children loved and trusted Nelag, even though he had no real powers of his own and acted and spoke in opposites.
With great effort, Nelag slid the Jaffa Wind right up onto the sand, and the children hopped aboard. The fortress guards growled and ran faster, throwing their spears at the ship, but a thunderous chug from its steam engine pushed the Jaffa Wind straight back out to sea and to safety.
“We expected Galen,” said Julie.
Nelag patted the children’s heads one by one and said, “I do not have a message from my opposite, that strange bearded fellow.”
“Please tell us,” said Keeah.
“No,” said the pretend wizard, unrolling a little scroll and reading from it.
“Ahem. Galen Longbeard says, ‘I cannot meet you, so I send a friend in my place. Things have changed since you were in the Upper World. Gethwing is gathering to his evil lair of Barrowbork the largest army of beasts seen since the fall of the Goll empire. He intends to wage a war we cannot win!’ ”
“Please continue,” said Keeah.
“ ‘King Zello has gone to defend the Oobja people against a wingwolf attack. Queen Relna’s navy was frozen in the Kubar River. Sparr, Max, and I are riding to Zorfendorf Castle to consult the ancient texts. Nelag will bring you there through the Rivertangle valley. Our goal must be to bring Eric back to us. That is our only chance of victory against the dragon!’ ”
Nelag chuckled. “That makes no sense!”
To the children, it made perfect sense.
“Gethwing used Ko’s prophecy for his own purposes,” said Neal. “Even though the prophecy didn’t come true, Gethwing saw his chance to turn Eric to the dark side.”
“And now he’s using Eric to help him win,” said Julie.
Keeah hoped against hope that they could bring Eric back. But when she thought about her friend, she pictured him wandering lost and alone in the middle of the Dark Lands, and the way to him was long, winding, and dangerous.
And maybe impossible.
“The books and scrolls at Zorfendorf may tell us how to bring Eric back,” said Keeah.
“We love Eric,” said Julie. “We’ll do what we need to do.”
“Neither will I,” said Nelag, pointing up. “Don’t look there!”
Something bright and noisy was flashing across the sky exactly where he pointed. It was a flying carpet traveling at great speed.
And it was out of control.
“Heeeeelp!” cried a little voice. The carpet suddenly flipped over and dived at the ship.
“It’s Max!” said Julie. “Watch out!”
At the last second, the spider troll jerked the carpet right side up. It thudded onto the deck and skidded into Nelag, pinning him against the mast.
“Well done!” said the pretend wizard.
“Max, are you all right?” asked Julie.
Max staggered to his feet and shook himself all over like a wet dog. “Cheap carpet!” he grumbled. “It’s certainly not a Pasha original. But it’s all I could find.”
“What news, M
ax?” Keeah asked anxiously.
“My friends,” Max said, shaking his head sadly, “beasts are gathering all across Droon. Plus, I had to use a second-rate flyer! But that’s not the news. The news is that on our way to Zorfendorf, Galen, Sparr, and I were attacked! A rogue band of Ninns surprised us on the road. I barely managed to escape on this thing. You must come at once!”
“We’ll go right now!” said Julie.
“Nelag,” said Keeah. “Please take good care of yourself and of the ship. We may need you sooner than we think!”
The backward wizard saluted. “I promise to sink the boat the first chance I get.”
The children knew this meant that he would guard the ship with his life.
The three friends jumped onto Max’s carpet. Its fringes were frayed, and there was a rip across one side and a hole in the middle.
“I hope this holds us all,” said Neal.
“I doubt it will,” said Max. “But it’s all we have. Hold one another tight. And … up we go!”
Clinging to the flying carpet’s fringes, the little crew skidded across the ship’s deck and lurched into the brightening morning sky.
It was a bumpy ride.
Max had often told the children he was not meant for heights. He was not a good pilot.
“Max, four of us began this flight,” said Neal, clutching the carpet with both hands. “How about we finish with all four?”
“Interesting idea,” said Max. He tugged the corner with all his might, and it came off in his hands. “Uh-oh. Everyone lean to the left!”
They did, and the carpet immediately fell twenty feet.
“I mean right!” cried Max.
They obeyed, and the carpet leveled out, but just barely. Julie, Neal, and Keeah clung to the torn fabric with all their strength.
Soon the western coast of Droon rolled beneath them. As Max turned south toward Zorfendorf, the travelers spotted flashes of blue sparks over the convergence of waters known as Rivertangle.
“Down there! It’s Galen!” said Julie.
“He and Sparr must be escaping to the plains,” said Keeah. “Max, hurry!”
“I’ll try,” he said. Gritting his teeth, he yanked the carpet suddenly, and it plunged down, skimming the rushing waters.