Wizard or Witch?

by Tony Abbott

  It was the Elfin Sight.

  I saw and heard everything.

  I opened my eyes. “I needed time to think.”

  “And?” said Sparr.

  “I’ve made my choice,” I said.

  Sparr stepped forward. “And?”

  I smiled. “Show me the power we’ll use to rule. Show me … the Red Eye of Dawn!”

  Keeah — Eric said silently.

  Wait … I answered, also silently. I told him we needed to use our powers at just the right moment.

  Okay, said Eric.

  The sorcerer paused, his eyes glinting. Then he grinned. “Why not? Look there. The day is nearly over. The sun is almost under the horizon. Time for sleep? But no! See what the Red Eye can do. See what power is ours!”

  He stepped to the doorway and out onto the balcony, overlooking the vast ocean of Droon. He opened his hand.

  WHOOOOM! A blast of red lightning exploded from the crimson jewel.

  It shot across the waves. It struck the sun.

  Then, as Sparr slowly drew the jewel up in the air, the sun itself rose back up, inch by inch, until streaks of pink light slanted over the balcony stones.

  Staring at the rising sun, I remembered what my father had said last night.

  The day Demither turned away from her family was the day she lost her Elfin Sight.

  I vowed that would never happen to me. But I also knew that Demither was my mother’s sister. She was my family. We were bound together. I knew it in Neffu’s room when, above all the others, I heard that one word.

  The word of greatest magic.

  Love.

  Closing my eyes, I used my Elfin Sight to search the watery passages under our world.

  I found her.

  Demither! I called across the miles.

  When I opened my eyes — splash! — the waves broke open and her giant serpent’s form burst up, coiling and twisting in the air.

  Sparr, still holding the jewel aloft, laughed suddenly. “Demither? Of course. Keeah, Demither, and me. The three dark powers of Droon are all here as we take over. How perfect!”

  I shuddered to hear the word.

  Demither had to be free of Sparr, if only so she could choose for herself. That would be perfect.

  “You like?” asked Sparr, drawing the sun higher, casting its glow over the white floor tiles.

  My fingers heated up. I looked down. A blue beam of light shot from my hands. As I watched, the sparks turned red, and finally violet.

  It was time. I turned to the curtains.

  One … two … three …

  Blammm! I blasted the crystal box. It shattered into a thousand shards of glass and blue sparks. My parents opened their eyes and rushed out.

  “Mother!” I shouted. “Get ready —”

  “What?” cried Sparr, turning.

  “I’ll tell you what,” said Eric, bursting from the curtain. “You’re on our turf now, Sparr!”

  Everyone jumped out from behind the curtain. Max and the others leaped from the ceiling.

  Sparr’s fins flashed a burning red. “What’s all this?”

  “Keeah has a big family!” said Julie.

  “Now!” I shouted. “A single beam of light!”

  My mother and Eric turned to the sea. We shot beams out over the water.

  Violet. Blue. Silver. Our blasts joined.

  “What?” cried Sparr. “No —”

  KKKKK! The sky lit up with a brilliant, many-colored blast. It met the ray from the Red Eye and turned it away from the sun.

  And right onto Demither. The blast struck her with a bright flash. Shrieking, she rose like a monster over the bay.

  “No! No!” howled Sparr, closing his fist. But by the time the light went dim, it was too late.

  Something tiny whizzed through the air.

  Plink! A small black medal dropped to the stones at Sparr’s feet. He picked it up.

  I laughed. “Your amulet fell off, Sparr. You don’t have Demither’s power. She isn’t your servant anymore. She’s … free!”

  Demither stared at me with her yellow eyes. She dived and burst up near the city walls, arching high over all of us. Then, flipping her tail hard, she sent a spray of seawater over Sparr.

  She drenched him completely.

  “Hey, I know what that’s like!” said Neal.

  An instant later, she was gone.

  Max jumped. “Look at that! I know them!”

  A tiny rowboat swayed into the harbor. A handful of Ninns stumbled toward the palace. They waved at Sparr.

  The sorcerer’s fins turned black and rimmed with fire. He stared at me.

  “KEEAH, YOU SHALL PAY FOR THIS!”

  Everyone rushed to my side. Eric and my mother had their hands ready. My father wielded a giant wooden club. Julie, Ortha, and the others were ready to charge. Neal even had a bucket of water ready to throw.

  “This just isn’t your day,” said Julie.

  “Call it quits,” added Eric.

  Quivering, Sparr raised his hands to me. “Why — you!” He sent a blast at me.

  Don’t fire! I said. I have a better idea.

  Even as his bolt came at me, I jumped at him.

  I spun around in the air, not touching down. It was as if everything slowed while I alone moved. I dodged his lightning bolt, then everything sped up again.

  My foot met his shoulder.

  Whump! He was pushed back ten feet. His shot went wild, and he teetered on the edge of the balcony.

  “Sorry, Sparr,” I said, coming down. “These new wizard powers are soooo tricky!”

  He swayed back, then finally fell from the balcony. “Ninns!” he cried out. “Catch me —”

  We ran to the edge.

  The red warriors hustled across the grass, holding out their hands for him. Then they suddenly jerked back, as if afraid of being hurt.

  “What — no —” Sparr cried out.

  Blumffff! He thudded to the ground.

  He lay there on the grass, his dark eyes rolling in his head.

  Finally, he wobbled to his feet. “I still have the Red Eye of Dawn! You will see its great power — my great power — as you never have before. The Empire of Shadows begins now!”

  As I watched Sparr limp to the sea, his hands clasped over the red jewel, I realized something.

  The great magical things he might discover or create didn’t seem to matter so much.

  They were … just magic.

  “Take the Eye,” I said. “The Golden Wasp, the Coiled Viper. Take them all. Together, we’re more than a match for you.”

  Right at that exact moment — ka-whoooom! — something large and heavy crashed to the earth in a crumpled heap next to Sparr. He gasped, his mouth hanging open.

  “Oh, my gosh,” said Batamogi. “So that’s where that went. It traveled a long way!”

  It was Sparr’s yellow car.

  It had finally come down.

  Completely smashed.

  “Oh, yeah,” said Eric. “We borrowed the car. It got pretty wrecked, though. Sorry.”

  My father boomed a loud laugh. “Can we offer you a ride home?”

  Saying nothing, Sparr turned away. His Ninns crowded around and helped him into what was left of their great fleet of ships. We watched as the little rowboat splashed away from the city and was gone.

  “Yahoo!” cried Neal.

  “Yay, Keeah!” shouted Julie.

  Eric smiled. “We won today.”

  “Keeah!” my father boomed, rushing to me and swinging me around.

  My mother kissed me, then looked into my eyes. “The Elfin Sight. You have it —”

  “And not a minute too soon!” I said.

  Surrounding me were Ortha, Woot, Twee, Batamogi, Khan, Max, Eric, Julie, Neal, and my parents.

  My family.

  After all that had happened, it was amazing to have them all here for this moment.

  It was perfect.

  “The droomar would be so proud of you today,�
� said my mother.

  “Oh, we are!” said a familiar voice.

  I turned and saw the old brown hat hovering on the balcony. The little elf appeared below it.

  “Thum!” I said, running to him. “I’m glad you remembered to come!”

  “I almost didn’t,” he said as he drifted across the stones to us. My mother hugged him.

  “You really helped us today,” said Julie.

  “You helped Keeah most of all,” said my mother. “Thank you!”

  The little creature bowed. “Oooo, yes. But really Keeah helped us. She was inspired by what she saw in the stone of her Wizardbook.”

  I held the book close to me. It seemed to call out to me to begin writing in it.

  “Bring the tea,” my father boomed. “This calls for a great feast. Keeah is a droomar today!”

  Almost instantly, dozens of kitchen workers brought out pot after pot of Droon tea and huge platters of food to go with it.

  “Talk about magic,” said Neal, “it’s like they can read my mind.”

  “Talk about magic,” I said, “look at this.” I sprayed a narrow stream of blue sparks from my right hand and red ones from my left.

  “That is so cool,” said Eric. “When did you learn you could do that?”

  “In Neffu’s palace,” I said. “The Elfin Sight showed me how even the dark powers can be used for good! Look at this, too.”

  I lightly touched the tips of my thumbs together and sprayed out a glowing stream of blue and red sparks together.

  “Violet sparks,” gasped Julie. “So awesome!”

  But the most awesome part was how all my friends stayed to party with me for hours.

  Lights went on all over the city. People began dancing through the streets. The great palace fountain bubbled softly with the fresh, sweet water of summer.

  When twilight came, my father stood over the courtyard and yelled.

  “To the newest droomar wizard!”

  “O — lee — lee!” yelled Ortha, Twee, and Woot together.

  A great cheer went up all over town. The guards, not toads anymore, waved the bright green and silver banners high.

  Finally, my father unscrewed the horns from his helmet and blew a big blast of air through both of them. Woooo-hoooo!

  They made the sweetest music.

  Until the moon came up, my mother sang harp songs and Max danced. His eight legs flew around as if there were two of him!

  All evening, we knew Droon was safe.

  Neal chuckled. “Sparr is too tired to try anything now.”

  Finally — whoosh! — the rainbow staircase appeared over the courtyard.

  As my friends stepped onto the glistening steps, Eric paused and turned.

  “We went a long way today,” he said.

  “We saw a lot of stuff,” said Neal. “And found out a lot of things.”

  “We did,” I said.

  “But some things we knew all along,” said Julie, giving me a hug.

  Eric laughed. “You took the words right out of my mouth. Keeah, you’ll always be a wizard to us. And we’ll be back before you know it.”

  “Yeah,” said Neal. “I have a feeling there are a lot of things to get done!”

  Laughing, my three friends ran up the staircase and away into the clouds.

  I closed my eyes and heard a faint squeak, then a click, as the door at the top of the stairs closed. Then the stairs faded.

  “See you soon,” I whispered.

  * * *

  Five minutes later, I was sitting cross-legged under the stars on the little balcony outside my room.

  I could just hear the sounds of my father singing and my mother’s bright laughter as they made their way through the halls of the palace below.

  I had more power than ever before. With my mother’s help, I would learn to use every bit of it to make sure Droon was always safe.

  And when Galen came back — and I knew he would return to us soon — there would be nothing we couldn’t do together.

  Besides, everywhere I looked, I found people who loved me. People who I loved.

  I remembered that simple word again.

  Love.

  “Snkk-grrr-snkk! Yes, yes! In a moment!”

  I turned to see Max curled up like a ball of fur, muttering and snoring in his little bed.

  Yes, everywhere I looked there was love.

  I pointed a finger to the small rose-colored candle on my nightstand and whispered words Galen had taught me.

  “Sepp-o-bah …”

  Fwishh! The candle stand wobbled, then whisked itself up off the table. It set itself down with a soft plonk on the tiles in front of me.

  I winked, and the candle flared into life.

  Moving the Wizardbook to my lap, I looked at the stone on its cover.

  This time, it showed nothing but my own face.

  I opened the book to where the very first page gazed up at me, blank, white, clean, and ready.

  Looking up, I saw that the moon was full.

  In its glow, the sky was wide and blue and streaked with violet.

  Violet. The color of my powers.

  So.

  Midnight.

  The candle flickered its warm flame over the blank page. I thought of the wonderful, magical words I would write.

  I looked around and listened to the quiet sounds of Droon at night.

  Everything was perfect.

  Dipping my pen in ink, I set it on the page, breathed once, and began to write.

  It was the sound of words that woke me….

  BLAM! The earth exploded in front of Eric Hinkle and sent him tumbling down a riverbank into his friends. “Oof! Sorry!”

  “Hey, my foot!” said Neal Kroger, sliding down behind him.

  “Your foot! How about my knee?” said Julie Rubin, crawling out from beneath them both.

  “How about we stop complaining and run?” said Princess Keeah. “The beasts are coming!”

  “And getting closer all the time,” chirped Max, the spider troll. “Look!”

  His head aching from the explosion, Eric peeked over the top of the riverbank and saw an army of furry, gray, lion-shaped beasts charging across the plains toward them. Their eyes blazed bright red.

  They were the beasts of Emperor Ko.

  “Man,” Eric grumbled. “It’s almost as if they don’t like us or something.”

  “No kidding!” said Keeah. “But if we keep running, maybe we can hold out until my parents and Khan find us. Let’s move!”

  Right. Keeah’s parents, King Zello and Queen Relna, and Khan, leader of the purple, pillow-shaped Lumpies, had been with the kids not too long ago. They’d all been chasing Ko’s evil floating palace when they were attacked. The king and queen were driven away, and now the kids were trapped at the river.

  “I hope this works,” said Julie.

  “Cross your fingers, everyone!” said Neal.

  As the five friends scuttled quickly down the river, Eric’s mind raced over everything that had happened in the last hour.

  He was in Droon, of course. Where else would he, his friends, a wizard princess, and a spider troll be running from an army of nasty, red-eyed beasts?

  Splashhh! The water exploded behind them.

  “They know where we are!” squeaked Max, his orange hair standing straight up. “Hurry!”

  Droon was the magical world Eric, Julie, and Neal had discovered one day in his basement. Ever since they had descended a mysterious rainbow-colored staircase, they’d had one fabulous adventure after another.

  It was on their very first visit to Droon that they met Keeah, a young wizard just learning her powers. Along with her friend Max and the great old wizard Galen, Keeah had worked hard to keep Droon free.

  “Change of plan!” she said, scrambling behind an outcropping of rock. “We’ll have to make a stand here.” She turned and gave Eric a little smile. “Time to uncross those fingers, pal!”

  Eric looked at his fingers.

&
nbsp; Yes, that was part of the adventure, too. Since coming to Droon, Eric had developed his own wizard powers. He could cast spells, shoot powerful sparks from his fingertips, read mysterious old languages, and even have visions of the future.

  So far, having powers had been pretty cool.

  Julie had gained some powers, too. She had developed the ability to fly and to alter her shape. Meanwhile, Neal was still waiting and hoping for powers of his own. But together all three friends had helped Keeah fight the bad guys time and time again.

  For most of that time, the worst bad guy was a sorcerer named Lord Sparr. Since the beginning, he had struggled against Keeah and her friends to take control of Droon. But when Sparr used his Three Powers to wake up his former master, Emperor Ko, he accidentally turned himself back into a boy.

  Sparr was now helping them battle Ko!

  That had been going pretty well. Until the impossible happened.

  Crouching behind the rock, Eric looked at his watch. The impossible had happened exactly one hour and seven minutes ago.

  His blood ran cold when he thought about it.

  At the end of their last adventure, young Sparr had fled Ko and escaped on a magical river that flowed all the way up to Eric’s town in the Upper World.

  Unfortunately, Ko’s second-in-command, an evil dragon named Gethwing, had chased right after Sparr. When the kids raced to the rainbow stairs to follow them, Ko had uttered a terrible curse.

  “Selat-panoth-ra-ka-Saba!”

  A few moments later, the staircase wobbled.

  It sizzled.

  It fizzled.

  And then it vanished.

  Vanished!

  Eric couldn’t believe it. No one could believe it. But there was nothing they could do. The rainbow stairs were the only path between the Upper World and Droon. Even though Sparr and Gethwing were in the Upper World, the kids were trapped in Droon. They couldn’t return home until the stairs returned. If they returned.

  My parents! he thought. My house! My town!

  Luckily, no time passed at home while the kids were in Droon. So everything would stay the way they left it. At least Eric hoped so.

  “Incoming fireball,” cried Neal. “Duck!”

  BLAMMM! A bolt of light exploded in front of them, and Eric fell back to the ground.