by Tony Abbott
Together, Galen and I drove the Ninn vessel deep under the straits of Nerona. Soon the silver water of the Sea of Droon turned black and heavy. Before long, Kem jumped up with a bark. Peering through the submarine’s scope, he shouted, “Land ho!”
We surfaced. Beyond the jagged shore of sharp rocks and crashing waves, we saw a massive wall of black iron.
“Inviting, isn’t it?” Galen muttered.
“It gets worse,” said Kem. “I just know it gets worse.”
The Ninns steered the vessel into a rocky inlet. The top hatch opened, and Galen, Kem, and I climbed out. Cold rain fell from the sky, soaking us instantly. We jumped ashore.
Staring at the giant wall, I felt my heart sink. “A few minutes ago I thought we could do anything. I was full of hope. I was happy. All good things must end, I guess.”
“All bad things, too,” said Galen. “Especially Ko. Are you ready?”
Taking a deep breath, nervous and scared, but between friends, I took my first step against the emperor. “Ready!”
Even as the three of us crept toward the Iron Gate, shrouded in its terrible shadow, I was amazed at how excited I felt.
“Kem,” I whispered. “Two missions in one day? That’s pretty good.”
“Two missions against two different enemies?” he snorted. “That’s better than good. That’s a record!”
All of a sudden, Galen halted. He looked up and down the black wall in front of us and sighed. “You know what I figured out? This isn’t a gate. Ko may call it a gate, but gates open. This is one solid wall. There’s no way through it.” He glanced at me. “Do you happen to know any spells?”
I thought back for a minute. “I invented the Foggy Mist of Cloud. It can hide you. Or I could also set fire to your tail, if you had one.”
Galen stroked his chin again. “Yeah, I don’t know if that’s going to help us right now.”
“How could Ko pass through something solid, anyway?” asked Kem, running his paws over the sheer wall. “He’s not the smallest beast around. Unless there’s a door only he can see —”
I gasped. “The magic helmet! Looking through it, I could see through Ko’s eyes. Maybe we can see how he got in the gate!”
“Brilliant!” said Galen.
“Your helmet is still in the submarine,” said Kem. “I’ll get it.” He scampered to the Ninn vessel and was back in a few moments.
“Remember when you wear this again,” said Galen, helping me on with the helmet, “that I’m not the Destroyer — unless you count all the things I’ve broken trying to learn our mother’s powers!”
I started to laugh because I had done the same thing. But when the helmet fell onto my head, I saw my brother as I had before, a monstrous knight of great size. I began to hear whispering and hissing and knew I would soon be swayed by it. I had to be quick.
Shuddering at the eyeholes’ powerful magic, I turned to the black wall and saw it as if through Ko’s eyes. Sure enough, I spied a dark, arched opening about ten feet tall and five feet wide.
“I see how he went in,” I said. “Come on. And don’t worry. It may look like solid wall, but we can go right through.”
Pulling Kem and Galen under the open arch with me, I tore off the helmet. I was never so glad to be rid of something in my life. Instantly, I saw what was truly there, and it stunned me. Towering before us was a vast fortress of the same black iron as the outside wall. Even the columns that twisted into the sky were iron, gleaming as if wet with oil.
Soon I heard the sound I had been dreading, an incantation rising from within the fortress.
“Thugga-nesh! Pitchen-ka-tola!”
Kem and I shared a look.
“I don’t want to be around when Ko finishes his jabbering,” he said gravely.
As quietly as possible, we advanced until we came to a large space, open to the sky. We huddled behind a column and looked out to see seven bronze giants, all silent and still, and each over fifty feet tall.
Three of the giants bore large axes. Three others carried lengths of spiked chain. One giant, larger than the others, held both.
Smelling the fumes of his flaming horns and hearing his terrible murmurs, I knew it wouldn’t be long before Ko showed himself.
I was right.
Stepping out from amid the forest of columns, Ko howled the final words of his dreadful conjuration. “Thabash, Zor!”
No sooner had he said this than a giant foot dragged across the ground and dropped heavily. Thump! The earth shook as if it were splitting apart. It nearly sent us tumbling to our knees. The other foot followed with a second earthquaking thump!
Before long, all seven giants were alive. Their eyes glowed the color of blood.
Kem grumbled softly, “Oh, this won’t be good for us.”
“This won’t be good for anyone,” said Galen, raising his voice. He stepped out from behind the column, and we followed.
When the emperor saw Galen, his eyes flashed in surprise and anger. When he saw me, his horns shot fiery fountains into the air, and he bellowed with rage.
“Sparr? My Prince of Goll? You — traitor!” Smoke poured from his nostrils. He gnashed his fangs and beat his chest until the whole iron fortress rang with the sound.
I had never seen him so angry. I didn’t know what to do.
“Traitor! Traitor!” he bellowed. “What — have — you — done?”
I fell to my knees. “Ko … I …”
“He’s doing the right thing!” yelled Galen. “Now, you’d better find a place to hide. Your big pals are coming down!”
Without pausing, he twirled his staff and charged fearlessly among the giants, darting between their stomping feet. With blistering speed, he battered them about the legs over and over, like a blacksmith hammering iron.
“Charge!” howled Kem. And he raced into battle, too.
I alone held back, frozen on my knees, unable to move. Whether I was mesmerized by Ko’s power or guilty about what I had done, I can’t say. But I could not budge from my spot.
Meanwhile, my brother was acting like the warrior I had always wanted to be. As the seven giants swiped at him, he flung his marvelous staff around, dodging their hacking axes and spinning chains.
Thrusting the tip of his staff between one giant’s feet, he yanked hard and sent the bronze warrior wobbling backward into the one behind it. They both thundered to the ground, toppling pillars when they fell.
At this, Ko beat his chest again and breathed black smoke out over the temple. Through the fog his eyes, still blazing like fire, sought me out. In his face was something I’d never seen before.
What was it? Fear?
Was Ko … afraid?
He took a step toward me.
“Hold on there, Ko!” shouted Galen. “I’m not done yet. Here’s one for our mother! Zara, this is for you!” He danced his way between the giants toward the emperor, then sent a powerful blast from the end of his staff. The blast struck one giant in the center of its chest. The beam angled off and struck another, then another, gaining power and speed as it did so. By the time it toppled the sixth giant, it was a bolt of sizzling energy.
Drawing the light instantly back into the staff, Galen aimed it at Ko, then let go with a blinding, thunderous flash of light.
“Sparr! Stop him!” the emperor yelled as Galen’s blast streaked through the air. Impulsively, I turned, thrust my sword in the way of the sizzling bolt, took a step to steady myself, and — stumbled over Kem.
“Sparr, you klutz — oowww!” Kem howled.
My sword, catching only a fragment of Galen’s fiery bolt, melted in my hands, while — BAMMM! — the blast caught Ko full in the forehead.
It hurtled him to the ground with a horrifying cry. “ARRRH!”
Galen had already whirled around toward the last giant. “One more to go!” he cheered.
I shuddered as I drew near the emperor. Black blood flowed from the wound on his forehead. The flames in his horns sputtered.
; I felt my heart thunder in my chest. “What have I done?”
Ko stared at me, his face twisted in pain and terror. “Your mother, Sparr … you can … see her….”
“What!” I gasped. “My mother? She’s gone. She’s dead! You’re lying to me again!”
“Help me, and you will see her!” he said. “Only I know where your mother lies. If I die, no one shall know. But I need your strength!”
I shuddered, not knowing what to do. “No … I’ve found Galen now…. I can’t …”
Suddenly, Ko’s gaze fell on the last giant standing, the largest of the seven.
“Zor!” he whispered, speaking the giant’s name. “Zor, take him. Tanak Galensa!”
Even before the emperor finished uttering his command, the giant sent a sudden beam of fiery light from his red eyes, bursting over Galen and stunning him. Then with a mighty swing of his arm, Zor snatched my brother off the ground, pinning his arms to his sides. He dangled him high in the air.
“Ko!” I cried. “Tell me about my mother!”
“Zeh-lep-thet, Zor!” the emperor groaned to the giant. “Kill the wizard!”
“No! Not Galen!” I cried. Before I knew it, I had spun around and uttered a charm I saw my mother use once.
“Solee-bolee!” A sudden shower of frosty light fell over the black fortress. Zor froze. Galen went still in his hand. Kem was stopped in midleap. Only by shielding Ko, did I prevent the charm from affecting him.
The beast ruler swooned in pain, his eyes closing for a moment, then reopening, black and smoldering. “Once again, you disobey my wishes! But you alone can save me now. Bring me to the mountain of Silversnow. It is protected by three strong knights, but you can defeat them. Bring me there now. I am fading … !”
“But how? What can I do? I’m just a boy!”
“Take strength from me!” he said. “Come closer … closer … and I shall give you what I had always hoped….”
He grabbed my hand with a grip like iron. When his terrible claws pierced my skin, my arms tingled as if rivers of power suddenly ran through them.
I felt like the Prince of Goll again. My head swam with strange visions and desires. All at once, my imagination blossomed with the idea of a creature that would drive us relentlessly to the northern plains.
I spoke its name.
“Grompus!” I cried, not knowing where the name came from, but sure that it was right. Before the sound of my word died away, there was a terrible screeching and sliding, as of a heavy mass dragging itself across the earth. Then it came. A giant shaggy worm, thirty feet from snout to tail.
The smell of the creature’s fur was heavy and foul, as if it had been lying underground for centuries. It halted in front of me.
With strength I didn’t know I had, I dragged Ko up onto the back of the shaggy worm and tied him there with the broken chains left by the toppled giants.
Then I clambered on. “Kem,” I said, and the dog was free of the freezing charm I had spoken. He hopped onto the creature’s back and clung just behind me, whimpering.
“Sparr, what exactly are we doing?” he asked.
I didn’t answer. I didn’t know!
One hand gripping my arm again with his dark power, Ko pointed to the north. But before we drove away, I spoke to the giant. “Zor! Set my brother down!”
A deafening, creaking, grinding, and squeaking happened then, and the bronze figure unfroze from my charm’s trance. He bowed before my tiny form. I felt so small, cowering beneath him.
“Young master!” he boomed. He set Galen on the ground, still frozen.
As frightened as I was, I found that I liked — no, I loved — the sound of those words.
Young master!
“Go!” I told him. “Return when I say!”
“Your will is my command!” Zor boomed. He stormed off toward the distant hills, leaving his toppled brothers where they lay.
Looking out beyond the fortress, I saw the dark plain purpling in the early dawn. With a flick of my fingers, I took the reins of the Grompus. “North!” I commanded. “To the mountain of Silversnow!”
Kem grumbled sadly behind me, “Oh, Sparr. You and your missions!”
As we left the Iron Gate for the northern plains, my heart was a whirlwind of emotion. Just before the terrible place was out of sight, I turned back and whispered under my breath.
“Galen!”
The charm released him from its power, and Galen began to move.
Whatever else happened was lost in the roar of the wind and the furious spinning of snowflakes as the giant worm drove us swiftly into the north.
The wind howled! Snow came at us from all directions. The air, flashing white under dark skies, was as thick as … as …
“As troll soup?” interrupted Kem, nearly choking on his bowl.
Beffo laughed suddenly, and a chorus of little chuckles erupted from the monkeys.
“As troll soup!” I agreed, setting my bowl down and standing closer to the crackling fire.
“But tell me,” said the troll. “You knew Galen would follow you. Why did you free him?”
I looked at the little creature. “Why indeed? Time will tell, I think. Time … and the snow.”
“Snow?” said Beffo.
“The snow that whirled and whirled around us, never ceasing for three days and three nights. Whirling, whirling …”
Hour after hour I snapped the leather reins, and the Grompus slid over the snow, driving us farther into the land of ice drifts and frost heaves and storming flakes.
My own mind was storming, too.
Ko’s shadow had crept over me again, but it was weaker than before. Galen had come into my life, and with him came more and more memories of my mother. But Ko had said we were going to where my mother lay. Even though I knew he had lied to me my whole life, I was in the middle, between him and Galen, my own heart and head spinning, spinning….
I looked down at the stricken emperor. Shivering, strapped to the worm’s neck, his glassy eyes were fixed on mine.
Did Ko sense what I already knew? That a little thing, standing firm instead of tripping over Kem, might have saved him? And yet he knew I would go anywhere to see my mother.
Suddenly, I heard the thundering of hooves behind us. “Kem, hold tight. Riders are coming! Grompus, turn!”
“Here we go!” Kem yelped, hanging on for dear life. No sooner had I spoken the words than my wizard brother soared over the snowy ridge behind us, flying atop a majestic, blue-furred pilka. The band of Ninns from the submarine was not far behind him, riding regular white pilkas over the ground.
“Sparr, stop!” shouted Galen. “What are you doing? We’ve come to help you!”
My heart leaped to see Galen, but I had only wanted him to be free. I didn’t want him to stop me.
“Faster!” I cried, whipping the reins of the Grompus and speeding away into the howling winds. Our pursuers were soon lost amid the swirling snows.
And still we drove on, past ruined palaces, coils of smoke pluming from their toppled towers. Once, we passed a fortress aflame after an attack. It was already sinking into the earth, as if the stones were no more than melting blocks of ice.
I shared a look with Kem. “The empire of Goll is falling around us. Ko held it all together with his power.”
Kem nodded. “I’ll bet word has already spread that he’s been wounded. The beasts were loyal to Ko, but not to one another. They’re fighting among themselves now to see who will rule next.”
And still we raced northward.
Finally, Ko clutched the worm’s fur and pulled himself up. “Worm, halt here!”
The Grompus slid to a stop at the base of a great mountain of jagged rock, its sides thick with snow and glistening ice. Rising from the foot of the mountain to a height of a hundred feet or so was the outline of a giant icy door.
“What’s in there?” asked Kem, trembling.
The emperor groaned. “A ship to take us to Queen Zara.”
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��A ship!” I snarled, feeling he was lying to me again. “But we’re hundreds of miles from the water —”
“An airship!” Ko growled. Then he shuddered. “Hold. The protectors are here. The Knights of Silversnow: Rolf, Lunk, and Smee. Hurry. Our enemy the Destroyer has sent them.”
I grew angry at the name. “He’s not —”
“To us, he is!” shouted Ko, taking hold of my arm once again. “To our future in Goll — to your future — he is the enemy! But look to it! The Knights of Silversnow will try to stop us from entering. Defeat them!”
His voice still commanding me, I leaped down from the Grompus and landed in the snow. Kem jumped next to me. We crept around the side of the mountain as silently as we could.
Not silently enough.
“Hold on there, little one!” boomed a voice deeper than thunder. From what Ko had told me, I knew he was the knights’ leader, the one called Rolf. As he stepped into my path, I saw that his bushy-bearded face was squeezed inside a helmet much too tight for it.
There was a movement of air behind me. I spun around to see a second knight, the one called Lunk. I stepped back from him and nearly tripped into a third, who lurched out of the darkness wearing a pair of great spiked gloves. I knew his name, too. It was Smee.
“You’ll not stop us!” I growled.
“We shall!” boomed the one named Rolf. “This mountain holds a terrible machine. The beast emperor hid it deep in this rock, but he shall not reach it again. You shall not enter.”
“Ko will die if I don’t,” I told the knight, my hands beginning to feel hot.
Rolf frowned. “Boy, we’re not fans of death, but your evil leader shall not enter here!”
He stood squarely in between the other two knights. Holding his giant shield in front of him, he nearly hypnotized me with the great snowflake spinning around on the front of it. He held a massive, wide-bladed sword at the ready. The other knights stood on either side of him, blocking the silver door.
Since my sword had melted from Galen’s blast, I no longer had a weapon. I didn’t know what to do.
“I will get by you!” I yelled, sounding braver than I felt. “I will —”