Demetra instantly started crawling backward. “You know, Finley,” she said in a very shaky voice, “you were right. We should have taken the big tunnel.”
Finley didn’t answer. He had already turned and was running full tilt for the mine entrance.
“Finley!” Demetra cried, standing up and running after him. “Where are you going?”
“Home!” Finley called over his shoulder. “I’m sorry, Princess, but I just can’t stay here another minute.”
At the entrance, Finley dove for the door.
But Demetra was too fast for him. She caught hold of his tail and cried, “You can’t leave. We have to save Elsinor and the others.”
Finley clung to the handle of the big wooden door with both paws. “Don’t make me!”
“Finley, please!” Demetra tugged with all her might. “I can’t do it by myself. ”
“Why?”
Demetra looked at the pitch-black tunnel. “Because I’m afraid of the dark!”
This took Finley by surprise, and he let go of the door. The two of them tumbled backward into the blackness of the big rock tunnel.
“Yeow!” Demetra hit her head on the rock wall. For a second, she saw stars. “That hurt!”
The big tunnel was pitch-black and freezing cold. Demetra felt for the wall and pulled herself to her feet.
“Finley?” she called. “Are you all right?”
No answer.
“Finley!” She reached into the darkness in front of her. “Are you there?”
Still no answer.
The goose bumps returned. They crept up her arms and down the back of her neck.
“Finley,” she sang out in a quivery voice. “This isn’t funny. You know I’m afraid of the dark. Now please answer me.”
She held her breath and listened. Nothing.
“Maybe Finley’s hurt,” she whispered, “and can’t speak.” She inched forward. “Don’t worry, Finley. I’ll find you.”
The princess spread her arms out to the sides and waved them above her head. “This tunnel is enormous,” she murmured. “Something very large could live in here.”
The thought of something very large actually being in the tunnel with her made Demetra’s heart thud faster.
“Of course,” Demetra called in a high voice, “if something large was in here, it would let me know. Wouldn’t it?”
She waited for an answer. But none came.
“Good.” The princess heaved a sigh of relief. “For a moment there, I thought Finley’s story about the scary thing inside the mountain might be true.”
She chuckled to herself, turned, and froze.
Just ahead was a thin beam of light. It stretched from the ceiling to the tunnel floor.
“That must be some kind of window to the outside,” Demetra murmured.
But the light didn’t just touch the floor. It went through it. If Demetra had been looking down, she would have noticed that.
Instead, her head was tilted upward as she stepped into the beam of light. “Sky!” she gasped. “That looks like— Hellllllllllp! ”
Demetra tumbled head over heels through the large hole in the tunnel floor.
Glowing crystals sparkled all around the princess. They were as bright as stars on a clear night.
Demetra held her breath, waiting to crash into hard rock.
But just as she was about to hit the ground, two large hands reached out for her.
They were bright purple and covered in tiny green spots.
“Caught you!” a male voice croaked as Demetra fell into his outstretched arms. “Princess, are you all right?”
The green mist was thicker than ever, and Demetra could hardly see.
“Elsinor?” she asked, leaning her face closer to her rescuer’s. “Is that you?”
The goblin leader had bright red eyes, two pointed lavender ears, and a bushy tuft of green hair that exploded out of the top of his head.
He smiled at her, revealing two large fangs. “At your service.”
“Have you seen Finley?” Demetra asked as Elsinor set her onto the soft white ground. “We were in a dark tunnel, and I lost him.”
“I’m here,” Finley called, limping through the mist. “I fell through that hole, too. But I’m not sure where here is.”
“I believe we’re at the heart of Sparkle Mountain,” a small, round goblin named Crag replied. “We fell into this crystal cave this morning.”
“How did it happen?” Demetra asked.
“We were mining for crystal in that big, dark tunnel,” Elsinor explained, “when Tor broke a hole through the rock.”
Tor nodded vigorously. “The floor crumbled around our feet. I fell through the hole first. Then Crag, then Adit, and finally everyone followed me.”
Elsinor stomped his foot on the soft white ground. “We landed on this strange grassy hill.”
“And we’ve been stuck here ever since,” Crag finished.
“There must be some way to get out of here,” Finley said, scanning the sparkling walls of the cave. “A door or a crack in the crystal.”
Elsinor shook his head. “We’ve looked. The only way out is the way we came in.” He pointed upward. “Through that hole.”
Demetra looked up. She could see the opening in the roof of the cave. Beyond that, at the end of a long, narrow shaft, she could just glimpse a bit of blue.
“Is that the sky?” she asked.
“Yes,” Adit replied. “That’s an air shaft. We used it to send for help.”
“You mean you made that green cloud?” Finley asked.
“With this.” Elsinor showed them a small glass bottle of glowing green liquid.
“He mixed peridot ore with water to create a mist,” Crag explained. “Then we fanned it through that hole.”
“Your signal worked,” the princess said. “We saw the green cloud and rushed to see what was the matter.”
“But the fog was so thick, we could barely find the path up the mountain,” Finley added.
Elsinor smiled sheepishly. “I wasn’t sure how much ore to use.” He coughed and batted at the mist swirling around his face. “I’m afraid I overdid it.”
Finley leaned forward and whispered, “I’ve always heard that something very large and very frightening lives inside this mountain.”
“I’ve heard that story, too,” Elsinor whispered back. “But I’ve never seen anything.”
“I’m very glad to hear it,” Finley said, putting one paw to his heart.
Suddenly, the mound began to tremble.
“What’s going on?” Demetra cried, her teeth clattering together. “It feels like an earthquake.”
“Don’t panic,” Crag said as he steadied the princess with one purple hand. “Sometimes the ground will shake for minutes at a time.”
“And sometimes it makes a deep rumbling noise,” Tor added. “Like snoring.”
“Finley and I heard that sound,” Demetra said. “I wonder what it is?”
The Diamond Princess bent down and touched the white grass at her feet. “You know, this doesn’t feel like grass. It feels more like fur.”
Finley patted the ground with his paws. “You’re right.”
The princess crawled away from the group, patting the fur as she went.
“Careful, Princess,” Elsinor called through the mist. “You might slip off the hill and cut yourself on the crystal.”
“I’ll protect you,” Finley said, hurrying to join the princess.
Demetra crawled up a furry hill and down a narrow slope. Suddenly, her hand touched something different. It was cold and rubbery.
“Oh,” she murmured, “this feels odd. Like a very large … nose.”
Demetra stretched both hands over the edge of it and grasped something smooth and pointed. “And this feels like a very sharp … tooth.”
“A hill doesn’t have a nose or teeth,” Finley murmured.
“Oh, Finley!” Demetra quickly backed up the slope. “This isn’t a hill. It
’s a … It’s a …”
Suddenly, the white ground they were standing on rose into the air, lifting them almost to the ceiling.
“BEAR!”
“Who is it that wakes me from my slumber?” the big bear roared.
Demetra, Finley, and the goblins clung to the beast’s fur but didn’t answer.
“Tell me who you are!” the big bear bellowed. “And be quick about it. I’m very tired and very hungry.”
“Hungry?” Finley gasped. “Yikes!”
Elsinor spoke first. “I am Elsinor, leader of the goblins.”
The big bear threw back his head and howled, “Did Lord Bleak send you?”
“Lord Bleak?” Demetra repeated. “You know him?”
“Bleak rules this kingdom,” the big bear replied.
“Oh no,” Demetra corrected. “He hasn’t ruled here for ages. Queen Gemma and King Regal rule the Jewel Kingdom now. They sent him away. He’s far across the Dismal Sea.”
The big bear slowly turned his head so his big black eyes were level with Demetra. “Who are you?”
Demetra tilted her chin up, trying to look as royal as possible. “I am Princess Demetra, the Diamond Princess. And I rule the White Winterland.”
The big bear’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t believe you.”
“Just ask anybody,” Finley called from behind the princess. “They’ll tell you it’s true.”
“I see no one,” the big bear said with a snarl. “I speak to no one. I sleep here in this cave, a prisoner of Lord Bleak.”
“Lord Bleak must have walled him in here years ago,” Elsinor whispered to the princess.
“Poor fellow,” the princess whispered back.
“I wouldn’t feel sorry for him,” Finley hissed. “He must have done something terrible to be taken prisoner.”
“What are you whispering about?” the big bear demanded.
“N-n-nothing, Mr. Bear, sir,” Finley stammered. “We were just saying how this is all an unfortunate accident. We didn’t mean to fall into your cave. So if you would just help us get out of here, we promise never to return.”
“No one leaves this cave alive!” The big bear roared so loudly his entire body shook.
“But why?” Demetra asked, losing her balance and falling on her knees.
“If I let one of you set foot outside this cave, you’ll tell Lord Bleak that I am free. And ready to fight him again.”
“But there is no Lord Bleak!” Finley cried. “He’s gone!”
“You’re lying!” The big bear swiped at the white fox with a giant clawed foot. “I don’t like liars.”
Finley tried to duck, but the blow knocked him off the bear’s back. He fell to the crystal floor, pinned beneath the big bear’s paw.
“The bear’s got Finley!” Crag cried. “What should we do?”
“Whatever it is, we’d better be quick about it,” Elsinor warned. “He’s crushing Finley.”
Demetra didn’t even pause to think. She leaped off the big bear’s back and landed with a loud thump on the cave floor.
“Release him!” she commanded. “I can prove that Lord Bleak no longer rules this land.”
The big bear narrowed his eyes. “You can? How?”
“With my Magic Mirror.” Demetra pulled the mirror from inside her jacket.
“Careful, Princess,” Finley choked from under the big bear’s paw. “You’ve already used the mirror twice. This is your last time.”
“I know that,” Demetra whispered back.
The princess held the sparkling mirror in front of the big bear’s nose. “Well?”
The bear stared at the mirror for a long time. “All right,” he said finally. “Prove it.”
“I will,” Demetra said. “On one condition.”
The bear squinted one eye closed. “What?”
“That you let us go.”
The big bear considered this for a moment. “I’ll let this fox and those goblins go,” he replied. “But you, Princess, must stay.”
Princess Demetra looked quickly at Finley, who was gasping for air under the bear’s paw.
If she agreed, she might never see her friends and family again. But if she didn’t, the bear would destroy Finley.
“All right,” Demetra said with a gulp. “I’ll stay.”
The big bear lifted Elsinor and the goblins through the hole in the cave ceiling. Then he turned to Finley.
“You’re next,” the big bear growled, reaching for the small white fox.
But Finley shook his head.
“If Princess Demetra stays, then I stay,” he said boldly.
“Finley,” Demetra said between clenched teeth. “This is no time to be stubborn. Leave this cave and run for help.”
“Elsinor can do that,” Finley whispered back. “My place is with you, my friend. Whatever happens to you, happens to me.”
Demetra’s eyes filled with tears. “Oh, Finley, that’s really very sweet.”
Finley shrugged. “It’s the least I can do for calling you a pigheaded princess.”
“But I was pigheaded,” Demetra confessed.
Finley twisted his fluffy white tail in his paws. “Well … maybe just a little.”
“Ahem!” The big bear cleared his throat. “Aren’t you two forgetting something?”
“Sorry?” Demetra blinked her large brown eyes.
“The Magic Mirror,” the big bear growled impatiently. “You were going to show me Lord Bleak.”
“No,” the princess corrected. “I was going to show you King Regal and Queen Gemma. They’re the rulers of the Jewel Kingdom.”
The bear slammed one huge paw onto the ground, spraying bits of broken crystal everywhere. “I want to see Lord Bleak!”
Demetra had never seen Lord Bleak, but she had heard that he was awful to look at.
“I don’t know if I can stand to look at him,” she replied in a tiny voice. “Maybe you should use the mirror.”
She offered the glittering mirror to the big bear.
He reached for it, then quickly withdrew his paw. “What is this,” he snarled, “some kind of trick? I’m not touching that mirror.”
“You can touch it,” Demetra assured the big bear. “It won’t hurt you.”
To prove it, Finley reached for the shimmering glass. “See? It’s easy.” He raised the mirror in the air and explained, “You simply say, Magic Mirror, so shiny bright, then wish for something you’d like to see.”
“That’s right.” Demetra nodded.
With the mirror still in the air, Finley said, “I’ll tell you what I’d like to see. I’d like to see the Winterfest Parade. With all our friends from the White Wonderland. If I could just have one last glimpse of them, I’d be happy.”
Suddenly, the diamonds on the handle began to sparkle, and the mirrored glass turned into a silver reflecting pool.
“Finley!” Demetra gasped. “What have you done? That was the third wish. There are no more.”
Finley slowly turned to face the big bear. He held out the Magic Mirror and murmured, “Oops.”
The big bear was about to smash the Magic Mirror against a rock when something he saw stopped him.
“That looks like my old friend Charger,” he murmured. “But that’s not possible.”
Princess Demetra peered over his paw at the image in the mirror. A white winged horse was leading a parade of people carrying torches and silver banners.
“That is Charger,” Demetra cried. “He’s leading the Winterfest Parade. Oh, look!” she gasped, pointing to the three princesses behind the winged horse. “Those are my cousins Roxanne, Emily, and Sabrina.”
The big bear turned to her in amazement. “Charger is my oldest and dearest friend. Together we tried to stop Lord Bleak. But we couldn’t do it.” The big bear looked back at the image. “We were separated when Bleak took us prisoner. I thought Charger was dead.”
“Charger escaped,” Finley explained. “He fought twenty of Bleak’s terrible Dreadlings to do i
t.” The fox pointed at the horse in the mirror. “You can see his battle scars there, across his chest.”
“So what you say is true,” the big bear cried. “Lord Bleak is banished.”
Demetra nodded vigorously. “He’s far across the Dismal Sea.”
“And the evil Dreadlings?”
“They were packed off with him,” Finley added. “Now everyone in our kingdom is free and happy.”
“Then I can come out,” the big bear said softly.
“And see your friends,” Demetra added. “You’re free now.”
Two huge teardrops formed in the big bear’s eyes. Finley and Demetra managed to leap out of the way as the tears dripped off the tip of his nose and splashed onto the cave floor.
“Oh dear,” Demetra exclaimed. “I hope those aren’t tears of sadness.”
“No, no,” the big bear said, shaking his head. “They are tears of joy. How I’ve dreamed of this day! But I never thought it could happen.”
Finley, who was busy watching the action in the mirror, suddenly said, “I thought the Winterfest Parade was supposed to circle the lake and return to the castle.”
“It is,” Demetra replied.
“They’ve left the lake,” Finley observed. “And now they’re marching up here. Toward Sparkle Mountain.”
“Look at their faces,” Demetra said. “They don’t look happy. They look worried.”
“Look at Charger,” the big bear added. “He’s no longer marching, he’s flying. And one of those purple goblins is on his back.”
“They’re coming to rescue us!” Demetra cried. She looked at Finley and whispered, “We made a promise to stay here with the big bear. We’ve got to stop them.”
“Why stop them?” the big bear declared, rearing up on his hind legs. With his huge paw he punched a bigger hole in the cave’s roof. “Let’s join them.”
“You mean we’re free to go?” Finley asked.
The big bear chuckled. “Of course. We’re all free!”
The Diamond Princess Saves the Day Page 2