The Riddle of Zorfendorf Castle Read online

  Keeah looked at Eric. They shared the same thought. Should Sparr have something so powerful? Could he be trusted with it?

  But they already knew the answer.

  “Take it,” said the princess. She gave Sparr the stone, and he draped it around his neck.

  “Come on, then,” he said. “Into the sewers. To my mother’s fountain, as fast as we can!”

  And now, as they watched Sparr race down the street, everyone saw the fins behind his ears go pale and begin to get smaller.

  “Whoa!” said Neal. “This is new!”

  “It’s the Medallion,” said Eric. “It’s Zara.”

  Keeah nodded. “I’m sure Ko’s dark magic is working against him, but we have to trust that the good Sparr will win.”

  “The good will win,” murmured Max. “We must hope it’s possible!”

  Sparr had already found a hole in the pavement that led to the sewers below. “Uh, excuse me up there!” he said, poking his head up from under the street. “Time is running out, you know. When Ko wants something, he gets it. Well, until — us!”

  “Us,” said Eric. “We have the power to save Droon.”

  “Let’s make it happen,” said Julie.

  The six friends followed Sparr, dropping down through the street and into the sewers. They sloshed quickly through the watery tunnels that weaved under the castle.

  After a few minutes, they found themselves in a tiny passage. They could go no farther. Sparr stooped in front of a small round stone with an iron knob in its center. “Yes. This is it. The entrance.”

  “We’re in time,” said Khan, sniffing in every direction. “But Ko and Gethwing are nearby and coming closer. I smell them —”

  “Everybody can smell them,” said Neal. “They’re close, and they’re mad.”

  Sparr pulled on the iron knob, and the little door squeaked open. “Beasts, mad? Some things never change! Come on.”

  Keeah squeezed through the stone doorway after Sparr. Eric followed Neal. Julie, Khan, and Max followed him.

  When they reached the fountain, it was as dry as when they first saw it. The Fifth River was not flowing. The stone boat sat idle at the fountain’s top. The ceiling was closed.

  “There’s still time,” whispered Keeah.

  “Use the Medallion, Sparr,” said Max firmly. “And shut down the fountain.”

  Holding the magical stone before him, Sparr began to intone a series of strange words.

  Eric turned to Sparr. “Wait, that isn’t —”

  Whoosh! Even though they knew the walls were still there, the children could suddenly see meadows all around them.

  “Oh, my gosh,” said Julie. “What is this?”

  Sparr held the Medallion tightly. “Look!”

  When everyone turned, they saw her.

  Or a ghost of her.

  Zara, Queen of Light, Sparr’s mother.

  “This is how it happened!” said Sparr. “I have to see it. I have to know —”

  Zara’s face was radiant with beauty, but her skin was pale. She seemed breathless and tired as she stumbled like a phantom over the meadows toward the kids. Her silver robes were torn, but visible on her crown was a symbol of two moons, a sun, and a snake.

  Eric gasped under his breath.

  Zara was clutching a small boy in her arms.

  “Ahhhh!” Sparr moaned. “It’s me!”

  The sound of Ko and Gethwing sloshing through the sewers was closer now. But no one could look away from Zara and her son.

  The queen did not see the children. She lay the young Sparr down on the ground near them, then pulled from her robe the very Moon Medallion that the older Sparr held.

  “This is for you, my son,” she whispered.

  “For me!” said the older boy, watching her every move. “Oh, Mother, Mother!”

  A blinding silver light flashed from the queen’s Medallion, and suddenly the fountain appeared before them.

  “This is how it happened!” gasped Max. “This is as it was five hundred years ago!”

  Speaking softly, Zara pointed north, south, east, and west. And from each direction, a frothing, rushing river leaped over the meadows. At the last moment, the rivers dived underneath the fountain and roared up through it.

  The torrent rushed straight into the sky.

  “She did this to save me!” Sparr whispered.

  Zara looked all around her. Then, taking her son’s tiny hand, she spoke. “Sparr, the emperor is coming. I am sending this Medallion up to your brother Urik. He will be waiting for you.”

  As soon as Eric heard this, he turned to Keeah. They shared a look.

  They both knew that Sparr had never left. He never made it to the safety of the Upper World.

  Zara tossed the Medallion into the river.

  It vanished upward through the rushing water, its silvery glow gliding through the waves and out of sight.

  “Now me!” said the older Sparr, his eyes fixed on Zara. “Save me from him! Mother!”

  Reaching for the younger boy, Zara faltered. She clutched her heart and sank to her knees. She fell next to the fountain.

  “Sparr … my boy … my boy!”

  The older Sparr fell to the floor near the ghostly image of his mother and began to weep.

  Eric found that his own face was wet. Everyone stared at Sparr in amazement and sorrow.

  Then, even before the vision faded, the walls seemed to reappear around them, and the chamber blazed with a sudden red light.

  Black sparks sprayed across the stone floor.

  And Emperor Ko burst into the chamber.

  Ko’s horns spurted black fire, and his eyes burned with a deep red light. The air around him crackled with dark magic.

  Eric stood in front of the fountain. Neal, Julie, and Max were on one side of him, Keeah and Khan on the other.

  Sparr, still sobbing, trembled on his knees behind them.

  The fighting seemed far away now, a distant echo of sneezes, shrieking beasts, and clattering sticks.

  When the emperor saw the motionless, nearly transparent figure of Zara on the ground, he stepped toward her.

  But Sparr staggered to his feet, and the vision faded completely into the Medallion.

  Ko turned. “Sparr,” he said, his voice resounding in the chamber, “your mother —”

  “Don’t even speak her name!” Sparr yelled at the top of his lungs. “Don’t say — anything! You will never get me! My mother wanted to save me from you. And she will!”

  Thrusting his arm out, Sparr threw a ball of black fire at the emperor. The explosion knocked Ko to his knees. Turning, Sparr flew twenty feet across the room like a lightning bolt.

  In a flash of light, he was in the stone boat.

  “Sparr, wait!” Keeah cried. “Wait —”

  “Nooo!” thundered Ko, reaching for him.

  But at the top of his lungs Sparr cried out.

  “YTHRA!”

  It happened in an instant. The ceiling stones swirled away, and the Fifth River burst through the fountain and blasted straight up.

  Crying, sobbing, Sparr clung to the boat, water crashing around him. “Eric — here! I know you can read this! Shut down the fountain!”

  He tossed the Moon Medallion to Eric as the boat crashed up the wild river and inside the tower to the sky.

  “Mother, I’m coming home!” Sparr cried.

  Eric grabbed the stone. He gazed after Sparr, trying to see if his fins had come back. “Wait — wait!”

  Ko rushed at the fountain. “Sparr!”

  “Eric, help!” Keeah pulled him around, and together they sent a massive blast at the king of the beasts. Blamm! It threw Ko to the ground.

  Instantly, Max spun a sticky web of silk, and Khan, Julie, and Neal heaved it over Ko.

  But while the emperor was down, the dark shape of Gethwing flew into the chamber.

  The dragon looked up. “The time has nearly come! I must follow —”

  He leaped into the river, the wa
ter pulled him under, and he vanished out of sight.

  “Stop him! Stop the river!” yelled Max.

  “Close the fountain!” cried Khan.

  Not knowing how he knew, not pausing to wonder, Eric read the Medallion’s words and spoke the spell to shut down the fountain.

  “Prekla-temptoo-nah-sah-kee-fenn!”

  At once, a great explosion of light burst from the fountain, throwing them all down. Ko was hurled to the far side of the room.

  Thoom-thoom-thoom! The fountain’s great white stones crashed down on themselves in an instant. The Fifth River trickled back into the fountain. The thundering water ceased, and the ceiling spiraled back into place.

  A mound of shapeless white rock formed over the river and stopped it once and for all.

  Ko staggered to his feet. He raised his four powerful arms. The fire bursting from his horns was black and wild.

  He stared right at Eric, eyeing the Moon Medallion in his hands, then at the place where Zara had stood.

  Everyone trembled as the beast ruler spoke.

  “Zara wins this battle. Sparr escaped me. But you shall not escape. Selat-panoth-ra-ka-Saba!”

  Eric and Keeah raised their sparking fingertips, bracing for battle. But the gray beast turned slowly and pushed his way through the secret passage to the sewers.

  Khan jumped. “A new Zorfendorf riddle! Ko says we won’t escape, then he runs away!”

  They heard the emperor’s steps, sloshing one after another along the watery tunnels until they could hear no more.

  Ko was gone.

  For minutes, no one said a word.

  Finally, Keeah turned to Eric. “We thought only Sparr could read the Medallion. But you know the language….”

  Eric felt as if his heart would explode. He stared at the silver stone in his palm, watching the words move across its surface.

  “Please don’t ask me how I know —”

  Suddenly, Queen Relna ran into the chamber, with Zello hard on her heels.

  “We did it!” she said. “The beasts are going. Ko is going. We won today —”

  Neal raised his hand. “Uh, excuse me, guys, but Sparr and Gethwing —”

  “You’re right,” said Keeah, rushing past her parents. “Mother, Father, follow us. Eric —”

  “I know, I know,” he said, racing after Keeah. “Sparr’s in our town. With a dragon. At our beach!”

  “And that girl Meredith will see all of it!” said Julie.

  They all ran from the chamber into the outer passages. They raced up through the castle to the streets outside.

  In the distance, Ko’s black palace was wobbling away in the sky, tilting this way and that as it headed for the Dark Lands.

  “That gum is still holding well,” said Neal.

  “Not to mention the string!” chirped Khan.

  Thog came running to them. “The rainbow stairs have appeared. This way. Hurry!”

  In the courtyard beside the giant tower stood the magical stairs, beaming in the afternoon light, surrounded by the townspeople and the cheering guards.

  Seeing the staircase, Eric felt his heart leap. “Keeah, come with us. Max and Khan, too. We need everyone to help!”

  “Then us, too!” shouted Zello, grabbing Queen Relna by the hand. “Dragons in the Upper World? Ha! I don’t think so!”

  They all ran for the stairs. They charged up, two steps at a time.

  Eric’s heart thundered in his chest. Everyone was with him now. “This is awesome! We’ll get there before — before — whoa!”

  The stairs shivered suddenly under his feet. He slipped, fell to his knees, and tumbled back into Neal and Keeah. They slid back, too.

  All at once, the staircase began to wobble in the sky.

  The steps flickered and sputtered.

  Khan tripped into Max. “What’s going on?”

  “We’ll fall off!” cried Julie, slipping on a flickering step. “Get down — down —”

  A moment later, the friends tumbled back to earth and landed in a heap.

  Staring up, Eric watched as, one by one, the rainbow steps began to fade. The color drained from each step until the stairs grew faint, went hazy, quivered, and finally — plink-plink-plink! — vanished.

  Silent, stunned, everyone stared at the space where the staircase had been.

  Julie breathed deeply. “But we can’t stay here. Not with a moon dragon in our town!”

  Max gasped. “Ko put a spell on it! He said we wouldn’t escape. This is what he meant. He cursed the stairs!”

  “What are we going to do?” cried Keeah.

  Eric gulped. Everyone looked at him. He turned to Keeah, Max, and Khan. Then to Neal and Julie. Finally, to Queen Relna and King Zello. Then he looked at the space where the magical staircase used to be.

  He thought of Sparr and Gethwing in his world.

  He didn’t know what to say.

  Except one thing.

  “Oh, no!”

  “Come on, guys! We need to get up there fast!” shouted Eric Hinkle as he raced to the top of the Rainbow Stairs.

  “Faster than fast,” said his friend Julie Rubin, climbing swiftly after him. “If we don’t, Droon won’t be a secret anymore!”

  “No kidding,” added Neal Kroger. “Besides, our town isn’t ready for dragons!”

  “Or sorcerers!” said Princess Keeah, following right behind Neal.

  The four friends were dashing up the shimmering, rainbow-colored staircase that connected the magical world of Droon with the Upper World — their world. Behind them were Keeah’s parents, King Zello and Queen Relna; their trusty friend Max, an eight-legged spider troll; and Khan, the courageous pillow-shaped king of the purple lumpies.

  They were all on a single mission: to find the boy sorcerer Sparr and the moon dragon Gethwing, who had escaped to the Upper World, and bring them back to Droon. If they didn’t, the fates of both worlds were in serious trouble.

  “Stay together!” yelled Julie as the friends entered a thick bank of clouds high in the Droon sky.

  Climbing as quickly as he could, Eric couldn’t help but think of the many strange connections between his world and Droon. The pasts and futures of both worlds were closely entwined. And so were their people.

  First of all, in the days when Lord Sparr did everything in his power to conquer Droon, a mysterious Sea Witch named Demither had brought the young Keeah to the Upper World. Together, they hid the magical Coiled Viper from Sparr.

  Years later, Eric found the golden, crown-shaped Viper near his town library. To save the wizard Galen’s life, Eric gave the Viper to Sparr. For the longest time, he wished that he had never done that. By giving Sparr such a powerful object, he felt as if he had helped the forces of evil.

  But two amazing things had come of it.

  The first was that when Sparr took the Viper, Galen gained possession of the Moon Medallion, a magical white stone made by his mother, Zara. The Moon Medallion held untold secrets about both worlds’ strange pasts and mysterious futures. It was perhaps even more powerful than the Coiled Viper.

  As he hurried up out of the clouds, Eric turned and saw the Medallion hanging now around Queen Relna’s neck.

  “I see the top!” cried Max, climbing next to Khan. “Just a little more —”

  The second good thing to happen was that when Sparr used the Coiled Viper to wake the evil Emperor Ko from his long sleep, something went wrong with the charm and — boom! flash! — Sparr was transformed into a boy.

  Lord Sparr had become Kid Sparr!

  Now, as a boy, Sparr was helping them fight the fearsome Emperor Ko.

  No one’s more fearsome than Ko, thought Eric. Except maybe for Ko’s second-in-command, the moon dragon Gethwing.

  The gray-scaled, four-winged dragon was both ruthless and clever. Because an old legend proclaimed that “a boy would lead him,” Gethwing had chased Sparr to the Upper World, convinced he would help Gethwing find another magical object hidden there.

  The
kids had to stop that from happening. No matter what.

  “Here we are!” said Julie. She jumped past Eric into a small closet in the basement of the Hinkles’ house.

  Everyone piled in until the closet nearly burst. When Relna pulled the chain that hung from the bulb on the ceiling — click! — the light went on, the staircase vanished beneath their feet, and a gray cement floor appeared in its place.

  “Oh, I love your world,” whispered Khan. “I’m so excited —”

  “And I’m so cramped!” said King Zello, hunching over. “Can someone check if it’s clear out there? I’m ready to pop!”

  Julie carefully turned the knob and opened the door. “Looks good to me —”

  “Wait! My parents might be home,” said Eric. He listened quietly.

  Usually no time passed in the Upper World when the kids were in Droon. But after Sparr and Gethwing fled Droon, Ko had uttered a curse, and the magic stairs had disappeared for a while. No one knew how long Sparr and Gethwing had been in the Upper World, or what might have happened since the kids had been there last.

  Finally, Eric smiled. “All clear. Let’s go.”

  The eight of them squeezed out of the tiny closet and quietly climbed the basement stairs to the kitchen.

  “I hope it’s still the same Saturday we left,” said Neal. “Because that means there’s still no school!”

  Eric smiled. “Maybe —”

  Kkk! The twin horns on Zello’s helmet scraped the kitchen ceiling. “Oops,” he said, pulling off his helmet. “Sorry.”

  When Queen Relna’s silver crown flashed in the light from the kitchen window, Eric realized that their friends from Droon might need disguises. “I think —”

  “You don’t have to say it, Eric,” said Keeah, smiling as she removed her golden crown. “If we’re going out into your town, we need to blend in a little more.”

  “Girls, come with me,” said Julie. “On Saturday, my parents always work in the backyard. We can sneak in the front and raid the closets. Guys, be back in a sec!”

  While Julie, Keeah, and Relna ran across the street to Julie’s house, the others headed upstairs. Rummaging through his closet, Eric handed Khan the largest, puffiest ski jacket he could find.