“Then I’m going after him,” said Urik, handing his satchel to his younger brother. “If there’s an ounce of our mother’s goodness in him, I’ll find it. Take the wand, Galen. It’s yours now. Do good things with it.”
“But, Urik —” Galen started to say.
It was too late. Urik leaped into the whirling light as Sparr had done. A moment later, he was gone.
“I — will — destroy — you!” Salamandra cried, turning her magic staff on the children.
Thwing! Thwing! Sharp flaming thorns flew like bullets at them.
Eric leaped up and dodged the thorns, but when he came back down — clack! — the tiny blue gem fell out of his hand and spun across the floor toward her, glowing as if it were alive.
“No,” he said. “She can’t get it —”
“Eric, here!” called Galen. He tossed Urik’s wand.
Salamandra rushed for the gem, but Eric caught the wand and turned it on her.
Kkkkkk! With its last gasp of power, the wand shot out a bright purple bolt of light.
Salamandra collapsed to the floor, crying in defeat. But just as she fell, so did the final petal of the wand.
Eric watched, stunned, as the petal vanished and the purple light faded from the air.
Instantly, the Wand of Urik twisted and bent in his hand. And it became no more than a rough and crooked stick.
Salamandra rose to her feet at last. “Goblins, if I can’t have this world, at least I’ll have Droon!”
In a flash, she was gone from the throne room.
The fortress wobbled and quivered suddenly, sending the gem sliding into the shadows.
Shrieking, the goblins raced after the princess, while Jabbo yelped and hid under his pie cart.
“The gem,” said Eric. “I have to get it….”
The floor quaked and heaved.
“Leave it,” said Julie. “It’s better off buried in the past. But we shouldn’t be — come on!”
“Pesh is going back in time!” cried Max.
“Let’s get out of here,” said Keeah. “Back to the Dark Stair.”
“Yeah,” said Neal. “While we still have a chance!”
Splash! Sploosh! Vrrrm!
By the time the kids reached the water, Salamandra’s sleek green boat was speeding away.
“She’ll find Droon,” said Max. “She’ll try to destroy it, too.”
Keeah looked across the canals to see the sunlight glinting off the jeweled door on the far shore. “We’ll never stop her in time.”
“Ho, there! Do you need a ride?” called a voice. The old boatman waved from the water, his beat-up canal boat bobbing on the waves.
“Excuse me, but in that old boat?” said Neal. “We need something a little faster —”
“Ah, but while you were inside, I’ve been making improvements,” the boatman said with a chuckle. “Hurry. The goblin boats are coming.”
Eeeee! Rrrr! The kids turned to see a dozen black boats roar out of the tunnels under the fortress. Each boat had sharp green fins sticking up from the back.
“After them!” the goblins howled.
“I guess we have no choice,” said Keeah, jumping into the old boat. “Let’s ride!”
Julie, Eric, Neal, Max, and the young Galen joined her. Everyone held on as the boat roared over the water, seeming to fly above the waves.
“There’s some spell at work here,” said young Galen, beginning to grin. “It’s very much like something I would do —”
“It’s exactly like something you would do,” said the old boatman. “Or should I say — like we would do?”
He tossed off his floppy hat. His white hair blew in the wind. His long beard whipped over his shoulder.
“Galen?” cried Keeah. “It’s you!”
The old wizard bowed. “It’s me!”
“And — me!” said young Galen. He rubbed his eyes and laughed. “Well! It’s good to know I’m still here after five hundred years!”
Old Galen sped the boat into a narrow channel, with two goblin boats roaring in after them. “I’m sorry I could not join you in the fortress. You had your own trials to face in there. Excuse me —”
He jerked the rudder to the left and flitted into a side passage. Racing to the end, he sent up a huge spray of water.
Fwoooosh! The two goblin pilots were washed overboard, leaving their empty boats blocking the way. Wham-wham-wham! Three more boats crashed into them.
“Goblin pileup!” said Eric.
“Serves them right!” said Julie.
Galen’s younger self laughed, together with the old wizard. “I see you still like to live dangerously!”
“I do!” said the bearded old man. “And speaking of danger, I see our old friend is back. Kraken off the port side!”
Roooaoooow! The kraken splashed out of the water and leaped for the boat, spitting black water all over the place.
“That does it!” growled Neal. “I’ve really had it with this guy! Kraken, it’s payback time!”
Neal thrust his goblin face right at the sea monster and roared at the top of his lungs.
Roooaoooow!
The kraken’s big eyes bulged with fear. Then Neal swatted its snout, and the sea monster silently sank back into the water.
“Ha-ha!” Julie crowed. “You did it! That’s two more points for the ugly goblin!”
“And now,” said Eric. “To the Dark Stair!”
Galen piloted the boat swiftly and carefully to the far shore, landing at the docks near the Dirty Plate.
“Come on, everyone!” cried Keeah, leaping from the boat. She led the small band through the quaking streets to the foot of the Dark Stair.
Even as they got there, the evil princess Salamandra was racing up the black steps to the jeweled door.
At the top, she turned.
Thwing! Thwing! She shot one flaming thorn after another at the kids. Keeah and the two Galens made a shield of blue light.
Plink! Plank! The thorns fell away harmlessly.
Salamandra glared at them. “Fancy work, wizards. But you haven’t seen the last of me!”
“That’s what they all say,” Eric called back.
With a sneer, the sorceress slipped through the jeweled door and down the far side into Droon.
“We’ll get you!” cried Max, scampering up the stairs. “Evil princess!”
“I fear we shall find her soon enough, my friend,” said the old wizard as the city quivered and grew suddenly hazy.
“Pesh will soon return to its distant past,” said old Galen. “One thing only remains to be done here.” He turned to his younger self. “You must stay in this world. You have a great task to accomplish. You must create the rainbow stairs.”
Young Galen looked at his older self. “Is that how I get to Droon?”
“It is. And your journey begins now.”
The boy smiled. “A journey? Is there danger?”
The old wizard laughed. “Plenty of that, and mystery, too! Oh, the things I could tell you —”
“Master!” said Max, giving old Galen a look.
“Hmm? Yes, quite right, Max, quite right. You must experience it all yourself. But know this, young self. With friends, all things are possible.”
The boy wizard smiled and looked at Eric, Keeah, Julie, Neal, and especially Max. “I think I just found that out. Well, then, point me in the right direction. Where will I create these stairs?”
“I think I know!” said Julie. She took Urik’s map from the brown satchel and opened it. “First, you have to cross this wide ocean.”
“Then look for a valley in the middle of three hills,” said Eric. “There you’ll find the perfect spot to create the rainbow stairs. Someday, a house will be built over it. My house.”
“That’s what starts the whole great adventure,” said Keeah.
“And now for the wand,” said the old man.
Eric took it from his belt. “But it’s all used up. It’s just a plain stick now.”
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Old Galen looked at it. “When you found it, it was a stick, yet it became a wand. Now, see what happens.”
The young wizard took the stick in his hand. Suddenly, it straightened and turned blue, then red, then gold. Finally, a purple flower full of petals blossomed from the end and began to glow.
“Cool!” said Eric. “I guess it’s your turn now.”
The boy smiled. “A map, the wand. All I need now is a sailing ship.”
“And it waits for you.” The old wizard pointed to the shore where their small boat bobbed at the docks. All of a sudden, the frail craft stretched in every direction, masts grew from a wide deck, and shimmering sails unfurled.
It sat atop the water, a glinting, silvery craft.
“That’s a boat fit for an adventure!” said Max.
“Now there’s a magic word if I ever heard one!” said old Galen. “Go. Create the stairs!”
“I will,” said the boy. He raced to the shore and hopped aboard the boat. Instantly, wind filled its sails, and it rolled away from Pesh.
“But master,” said Max. “Do we ever see your brother Urik again?”
The wizard sighed. “Ah. His tale is an interesting one. And I suspect you will also want to hear about Sparr, too, and why I never told you who he was. That, my dear friends, is a long story. But it’s one that I shall tell you — what? Oh!”
A sudden flash of brown hurtled past Galen, up the stairs, and right through the jeweled door.
Keeah gasped. “What was that?”
Neal sniffed. “Uh-oh. I think it’s … Hey, if I’m right, we’d better hurry!”
Everyone scrambled up the stairs and leaped through the door just as Pesh quaked for the last time and faded completely into the mist.
“I was right.” Neal pointed down the stairs.
There was something sprinkled on the shiny black steps to Droon. A fine white powder.
“Flour?” asked Julie. “You mean, that was — Jabbo? Jabbo’s gone to Droon, too?”
“Oh, yeah!” squeaked a high voice. “And he’s gonna rule the whole place!”
There, below them, darting down into the pink sky of Droon, was the little dragon, Jabbo.
In his hand was a tiny blue gem. When its glow shone on his bumpy snout, he puffed out a great roar of flame and shouted, “Jabbo’s got the power now. Jabbo will rule Droon!”
Max groaned. “Oh, no. Here we go again!”
Quickly, Keeah and Galen closed the jeweled door, chanting words of ancient Droon over and over until the door seemed to fade away, just as Pesh itself had done.
“That should keep it closed,” said Keeah. “Besides, you can’t open what you can’t find.”
They raced down the Dark Stair and into the land of Droon once more. At the bottom stood the great white summit of Silversnow, just as they had left it. Salamandra and Jabbo were nowhere in sight.
“I’ll search for footprints,” said Max. Off he scurried, with his nose to the ground.
Eric shot a look at Keeah. She was gazing up at the top of the Dark Stair, even as her face was lit by the sun rising over her own world.
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” he asked. “I mean, that was one strange adventure.”
Keeah nodded. “I understand more clearly than ever that our worlds are bound together. The future of one with the past of the other.”
“And the other way around, too,” said Neal.
Julie sighed. “It’s sort of sad that there’s so little magic left in our world. It explains a lot.”
Keeah smiled. “Galen said that there was some left. I think he means all of you.”
At that moment, there came a soft whooshing sound behind them. Turning, they saw the shimmering rainbow stairs.
The stairs that young Galen had created.
Keeah turned to the old wizard. “So you did find the way to the New World. You used your brother’s wand. You made the stairs.”
“I did indeed,” Galen said. “And all is as it should be.”
“Ahem!” said Neal, raising a green claw. “All is as it should be? I mean, hello? Goblin here!”
Julie laughed. “And we were just getting used to you, too. You were handy to have around.”
“Hold still,” said Galen. “Now let me see. Ah, yes. Erom — on — nilbog!”
Ploink! Neal’s snout shrank away, his feet returned to normal, and his skin’s deep green color faded. He was just plain Neal again.
“I have to say,” Keeah said with a smile, “you really were kind of cute.”
Neal blinked. “Now you tell me!”
Max scampered over. “Look, everyone! Our two new enemies went different ways!”
He pointed to two sets of footprints, one streaked with thorn marks, the other made by the wide, clawed feet of a dragon.
“Yes, yes,” said Galen, wrapping his long blue cloak around him. “I’m afraid we have a sorceress and a dragon loose in Droon. Duty calls us. Max, Keeah, let’s be off!”
Keeah turned to her friends and shrugged. “There’s never a dull moment! Until next time!”
Waving, she and Max ran off after Galen.
“I guess it’s our turn, too,” said Neal.
As their Droon friends set off on their new adventure, Eric, Neal, and Julie raced across the snowy summit to the glittering rainbow stairs.
They charged up the steps, then Julie stopped.
“What is it?” asked Neal.
“Do you think … I mean, will we ever see Sparr again?” she asked. “After all, he’s sort of lost in time somewhere.”
Eric remembered Sparr’s last words to him.
Our day is coming….
“I guess … only time will tell,” he said.
“Speaking of time,” said Neal. “It must be snack time. My stomach’s grumbling. I feel like pie.”
Julie laughed. “Neal, haven’t you learned your lesson about pie?”
“I’ll take my chances,” said Neal. “Let’s go!”
Glancing once more at the magical world of Droon, Eric, Neal, and Julie turned and raced up the rainbow stairs for home.
It was the sound of words that woke me.
At first, they seemed strange and beautiful, like mysterious fish weaving around a swimmer.
Then the shouts came, and the running of feet, and the voices, full of fear, calling me….
No. Wait. That’s not right.
I need to begin this story properly.
It isn’t every day a person gets to write in her Wizardbook. This is far too important to get wrong. The story I set down on these pages — every single word of it — has to be right.
It has to be perfect.
Perfect? Yes. That’s part of the story, too.
Okay, then.
My name is Keeah. I live in Jaffa City, the royal capital of the land of Droon. King Zello is Droon’s ruler and the leader of its people. He’s also my father.
Queen Relna is my very beautiful and kind mother. She’s a wizard of incredible power.
Since I’m their daughter, I’m a princess.
And a wizard.
The more I practice all my charms and spells — and the bright blue wizard sparks shooting from my fingertips have been getting stronger each day — the better it is for Droon.
That’s because not all of Droon is good.
And that’s because of Lord Sparr.
I shiver even writing his name in my Wizardbook. Sparr is a sorcerer of great power. He wants to control not only his Dark Lands — the smelly, smoke-filled countries east of Jaffa City — but every single inch of Droon itself.
And not just Droon, either.
A long time ago, Sparr created the Three Powers — the Red Eye of Dawn, the Golden Wasp, and the Coiled Viper.
For ages and ages, these magical objects were lost.
Then, Sparr found his Powers — one after the other — until only the Red Eye remained hidden from him.
Of course, my parents and I aren’t the only
ones trying to stop Sparr from ruling Droon.
The great wizard, Galen Longbeard, has fought the sorcerer and his army of Ninns forever, trying to keep them from taking over.
Or, he used to.
A very mysterious genie named Anusa took the wizard away from us on a long journey. Where Galen is now and when his quest will end, nobody really knows.
But Max, his trusty spider troll friend, is here to help us, along with many friendly people and creatures in every corner of Droon. They’re part of this story, too.
Best of all are my friends Eric Hinkle, Julie Rubin, and Neal Kroger.
Ever since they discovered a magical staircase between us and the Upper World where they live, they’ve been helping me keep Droon safe.
Eric has even become a wizard with his own really strong magic. Julie now has the ability to fly. And Neal … well, Neal is Neal.
Droon can be pretty dangerous, but my friends are always here when I need them most.
I needed them today.
Which brings me to the beginning. I’ll start my story with the very first thing I remember.
Morning …
* * *
The sun was just below the eastern hills. I was in my royal bed, asleep and dreaming … dreaming … dreaming … deep dreams….
Krooth-ka … meshti … pah-la … Neffu!
“What?” I bolted up in bed thinking that someone had called out to me. Strange words I’d never heard before swam in my head for a moment, then faded.
Looking around, I saw hazy pink light beginning to streak the floor of my room.
“Who’s there?” I said. “Mother? Father —”
Thump! Thump! The sound of running feet filled the corridors of the palace.
“Stop, you! Stop!” someone yelled.
Pushing aside the book lying next to me, I jumped up from my bed, only to find that I had fallen asleep in my clothes — blue tunic, leggings, and belt. My gold crown lay resting on my pillow. I put it on.
“Max? Max!” I called. He didn’t answer. His tiny bed was all rumpled and empty in the corner.
A sudden cry came through the halls.
“It is mine … mine!”
A chill ran through me. The voice, part hissing, part snarling, sounded like his. It sounded like the voice of Lord Sparr.
“Him? Here? Never!” I whispered.