‘I refuse to be stopped just because this crevice is too small for me. Oh, no!’ Myfanwy’s voice drifts up from the pit. She pauses for a laughing fit. ‘I’ll make it bigger. I’ve got dynamite!’
Dynamite! She’s going to blow a hole in the side of the pit.
‘Ten, nine, eight …’ Myfanwy starts her countdown.
You and Ravi turn and run. You make it out of the cave just in time, the force of the explosion knocking you to the ground.
Picking yourselves up and dusting yourselves off, you both breathe sighs of relief. It’s over.
As you begin to walk back to the school camp, you hear a tremendous screeching.
You turn to see a huge red dragon come zooming out from the cave. It spews fire and smoke from its mouth as it climbs high into the sky.
Wow! The explosion must have cleared the way for a dragon.
Your excitement soon turns to fear, as more dragons emerge from the cave. Red ones. Blue and white ones. Dragons of all shapes and sizes, raining death and destruction from the skies.
The dragon invasion has begun!
You choose a rock with a pointy end and squeeze back into the crevice. Using the sharp end, you chisel away at the walls of the crevice where Ravi is stuck.
Bit by bit, you chip away until Ravi is able to move. But all that work has destabilised the cave walls. As your friend squeezes through, rocks and dirt collapse. You can feel the weight bearing down on you, the dust getting into your mouth and lungs.
Everything goes dark.
You decide to walk out onto the lake.
You tell Doo-Doo that he can return home now. The little dragon jumps from your shoulder and flutters in the air in front of you. Goodbye!
You give him a farewell pat and a scratch under the chin, which makes him laugh. But the laugh turns into a sneeze … and the sneeze triggers a fart.
A glob of nasal mucus splats over your face, and a burst of flame hits the snow at your feet. As you wipe the oozing muck from your eyes, the snow in front of you melts and the ground gives way beneath your feet.
Suddenly a face full of snot is the least of your worries.
You’re falling! Down into a tunnel beneath the Realm of Dragons. Up above, Doo-Doo is frantically flying in circles around the hole you dropped through. Once you land, you pick yourself up and dust yourself off, shouting to Doo-Doo that you’re okay and that he should wait there while you look around.
The tunnel leads down under the lake. Maybe you could reach the portal that way? You find your way through the darkness.
It’s not long before you see light up ahead. You follow the tunnel until it opens up onto a large cavern. In the cavern is a three-headed dragon reclining on a massive stone throne. The dragon is fat and bloated, but its legs and wings are tiny and withered. The right-hand head is red, the left-hand head is white, and the one in the middle is a mottled blue and orange. Wisps of shimmering light writhe like ghostly snakes from a hole in the ceiling to the back of the throne. The throne gently glows.
‘Us is the Portal Control,’ announces the middle head. Its voice is calm and level. ‘Us ensures its stability. Why have you disturbed Us?’
‘You should not be here,’ snarls the red dragon head. Its voice is harsh and raspy, and fiery sparks fall from its mouth like spraying spit.
‘You are an intruder,’ hisses the white dragon head. Its voice is cold and wheezy, and icicles drip from its mouth like frozen saliva.
You explain that you are trying to get back to your own world and that the portal is the only way.
‘Don’t care!’ the red and white heads chorus in unison.
‘But Us do,’ says the middle head. ‘The Realm of Dragons is a world of balance. Good and evil. Fire and Ice. Clans and loners. Dragons and lesser creatures.’
‘Fire!’ snarls the red head.
‘Ice!’ hisses the white head.
‘The balance is maintained by Us and the throne connects Us to the portal,’ continues the middle head. ‘The balance is delicate. You disturb the balance. You should not be here.’
‘Kill it!’ the other two heads scream.
They both open their mouths wide and roar. Flames spew from the mouth of one; a bolt of ice blasts from the other.
And they are both aimed at you.
You scream, lifting your arms protectively, and duck.
The fire and ice collide before reaching you and disintegrate, cancelling each other out.
You breathe a sigh of relief.
‘Balance,’ says the middle head. ‘Us shall return you to your world.’
‘No!’ growls the right head. ‘Burn it!’
‘No!’ gasps the left head. ‘Freeze it!’
‘Yes,’ maintains the middle head. ‘The human must be returned.’
The opposing heads roar their rage, spitting fire and ice at the middle head.
‘Fools!’ wheezes the head of reason. ‘Without Us, who will control the portal?’ The middle head is caught in a torrent of opposing elements – half of it burning to ash, the other half freezing and shattering. It is utterly obliterated.
Realising what they’ve done, the other two heads release piercing screams that make you clamp your hands over your ears. Before you, the red head is engulfed in flames, burning away to nothingness; the white head freezes then shatters into a million fragments.
The headless body slumps off the throne. The wispy tendrils of light crackle and spark, and the throne glows brighter. The rocky ceiling melts away as an expanding ball of light descends.
It’s the portal!
But will it send you back, or is the portal out of control?
The three-headed dragon controlled it with the throne. Perhaps you should take its place?
To climb up onto the throne, go here.
But maybe it would be better to just wait and see what happens. Go here.
You weave your way between the structures towards a tunnel at the far end of the cavern, hoping it will lead you out where you can then get help. Reaching it, you see that it is in fact two branching tunnels. One of the tunnels is frozen solid with ice.
So you try the other tunnel, and as soon as you do you hear an indistinct whispering inside your head.
You notice there are glowing crystals embedded in the wall. The further you go, the more crystals there are, until the tunnel opens out onto a gigantic crystalline chamber. It’s like being inside a massive thunder egg.
In the centre of the chamber is a huge throne made up of crystals pieced together. Whereas the surrounding crystals are pale in colour, these are vibrant reds and oranges.
You take a step forward.
CRACK!
You look down. You’ve stepped on a bone. Suddenly you realise that the chamber floor is littered with them. You back away as the bones start moving. Some come together, connecting like pieces of a gruesome puzzle. The puzzle takes shape, forming the skeleton of a large creature – a dragon.
The dragon slowly clambers up onto the throne, then turns its bony head towards you as its gaping eye sockets stare down.
‘I am the Guardian of the Realm of Dragons.’
Did that dragon skeleton just speak to you?
‘Yes. Yes I did,’ the voice booms impatiently through the crystalline chamber. ‘Now, stop interrupting and listen. You darn humans are all the same – always interrupting. Can’t you just pay attention?’ The creature sighs, then continues. ‘There is a quest you must undertake. A quest to retrieve the last power crystal that will complete my Throne of Influence, with which I will at last be able to bring harmony to the Realm of Dragons. Will you go on this que–’
You interrupt in order to tell the dragon about Ravi.
The creature sighs again. ‘Yes, yes,’ it says grumpily. ‘Whatever! I will help you free your friend if you promise to go on this quest.’
To agree to the quest, go here.
But really – can you trust this skeleton to free Ravi? To refuse the quest, go here.
You agree to go on the quest.
A miniature skeleton hand rises up out of the pile of bones beside you. You shudder.
‘Take it,’ says the dragon, impatiently.
You reach out hesitantly and grasp the bony hand.
‘This will assist you in locating the crystal. Once you have found it, you need to merely touch the hand to the crystal and your quest will be fulfilled.’
You nod.
‘Now, to transport you to where you need to go …’ The skeletal dragon leans down towards you and opens its jaws wide. Flames rush forwards.
You scream and close your eyes …
But you don’t feel anything.
Tentatively you open them, and find yourself standing before a castle. Made of sandy coloured blocks of stone, it has turrets and battlements and a massive wooden door. The castle is surrounded by a circular indentation that looks like it might have once been a moat but has since been filled in with earth. It all looks like something out of a fairytale. Is the crystal in the castle?
You lift up the skeleton hand, which is closed into a fist, and wonder how it’s supposed to help you locate the crystal. The index finger suddenly extends and points to the castle. You turn around and wave it in the opposite direction. The hand closes again. So that’s how it works.
You pocket the hand and march up to the castle door. It looks solid and strong, towering to three times your height. But you can’t see any sort of handle or doorbell. Flickering light seeps out from around the edges and you can hear the sound of laughter and the steady doof, doof, doof beat of music. Sounds like there’s a party going on.
To knock on the door, go here.
To walk around outside of the castle to find another way in, go here.
You refuse the quest.
‘Then you will serve me in other ways.’ The skeleton dragon unfurls its bony wings. ‘Arise, my servants, and make welcome a new member of your horde.’
Around you, the remaining bones begin to move. Forming into skeletons – some human, some animal, some bizarrely indescribable creatures – they advance towards you.
‘Join us.’ The whispering voices fill your ears. ‘Join us.’
Bony hands reach out for you.
‘Join us.’
Skeletal fingers snag at your clothes and pinch at your flesh. Tugging. Pulling. Tearing.
‘Join us.’
You can’t leave things to chance. You decide that you have to take control.
Jumping up onto the throne, you stand in the centre and look up. The tendrils of light wrap themselves around you and the portal ascends back through the ceiling.
You sit in the centre of the giant glowing throne, your mind ensuring the portal behaves as it should.
Balance has been restored. The portal is under control. Your control!
You feel great! You feel powerful!
But then you realise that you are a prisoner of that power – trapped in the Realm of Dragons, destined to stay and maintain the balance … forever.
You knock on the castle door, hoping that you will be heard. Ever so slowly, with a tremendous creaking, the door begins to move.
And as you look up, your eyes widen with horrific realisation.
This is a castle! A castle that used to have a moat! Castles with moats don’t have ordinary doors, do they?
Legs shaking, heart thumping wildly, you turn to run.
But it’s too late.
The massive wooden drawbridge opens, slamming down onto the ground.
SPLAT!
You decide to go around the castle to the rear. As you walk up to the back door, you feel a movement in your pocket.
You take out the skeleton hand. It’s pointing to the garden behind the castle.
You head across the manicured lawn into a field of gigantic flowers. The plants tower above you, with blossoms as big as bicycle wheels. You move through the flowers, the skeleton hand in front of you, until you come to a statue. It’s a granite dragon, with something in its outstretched paw.
As you approach, you see that it’s a crystal.
That’s it! You’ve found it! Who knew that your quest would be so simple?
But as you get nearer, some sort of insect buzzes around your face. You stop and look closer. No, not an insect. It’s a teensy-weensy sparkly dragon with oversized fairy wings. It hovers around you, shaking its head and holding up its hands to stop you from going towards the crystal. It’s making a weird droning sound.
It’s kind of cute … but also annoying.
Do you try to talk to it? Or are you more interested in getting the crystal?
To talk to the fairy dragon, go here.
To go straight for the crystal, go here.
You try to explain to the fairy dragon that you are on a quest on behalf of the Guardian of the Realm of Dragons and that you need the crystal.
The little creature shakes its head vigorously, purses its lips and whistles. It’s so loud that it makes you wince.
Before your eyes, hundreds of little fairy dragons rise up from between the flowers. They fly to join their companion, and all together they form a huge disembodied dragon head in the air.
‘Do not take the crystal,’ says the dragon head. It speaks with a strange, droning voice made up of the individual fairy dragons’ buzzing. ‘The skeleton dragon is evil. If it gains the last power crystal, it will enslave the realm.’
But the Guardian told you it would bring harmony to the realm.
So who do you believe?
If you believe the fairy dragons and decide not to take the crystal, go here.
If you decide to put your faith in the skeleton dragon and complete the quest, go here.
You go for the crystal, but the fairy dragon flies into your face, buzzing right in front of your eyes.
You swat it, sending it careening into one of the flowers, which releases a cloud of pollen. You sneeze.
You reach for the crystal but start sneezing uncontrollably. That darn pollen.
As the cloud clears, fairy dragons fly up from between the plants. They’re small, but there are lots of them. You’re worried that they may attack you. But you must continue on your quest.
You reach for the crystal again.
But the fairy dragons fling themselves into the flowers. All around you, clouds of pollen explode into the air.
Your eyes water, your nose itches and you keep sneezing. You barely finish one sneeze when the next one begins. It feels as if with each sneeze you come closer to expelling your insides.
You descend into an eternal pollen-induced, hay-fever haze, where you are destined to sneeze all your innards out through your nose.
You are engulfed by the light. It swirls around as you fall through it. It’s bright. Dazzling.
Tantalising images of the world you know swim past, just out of reach. Trees. Water. A city. The caves near your school camp. But where will you end up?
You try to lean towards the images but instead you spin around, out of control. You could end up anywhere.
The light around you shimmers and fades. You close your eyes.
Go here.
Or go here.
Or go here.
You decide to wait and hope that the portal will now return you to your own world.
You watch as the glowing ball of light shimmers and pulsates, expanding as it lowers into the cavern. Tantalising images of the world you know swirl across its surface. Trees. Water. A city. The caves near your school camp. You are hopeful that this will indeed be the way home.
Before you can step towards it, the portal explodes in a burst of blinding light. You cover your face and close your eyes.
‘Hey. What are you doing?’
You know that voice. Eagerly, you open your eyes.
It’s your best friend, Ravi. He and a group of your classmates are staring at you.
You are back at the school camp, standing in the middle of the grounds.
You’re home! Back in your own
world.
But you are not alone.
One of the other kids screams and points up into the sky.
There are dragons circling above you. Hun dreds of them. Fire dragons! Ice dragons! And loads more you don’t recognise.
The portal has brought them all into your world.
You decide to stick with your original goal – retrieve the crystal for the Guardian of the Realm of Dragons.
You hold the skeleton hand out in front of you and dive through the fairy dragons. As you touch the hand to the crystal, it opens up and clasps its treasure. You let go and stand back.
In a radiant burst of light, the crystal vanishes. The skeletal hand bursts apart, fragmenting into hundreds of tiny pieces, each shard of bone shooting like a dart into the heart of a fairy dragon. The little creatures gasp, shudder, then disintegrate in a puff of glittery dust.
And you are left alone.
The Guardian has not made good on its promise of returning you to your own world so that you can free Ravi. Perhaps the fairy dragons were right? Maybe the Guardian is going to enslave the realm rather than bring harmony to it? And now you’re stuck here.
Maybe a solution lies within the castle.
You walk back around to the front so you can knock on the door.
Go here.
The little fairy dragons seem so sincere, you can’t help but put your trust in them. You drop the skeleton hand and step on it, breaking it up into its individual bones.
But now what will you do? How will you get home?
‘There is a portal that can return you to your world,’ says the big fairy dragon head. ‘It lies between the lands of the Fire Dragon Clan and the Ice Dragon Clan. We will take your there.’
In the Realm of Dragons Page 5