Inside the Magic

by Debbie Dadey

  The kids walked for a long time without saying a word, lost in their own thoughts. Vines snagged their shirts and branches scratched at their arms. Bugs swarmed around their faces. The sun was starting to dip in the sky when Natalie couldn’t take it anymore. “My feet are killing me,” she complained. “I have to rest.”

  Penny nodded and pulled a canteen out of her backpack. “I need a drink.”

  Natalie was beside her in an instant. “Can I have some of that? Got anything to eat in that backpack? I’m hungry.”

  “Didn’t you bring something to drink and eat?” Penny asked.

  Natalie shook her head. It was still stringy with goblin goo. “No, but if you want to listen to some music, I’ve got you covered.” Natalie dumped two MP3 players, a handheld video game, mini speakers, and a brand new cell phone out of her backpack.

  “Why in the world did you bring that stuff?” Luke asked.

  Natalie rolled her eyes. “To keep from getting bored, of course,” she said.

  Penny handed her canteen to Natalie. “You should’ve worried about getting hungry instead. Do you want some cheese crackers?” Penny asked Luke.

  Splash! Natalie dumped the entire contents of the canteen on her head.

  “Stop!” Penny screamed. “We need that water to drink.”

  “I had to wash my hair,” Natalie argued. “Don’t worry, we can get some more. I’m sure there’s a water fountain somewhere.”

  Luke would have laughed if he hadn’t been so mad. “Are you crazy? We’re in the middle of a magical wilderness. There are no water fountains!”

  “Oops,” Natalie said, water dripping off her hair.

  Luke held up his water bottle. It was still mostly full. “Well, at least we have this bottle.”

  Plop! Luke’s water bottle fell to the ground as a big hand scooped him up. “Spies,” growled a huge, hideously ugly creature. “Evil goblin spies.”

  “Troll! Troll!” Dracula screamed.

  Kirin instinctively stepped in front of Penny.

  The troll was half as tall as a tree and his skin was as rough as bark. He looked so much like a tree that the kids hadn’t noticed him standing there.

  “Put me down,” Luke said in the toughest-sounding voice he could muster. Of course, that was difficult since the troll was squeezing him a little too tightly for comfort.

  “Down! Down!” Dracula yelled. “Or I’ll huff and puff!”

  Penny raced around Kirin and kicked the troll’s big toe.

  “Urrrrgh!” groaned the troll. He reached down to rub his toe, then snatched Penny and brought her up to his giant nose and gave a sniff. Penny saw the inside of the troll’s nose and ducked to avoid a big booger.

  “No smell like goblins,” the troll said.

  The troll licked Luke’s cheek. “No taste like goblins.”

  Luke almost fainted from the bad breath.

  “All right,” Natalie screamed up at the troll. “I’ve had just about enough of this stupid magic land.”

  “Oh, dear,” Buttercup said from Natalie’s shoulder. The rat chewed on the end of Natalie’s hair. “This is not the time to make him mad. Trolls live under the rule of the Boggart Queen.”

  Buttercup thought she was squeaking just loud enough for Natalie to hear, but the troll bent down.

  “Not me!” he growled. “Not Louis! Louis not like Queen. Not like Goblin Land. Me stay alone on this side of the river!”

  “You ran away from the Queen?” Kirin asked.

  The troll sniffed. Giant tears pooled in his eyes. “Louis likes picking flowers. Not boogers. Other trolls laugh. Mean trolls. Who needs them?”

  Penny patted the troll on his hand. “No one likes to be laughed at.”

  “We come in peace,” Natalie added. “We’re looking for Mr. Leery.”

  “Leery?” the giant said in a suddenly gentle voice. “Leery good. Bring me strawberries.”

  “I like strawberries, too,” Penny said. “When did you last see Mr. Leery?”

  Luke gasped as his hair was blown back by the troll’s horrible breath. “Leery gone,” growled Louis. “Hobbly-goblins stole nice Leery. Hobbly-goblins took nice Leery to mean old Queen.”

  “You saw Mr. Leery?” Natalie yelled from beside the troll’s kneecap. “Can you tell us where they took him?”

  The troll nodded. “Across river.”

  “Will you lead us there?” Natalie asked.

  Louis shook his head and put Penny and Luke on the ground. Immediately Kirin and Dracula squeezed close. “No can help,” said the troll.

  “But, I have strawberries,” Penny said, quickly pulling a plastic bag filled with the red ripe fruit out of her backpack.

  The troll smacked his lips. “Louis like strawberries.”

  Penny put the bag into the troll’s huge hand. In an instant, Louis ate the strawberries, bag and all. He patted his tummy and closed his eyes. “Yum.”

  “Now, you have to help us find Mr. Leery,” Penny said.

  “Can’t,” said the troll, not even bothering to open his eyes.

  “But we gave you our food,” Penny said. “That means you owe us a favor.”

  Louis’ eyes snapped open and he sighed. “Follow Louis.” The ground shook with every step he took. Penny, Luke, Natalie, and their links raced after him.

  The troll didn’t stop until he came to a strip of land between a peaceful dark lake and a wide, roaring river. A wooden draw-bridge stood suspended in the air, half on each side of the river. “Can’t help,” Louis said again. “Hobbly-goblins break bridge.”

  “But we have to get across to save Mr. Leery,” Luke said.

  “Can’t,” Louis said again. “Bridge broke.”

  “Then all this has been for nothing,” Natalie moaned. “The goblin goo. All the walking. Almost getting killed. My designer clothes ruined. All for nothing.”

  “Wait!” Buttercup said. “How do you make the bridge go down?”

  Louis pointed to a lever. “Push. Go down. Mean hobbly-goblins smash. Don’t work now.”

  “But if there’s a lever here, wouldn’t there also be a lever on the other side?” Luke asked.

  Everyone looked across to the other half of the bridge. Sure enough, there was a lever.

  “They didn’t break that one,” Penny said.

  “No,” Luke told her. “They would want to make sure they could lower the bridge from their side in case they want to come back over the river.”

  “Well, just swim over there and push it,” Natalie said impatiently. “We’re in a hurry.”

  “No swim.” Louis pointed to the water. For the first time the kids noticed huge black snakes swirling in the river. Occasionally one jumped up out of the water and snapped at the air.

  “Oh, that’s just gross,” Natalie said. “What is wrong with this place? Don’t they have 1-800-Kll-Pest?”

  Dracula hopped up and down. “I go. I go.”

  “That’s a great idea,” Penny said. “You can fly over there. All you have to do is land on the lever. That should be enough to lower the bridge.”

  “Be careful,” Luke said. “Those snakes are jumping awfully high.”

  “Careful. Careful,” Dracula repeated. Then with a big hop, he soared into the air. He flew high over the snapping snakes. Unfortunately, it wasn’t high enough.

  “Look out!” Luke shouted as an enormous night-colored serpent reared out of the water and clamped his fangs on Dracula’s left wing.

  The kids watched in horror as Dracula struggled to get away. “It’s going to pull him under the water!” Penny shouted.

  “Nooooooo!” Luke yelled, grabbing some rocks off the ground and chucking them at the huge snake. Most of the rocks fell into the water, but one caught the serpent right on his head. It let go of Dracula just long enough for him to flop onto a big boulder on the other side of the river. He lay there, very still.

  “He’s trapped over there, he’s hurt, and we can’t get to him,” Penny said.

  “Oh
, yes we can,” Luke said. He grabbed five fist-sized rocks. Whiz. The first one tapped the lever, but the bridge didn’t budge.

  “You’ve got to hit it harder,” Natalie told him.

  Luke bit his lip and threw the next rock with all his might.

  Wham! The rock hit the lever and with a loud groan the bridge began to lower. “Now you can lead the way,” Natalie told the troll.

  The troll shook his head. “Never cross river. Louis stay here. Pick flowers. Not boogers.”

  “But we don’t know the way to where the Queen lives, and you do,” Natalie said.

  The troll scratched his chin. Then he reached inside his dirty bark coat and pulled out a dirt-encrusted, rolled-up parchment. “Mother gave me. You take,” Louis said.

  Natalie squealed and held her nose, but Penny gratefully took the paper. “Is it a map of the Shadow Realm?” Kirin asked, looking over Penny’s shoulder.

  Louis nodded. “One true map.”

  Natalie rolled her eyes. “You have to be kidding. I bet there are tons of maps all over the place.”

  Louis sighed, “Beware other maps. Queen tricks. Directions bad.” Louis used a dirty fingernail to gently tap the paper in Penny’s hands. “One TRUE map.”

  “Thanks, Louis,” Penny said. “We owe you our lives.”

  Luke nodded, but as soon as the bridge was almost all the way down, he raced across to check on Dracula.

  “Can you help Dracula?” Penny asked Kirin.

  “Of course I’ll help the little turkberry-breath,” Kirin said.

  They hurried over the bridge, leaving Louis behind.

  “I’m here, Dracula!” Luke shouted. He fell to his knees beside the fallen dragon. “I’m here. Wake up! Please.”

  Kirin looked cross-eyed at her charred horn. “I just hope it still works.” Then she gently touched her horn to Dracula’s chest.

  Luke cradled Dracula’s head. Penny held her breath. Natalie crossed her fingers. Buttercup chewed a hole in Natalie’s pocket.

  But Dracula didn’t move.

  6

  Tears welled in Penny’s eyes and even Natalie had to wipe her cheeks. Buttercup gnawed on Natalie’s shoestrings and looked away from Dracula’s crumpled body.

  “Your horn has lost its magic,” Luke cried. “Poor, poor Dracula.”

  “No, it’s working. Look,” Kirin cried. “It just needed time.”

  Luke thought he saw Dracula’s wings move. Then his link’s eyes fluttered open. “Oh Dracula,” Luke said, holding the dragon’s head in his lap. “You’re going to be okay.”

  Dracula staggered up from the ground with Luke’s help. “Turkberries. Need turkberries,” Dracula said.

  Luke laughed through his tears. “No. No turkberries.” Although truthfully, he would have given Dracula a whole boatful of turkberries, if he’d had them.

  “You did it!” Penny hugged her link.

  Kirin smiled. “Of course. I am a unicorn, after all.”

  “Well that’s just great,” Natalie said. “But we still don’t know where we’re going. So we’re not any better off than before.”

  “Maybe we are,” Penny said. She carefully unrolled the very old, very dirty piece of parchment that Louis had given her.

  Luke leaned over her shoulder. “We can use Louis’ map to guide us.”

  Natalie watched as Buttercup traced a claw along the river through an area called the Goblin Lands. “That’s where the Queen lives. I’m sure it’s where we’ll find Leery.”

  Natalie groaned. “It looks like a long way.”

  Luke nodded. “We’d better get started.”

  Penny waved at Louis and shouted across the river, “Thanks, Louis!”

  “Shhh,” Luke told her. “We are in Goblin Land. We might want to keep quiet.”

  “Good advice,” Kirin said, looking over her shoulder. “We should move quickly and quietly.”

  Penny led the way, consulting her map as she went. For a while, they scrambled over large boulders, but those quickly changed to massive trees, creating a dark tunnel for them to walk through. The longer they walked, the colder it became. Wind rattled branches and leaves whipped across the trail.

  “This is totally creepy,” Natalie said.

  “Shhh,” Luke said. “Do you want more goblin goo on your head?”

  Natalie’s hands flew to her hair and the three kids looked up in the treetops, but all they saw were branches shivering in the wind.

  Natalie was quiet for a long time, until she whispered, “Look, aren’t they pretty?”

  Hundreds of tiny creatures encircled them. Their bodies glowed a soft green, and their wings made a tinkling sound. “Are they fireflies?” Luke asked.

  “I think they’re fairies,” Penny said. The music of the fairies’ wings filled the air. The kids swayed with the music and as the fairies moved, the kids followed them. Buttercup frantically pulled on Natalie’s hand. “Mustn’t go with them.”

  “Don’t be silly,” Natalie said. “They are so adorable. I want to catch one and keep it in a birdcage in my room.”

  Dracula knocked his head into Luke’s butt. “Bad. Bad.”

  But Luke just patted his dragon, never looking away from the fairies that hovered in front of his face. “Don’t worry. Everything’s fine.”

  Kirin touched Penny with her horn. The horn’s power was just enough to shake Penny away from the fairies’ mesmerizing power. She saw the little creatures for what they really were, vicious fairies with fangs. “Pixies!” screeched Penny.

  The pixies swarmed around Penny and snatched the map away. Before Kirin or Penny could react, the little creatures shredded the ancient parchment into dust. Then the pixies turned on the kids, snarling to show their fangs.

  “You won’t get us!” screamed Penny, throwing open her backpack and pulling out a bag of vinegar potato chips.

  “This is no time for a snack,” Natalie said, gasping as she used her backpack to knock away the dive-bombing pixies.

  Penny smashed the bag between her hands and threw crumbs at the pixies. Whenever a crumb hit one, it disappeared in a tiny poof of black salt.

  “Help me,” Penny told Luke. The two of them tossed crumbs into the air.

  Whack! A pixie disappeared.

  Whack! Another one gone.

  In only moments, the pixies had disappeared.

  “We got them,” Luke said in satisfaction.

  “Not all of them,” Natalie said, pointing to two glowing creatures disappearing through the woods.

  “Me get!” Dracula said, flapping off into the dark woods.

  “Dracula, come back here,” Luke yelled. “I don’t want anything to happen to you.” He’d almost lost Dracula once; Luke couldn’t stand to let it happen again.

  “What were those?” Luke asked as Dracula landed safely beside him.

  “Pixies,” Penny explained, “and one way to battle them is with salt. Luckily I had those chips in case we met with Snuffles.” Snuffles was the giant spider that had woven an invisibility web for their links, and she just happened to love vinegar potato chips.

  Natalie looked at Penny. “How in the world did you know about salt?”

  Penny shrugged. “It was in one of Mr. Leery’s books.”

  “Let’s not stand around chatting,” Kirin interrupted. “I’m sure those pixies were spies for the Queen.”

  “There’s just one problem,” Luke said.

  “Just one?” Natalie snapped. “Seems to me like there’s a bunch of problems, starting with being attacked by insane fairies in the middle of nowhere.”

  “With no food or water,” Penny muttered.

  “The worst part is that we’re in goblin territory without a map,” Buttercup pointed out.

  “What are we going to do?” Penny asked.

  Before the kids could figure out their next step, a low rumbling sound came from deep in the woods. “Now what?” Luke whispered.

  7

  “What is that noise?” Penny asked. She
rubbed at the goose bumps popping out on her arms.

  Ever since they had crossed the Snake River the temperature had been dropping. A cold wind rattled the branches overhead, snapping brown leaves off limbs. “It’s probably just the wind. No wonder the trees are all dying,” Natalie said. “It’s too cold.”

  Buttercup clung to the top of Natalie’s sneakers. “That is no natural wind,” Buttercup said. “Can’t you feel how the air itself is almost solid? It can mean only one thing. It’s a precursor.”

  “A what?” Luke asked.

  Buttercup pulled at her whis kers so hard one of them bent. “A warning of something bad to come. The air itself is fleeing from what follows it.”

  “Bad,” Dracula said. “Bad. Bad.”

  “How bad can it be?” Natalie asked.

  Another rumble punctuated her words. It was deep and raspy, like a car with no wheels being dragged across a highway. “Whatever that is, it’s getting closer,” Penny said.

  “Something sounds familiar,” Kirin said, trying to remember. Her skin twitched as if a thousand flies were doing the jitterbug on her back, and Dracula hiccupped.

  Penny stopped suddenly. “We should go back. Maybe Louis will help us.”

  “Good idea,” Luke said, but the kids didn’t have a chance to take three steps. Something big crash-landed right in front of them and tumbled across the clearing in a blur of hooves and tail and horn.

  Penny and Luke jumped back. Natalie hid behind them. Dracula hiccupped. Kirin was the only one who wasn’t scared.

  “Flash!” she cried.

  A bronze unicorn splayed across the clearing, his sides heaving as he struggled to gulp air. He scrambled up to greet Kirin. When their horns met a silver halo glowed.

  “Flash is my uncle,” Kirin explained to the others. “And the fastest unicorn of our herd.”

  Flash didn’t dispute her. “Where are the elves, niece?” he asked. “Bridger assured us they would accompany you.”

  “They’re stuck,” Dracula said. “Stuck! Stuck!”

  “In a rooting trap,” Kirin added.

  Flash tossed his head and snorted. “The Queen’s work, no doubt.”