Final Quest

  “You asked for reinforcements, didn’t you?” the princess of Droon whispered.

  “We’re all here,” said Julie. She was crouching inside the chest, next to Neal.

  Eric wanted to hug them all. “You guys! I can’t believe you’re all here! We need to get on board. Sparr is heading for the Upper World on a quest for something magical. We need it. And him. But he’s a little out of it, so hide until you hear from me.”

  “Or until we don’t hear from you,” said Neal.

  “What’s taking so long?” called Sparr.

  “Coming!” Eric said. “Sorry about this, guys —”

  “Sorry about what?” asked Keeah.

  Eric pushed Max into the chest, slammed down the lid, dragged the heavy box to the ship, and heaved it onto the deck with a thump.

  “Finally!” said Sparr. “And now we fly!”

  Spreading his arms wide, the sorcerer chanted over and over. Eric knew what was wanted, so he murmured a charm, and the ceiling of the chamber peeled away to reveal the inside of the white tower.

  Eric’s heart turned to ice.

  At the very top was a sky darkening with smoke. Flames edged over the lip of the tower.

  The final war. Burning. Ashes!

  “Ungast, take the wheel!” Sparr cried.

  As Eric clambered to the upper deck, a brigade of Ninns swarmed into the room.

  “Lord Sparr!” they shouted.

  “Ungast!” Sparr cried.

  His ears still ringing with Gethwing’s dire words, Eric grasped the stone wheel in both hands and turned it. The ship lurched up, crashed out of the chamber, and surged skyward through the inside of the white tower.

  “Lord Sparr!” called the Ninns.

  The red-faced warriors stared at their departing leader, whose eyes focused only on the skies above. Eric saw astonishment and awe in their faces, but also sorrow.

  He knew what they felt. Sparr was always leaving them behind.

  “To the Upper World!” bellowed Sparr.

  With that, the ship made of stone rose on the torrent of water, straight up the great white tower and into the sky.

  Water gushed around the ship and propelled it through the hollow tower with such force that Eric was thrown onto his back.

  “Sparr! Hey, Sparr!”

  But from his place at the bow the sorcerer only laughed and bellowed like a child on a carnival ride. “Up we go! Up we go!”

  The chest Julie, Neal, Keeah, and Max were hiding in slid the entire length of the deck until it wedged against the main mast.

  “Tie it down or lose it!” said Sparr, still laughing.

  Eric chained the chest to the mast. “Tie it down? I’m getting inside!” He whipped open the wooden chest, leaped in, and closed the lid over him. Then he gasped in surprise.

  The inside of the chest was not two feet by three feet as he expected, but much larger. It was, in fact, the size of a huge room.

  And it was furnished!

  Carpets were laid across the floor, stools were gathered around a low table, the ceiling was draped in fabric like a desert outpost, and flaming lanterns hung from wrought-iron hooks on the walls.

  “No wonder it was so heavy,” he groaned.

  “Eric!” said Keeah, whipping him around with a great smile. “We couldn’t simply abandon you on the quest. Now it’s just like old times!”

  The chest rattled and shook.

  “Old dangerous times,” said Neal. “I feel like we’re being shot out of a fire hose!”

  “Only faster,” said Eric. “Sparr is piloting this thing into our world. He’s after something he thinks Zara is telling him to find. But he’s kind of in a trance.”

  The shaking suddenly lessened.

  “We’re slowing down,” said Keeah.

  Together, the kids and Max popped open the lid of the chest and looked out. As in Droon, it was night, but by the light of the rising moon they saw a body of calm water spread out around them. Directly ahead, under the glare of several spotlights, stood a wall of dark stone twenty feet high.

  “This doesn’t look familiar,” Neal whispered. “Where are we?”

  “Is that the wall of a fortress?” Keeah asked. “Are we still in Droon?”

  With a stroke of his hand, Sparr dashed the rigging, bringing the ship to a standstill. “I fear this is not the Upper World …”

  “Yes, it is,” Julie whispered, peering around. “This is the hydroelectric dam at Silver Lake. Our class visited here on a field trip. It’s about ten miles upriver from” — she pointed behind them — “our town.”

  Eric clambered out of the chest and onto the upper deck. He saw his town downhill from the dam, its street and house lights twinkling.

  “I remember that class trip,” he said.

  “I don’t,” said Neal.

  “You were there with us,” said Julie.

  “Oh, I’m sure I was there,” said Neal. “All I remember are the ham sandwiches.”

  “What ham sandwiches?” Julie asked.

  “The ones the bus driver shared only with me,” said Neal with a smile.

  The ship drifted to the middle of the lake, and Sparr turned toward Eric.

  “Better hide for now,” Eric whispered, and Max clamped the lid of the chest closed.

  But Sparr swiveled suddenly and leaned over the deck railing. As he stared into the water, his entire frame froze, his eyes glazed over, and he began murmuring to himself again. “Zara … tell me where …”

  “Sparr, if I knew what you were looking for —” said Eric.

  All at once, something whizzed past his head, spitting black sparks at him. They crackled against his armor, knocking him down. The thing soared up and dived again.

  “Steer the ship into the inlet!” said Eric, scrambling to his feet. “Sparr —”

  But the sorcerer kept staring into the lake as if possessed, whispering softly.

  Eric kicked open the chest. “Sparr’s in dreamland, guys. Help me!”

  The object swooped down again, and the friends flattened to the deck as another spray of black sparks sizzled at them.

  “What is that thing?” Julie asked.

  “Who’s attacking us?” Neal said.

  “There!” said Keeah. “Look! It’s them!”

  A shadow moved quickly across the very top of the concrete dam. At first, Eric thought it was a trick of the spotlights. But it was soon followed by a second figure, and a third.

  “Holy cow!” said Neal. “I’d know those creepy shapes anywhere.”

  “It’s the Hunters,” said Julie, “and their nasty spark ball! What do they want here?”

  “Perhaps the same thing Sparr does?” said Max. “Something magical?”

  The same thing I’m looking for? Eric wondered.

  The sorcerer leaned even closer to the water, rolling his head from side to side.

  “No matter why they’re here,” said Neal, “that spiky baseball is coming again!”

  They ducked as the ball swung low, bounced across the deck, and crashed into the mast before taking flight again.

  “Retreat!” called Max. “Catch the wind to the inlet before we lose Zara’s ship!”

  Keeah, Julie, and Neal unfurled the sails, and Eric spun the wheel sharply. The breeze across the lake filled the red sails, and they were soon out of range of the Hunters’ ball.

  “Gethwing sent them to our world for a reason,” Keeah said. “Maybe now we’ll find out what that is.”

  Neal pulled a tiny telescope from his turban. “I see they still have their toys with them,” he said.

  While one of the Hunters wielded the spark-spitting ball, another carried a short dagger with a wavy blade, and the third sported a pair of magical silver boots that made him as swift as the wind.

  “The last time we saw them,” said Julie, “the Hinkles were following them. Maybe they couldn’t find them —”

  “Spoke too soon,” said Max. “Eric, I think I see your parents!”


  And there they were.

  Mr. and Mrs. Hinkle scurried across the top of the dam wall. Before the kids could warn them, the Hunters jumped out of hiding and lunged at the two grown-ups.

  “I don’t think so!” said Neal. “We need to rescue your folks, Eric —”

  “On it!” Eric shot a beam of silver sparks straight up the wall of the dam. It flared in front of the Hunters and sent them leaping away from his parents. Keeah followed with a spray of violet sparks, and the evil trio raced back across the wall to a three-story brick structure at the far end of the dam.

  Leaving the ship anchored in the inlet, the children ran to the shore toward the Hinkles. Eric got there first and surprised his father, who waved a hefty stick at him.

  “Stop right there, or face my wrath, you purple bad guy!” Mr. Hinkle said.

  “Ditto!” cried Mrs. Hinkle, waving a stick of her own.

  “Mom, Dad, it’s me,” Eric said. His heart racing, he removed his helmet and stepped toward them. “It’s just me …”

  Mrs. Hinkle burst into tears. She tossed her stick down and wrapped her arms around her son. “Eric! We’ve been so worried …”

  “Eric, are you all right?” his father asked.

  “Yes,” Eric said. “And no. Look, Droon will fall” — he gauged the position of the moon — “in twenty-seven hours, unless we stop Gethwing.”

  “The sun dragon,” said Mr. Hinkle, nodding.

  “The moon dragon,” Eric said. “Lord Sparr is here to find something magic. I think it’s the same thing the Hunters want to bring to Gethwing. We’re all looking for the same thing.”

  “We’d better get back to the ship,” said Keeah. “This way.”

  They wound their way back to the ship and paused when they saw Sparr standing on the deck like a statue of black marble.

  “I’m not sure I like the look of that guy,” said Mr. Hinkle. “Can we trust him?”

  “We have to,” said Eric.

  Mrs. Hinkle shook her head. “Evil guys and their outfits. After this, Eric, I want you to run home and put on some regular clothes. You really don’t look good in purple.”

  “Or armor,” said his father.

  “I know,” he said. “But I’m not done with this disguise just yet. There’s work to do.”

  “Here, too,” said his mother, scanning the nearby woods. “Your father and I tracked those sneaky Hunters to this lake. It’s bad enough they’re here at all, but we really got mad when they kidnapped your friend.”

  Neal frowned. “Our friend? Who?”

  “You know her,” said Mr. Hinkle. “She used to go to your school. You know, the girl with the long dark hair.”

  “Went to our —” Julie started.

  “Meredith!” the children gasped together.

  “Meredith is my aunt!” said Keeah.

  “No, honestly, she was in their homeroom,” said Eric’s mother.

  “No, honestly,” Max said, “she’s Keeah’s aunt. In human form. Otherwise known as Witch Demither.”

  Meredith had been a student at the kids’ school. It was only when Gethwing attacked their town that they’d learned the girl was actually Witch Demither, who had been charmed into a regular girl with a mission in the Upper World.

  “That’s the power plant,” Mr. Hinkle said, pointing to the squat brick building at the end of the dam. “Those nasty guys have set up headquarters there. Witch Meredith is inside.”

  Keeah turned to the ship. “They’re all here for the same thing. The Hunters, Sparr, and Demither. We need to free her. Follow me —”

  “Alas, Urik!” Sparr shouted suddenly. “I do not see it! It cannot be done!”

  “Urik?” Eric turned to the ship. “But —”

  Max held him back. “I will see to Sparr. You save Demither. Go.”

  Eric ran along with the others, but he wondered what possible connection the lake could have with Urik. Had Zara sent Sparr for something belonging to Urik?

  The more he thought about it, the more he remembered something Meredith had once told him.

  She’d said that water flowed everywhere and joined everything, all places in all worlds.

  “Everything is connected,” she had said. “Past, present, future, place to other place, everything. All things connect.”

  To prove it, she had written her name on the surface of the swimming pool at his school. He could never forget the stunning moment when she rearranged the letters.

  Meredith

  became

  Demither

  It proved yet again how names and words were some of the greatest magic of all.

  Carefully, the children crept toward the dam. They were no more than fifty yards away when the spiked ball flew out of the brick building.

  “Duck!” said Neal.

  Only the ball wasn’t aimed at them. It soared high, sizzling with energy, then dived straight down at the dam wall. It struck with tremendous speed and exploded, sending chunks of cement and stone into the air.

  Before the children knew what was happening, the middle of the dam had collapsed. The calm lake water heaved once, twice, three times, then rushed over the broken wall.

  “No! No!” cried Eric as thousands of gallons of water hurtled toward the helpless town below.

  Water gushed through the cracked wall and plummeted down the side of the dam. The hillside flooded. Trees crashed to the ground, their roots clawing upward. More and more of the lake rushed through the gap, and the entire dam began to cave in.

  Within moments, the water became an unstoppable force, a monstrous tidal wave, rolling toward the town.

  Mrs. Hinkle fell to her knees. “Our friends!”

  “Thousands of innocent people!” cried Mr. Hinkle. “We have to do something!”

  Eric turned to his friends. “Keeah, you and me —”

  “I know,” she said. “We have to do this together. I only hope we can!”

  “We need more than hope,” said Eric.

  As larger and larger portions of the dam fell into the rushing water, the two wizards scrambled to the top of the wall.

  “Like old times, Eric!” Keeah said.

  Her violet sparks met and entwined with his silver ones. Together, they blasted at the water, managing to ensnare it with pure energy, holding it up behind a wall of light.

  The waves churned on the near side of their magic wall, growing higher and stronger.

  Neal searched his genie scroll for a charm to conjure the concrete back into place. He managed to send one giant block flying back up, but it did little good. The water simply flowed higher and higher behind Eric and Keeah’s wall of light.

  “I can’t put the dam back together!” Neal shouted. “We need more magic!”

  More magic! thought Eric. More than we have!

  From across the lake came Sparr’s cry, “I have found it! I have found it!”

  Keeah’s sparks were being split apart, sizzling and fizzling. “I … can’t … it’s not holding —”

  “Sparr!” cried Eric. Sparr, help us! We need you —

  Instantly, Sparr broke out of his trance.

  “Why didn’t you say so!” He whipped his cloak behind him and flew to Eric and Keeah. “Repair the wall! I’ll take on the water —”

  As if once more his powerful self, Lord Sparr climbed to the top of the wall and raced along it, jumping over the torrent of rushing water. Then, like an arrow, he leaped from the summit and disappeared.

  “Keeah, come with me,” called Eric. “Julie, Neal, fly my parents to safety!”

  “We’re already on it,” said Neal.

  Letting the water go, Keeah and Eric worked together to hurl massive chunks of concrete back into place. Max was there now, too. He speedily wove a web as strong as iron and spun it around the broken concrete to keep the loose chunks fast.

  “I hope Sparr can do it!” said Keeah.

  “Sparr, here!” yelled Eric. And he sent the Moon Medallion flying to the sorcerer, who grasped it
and hung it around his neck.

  Taking up a position on a high rock, Sparr stood fast. The veins on his neck grew taut. The jagged scar on his forehead turned bright red, as if it had been made afresh. His eyes, huge and black, focused on the giant waves as they grew higher and higher.

  Then, as if the Medallion flared and a flame entered him, Sparr let out a fierce yell.

  “Back, back, ye waters, into thy place!”

  And the water, as if it were a living creature, coiled itself into a roaring tower. It rose and rose, snaking into the air high over the dam. It arched over Sparr’s head and seemed to snarl and gasp at him. But the Medallion flared once more, and the water fell back up the hill. Every last drop hurled itself over the dam wall into the emptying lake bed.

  Waving his hands once, Sparr calmed the waters, and the lake became as peaceful as it had been before the dam burst.

  Sparr kept his hands poised over the water for a minute, two minutes, his face twisted from the exertion, until finally he breathed out and collapsed to the ground.

  Everyone ran to him. After a moment or two, they managed to revive him.

  “I take back what I said,” said Mr. Hinkle. “I kind of like this guy!”

  “Thank you,” Sparr whispered.

  Then he shook his head from side to side and bolted to his feet, a new man. “Eric, take the Medallion. I am myself. Demither is part of why I am here. Come! Follow! Save her! Our quest continues!”

  Without a word, the friends raced after him to the brick building at the end of the dam.

  They crept carefully up to its dirt-stained windows and looked in. The giant room inside was dimly lit, but they could see huge pistons thumping while great wheels turned and rods and gears ground incessantly.

  “She’s in there,” said Keeah. “I sense her.”

  “We must free the Sea Witch,” said Sparr. “I see now that we need Demither. Without her, this quest may not succeed.”

  “Let me see what I can find out.” Julie stepped back from the group and leaped into the air. She circled the top of the squat building and then returned. “There’s a ladder to the roof on the far side and an entrance into the plant from up there. The Hunters won’t expect us to surprise them that way.”