“Then what happened to it?” Mrs. Hinkle asked.
“We told you about Gethwing,” said Julie. “Eric found the Pearl when the moon dragon came to your town. Gethwing wanted it.”
“And he nearly had it,” said Neal, “except that Eric kept it safe. The question is, If a wizard made the Pearl, how did it end up here?”
Mrs. Hinkle looked at the children for a long moment. “I can’t answer that. All I know is … this.”
She lifted the velvet lining of the chest and pulled out a brown envelope. She opened it and slid out an old photograph. It showed a man wearing a white hat. He was standing next to an old airplane with curved wings.
“This is my great-great-grandfather,” Mrs. Hinkle said. “He was a flyer. This was his blue plane.”
The children studied the picture. Julie and Neal remembered the man from the time Eric had done a school report on his ancestors.
On the back was the date: Summer 1909.
“Did Eric ever meet him?” asked Keeah.
Mrs. Hinkle shook her head. “No. He passed away long before Eric was born. But something happened once when Eric was very young. It was early one morning. It was fall. There were leaves on the ground. I was up here. I heard crying outside. I looked out this window and saw Eric — little, golden-haired Eric — stuck up in a tree. High up in the top branches. It was that tree.”
She pointed to one of the three apple trees by the side of the house. “By the time I ran downstairs to help him …”
She drifted off to silence.
“Yes?” said Keeah. “By the time you got there?”
Mrs. Hinkle flinched as if she had forgotten Keeah, Julie, and Neal were there. “Eric was back on the ground. Unhurt. Standing there as if by … magic.”
The children looked at one another.
“Did he say how he got down?” asked Julie.
Mrs. Hinkle shook her head. “I asked him. But he couldn’t speak. Maybe he was afraid. Or surprised. Or shocked. When he opened his hand, he held a big pearl in it. It was so beautiful. Later he told me an old man in a white hat gave it to him. He described him to me. It sounded exactly like my great-great-grandfather. I knew it couldn’t be him because he had passed away long ago, but when I showed Eric this picture, he got very excited. ‘That’s him!’ he said over and over. I told him as gently as I could that it wasn’t possible.”
“What did Eric say?” asked Neal.
Mrs. Hinkle fingered the photograph. “He just cried and cried. Over the next few days, I tried to talk to him about what had happened, but he said he didn’t remember any of it.
“But, really, it wasn’t possible. I visited my great-great-grandfather’s grave when I was a girl. He was a very early aviator.”
Mrs. Hinkle paused and looked at Julie, Neal, and Keeah in turn. “The Pearl is gone now. Will Eric come back?”
Keeah felt her chest heave. “Y-yes,” she said. “I promise you. We love Eric. We need him. Like you do. We will find him.”
Should we make her forget all of this ? Julie asked silently.
Keeah nodded. We have to.
“I think this photo might be what you need,” said Mrs. Hinkle. “Maybe Eric — or that other boy — will remember it. Keeah, you give it to him.”
“Me?”
Eric’s mother nodded, placing it in Keeah’s hands. “Something tells me you’ll know what to do. You’re special to Eric, aren’t you?”
Neal and Julie looked at Keeah.
The princess felt her heart ready to burst. She knew then that nothing would stop her from bringing Eric back to them. And to his mother.
“I think I am,” said the princess. “As special as he is to me.”
Then Mrs. Hinkle began to cry. “Oh, dear, what am I going to tell Eric’s father?”
“You don’t have to say anything,” said Keeah, holding the woman’s hand. “You won’t remember this. If everything goes well, Eric will be back home tonight.”
The princess couldn’t imagine what she and her friends would have to do to make that happen. She could hardly believe she’d even spoken the words. But Mrs. Hinkle nodded slowly, as if she wanted to believe it really would happen. And that was enough.
“We’ll do everything we can,” said Neal.
“We’re sorry to do this,” said Julie.
Mrs. Hinkle nodded. “Of course, dears. Do what you have to. Do everything you have to, to bring my son back.”
Keeah spoke several soft words over Mrs. Hinkle and murmured some to herself. As the princess became Eric’s look-alike once more, his mother’s tears dried and her face brightened.
“Oh!” she said. “What am I doing here? I need to go to the cheese shop!”
Neal sighed. “What I wouldn’t give for some Swiss with lots of holes in it. I’m so hungry —”
“Your brain has lots of holes in it,” said Julie. “Come on!”
The friends charged down the stairs to the basement closet.
Keeah wondered how she would use the photograph to bring Eric back, but she slipped it carefully into the pouch Galen had given her, determined to find a way.
Julie turned off the closet light. In a flash — whoosh! — the rainbow stairs appeared, and the three friends raced down the shimmering steps to Droon.
In the distance, they saw the tree tower of Lubalunda.
And they froze in shock.
A black banner flew over the spider troll village. It depicted the horned head of Gethwing.
“No … no!” cried Keeah. “Galen! Max! What happened?”
“Guys, I hate to say this,” said Neal. “But I think Galen’s on his own this time. Look.”
Below them they saw hordes of beasts gathering at the foot of Barrowbork. They were making their way to the summit.
“We have to save Eric,” said Julie.
Keeah jumped down two steps at a time. “And we have to hurry!”
Hot, dark rain was falling by the time Keeah, Neal, and Julie stepped off the bottom stair at the foot of the black peak of Barrowbork.
Thumping and grunting sounded behind them.
“Hide!” whispered Neal. “For, like, the fifth time today!”
The three friends dived behind a broken column as a squad of lion-headed beasts galloped past. They entered a narrow pass leading to the summit and disappeared.
Looking back once more at Lubalunda, Keeah took a deep breath. “I’m sure Galen has everyone safe. Our work is here.”
“It’s going to be a lot of work, too, staying clear of the beasts,” said Neal.
“Invisibility fog will help,” said the princess. “But we’re in the heart of the Dark Lands now, so it may not last long.”
She conjured a small cloud to cover them.
“Up we go,” said Julie.
And up they went. It took the children four solid hours to make their way up the jagged rocks. Twice, they had to halt where they were so as not to become trapped by packs of roaming wraiths.
When the kids finally reached the summit, the invisibility fog was nearly gone. They took cover among the rocks circling the clearing.
What they saw sent icy shivers through them.
Black banners flew from the rocks above, cauldrons spurted sizzling green flames, and multiple stairways led to a platform on which sat a giant black throne surrounded by hundreds of faceless wraiths. Gethwing himself sat on the throne, his fiery eyes fixed downward.
Keeah knew she would have to dig deep into her magic to find the power to battle Gethwing and Neffu. But what sort of magic could she use both to stop Ungast and not harm Eric? And how would she get him to see the photograph?
“Down there,” whispered Julie. “I see a place. Quickly, before we’re spotted.”
Together, the three friends picked their way down among the coiled stones to a hidden place behind the throne, where they made themselves small and listened.
Ten wraiths marched up to the throne in formation and stood at attention. One raised a large clu
b and struck a gong on the side of the throne. It reverberated for a few moments, then the summit went silent.
Gethwing raised his head slowly and got up from his throne. Over his dark dragon scales, he wore thick plates of black war armor that glinted in the torchlight.
“Ungast!” boomed the dragon. “Bring forth the treasure!”
“I will,” the boy said. “But you know, Gethwing, I’ve been thinking.”
“Oh, have you?” said the dragon.
“Yes. You see, I was driving along, minding my own business, when all of a sudden, I picked up a passenger. And I’m thinking maybe you want a fourth jewel in that crown of yours. One you can get for cheap. What do you say?”
“Who is it?” asked the dragon.
Ungast snapped his fingers, and the three Kindu warriors brought Lord Sparr into the clearing. The old sorcerer was bound in chains from head to toe.
“No! No!” whispered Keeah.
Gethwing stared and stared. Slowly, he began to nod his massive head. “A fourth jewel for my crown! Yes! What other surprises do you have for me?”
“A big one,” said Ungast.
A troop of Ninns ushered Galen himself into the clearing. He was not bound. But his hair was disheveled, his robes ripped, his eyes blank.
“Oh!” Julie gasped.
The wizard stumbled from one rock to another, looking from face to face without recognition.
“What happened to the old man?” asked the dragon.
Ungast drew in a breath and let it out. “He claims that someone is coming for him. Anusa the genie. He says she has called and he must go with her. He won’t be a threat to us anymore.”
The three children were stunned.
The old wizard. Their great friend. The First Wizard of Droon. Going away? Gone!
While they watched, Galen sank lower and lower into himself, his white beard hanging to his knees. He kept up a steady murmur to himself. “Oh … oh … oh …”
“Any other surprises for me?” Gethwing asked Ungast.
The dark prince smirked. “Aren’t these two enough for you? Gosh, you’re hard to please.”
Gethwing ignored his impudence. Waving one enormous claw, the moon dragon called forth a procession of Ninns. They marched in, bringing the black chest the children had seen earlier in the back of Sparr’s car. The red-faced soldiers bowed before the throne and set the chest on the ground.
“Open it,” said Gethwing.
The Ninns fumbled with the chains for a moment. When the lid finally flew up, a golden glow flashed over the throne, illuminating the dragon’s terrifying features.
Though blind, Sparr seemed to feel the glow upon his face, too. He stepped forward as if to “see” the light, then he began to tremble.
“What is the treasure?” Neal whispered.
“Whatever it is, Sparr recognizes it,” said Keeah.
Gethwing raised his massive arms. “Months lost at the bottom of the Serpent Sea have done nothing to diminish your beauty … or your power! Bring it to me!”
“Talk about nice trinkets,” said Neffu, her fingers reaching for it.
Prince Ungast swatted Neffu’s hands away. “I’ll do it,” he said. Thrusting both hands into the chest, the boy who used to be Eric Hinkle took hold of the object and held it high.
Sparr fell to his knees with a wail. “No!”
“My gosh, no!” whispered Julie, bracing herself to keep from falling. “I can’t believe it!”
What the dark prince held in his hand was a coiled band of gold in the shape of a snake. It was circled upon itself, its head arched up in attack. It gleamed in its own brilliant light.
The children knew exactly what it was.
“The Coiled Viper!” whispered Keeah, shaking all over. “Ungast found the Coiled Viper!”
The Viper was the most powerful of Lord Sparr’s Three Powers. It was what brought the beast emperor Ko back to life after four hundred years of charmed sleep. It was what turned Sparr into a young boy. It was what turned him back into a man again. It was what had the power to rule Droon.
Most of all, Keeah knew the dark magic the Coiled Viper was capable of. The Viper had been lost at sea when Sparr escaped a vicious attack by Ko and Gethwing. And now it had been recovered.
All at once, Gethwing’s plan was clear.
The moon dragon would wear the crown and bind all the dark armies to himself in a way not even Ko had done. Gethwing would conquer Droon as none had been able to do in the past. And Droon as the children knew it would cease to be.
Lord Sparr raised his old head and turned it this way and that, unseeing, but — Keeah knew — sensing everything.
Including her and her friends.
The sorcerer shook. “No … no. The Viper should never have been dredged up from the bottom of that black sea. Let me go in peace. I am frail. I am too old to play these games!”
“No games,” said Gethwing. “We are playing for real. I — we — want you to join our dynasty. And you shall!”
With that, Gethwing took the Coiled Viper into his claws and lifted it over his head.
“And now we see what the Coiled Viper can do! Create the circle of power I have always dreamed of!”
“No!” cried Keeah. “You won’t use it!”
She jumped from the peak above and landed between Sparr and the moon dragon. Neal and Julie raced to her side.
Ninns quickly surrounded them, but Keeah broke free, rushing at Ungast and crying, “Eric, come back to us!”
Ungast pushed her away, but Keeah struggled to stay near him and managed to slip the photograph inside his cloak.
“You can’t use the Viper!” she said.
“But we will,” said Ungast, as a pair of wraiths trapped Keeah from behind in their iron grip. He looked at the princess closely. “You can’t stop the future.”
Keeah stared at him. “But …”
“Silence!” boomed Gethwing. “The world changes now!”
Holding the Viper directly over him, Gethwing lowered it onto his spiked head. The moment he did, beams of purple light shot from the Viper’s jeweled eyes. The beams slithered through the air like a pair of hissing snakes before striking Lord Sparr’s blind eyes.
The sorcerer rose to his feet, then floated above the ground.
“I have waited centuries for this moment!” shouted the moon dragon. “Behold the power of my Viper. Behold the future of Droon!”
The wraiths stood motionless, the Kindu stood motionless, but the Ninns quaked to see the Viper’s fierce light fall upon their old leader.
And then, with awe on their faces, the Ninns knelt and bowed to the ground.
“Lord Sparr!” they cried.
The Ninns bowed low, touching their foreheads on the rocky ground as the figure of the blind old sorcerer began to change.
Sparr tried to shield his face from the heat and light of the purple beam shooting from the eyes of the Coiled Viper.
Keeah tried with all her might to make Ungast look into his pocket, yet she knew her powers were almost worthless so deep in the Dark Lands. With her last ounce of magic, she sent a spark at the prince. It fizzled as it struck his cloak.
“You sure you wanna do all this?” asked Neffu. “I mean, why waste the Viper on an old guy like him? Droon belongs to the young. Like me! And Ungast, I guess. What do you think, Ungie?”
The prince pulled his cloak more tightly around him and paused, turning away for a moment.
When he turned back, he glanced at Neffu. “If not for Lord Sparr, Droon wouldn’t be half as evil as it is. Oooh. Look now!”
The chains binding the sorcerer burst apart, and his ragged robes swirled in a wind that seemed to blow around only him. His dark cloak lengthened as he grew taller. A spiked helmet appeared to grow out of his head. His white hair darkened and turned a deep, rich black.
Suddenly, Sparr clasped his hands over his ears as if in pain, but when he drew them away, a black fin, edged in purple, jutted out behind each ear. br />
In a moment, it was over.
Sparr was standing firmly on his feet amid the silence of the summit. With a grin forming on his lips as it had not in a very long time, Lord Sparr stretched his neck, cracked his knuckles, and peered at his reflection in Gethwing’s shiny armor.
“Oh … yes!” he said. “I’ve missed me, but I’m back and I’m beautiful!”
“Sparr, no —” said Keeah.
“No?” snapped the sorcerer, staring at the princess. “But I planned it all along! And I did it with the help of your former friend over here, the dark Prince Ungast! I used my powers to guide Ungast to the Viper! I had you take me to the Serpent Sea!”
The Ninns stepped forward slowly.
“Our leader has … returned?” said one.
Sparr glared at the red-faced soldiers. “Your leader has returned. Bigger, badder, and, if I may say so, better-looking than before! Watch out, universe. Sparr is back!”
He raised his fists to the air, and blasts of hot, red sparks shot up over the summit like fireworks. Sparr laughed and laughed.
A call that could be heard for miles exploded among the red-faced warriors. The Ninns raised their enormous, six-fingered hands to the dark sky and shouted at the top of their lungs, “All hail Lord Sparr!”
“I’ll say!” said Sparr. “All hail me!”
Keeah barely had the strength to stand. With Lord Sparr back — evil Lord Sparr! — and on Gethwing’s side, Droon truly was doomed.
“Oh, don’t be so sad, kiddies,” the sorcerer said to the children. “Just think how much fun Gethwing, Ungast, Neffu, and I will have. Our Crown of Wizards will rule Droon. In five days, we shall be at the gates of Jaffa City. And then you’ll see what we’re really like.”
And there, at the summit of Barrowbork, Lord Sparr took his place in the dark circle of Princess Neffu, Prince Ungast, and Emperor Gethwing.
“My Crown of Wizards,” said the dragon. “Behold us, and bow to our majesty!”
A beam of light shot from the Viper to one, then the other, the third, and the fourth, creating a sizzling crown of light.
“The dark forces of old Goll are alive again!” cried Gethwing.
Keeah, Neal, and Julie stood opposite the four fearsome wizards, trembling in fear.