by Tony Abbott
He gave it to Princess Keeah.
Unclasping the lock, she lifted the lid. Nestled in deep folds of red velvet lay a small blue jewel.
“The Eye of the Viper,” gasped Eric.
Even in the cave’s dim light, the gem seemed to glow with inner life. It was one of two twin eyes meant for the mysterious Coiled Viper.
“Keeah, tell our friends what you discovered.”
The princess nodded at Galen. “I spent some time studying it and figured out it’s the right eye. And look here.” She pointed to a shiny fleck glimmering on the back of the gem.
Neal leaned in for a closer look. “It looks like gold. But it’s different from regular gold.”
“It is red gold,” said Galen, smiling at Neal. “The rarest and most mystical of Droon’s five golds. Luckily, Sparr is trapped far in the past, or he would try to steal back the Eye himself.”
Eric looked at his friends, then at the wizard. “That’s sort of why we came here. We’re pretty sure Sparr isn’t so far in the past anymore.”
Taking turns, the kids told what they had discovered at the library and how the strange green creature had spoken Sparr’s name.
“Ah-yaaa!” A sudden cry rose from the beach.
“Oh, no,” chittered Max. “The Ninns are free!”
Looking grim, Galen strode to the back of the cave and touched what looked like a solid wall. It slid open, revealing a passage that turned downward, into the mountain.
“If Sparr has found a way through time,” he said, “then he comes for the Viper. All the more important to hide the Eye. Max, put it back in your pouch. Everyone, follow me!”
As they followed Galen into the passage, Eric could tell they were all thinking the same thing.
What exactly is the Coiled Viper?
Even as they journeyed deeper into the mountain, Galen spoke as if he heard their thoughts.
“I do not know what the Coiled Viper is. Even after Sparr created it, even after I stole it and hid it, I never saw its true shape.”
“It must be very powerful,” said Keeah.
“Unimaginably powerful,” he said. “I know of only one object whose power might rival it.”
“Can we use it against Sparr?” asked Julie.
The wizard shook his head. “Alas, it was lost with Urik in the past of your world. It was a stone of pure white called the Moon Medallion. My mother, Queen Zara, inscribed it with a mystical poem that held great power over our family. But the Viper’s magic is darker and older still. That is why I hid it away.”
“Too bad the Viper didn’t stay hidden,” said Neal.
“Quite right,” said Max. “It changed shape again and again until Witch Demither found it.”
Keeah nodded as they entered a series of rough tunnels. “Then Demither took me with her to your world to hide the Viper. I keep trying to remember more about where it might be, but it was so long ago.”
“Maybe it should just stay hidden,” said Eric.
Galen stopped and turned. “Eric, I know what you fear. That the spirit Om’s words will come true. That you will give the Viper to Sparr.”
Eric nodded.
The wizard smiled. “Urik comes from the same long line of wizards that I come from. And he always said that greatness comes to us when we need it most.”
“I come from a pretty short line — just me!”
Galen laughed. “That may just be enough.”
Boom-oom-oom! The passage shook. Rocks fell from the ceiling, showering them with dust.
“The Ninns are firing at us from the ship!” cried Max. “We must hurry along.”
Boom-oom-oom! Suddenly, a chunk of wall crumbled before them, and daylight streaked across the passage. An instant later, a small army of Ninns squeezed into the tunnel.
“Give me the Eye!” the chief Ninn demanded.
“I don’t think so!” cried Keeah. Together, she, Galen, and Eric sent a blast at the Ninns. But the red warriors jerked their shields up, and the sparks bounced back at the children. In a flash, the Ninns overpowered Max, tearing from his belt the pouch that held the Eye of the Viper. Then they dashed back out the hole.
Boom-oom-oom! Another blast from the ship sealed the wizard and the children in the tunnel.
By the time Galen blew a passage through the rocks, the Ninns were back on the ship.
“Set sail to Kano!” cheered the red warriors.
Kano was at the center of Sparr’s Dark Lands and the home of his towering volcano palace.
Max raced to the shore, shaking his furry fists at the ship. “Going to Kano, are you?” he cried. “We’ll follow you! We’ll take back our jewel!”
Galen joined his friend on the sand. “Well said, Max. We shall take it back.”
He pulled back his robe to reveal a curved fighting staff hanging from his belt.
“Friends,” he said, turning to the children, “we must fight our battle on two fronts. Max and I will follow the Ninns. If Sparr is traveling through time for the Viper itself, you must go to the Upper World to stop him. It may even mean finding the Viper yourselves.”
“What about our little froggy guy?” said Neal.
Keeah smiled. “When something vanishes, it usually goes somewhere. The clue is in that alley.”
With a flourish, Galen raised up his hand. A light rose from his palm and flashed across the air. The stairs shimmered into view before them.
“Farewell, friends,” said Max. “Good luck!”
Waving, the wizard and the spider troll set off in their small boat. Though little, it seemed to speed magically over the waves, following the Ninn ship.
The children quickly climbed the rainbow stairs. At the top, they carefully stepped out into the basement. It was just as they’d left it.
Keeah looked around. “I wish I could remember where the Viper lies hidden.”
“Let’s go to the attic,” said Julie. “You flew over the town from there. Maybe you’ll remember something.”
“Good idea,” said Eric.
Up through the kitchen and living room they went, past Eric’s room, and up the attic stairs.
Moving aside a box of Christmas decorations, Eric slowly opened the attic window.
Keeah looked out, a breeze stirring her hair.
“It’s different,” she whispered. “Or I’m different. It was so long ago, I don’t see … anything … familiar. Oh!”
Her eyes closed. She wobbled on her feet.
“Do you remember something?” asked Julie.
“Seven trees … in a circle,” Keeah said. Then she blinked. “That’s all I remember.”
Kkkkkk! Suddenly, the air crackled, and a bright red streak of light zigzagged across the sky.
“Red lightning!” said Julie.
“It landed near the pizza place!” said Neal. “In the alley, right where we saw the green guy!”
Seconds later, they heard a sound. Slorp-p-p!
Eric felt his knees go weak. He looked at his friends. He knew what the lightning meant. He wanted to yell, but all he could do was whisper.
“It’s — it’s — Sparr. He’s — here!”
Eric stared out the window, shivering. “Sparr is here. The Coiled Viper is here. It’s all happening just like Om said it would. I can’t believe it.”
Keeah shook her head. “Eric, we’ll make sure Sparr never gets his hands on the Viper.”
“You bet he won’t,” said Julie. “Sparr’s messing on our turf now. We’re the home team.”
“Yeah,” said Neal. “I say, let’s bust him good!”
Eric looked at his friends. It felt good to have them there. And it was true. They were a team.
The best team ever.
“Okay, then,” he said, taking a deep breath and starting down the stairs, “the longer we wait, the more time Sparr has to do his nasty work. The clue is in that alley. Let’s go!”
They rushed downstairs.
Squeak!
They stopped. The kitchen doo
r opened, and footsteps crossed the floor.
“Oh, no!” said Julie. “Your parents! Keeah, your clothes, your crown!”
“What’s wrong?” asked the princess.
Neal made a face. “Nothing, except that we don’t have too many princesses in this town!”
“We’ll pretend you’re a new girl,” Eric whispered. “It’ll be okay. Just play it cool.”
The kids entered the kitchen. Mr. and Mrs. Hinkle seemed surprised to see Keeah.
“Hello,” they said together.
Before she caught herself, Keeah started to make a deep bow. “Hello. I am honored and very pleased to meet the parents of such a —”
“This is Keeah!” Eric interrupted. “Just plain old Keeah … Smith! She’s new in town, and we’re showing her around.”
“We started in the attic!” Neal blurted out. “And now we’re in the kitchen. See the kitchen, Keeah? It’s where people cook.”
Julie gave him a nudge. “Neal, you’re freaking out. Just calm down.”
Neal scowled. “You sound like my mom.”
Eric’s parents looked at Neal, then at Julie, then at Eric, and finally at Keeah’s blue tunic and the crown shining on her head.
“Is that crown made of real gold?” asked Mrs. Hinkle.
“She was in a play,” said Eric.
“Cinderella!” said Julie.
“And the Seven Dwarfs!” added Neal.
“Sounds … interesting,” said Mrs. Hinkle.
“And speaking of costumes,” said Neal, “have you seen anyone all in black, with red fins growing from his ears? I mean, fake fins, obviously?”
Mr. Hinkle’s eyebrows went up. “Fins?”
“And a big V-shaped scar,” said Neal.
“Also fake,” said Julie. “Because, like, who would have real red fins and a V-shaped scar?”
“So, have you seen him?” asked Eric.
His parents glanced at each other. “Not recently,” said Mr. Hinkle. “But if we go to the library party, maybe we’ll see him later.”
With that, Mr. and Mrs. Hinkle excused themselves and went into the living room.
Eric turned to his friends. “That’s what I’m afraid of. That everyone will see Sparr later.”
“Unless we stop him first,” said Julie. “Come on, Keeah. Let’s get you dressed to blend in.”
They rushed across the street to Julie’s house.
Ten minutes later, Keeah was dressed in blue jeans, a green T-shirt, and sneakers. Her tunic and crown were stuffed into a small cloth bag with a big flower on it.
“Great,” said Neal. “But lighten up on the bowing and the princess talk. You’re making us look bad.”
“Got it, dude!” she said.
Eric laughed. “Okay, now. To the alley.”
On the way, the kids told Keeah every detail about how they had chased the strange green creature between the buildings and how it had vanished into thin air. When they arrived at the alley, the pavement had a red streak across it.
“That’s where the lightning struck,” said Keeah. “This must be the place.”
“That’s just it,” said Eric, running his hands along the rough brick walls. “The place for what? There are no doors, no windows. The walls are thick and old. Where did Mr. Froggy — and Sparr — go?”
“What’s this?” asked Julie, bending down to pick up a small, curved tube of wood with a series of tiny holes running down the length of it.
Neal gasped. “That must be the flute thingy the green guy played just before it vanished!”
Keeah looked at it. “There are some people in Droon whose music has magical powers. Neal, do you remember how the song went?”
“I don’t think I’ll ever forget it,” he said. “Let me see if I can figure out how to play it.”
He took the little flute, placed his fingers over the holes, and raised it to his lips. He squeezed his eyes shut, took a breath, and blew into the flute, lifting his fingers one by one.
Weee-ooo-e-o-e-o-e-ooo! What came out was the most mysterious sound the children had ever heard. It sounded like wind whistling in the trees, or owls hooting, or water burbling over rocks in a stream, or all three combined.
“You are good at that,” said Julie.
Neal opened his eyes, grinning. “I never knew I could play like … like … whoa!”
All at once, the air in front of them began to ripple like the surface of a pond into which a pebble has been dropped.
Staring into it, they couldn’t see the rough brick walls of the alley anymore.
As if they were looking through a waterfall, they could just make out what appeared to be a street curving away from where they stood.
And trees in the distance. And a range of hills.
“Ummm,” said Eric, then stopped.
“I agree,” said Julie.
“Let me guess,” said Keeah, staring ahead. “You haven’t been to this neighborhood before?”
Neal shook his head. “Pretty much not.”
They stood there, staring at the wobbling air.
“We should go in,” said Keeah.
“Yeah,” said Eric. “Definitely. I mean, it’s probably where that little green guy went. And unless Sparr is having a slice at the pizza place, that’s probably where he went, too.”
“So what are we waiting for?” asked Julie.
“Give me a second,” said Neal. “I’ll come up with something. Got it! Let’s just grab a few doughnuts from that place way across town, then we’ll go in. I know the way, come on!”
Keeah grabbed Neal by the arm. “No more stalling. Sparr’s in there. We need to go in. If nobody wants to lead, we’ll go in together.”
So the four friends pushed slowly, carefully, and very close together, right through the wall of rippling air.
S-l-l-l-o-r-r-p-p-p!
When they stepped through, Eric felt for an instant as if he were suddenly soaking wet, then not. It was like they had somehow passed through a wall of slithering, sliding water but had come out the other side completely dry.
“Well, that was the weirdest thing,” said Julie, looking down at her clothes.
Slipping the flute into his pocket, Neal whispered, “Can you believe what we’re looking at?”
“Not really, no,” said Eric.
Before them, as far as the eye could see, were tents. Hundreds of tents, of every color and size, pitched along the narrow, winding street ahead of them and far up the sides of every hill.
And the air was filled with the strange, haunting music of flutes and horns and bells.
“It’s beautiful in a way,” said Keeah.
“It’s as if,” said Eric, struggling to put it into words, “as if this is what our town might look like without the buildings.”
“The sky is different,” said Neal.
This was true. For while the sun had been shining in their town, the sky above them now was a dark swirl of smoke and clouds. And the vast gray sea heaving in the distance looked as if a storm might strike any second.
“I can see why Sparr would like it here,” said Julie. “It’s dark enough.”
“And cold enough,” said Keeah, rubbing her hands. “Let’s keep going. Carefully now.”
As they stepped farther along the street, they passed under a kind of gate made of wood and draped with brightly colored cloths and banners.
Looking up, Eric saw a single word carved into the top of the gate: CALIBAZ.
“So,” he said, “I guess we’re in Calibaz.”
“Wherever that is,” mumbled Julie.
With each step they took, the music seemed to get louder and closer.
Then suddenly — thomp, thomp! — the ground thundered behind them.
“Someone’s coming! Hide!” said Keeah. She whirled around, lifted the flap of a small tent, and pulled everyone in.
After making sure they were alone, the kids crouched down, lifted the flap, and looked out.
Stomping down the narrow stre
et was a row of big animals. They were as large as elephants and like them in many ways, except that their thick, leathery skin was blue. And instead of a trunk, each beast bore a wide, flat nose that looked like a shovel. Two enormous baskets were strapped on the back of each animal.
“Cool! The Calibaz circus!” chirped Neal.
“Froggy guys, too,” whispered Julie. “Look.”
Following the beasts were several green creatures like the little one they had seen earlier. They all had the same spindly froglike bodies with big feet, and they all sported bright capes trimmed with rows of tiny silver bells.
“It looks like a family of those beings you saw,” whispered Keeah. “They must live here.”
“We won’t find out unless we get out there and explore,” said Julie. “I say we get changed.” She pointed to piles of loose cloth in the tent.
Keeah frowned. “But I really like wearing my Z-shirt.”
“T-shirt!” said Eric with a laugh. “And unless it says CALIBAZ ELEMENTARY, it’ll give us away.”
“I guess I’ll go for blue,” she said.
“I claim the purple cape!” said Neal, grabbing a long violet-colored cloth and tying it around his neck. He also wound a scarf over his face.
Just as he was about to choose a color, Eric heard a strangely familiar sound. “Glemf!”
“The froggy guy!” he said. “I hear it —”
Eric tiptoed to the back wall of the tent and peeked out between the curtains. When he did, he found himself staring nose to nose with the green creature he had seen in the library.
“It’s you!” cried Eric.
“It’s him!” the creature shrieked at the top of its lungs. “It’s — glemf! — him!”
“Me?” Eric tried to jump back into the tent, but green hands came from everywhere at once and pulled him out.
“Yikes!” he cried. He crouched low, twisted out of their grasp, and started running full-speed down the street. “Help!”
In seconds, the street was jammed with green creatures running toward Eric, the bells on their capes jangling loudly.
The cry went up, “The boy! The boy is here!”
“What? What!” Eric yelped. “Why me?”
He tore blindly around a corner, only to come face to face with yet another mob of green creatures. He jumped back and into a side alley.