by Gary Paulsen
The woman beckoned him with her long, gnarled fingers. Chris didn’t move. Then she gave him a toothless smile.
“It’s her!” Chris whispered.
“What are you talking about?” Jimmy pulled on Chris’s sleeve. “Let’s go.”
“In a minute.” Chris shrugged him off and moved closer to the woman. She was holding something out to him. He hesitated, then stepped up and took it. The small object was round and black with age.
“Uh … thanks,” he said, stepping back. The old woman just nodded and smiled serenely.
“What did she give you?” Jimmy whispered.
Chris handed it to his friend. “I don’t know. It sort of looks like an old subway token.”
Chris turned back to ask the woman why she had given it to him.
She was gone. His eyes scanned the park. She had disappeared.
Jimmy gave the token back to him. “Come on, Chris. I’m gonna be busted if I’m late.”
Chris closed his hand around the token. He walked along beside Jimmy in silence, thinking. What a weird coincidence, if it was a coincidence. The odds of something like this happening were pretty small, impossible in fact.
They were walking over the old tunnels and Jimmy was mumbling something about the city needing to fill them up before somebody got hurt again. He and Chris used to play in them when they were younger, until Jimmy fell through some boards and the fire department had to come get him out.
Chris’s mind wasn’t on the tunnels. He was thinking about the old woman. If he had been paying attention he would have heard the fast footsteps closing in behind them.
“Well, well. If it isn’t Chris and his little dork friend.” Shawn folded his arms and talked while Cliff circled in front of them. “What are you girls doing way out here?”
Chris clenched his fist. “You go on to the store, Jimmy. I’ll be there in a minute.”
“Look, hero.” Cliff grabbed Chris’s arm and twisted it. “The dork can go when we say he can.”
“Did you hear that, Cliff?” Shawn sneered. “Little Jimmy is on the way to the store. How much money do you think his mommy gave him?”
Chris tried to squirm out of Cliff’s grip, but it was too tight.
Jimmy was small, but he wasn’t a coward. He bent over and charged at Cliff like a bull.
Shawn stuck out his leg and tripped the younger boy. Jimmy slid facefirst into the black dirt.
“Cut it out, Shawn.” Chris’s dark eyes flashed. “We’ll give you the money. Just leave him alone.”
“Now, that’s more like it.” Shawn smiled coldly. “Where is it?”
“It’s in my shoe. Tell this big ape to let go of me and I’ll get it for you.”
Shawn nodded at Cliff and he let go of Chris’s arm. Chris reached down as if he were going to untie his shoe. Instead he scooped up a handful of dirt and threw it in Shawn’s face.
“Run, Jimmy!”
Shawn wiped at his eyes and snarled, “Get them!”
Chris darted down some concrete steps that used to lead to the subway and jumped over a chain into the closest tunnel entrance, with Jimmy right on his heels. It was dark, and the farther they ran the darker it became, but they kept running.
Behind them they heard the two bullies yelling. “Which way did they go, Cliff? I’m gonna kill that kid this time.”
“They’re getting closer,” Jimmy wailed between breaths.
“Keep running.” Chris charged through the blackness without a clue where he was headed. Then—wham! It felt as if he had hit a wall.
The feeling lasted only a second. A brilliant white light flooded the tunnel. Chris knew his feet were still moving—but it felt as if he were floating.
And then he lost consciousness.
CHAPTER 5
Chris sat up and slowly opened his eyes. The sky was a brilliant blue, and the trees and bushes around him looked greener than any he had ever seen. He felt strange, out of place. His mind whirled. Where was he? The last thing he could remember was the white light.
He heard a low groan and looked behind him. Jimmy was stretched out near a solid rock wall. Shawn Stiles was on the ground beside him. They were both just waking up.
Jimmy propped himself up on his elbows and squinted at Chris. “Why are you dressed like that?”
Chris looked down at himself. He was wearing a ragged brown sacklike shirt that barely came to his knees, with a rope for a belt, and brown shoes with pointed toes. “I … I don’t know.” He fingered the odd cloth in amazement.
Shawn moaned and held his head. “Did a train hit us? Are we dead?” He looked at Chris and snickered. “Who are you supposed to be? Peter Pan?”
“I’ve got a real bad feeling about this, Chris.” Jimmy was on his feet now, looking at the countryside. “Where have we seen cone-shaped trees like this before?”
Chris’s eyes were wide and his voice was shaky. “In the video game.”
“What are you two nerds talking about?” Shawn gazed around. “Where are we?”
Chris ignored him. “It was the token, Jimmy. Remember, in the game at home I was looking for a way out of the cave and the old woman under the tree gave me something to help me?”
Jimmy nodded. “That woman in the park gave you the token and we blasted through the end of the subway tunnel—right into the game. You’re the boy in The Seventh Crystal.”
Shawn staggered to his feet. “If one of you dweebs don’t tell me what’s going on real soon I’m gonna—”
“You’re gonna what?” Chris asked. “Your pet gorilla, Cliff, isn’t here to do your dirty work for you. He’s probably still in the tunnel trying to figure out where you went. Come on Jimmy, let’s go. There’s got to be a way out of this place.”
Jimmy took a step and paused. “Chris, this is scary. We might have a better chance of getting out of here if we all worked together.”
Chris rolled his eyes. “We’re in some deep stuff here, Jimmy. The last thing we need is dead weight.”
“Who are you calling—” Shawn stopped because of the noise. The others heard it too. It was a loud buzzing sound.
From out of nowhere a ball of fire hit the ground near Chris’s feet. He leaped to the side and glanced up. The sky was filled with scorpionlike creatures spitting flames. Fireballs were landing all around them.
“Run for it!” Chris yelled. He dodged some sparks, bolted for the cover of the woods, and dived into the underbrush.
The scorpion creatures chased them as far as the first row of trees and stopped. They hovered for a few seconds, dropped several more fireballs, then flew away.
When the buzzing noise had died, Chris raised his head and whispered, “Jimmy? Are you all right?”
The brush beside him rustled, and Jimmy crawled out. “I’m okay. But boy, that was close.”
Shawn crawled toward them. “What were those things?”
Chris stepped out of the brush and sat down next to Jimmy. He studied Shawn. “I probably shouldn’t tell you anything, but Jimmy might have a point. We may need you.”
“For what? Where are we?”
“This is going to sound crazy, but somehow we’ve been transported to the inside of a computer game. I know it’s hard to believe. I’m not really sure I believe it myself.”
Shawn gave a hollow laugh. “That’s a good one.” He stood up. “Okay, I give. You nerds win. Cliff and I won’t bother you anymore, just tell me what’s really going on. I’ve got stuff to do.”
Chris continued. “It’s called The Seventh Crystal. Someone sent the game to my house a couple of days ago. I don’t know much about it. I barely got started on it. All I know is, if we want to get home, we have to find the way out.”
Shawn raised his eyebrows at Jimmy. “He’s kidding, right?”
Jimmy shook his head.
“Well, I’m not falling for your stupid joke.” Shawn headed for the path. “I’m going home right now.”
When he stepped out of the woods the buzzing sound sta
rted again.
“Get back here, stupid!” Chris shouted. “Those fireballs are real.”
Shawn swallowed. He stayed at the edge of the woods until he saw the first flying scorpion. Then he ran for cover.
Once again the scorpions hovered near the first row of trees and then, after a few seconds, flew away.
When the noise stopped, Shawn crawled to the spot where Jimmy and Chris were waiting. “Okay. I’ll go along with this stupid theory for now. But the first chance I get to leave, I’m outta here.”
CHAPTER 6
“Okay, let’s think about this logically.” Chris was talking more to himself than to anyone else. He pushed some branches aside. “If this is a game, then everything that happens is already planned. The flamethrowers can’t get any closer than the first row of trees, so if we stay to the side of the path we’ll be fine.”
Shawn elbowed Jimmy. “Does he always talk to himself?”
“Sometimes. Chris is a computer game wizard. If anybody can get us out of this, he can.”
Chris made his way through the trees, trying to keep the path in sight and still stay far enough away from the flying scorpions. They walked for what seemed like hours, until Jimmy noticed something.
“Uh, Chris. I don’t know for sure, but isn’t that the same rock wall we started from?” Jimmy pointed through the trees.
Chris sighed. “I was afraid of that. We’ve been going around in circles. It happened in the game at home until I stumbled on a magic compass. Looks like we’re going nowhere without it.”
Shawn turned on Jimmy. “I thought you said he was a genius or something. He can’t even get us away from where we started.”
Jimmy frowned and put his hands in his pockets. When he did, his fingers touched the thing Chris had tripped over in the park. His face lit up. “Did you say you stumbled on the compass?”
“Yeah.” Chris nodded. “The kid in the game sort of tripped on it.”
Jimmy handed the strange object to Chris. “Did it look like this?”
Chris’s mouth fell open. “Where did you …”
“In the park.” Jimmy smiled. “Remember, you tripped on something right before you saw the old woman?”
“All right!” Chris took the oddly shaped silver compass and wiped the dirt off it. A long metal arrow moved grudgingly, then stopped. Chris held the compass out and began walking in the direction the arrow pointed. “Now we’re getting somewhere.”
The compass took them up a steep hill and across the path twice. Flamethrowers appeared both times, but the boys were too fast for them.
From the top of the hill they could see a beautiful green valley below. And nestled at the far northern end was a small village.
As they neared the little town, Chris noticed that the people there didn’t seem to be troubled by the scorpions. They were walking around normally, as if the scorpions didn’t exist. He decided to see if the scorpions were still a problem and stepped out of the trees and onto the path.
Nothing happened. Chris motioned for the other two boys to come out of hiding. “We must finally be out of the flamethrowers’ territory.”
“Good.” Shawn brushed a leaf and a few twigs out of his hair. “Maybe we can go into that dumpy town and make a couple of phone calls. Somebody’s bound to be able to come pick us up.”
Jimmy tapped Chris on the back. “Somehow I don’t think he gets it yet.”
“Listen, Shawn, you’d better let me do the talking down there,” Chris said. “We don’t know if this town is friendly or not.”
“Who cares?” Shawn sneered at him. “I told you, Chris, the first chance I get, I’m outta here.” He strode down the path. “I’m leaving. You geeks are on your own.”
CHAPTER 7
Shawn trotted down the hill ahead of Chris and Jimmy. They watched as he stopped near a wooden cart full of various types of fruit and spoke to an elderly man who tended it. “Hey, old-timer. Where’s the phone in this town?”
The man stared at him, wiped his hands on his long leather apron, and without a word pushed his cart down the road.
“I told you to let me do the talking,” Chris said smugly as they caught up with Shawn. “These people wouldn’t trust you. Look at the way you’re dressed.”
“What’s wrong with the way I’m dressed?” Shawn inspected his clothes. His T-shirt had a skull and crossbones on the front with the name of a heavy-metal rock group across the bottom.
“The people here might be superstitious. So just let me handle it.”
Chris spotted a young woman with long golden-blond hair who was about to go inside one of the thatch-roofed wooden houses. He hurried up the street. “Excuse me, miss. Could I talk to you a minute?”
The girl shifted the basket she was holding to her other arm and waited for him to continue.
“I, that is we, are in sort of a weird situation here and we were wondering if you might be able to help us.”
“Yes?”
“We’re looking for information about the Seventh Crystal.”
The girl gasped, rushed inside the small cottage, and slammed the door.
“Real smooth, Chris,” Shawn laughed. “You definitely know how to get through to these people.”
Thundering hoofbeats suddenly echoed in the distance. Soon several riders on large black horses emerged, charging through the village, scattering people as they went. A woman screamed, and people started running. Mothers scooped up their small children and hurried indoors.
“Quickly,” a voice behind them whispered. “Come inside before it’s too late.” The golden-haired girl who had been carrying the basket had opened the thick wooden door of her cottage and was standing in the shadows, urging them to come in.
The three boys ducked inside the dark cottage, and she shut the door behind them. From the window they could see the village square. Five massive horses were pawing the ground, steam bursting from their nostrils.
The riders of the beasts were at least twice the size of normal men. They wore shiny black armor with headpieces resembling dragons and other hideous monsters.
Two of the knights quickly climbed down from their mounts and dragged the old man who had been selling fruit into the middle of the street. They threw him to the ground in front of the horse of the largest knight.
The one who appeared to be the leader stepped off his horse and bellowed, “Tell us if you’ve seen the warrior!”
The old man was shaking so hard that he couldn’t speak. He kissed the boots of the leader as if begging for mercy. In a flash the giant knight drew a strange, glowing green sword and lopped off the fruit seller’s head.
The severed head flew up in the air, spewing blood as it went. When it finally landed, the leader kicked it down the dusty street like a child kicking a ball.
Then he turned, held his sword out, and roared. “Let this be a lesson to all of you. Mogg demands loyalty. If the warrior comes to this town, turn him away—or die.”
CHAPTER 8
“It is well that you have seen the vile acts of the knights of Mogg.”
Chris jumped at the sound of the raspy voice. An old man with a long, flowing white beard was sitting in the shadows at a carved wooden table. He wore a blue robe over his tunic and held a tall staff in his right hand.
The man rose and hobbled across the sparsely furnished room to a rug near the hearth. He flicked it aside with his staff, revealing a trapdoor. He fixed his ancient eyes on Chris. “Come, warrior.”
Chris looked at the girl. “Does he mean me?”
She nodded. “My grandfather, Wizard of Gothan and Keeper of the Stars, believes you are the chosen one. I told him you inquired about the Seventh Crystal.”
The old man stroked his long beard and thoughtfully studied Jimmy and Shawn. “Are your servants trustworthy, warrior?”
“Servants?” Shawn made a face and started to explain.
Chris cut him off. “My servants can be trusted. Will you show us the way to the Seventh Crystal?”
“Granddaughter,” the wizard ordered, “the warrior’s servants will stay with you for a time. Give them food, and be careful to let no one see them. The eyes of Mogg are in this town.”
He lifted the trapdoor and disappeared down the stone steps.
Jimmy looked worried. “How do you know you can trust this guy, Chris?”
“I don’t. But the way I see it, we’re a little short of choices right now.” Chris stepped down into the opening. The girl shut the trapdoor and covered it with the rug.
At first Chris couldn’t see a thing. He had to feel his way down the steps. At the bottom, the narrow opening became larger, and along the rock walls in front of him hung several lit torches.
Chris saw the hem of the blue robe turn right a few yards ahead of him. He moved faster, trying to catch up. The rock walls gave way to dirt, and the passage smelled musty and damp. He made another right turn and stopped.
The old man was waiting for him in a small candlelit room. There were tables on which containers stood, filled with colored liquids that dripped through coils into smaller containers. It reminded Chris of Mr. Higgins’s science lab back at school.
A strange book lay open on a pedestal in the center of the room. Chris went to it but couldn’t read any of the words. It was written in a language he had never seen.
“So you’ve come looking for the Seventh Crystal?” The old wizard sat on a stool near a battered chest. “What abilities do you possess? Do you fight well? Are you a magician?”
Chris scratched his head. “I’m not sure I have any abilities.”
“Ahhh, humility. This is good.” The wizard opened the lid of the tattered chest and lifted something out.
“This is for you, warrior.” He handed Chris a long glowing green sword like the one the black knight had used to behead the fruit seller. “It is ten times greater than that of the knights of Mogg. It is the only weapon that will defeat the dragon.”