by Tony Abbott
The giant swiveled his enormous body.
Thoom! He took a step.
Thoom! Another step.
“Go!” Sparr cried out. “Let nothing stop you!”
Eric couldn’t take any more. He jumped out of the shadows and shook his fist at Zor.
“Nothing but us!” he cried. “We’ll stop you!”
Thooom … The giant stopped. He turned his enormous bronze face.
He lowered his eyes at Eric and his friends.
“Um,” Eric mumbled. “Did I really say that?”
“I think you did,” Neal answered.
Sparr whirled around and pointed toward the children. “Zor! Destroy them!”
“Watch out, here he comes!” Batamogi yelled.
An enormous foot slammed to earth near the kids. Thoom!
Sparr began to laugh wildly. “Yes! Yes! Destroy them, once and for all!”
The giant’s other foot lifted up over the kids.
Its huge shadow fell over them.
“Run!” cried Batamogi at the top of his lungs.
Keeah leaped over and pushed Eric out of the way just in time.
Thoom! Zor’s other foot slammed down. Then he stretched his giant arms toward Keeah.
“No!” Keeah slid down the hill toward Zor.
Suddenly, another cry filled the air. It echoed down from the hills above. “Hrooooo!”
“The blue dragon!” Neal shouted.
The dragon swooped toward Zor, but the giant was swift. He pulled a huge ledge off the side of the hill, broke it in half, and heaved the chunks of rock at the dragon.
“Begone, you beast!” Zor boomed.
The dragon clawed at him, crying out noisily. “Hrooooo — ooo!” Then it swooped down and clamped its jaws tightly on the giant’s shoulder.
“ARRGH!” Zor howled, flailing his arms and losing his balance.
Wham! He fell back against the hills, sending a pile of rocks crashing into the valley below.
Eric leaped out of the way, tumbling to the ground next to Neal.
“Did you say something about Panjibarrh being boring?” Eric asked.
“Not me!” Neal said, scrambling away just before Zor’s huge foot slammed down near him.
Sparr’s laughter turned to shouting. “Galen, you have bothered me once too often. Prepare to meet your doom!”
His fingertips sizzled with red flame.
The wizard scoffed. “You haven’t seen the last of me, Sparr.” He sent a bolt of blue light shooting across the valley at the sorcerer.
Ka-boom! It exploded at Sparr’s feet, knocking him into the dust.
“It’s two against one, Sparr!” Keeah cried. She followed the wizard’s bolt with one of her own.
Ka-boom-oom! Sparr fell once again.
Together, the two wizards pushed Sparr deep into the remains of Zor’s dark tomb. They followed him down into it, their blue light flashing up from the depths.
The dragon kept up its fierce attack on Zor.
“Arrgh!” the giant bellowed. He swatted the dragon. When it pulled back, he tried to stomp Neal and Julie, but they scurried out of the way.
“Can’t catch us!” Julie yelled. “We’re special!”
“Hrooooo!” The dragon circled the giant. It opened its jaws wide and breathed a blast of fiery blue flame. Zor shielded his face and stomped away from the children.
Another blast of blue fire sent Zor reeling back even farther.
“The dragon is winning!” Eric shouted.
Then the sky above the valley burned red.
Sparr flew up from the depths of the tomb to a high rock. He shot bolt after bolt of red light back down into the tomb.
And from the tomb’s darkness came a scream.
“It’s Keeah!” Max cried. “She’s in trouble!”
The dragon turned in midflight. Its deep green eyes pierced the dusty air. “Hrooooo!”
Eric stared at the large blue beast. Its eyes showed — what? Fear. And something else, too.
“The dragon needs to help Keeah!” Eric called out. “Come on, guys. Let’s keep Zor busy!”
Neal and Julie heaved rocks at the giant. Eric grabbed a Ninn shovel and began whacking Zor’s huge feet. Bing! Bang! Bong!
“Hey!” Neal shouted. “Your dream, Eric. Hitting a garbage can. That’s just what Zor is!”
Eric laughed as he kept on banging. “I did dream of Droon after all! Hey, I’m special, too!”
While the dragon flew at Sparr, the sorcerer began uttering strange ancient words.
“Zor — katoo — selam — teeka — meth!”
A red cloud swirled up from Sparr and shot across to Zor. The cloud was sucked into the amulet. The amulet’s crystal glowed red-hot.
“RRRR!” the giant roared. “Destroy the village! Destroy the village!”
Zor heaved his arms high in the air. He turned to the dust hills and began to climb.
“No!” Batamogi cried. “Oh, my poor people!”
Thomp! Thomp! The earth quaked with each step. A thick cloud of dust poured over the kids.
Eric shielded his eyes, but the dust stung him. “I can’t see anything,” he said, stumbling.
Julie rushed to him. “Rub your eyes, Eric.”
He balled up his fists and rubbed his eyes to clear them. “Thanks. Now let’s get out of here.”
Julie stared at Eric. She gasped. She whirled to her feet. “That’s it! Come on, everybody! We can stop this nasty metal-brained giant.”
“How?” Neal asked, running after her.
“With what these hills are famous for,” said Julie. “Dust!”
Thomp! Thomp! The giant clomped up the hills toward the Oobja village.
Batamogi waddled as fast as his short legs could carry him. His whiskers curled in fear. “I hope we can save my people!”
Julie raced next to him, her black helmet shining in the afternoon sun. “We’ll save them. Don’t worry.”
Wham! Bam! Zor hurled boulders at the kids.
“Well, okay. Worry a little!” Julie said, pulling the king out of the way just as a boulder crashed nearby.
They dashed through the pass and into the village before Zor got there.
The Oobja were hiding in their homes.
The kids rushed to the big wooden wheel.
Batamogi ran to the control stick. “Princess Julie, the honor is yours!”
Julie nodded, then pulled the control stick as Neal had done before. Errrch! The Wind Wheel began to turn. It spun faster and faster.
Whooosh! A dark funnel of dust started up from the middle of the wheel. It rose high into the sky, spinning like a tornado.
“I’m good at controlling things,” Max chirped. “Let me help.” He wrapped his eight legs around the control stick and pulled hard.
King Batamogi joined him.
Whooosh! The dust funnel shot up the hillside.
Then, there he was.
Zor. His giant bronze head peered between two peaks. He hoisted himself up and climbed through. “ARRR!” he bellowed down at them.
Just as he lifted his giant foot to stomp the village, the dust storm spun up at him.
Zor raised his giant arms in front of his face. He backed away, pawing at the spinning wind.
“He can’t see,” Eric said. “It’s working!”
Zor backed up to the summit of the highest hill. He shielded his eyes with one hand and swatted the brown spinning air with the other.
Still the dust storm came at him.
Zor stepped backward once more.
Krrrakk! The ledge beneath him gave way.
“AHHH!” the giant screamed.
He tumbled backward off the mountain and hit the valley below with a thundering crash. BOO-OOM!
Batamogi and Max slowed the wheel. The dust storm died away. The village fell quiet.
The kids rushed down to the giant metal man. His bronze body was cracked and crumpled.
He shuddered, then lay still.
&
nbsp; His giant lips quivered.
“Shh, everyone,” Eric said, creeping slowly closer. “Zor’s going to say something.”
“A … A … Agrah-Voor!” the giant said. He breathed a single long breath.
Then he spoke no more.
He trembled once, and his dark eyes closed.
“What’s Agrah-Voor?” Neal asked.
KKKK! The sky turned red above them.
“Never mind that! Sparr is coming!” said Julie.
A second later, Sparr shot down from the sky. He landed on the dusty plain next to Zor.
His face was filled with anger.
His purple fins turned black.
“He doesn’t look happy,” Neal muttered.
The spiky points running back from the middle of Sparr’s head seemed to glow bloodred.
“Ah, my Zor, my Zor! Giant man of bronze,” Sparr said. “For ages you have lain asleep, waiting to do my will! And now …”
“Yeah, sorry he’s all broken up,” Eric said.
“Bring the garbage truck,” Neal added.
Sparr turned. “You puny children think you have beaten me? This is just the beginning. You will never win. Now tell me what Zor said!”
Eric made a zipper motion across his mouth.
Julie shook her head and crossed her arms.
“Tell me!” Sparr commanded. “Or else.”
Finally, Neal raised his hand. “Zor said …”
“What?” the sorcerer shrieked.
Neal frowned. “He said you should …”
“Yes?” the sorcerer said.
“He said you should get a life!” Neal finished.
Sparr rose up over Neal. His eyes flashed with terrible anger. “Those were your last words, you foolish child. Now, all of you, prepare to meet your doom!”
Eric gulped and turned to Neal and Julie. “Doom. That’s not really a good thing, is it?”
Neal shook his head. “I’m pretty sure it’s not.”
Kla-blam! A bolt of blue light shot across the hills and exploded next to Sparr.
The kids turned. “Hooray!” they cheered.
Through the dust strode Galen and Keeah. Their hands were raised at Sparr. Their fingertips sizzled with blue sparks.
“Begone, Sparr!” Galen said. “You have lost!”
Eric grinned. “This just isn’t your day, Sparr.”
“Hrooooo!” The dragon swooped overhead.
And from the village came hundreds of Oobjas. They marched at Sparr, looking angry.
The sorcerer growled like a captive animal.
He raised his arms to the sky, flapped his cloak like a set of wings, and shot up into the air.
“Come, my Ninns,” he called out bitterly. “We live to fight another day! Victory will be ours!”
Instantly, his red-faced warrior Ninns took to their groggles. The sky darkened over the dust hills as they swarmed after their leader.
Moments later, Sparr and his army were gone.
“Yahoo! We beat him!” Neal shouted, jumping up and down. “We won today! We won!”
“Excellent work, my friends,” Galen said.
The giant lay motionless before them, his dark eyes crusted with dust.
“Your plan worked,” Keeah said to Julie.
The Oobja king smiled broadly. “I told you she had powers. The powers of imagination!”
Julie smiled. “Well, the dragon sure helped.”
Princess Keeah looked up. The dragon was perched quietly on a hill overlooking the village.
Its deep green eyes met Keeah’s. An unspoken word seemed to pass between them.
Then Keeah gasped. “Oh, my gosh! Mother?”
“Hrooooo!” the dragon cried.
“I knew it!” Max chirped. “It is Queen Relna! That’s why she helped us so much. My princess, the dragon is your mother!”
Keeah ran over as the blue dragon fluttered down and landed softly at the edge of the village. Keeah seemed to understand the soft, deep sounds her mother was making.
“A dragon queen,” said Neal. “That is so awesome.”
Galen smiled. “They are together once again.”
“Families should be together,” said Max.
Batamogi sniffled once. “I wish my nine brothers were here to see this day.”
Julie looked at the furry king. “Wait. Did you say nine brothers? You have nine brothers?”
Batamogi nodded. “We ruled our village together. We were all crowned at birth.”
Julie blinked. “Nine brothers, nine kings, nine … crowns?”
Eric gasped at Julie. “Your dream!”
“My dream!” Julie repeated. “I was floating over a hilltop and saw nine crowns … oh, my gosh! I understand it now. I understand it!”
Julie ran over to Keeah and her mother. “Can your mother take us someplace?”
The dragon murmured to Keeah.
Keeah laughed. “She’d be delighted!”
Julie jumped. “Come on, everyone. King Batamogi, get ready for a family reunion!”
Everyone piled onto Queen Relna’s back. Julie pointed over the hills. The queen flapped her long wings once and lifted off the ground.
“This is just like my dream,” Julie said. “I was floating high over Droon.”
“And you wore a crown,” Neal said, tapping Julie’s black helmet. “Just like you are now.”
The dragon dipped over the green lake and came to rest on the hilltop where Eric, Julie, and Neal had begun their journey.
On top of the hill was the circle of nine strange trees. They stood like statues in the fading sunlight. Their tangled branches reached to the sky.
Julie turned to Batamogi. “In my dream,” she said, “there were nine crowns sitting on a hilltop. Here there are nine trees. When your brothers refused to help Sparr, he must have enchanted them. He changed them. Into trees!”
“When they grabbed us, they weren’t trying to hurt us,” Neal said. “They wanted us to help them!”
“There is a spell to free them,” Galen said. “And Keeah, you must help me.”
The two wizards joined hands. Together, they began to murmur, “Teppi — qualem — bratoo!”
A blue mist wrapped around the trees.
The branches twitched and creaked.
The trees shrank to the size of bushes, and their leaves bunched up and became red fur. Their thick roots became squat legs. Their upper limbs became arms. Then, the circle of trees quivered together and became Batamogi’s nine brothers.
“Oh, my! Oh, my!” Batamogi cried. “You see, Julie, you did help us. Now we do the dance of joy!”
The ten squat kings hugged one another. They linked arms and twirled around, laughing.
As they did, Eric turned to Galen. “Zor said one last thing before he went quiet. He said … Agrah-Voor.”
Galen’s eyes went wide. “Agrah-Voor is the legendary Land of the Lost. It is peopled by the heroes of Droon’s past.”
Max shivered. “They say that the only way to enter Agrah-Voor is to be a … a … ghost!”
Neal backed away. “So I guess we’re not going there.” He looked around. No one said a word.
“Tell me we are not going there!” he said.
Keeah smiled a big smile. “I think you already know the answer to that one, Neal.”
He frowned. Then he shrugged. Then he smiled. “Agrah-Voor, huh? Where the ghost people live? I know what I’ll dream about tonight!”
Whoosh! A cool wind blew across the dust hills. The children looked up. Hovering over a rocky ledge nearby was the magic stairway.
“It looks like our adventure is over for today,” Julie said, removing her helmet. “Time to go.”
Batamogi took the helmet. “We’ll keep this in a place of honor, Princess. For when you return.”
“I hope I do return,” Julie said.
Batamogi chuckled softly and tapped his head. “Sparr was right about one thing. This is just the beginning. You’ll be back. I know you wi
ll.”
The three friends stepped onto the stairs.
Keeah waved to them. “Keep the magic alive!”
“You bet we will!” Eric called back.
Then the princess, the wizard, the spider troll, and the ten kings of Panjibarrh all climbed onto Queen Relna’s back. The dragon circled the stairs once and headed toward the sun.
Eric, Julie, and Neal waved good-bye and started up the stairs.
Then Eric stopped.
“Wait,” he said. “Why didn’t the stairs work for me or Neal? I mean, it turned out that we all dreamed of Droon. But they only worked for Julie.”
Neal scratched his head. “What if the stairs worked because all three of us were there?”
“That’s it,” said Julie. “To make the stairs work we all have to go together. Because no one is more special than anybody else. That’s cool.”
Neal nodded. “It’s like we dreamed three parts of the same dream.”
Eric thought about that for a while. Then he smiled. “Three parts of the same dream. Cool. I can live with that.”
“Me, too,” Neal said. “I mean, we’re a team, right?”
Julie grinned. “The absolute best.”
She put up her hand.
Eric and Neal slapped her high fives. She did the same back to them.
The three friends took one more look at the land of Droon, then raced up the stairs for home.
Eric Hinkle’s best friends, Neal and Julie, had just come over. But when they entered the kitchen, they found Eric and his father crawling under the counter.
“Hey, Eric, why is your head under the sink?” Neal asked as Mr. Hinkle began hammering. Then he whispered, “Did you find a new entrance to you-know-where?”
Eric laughed and stood up. “No. My dad and I are fixing this leak.” He pointed to an old pipe under the sink.
Blang! Bam! His father hit the pipe.
“I guess we can’t go back to Droon till you’re done,” said Julie softly, so Mr. Hinkle wouldn’t hear.
Eric smiled. Droon was the secret world he and his friends had discovered beneath his basement.
It was a magical place of wizards and strange creatures. One of the first people they had met there was a princess named Keeah. She had become their special friend.
Galen the wizard and Max, his assistant, helped Keeah battle Lord Sparr.