The Great Ice Battle Read online

  Neal, Julie, and Keeah rushed to Eric.

  “Hide, all of you,” the wizard said sharply, striding out to the courtyard. “Guards, come!”

  The four kids crept out as far as they ­could, then ducked behind a tall snowdrift. Max skittered out of the palace and huddled with them.

  “How stupid ­could I be?” Eric groaned softly.

  Lord Sparr stood by the gate. His deep eyes flickered and blazed red. His transformation was complete.

  “Seize him!” Galen called out. A dozen of the king’s soldiers quickly surrounded Sparr.

  The sorcerer bared his teeth in an evil grin. “How rude to treat an invited guest with such … coldness!” His fingers sparked suddenly.

  “Galen, watch out!” Keeah cried. She raised her own hand. A beam of pale light shot from it.

  It fizzled and vanished in an instant.

  Blam! Sparr’s bolt struck the wizard. Galen was thrown backward in the snow.

  Then he stopped moving.

  His blue robe went stiff. His long white hair and beard turned to ice. Frost crept over his cheeks, his forehead, his nose.

  “Oh, Galen!” Max whimpered. “No … no …”

  The wizard’s eyes went glassy. “So cold!” he said. Then he said no more.

  Before the guards could move — kkkk! Another bolt of light shot from Sparr. The guards turned to ice as quickly as Galen had.

  The wolves howled deep in their cave. Sparr smiled. “Yes, even you shall fall to my curse.”

  Kkkk! Blam! The wolves howled no more.

  “We’ve got to stop this guy!” Eric whispered.

  Boom-boom-boom! There came a loud knocking on the gates. Sparr turned. With a flick of his wrist, the gates opened. “Come, my Ninns!”

  “Oh, great!” Neal groaned. “Now he’s inviting his Ninns in, too! A regular party of evil dudes!”

  Twenty of Sparr’s heavy-footed, red-faced Ninn warriors clomped into the courtyard.

  Some of them carried huge hammers over their shoulders. Others had bows and arrows.

  They grunted and bowed before their master.

  “You four, bring me the amulet of Zor,” the sorcerer commanded.

  “Yes, Lord Sparr,” growled the chief Ninn.

  “You three, take the old wizard to the throne room,” Sparr said. “The rest of you, find the children. The boy helped me get in. But his usefulness is done. Now, destroy them all!”

  Sparr swirled his cloak and swept up the steps into the palace.

  The children quaked with fear.

  “Keeah,” whispered Julie. “You must know a spell against this. Don’t you have some magic that will unfreeze the wizard?”

  Keeah hung her head. “My magic failed when I needed it most.” Her tears fell to the ground and turned to ice.

  “Don’t despair, princess,” Max whispered. “Galen will be fine. At least … I hope he will!”

  “Well, there’s got to be something we can do,” said Eric.

  Neal turned to Eric. “A …”

  “A what?” Eric asked. “You have an idea?”

  “A … a …” Neal said, shivering.

  “Tell us!” Julie whispered.

  “A … a … choo!” Neal sneezed loudly.

  “Huh?” grunted one of the Ninns in the courtyard. He pointed to the drift where the kids were hiding. “Snow … sneeze?”

  “Not snow! Little ones!” shouted another.

  The Ninns loaded their bows and arrows.

  “That’s our cue to get out of here!” Julie said.

  “Let’s hide in the market,” Keeah said. “We can lose the Ninns there!”

  “Better than losing our lives here!” Neal said.

  The five friends bolted up in a swirl of snow and took off across the courtyard.

  The angry Ninns clomped right after them!

  Thwang! Thwang!

  Arrows whizzed past the kids as they dashed across the snowy courtyard. The arrows plinked and clanked against the frosted stones.

  “Head for the rows of market stalls!” Keeah said, pointing ahead. “We can hide there!”

  Max skittered on the stones behind Keeah. “Oh, if only my master, Galen, were here!”

  They darted into the thick of the market­place. The tents were crusted with snow and ice. Men and women stood by their tables. But they ­weren’t moving. They were completely frozen.

  “This is so sad,” said Julie, out of breath.

  “I know them,” Keeah added.

  Clomp! Crash! The Ninns burst through the first row of stalls searching for the kids. They tore down the tents and overturned the tables.

  “Oh, dear!” Max chittered. “Terrible brutes!”

  “I agree!” said Eric, hurrying past a stall filled with barrels of sugar and flour.

  Clomp! Ninns were storming around from behind. Soon they would see the kids.

  “Ninn sandwich!” Neal said. “We’re trapped!”

  “I’ve got an idea!” Eric whispered. Then he grabbed Neal and pushed his face into one of the sugar barrels.

  “Hey!” Neal yelped, pulling himself back up, his face covered with white sugar. “What are you doing? I mean — mmm. That’s good sugar.”

  “Shhh!” Eric gasped. “Pretend you’re frozen!”

  “Huh?” Then Neal’s eyes went wide. “Oh, I get it! The sugar looks like frost!” He went stiff.

  Julie and Keeah got the idea, too. They stuck their faces in the sugar barrel, then popped back up. They stood as still as statues.

  Eric did the same. So did Max.

  Their faces were completely frosted in sugar.

  They held their breaths.

  Clomp! Clank! Two red Ninns in black armor stomped between the stalls to the children.

  “Child?” growled one. He poked one of his six claws at Neal’s nose. He waved the other in front of Eric’s face. Both boys stared straight ahead. They ­didn’t move. They ­didn’t breathe.

  “Frozen?” the Ninn said.

  The other Ninn peered at Keeah. Then he pushed his big red face down close to Julie’s. His dark, beady eyes stared into hers.

  “Frozen,” he grunted to his fellow Ninn.

  They wandered away noisily between the stalls. Finally they headed back to the palace.

  Eric let out a long breath. “That was close!”

  “Real close,” Neal said, brushing the sugar from his cheeks. “I never knew food ­could save your life!”

  “Let’s get out of here,” said Julie. “Before that big lug decides to breathe on me again —”

  “Shhh!” Keeah said. “I hear something.”

  The kids stood still and listened.

  Eric looked up. “It sounds like … wings!”

  “It’s Queen Relna!” Max exclaimed. “Look!”

  Down through the swirling snow came a white falcon. She fluttered slowly above them.

  “Mother!” the princess said softly.

  “Keeah, my child,” the falcon said. “How I can speak to you, I do not know. But Keeah … only you have the power to save our city.”

  “My magic failed!” Keeah replied. “I ­couldn’t help Galen. I tried to, but Sparr froze him!”

  “And it’s all my fault,” Eric muttered.

  The bird spoke again. “Sometimes bad things happen for a reason. We need to be tested, so that we grow stronger. Keeah, remember who you are. And know this: True magic comes from a magic heart.”

  Then the bird hovered over the barrel of sugar. From her eyes came a spiral of blue light.

  The light fell on the sugar. The sugar began to sparkle.

  “Hurry!” said the queen. “You have but a little time left before what is frozen remains frozen!”

  Then, with a rapid flutter of wings, Keeah’s mother was gone.

  “Wow, is that magic dust?” Julie asked.

  Eric remembered how Keeah had once sprinkled shiny powder on his sprained ankle, curing him.

  The princess tossed a handful of the
sparkling crystals in the air and watched them fall. “I think it is magic,” she said.

  “Then let’s get to the palace right away and try the dust on Galen,” Eric said.

  “Excuse me,” Neal said, raising his hand. “But Sparr is in there, with a million nasty Ninns.”

  “Neal’s right,” Keeah said. She filled a velvet pouch on her belt with the powder. “We’ll need some help first.”

  “Good thinking!” Neal said. He dipped his finger in the barrel of sugar and licked it. “Mmm. It’s magic, but it still tastes good.”

  Eric turned to Keeah. “Should we wait here for your father to get back with an army of big, tough Droon guys?”

  Keeah shook her head. “We can’t wait. We need other friends to help us. Old friends.”

  Neal gulped. “Hold on a second. You’re not talking about those wolves, are you?”

  Keeah patted her velvet pouch. “We need to unfreeze them.”

  “You are talking about those wolves!” Neal yelped. “Oh, man! I knew we were going back to that cave! I just knew it!”

  The princess had already grabbed Julie and Eric and started to run.

  “To the cave, ­everyone!” she cried. “Hurry!”

  “It’s like a tomb in here,” Eric said as they entered the cave. “And darker than I remember it.”

  “Thanks for scaring me again,” said Neal.

  Keeah pulled a flaming torch from the wall outside and handed it to Max. She took another for herself. “It gets even darker down below.”

  Carefully, the five friends tiptoed into the darkness. Soon, the rocky cave floor gave way to rough, carved steps.

  Sssss! The torches sizzled as the thick ice on the ceiling melted down onto the flames.

  Eric felt bad about letting Sparr in. There was nothing he ­could do now, except help make it right. He hoped they ­could reverse the curse.

  “How did the wolves get here?” he asked.

  Keeah stepped carefully down the frosted steps. “Long ago, a terrible creature named Zor fought the wolves who lived in the hills here.”

  “Who is Zor?” asked Julie.

  Keeah took a deep breath. “He was a ­giant.”

  “A terrible giant! If the stories are to be believed,” Max said with a shiver.

  “My mother took the giant’s power away,” Keeah said. “He vanished. Finally, he died.”

  Max nodded. “To thank Relna, the wolves promised to guard forever the amulet that gave Zor his power.”

  “What’s an amulet?” Neal asked.

  “A kind of crest,” Keeah said. “A big piece of jewelry with a crystal in the center. It’s hidden below our city, in the cavern of the wolves.”

  “So that’s what Sparr is after!” Eric said.

  Julie frowned. “But if Zor is dead, what exactly will Sparr do with the giant’s old jewelry?”

  “I don’t know,” Keeah whispered. “But something tells me we’ll find out soon enough.”

  They stepped off the final step onto a smooth floor. Before them was an opening into a stone room. Beyond that was an even smaller room.

  “Oh, no!” Julie gasped. “The poor wolves!”

  There, in the flickering torchlight, were three large wolves.

  One lay motionless near the entrance to the inner room. Another was standing on all fours, its long ears pointed up, its eyes as still as glass. A third crouched by the stairs, its fangs bared, as if ready to pounce. The bright red fur of each wolf was now silvery-white with ice.

  All three were frozen solid.

  “Just like my master,” Max chirped softly.

  “According to the old stories, there was only one thing that ­could stop them,” Keeah said.

  “Let me guess. Being frozen,” Eric said. “And that’s why Sparr used a curse of ice to attack the city. He knew he could get Zor’s amulet.”

  “He already did,” Julie said. She pointed to the inner room. It was empty.

  Neal joined her and gazed up. “There’s a hole in the ceiling here. The Ninns must have busted their way in with those nasty hammers.”

  Max shot sticky silk at the ceiling and swung up to the hole. “I’ll see what I can find out.”

  Keeah took a deep breath and opened her velvet bag. She sprinkled powder on the wolves.

  Zzzz! The air sizzled over the frozen beasts.

  “It’s working!” Eric said. “The magic is working!”

  The creatures’ eyes softened instantly.

  One wolf yawned and stretched. The others shook themselves from head to tail, spraying a thousand icy needles across the stones.

  “Yes!” Julie cried. “They’re alive!”

  Keeah knelt and whispered to the red wolves. “Sama teku mey?” The animals seemed to answer her with purring sounds and soft growling.

  She has the power, Eric thought. He glanced at his friends. Their eyes were wide with wonder.

  Keeah turned back to the kids. “I must help Galen. Even if it means facing Sparr. I must trust the magic. That’s what my mother’s words mean.”

  “Her words mean something to us, too,” Eric agreed.

  Max swung back into the room. “Those nasty Ninns are taking Zor’s amulet to the throne room. Sparr is waiting for it there.”

  Keeah’s eyes flashed. “The king’s room? Only my father should sit there!”

  The wolves growled, sensing Keeah’s anger.

  “We’ll bring your father back,” said Eric. “We’ll make things right again. We have to.”

  Julie nodded. “We’ll do it.”

  “We make a great team,” Neal added.

  Keeah smiled. “Then come. We have work to do!”

  They climbed up a secret passage and came out a small door on the main level of the palace.

  Max peered around in all directions. “No Ninns,” he chirped. “As long as we’re quiet!”

  “The throne room is not far from here,” Keeah said. “Everybody, follow me.”

  Eric crept close to the frosty walls. Julie and Neal were right behind him. The red wolves padded silently next to Keeah.

  Soon they were outside the throne room.

  Eric and Neal peered around one side of the doorway, Julie and Keeah around the other.

  The throne room was large and round. The walls were covered with tapestries. The floor was tiled in a strange pattern of colored stones.

  Eric had seen that pattern before, in Galen’s secret tower. The throne room’s floor was a giant map of Droon.

  Sparr sat in the king’s large golden throne.

  Galen stood nearby, as white and unmoving as a statue carved of stone.

  “Bring the amulet to me!” Sparr commanded.

  Grrr! The wolves growled behind Keeah.

  “Hush!” she said, patting their heads. “Soon.”

  Four big Ninn soldiers carried an iron box into the room. They set it down in front of their master, opened the box, and bowed.

  With both hands Sparr reached in and pulled out a large black object. He held it over his head.

  It was a long triangle piercing a circle. Horns stuck out from either side.

  A glittering crystal hung in the center of the triangle.

  “Behold the amulet of Zor!” Sparr cried out.

  The Ninns bowed before the strange object.

  The amulet sparkled in the torchlight.

  “Soon, we shall begin our long journey,” Sparr announced. “Zor … we shall come to you!”

  “Oh, dear!” Max whispered.

  Then Lord Sparr drew his sword. He attached the amulet to the handle and tightened it.

  “What is he doing?” Julie asked.

  Keeah frowned. “I don’t know.”

  The sorcerer strode to the center of the room.

  He stood over the spot where the colored tiles showed the outline of Jaffa City. “Soon our questions will be answered,” he said.

  He clutched his sword with both hands.

  He pointed the blade down.

&nb
sp; With one powerful thrust — clong! — Sparr sank his blade deep into the floor.

  Deep into the map of Jaffa City.

  “What is going on —” Eric began.

  Suddenly, the amulet’s crystal lit up. It began glowing bright green. It sparked and hissed.

  Keeah stood up. “It’s time,” she said.

  “We’ll bring back the king,” Eric said firmly.

  The princess took a deep breath. “Good luck.”

  “To you, too,” said Julie, smiling at her.

  Keeah stepped from the shadows. “Detchu-tah!” she called out sharply.

  In a flash, the three large red wolves roared into the throne room. They growled and bared their fangs. Steam rose from their open jaws as they skittered by Keeah’s side.

  Sparr stepped back. Fear crossed his face. “The wolves? They were frozen! So … you are your mother’s daughter. Too bad your little show of magic won’t last very long.”

  “Long enough to stop you!” Keeah said. She raised her hands at Sparr.

  Eric felt his blood go cold, then hot. “Maybe we should stay to help her. This is all my fault.”

  “Sometimes bad things happen for a reason,” Max said. “Perhaps Keeah was meant to do this. I shall stay here. Galen would want me to. But you, you must find the king.”

  “But —” Eric started.

  Julie grabbed Eric’s arm. “Keeah has powers. She’s got to fight Sparr. And we’ve got to do this!”

  Neal grabbed Eric’s other arm. “Let’s go!”

  As the wolves leaped for Sparr and his Ninns, the three friends scrambled through the halls.

  They shivered as they dashed down the steps.

  Their hearts raced as they entered a world of ice.

  Julie and Eric hitched up reins and saddles on three shaggy pilkas while Neal wrestled open the large city gate.

  “Let’s find the king!” Eric said firmly, snapping the reins of his pilka.

  “Giddyap!” Neal shouted, jumping on his own.

  At once, the pilkas took off. They raced past the city gates and out over the crunchy ground. The storm wrapped around them swiftly.

  Soon, the palace was out of sight.

  “King Zello!” Eric cried.