by Lee Bacon
As the biggest—and the only one standing upright—the massive amphibian looks to be the leader of the group. The other frogs turn to watch it. And then, one by one, they mimic their leader’s actions. They rise to their feet.
Big Guy flaps his webbed hands and the chorus of croaks comes to a stop. The park goes eerily quiet. Opening his mouth, Big Guy speaks in a deep, revolting voice. And this time, he has something very different to say.
“We are frogs and this is our forest.” His wet eyes slowly move from me to Fred. “You are invaders and you must be punished.”
The frog beside him is the next to speak up.
“Invaders must be punished!” it says. “Invaders must be punished!”
A few more frogs join in. Their croaking voices combine into a chant.
“Invaders must be punished! Invaders must be punished!”
Soon, the entire crowd of frogs is reciting the same lines—
“Invaders must be punished! Invaders must be punished!”
Even though a big part of me finds this whole situation totally freaky, there’s also something funny about it. Are we really getting threatened by…a bunch of frogs?
I can’t help chuckling. But Prince Fred doesn’t see the humor in it.
“This isn’t something to jest about,” he warns. “These creatures may be small, but they vastly outnumber us.”
“You can’t be serious.” I cast a lopsided grin at the chanting amphibian mob. “If we could handle ogres and a killer unicorn, I think we can deal with a few slimy little fr—ouch!”
One of the frogs just grabbed a pointed rock and launched it with surprising force. The rock smacked me right beneath the eye.
Maybe it’s not so funny after all. Especially now that another rock just sailed through the air and collided with my forehead.
More of the frogs are getting in on the act now. Grabbing whatever they can find—twigs, pebbles, clumps of dirt—and throwing them at us. The mob surrounds us on all sides, inching closer and closer.
I shriek when a sharp stick hits my arm like a mini-spear. “We have to get out of here!”
But when I try to step over the frogs, they grab hold of my pant legs. A few begin scaling the inside of my pants.
“Aaaugh!” I scream, swatting them away. “Yuck! Gross!”
“Curse these tiny devils!” A bunch more frogs are treating Fred’s leg like it’s their own personal climbing wall. “I command you to cease this assault!”
“We do not take orders from humans!” croaks the leader frog. “This is our forest! All invaders must be punished!”
I kick my leg and send a few frogs flying. “We’re not invading anything!”
But the frogs aren’t listening. They crowd the path, violently hurling rocks and sticks at us. Their croaks sound like battle cries. Their slimy hands reach for us from every direction.
I spot a tree branch hanging over the path above me. Jumping, I’m able to grasp the branch and snap it off. I swing the branch, its bushy leaves sweeping the frogs aside like a broom. This clears a path through the frog army. Fred follows close behind. Smacking a few more frogs out of the way, I hurry down the path. The frogs hop after us with surprising speed.
“Over here!” I point to my left, where the path forks and leads to an opening with a playground.
We stumble over a stretch of grass and onto the playground. The sound of chanting frog voices fades behind us. When I turn around, I realize why. The frogs stopped chasing us. They’re lined up at the edge of the path, watching. One of them accidentally stumbles onto the playground, but instantly scrambles back to the path.
“This day just keeps getting weirder.” I hunch forward, catching my breath. “At least those little jerks aren’t following us anymore.”
“But why?” Fred casts a suspicious look back the way we came. Fifty frogs are lined up at the edge of the playground. “Why would they just suddenly…stop?”
“Who cares? As long as they’re not in my pants, I’m not complaining.”
The prince’s forehead wrinkles. “Do the frogs look nervous to you? Afraid?”
“They look slimy.” I shudder at the memory of their nasty little webbed hands. “Now, will you stop psychoanalyzing frogs. We’ve got bigger things to worry about. Like the evil magic pollution cloud that’s turning this entire town crazy.”
“Perhaps you’re right.” Fred shifts his attention away from the frogs. “But what can we do?”
I shrug. We’re just kids. We can’t possibly take on the Sorceress and her evil army. We’re better off marching straight to the police station and letting them take over from here.
But what are we supposed to say? Excuse me, but an evil witch from another world is taking over. She’s transforming Legendtopia into her own personal fortress and turning frogs into violent little jerks.
Yeah, I’m sure that’ll go over real well.
Besides, the Sorceress would just brainwash anyone who tries to confront her. Just like she did with the firefighters.
I stare at the padded playground floor, frustration piling up inside me. A mountain of reasons why our mission is hopeless. And yet…
And yet we can’t just sit back and let some evil witch take over our town, our country, our world. We have to fight back—now—while we still stand a tiny little chance.
For about half a second, I’m feeling all gung-ho and ready for battle.
That all vanishes with a wrenching metallic groan. I spin around, and instantly realize—Fred was right earlier. There was a reason why the frogs stopped chasing us. They must’ve known the danger we were stumbling into. And now that danger is becoming real.
The playground is coming to life.
Until today, I didn’t know what a “play-ground” was. And now one is trying to kill us.
The support beams rip loose from the padded ground, tearing out chunks of gravel. The play-ground transforms into an enormous lumbering monster.
It stomps toward us on a dozen stiff metal legs. Red and yellow bars gnash together like teeth. The slide flops up and down like a slobbering tongue. A tail of climbing chains rattles behind it. The play-ground is a heartbeat away from landing on top of me with all its weight when Kara screams—
“Get outta there!”
She rams me with her shoulder. The two of us tumble to the padded ground just as a bright red support beam pummels the exact spot where I’d just been standing.
There’s no time to thank Kara. She’s scrambling to her feet. And so am I. We begin running, but instantly stagger to a halt when the play-ground slumps into our path.
The groan of twisting metal and plastic echoes across the clearing. Before I can make another move, the slide stretches forward—an enormous, disgusting red tongue that wraps around my ankle.
“Aggghh!” I kick and squirm, but it’s no use. The slide only tightens around my leg. I look up at Kara. “Get out of here while you still have a chance!”
“I’m not leaving you!” Kara yells. “Just stay calm!”
How in the seven moons am I supposed to “stay calm” when a monster play-ground is about to devour me? The thing slouches forward, its multicolored bars clamping together like the jaws of a hungry predator.
“Grab hold!”
Kara takes my hand and pulls. With my free foot, I kick the slide again and again and again.
“Let!” SMACK! “Go!” WHAP! “Of!” CLONK! “Me!”
The final kick loosens the slide’s hold enough for me to wrench my leg loose. Kara helps me to my feet and we stumble away.
“Watch out for the monkey bars!” Kara screams.
“What are monkey ba—oof!”
A row of horizontal metal bars slams me in the shoulder. I have a feeling they are monkey bars. On my feet again, I stagger forward until we’ve managed to put some distance between ourselves and the monster play-ground. With the sounds of wrenching plastic and metal trailing us, Kara and I race toward the edge of the clearing. We’re nearly there
when a yellow-and-gray blur appears at the edge of my vision.
Beside me, Kara yelps. “Oh, crud! It’s the swing set!”
On ordinary occasions, I imagine the “swing set” might be quite a lot of fun. But at this moment, it looks deadly. It lumbers toward us, a riot of clinking and squeaking and clanking. Chains twist and slither like snakes.
“Come on!” I yell. “We must keep moving!”
“No need to tell me twice!”
We bolt to the edge of the clearing. Past the tree line and onto the path, we don’t slow down until the sounds of the monster play-ground have faded.
Kara leans against a vine-covered tree to catch her breath. “I’m never coming back to this park again.”
“But it’s not just the park,” I remind her. “Soon your entire village will be infected with the Sorceress’s evil enchantment. We must journey to Legendtopia. To the source of the Sorceress’s power.”
“Oh, right. What should we do after that? Knock on the door and ask the evil witch lady if she’ll stop trying to take over the world?”
“I know this is a perilous quest,” I say through gritted teeth. “But it’s our only choice. We have to stop the Sorceress. Before she gets any stronger.”
“This isn’t just about the Sorceress.” Kara fixes me in an unwavering gaze. “It’s also about my dad.”
“Please don’t tell me you’re still planning on going after him.”
“Of course I am.” As she speaks, Kara pulls her necklace out of her pocket. The chain dangles from her fist. Her thumb absently rubs the silver owl. “My dad’s out there. Being held prisoner in your world. I have to find him. I have to bring him back.”
The strange thing is…a part of me actually admires Kara’s bravery. Even if it is likely to get her killed.
“Very well. Then we’ll go together.” I puff out my chest grandly. “A quest to save the kingdom of Urth and rescue your father! It shall be epic!”
Kara rolls her eyes. “I totally get why Marcy has a crush on you.”
I glance away, feeling my cheeks turn red. “This is…er—no time for romance. Besides, I’m not interested in girls with metal teeth. Now let’s keep moving. This forest is full of dangers.”
“It’s not a forest. It’s just a little park.”
Perhaps Kara’s comment was true once. But all that’s changed now. The Sorceress has transformed the park into something else entirely. Something dark and evil.
The park is like an enchanted obstacle course. We approach a stream that I’ve walked past a million times before—except now, the rushing water is blood-red and boiling. Avoiding the lava rapids, Fred stumbles toward a raggedy-looking bush. He falls backward when the bush reaches for him, a humongous claw going for the world’s deadliest high five.
“Watch out!” I yank Fred away from the grasping branches. “This whole park’s trying to kill us!”
“Is that so?” Fred shields his face as the trees began pelting us with acorns. “I’d failed to notice until your astute observation!”
At least the prince is finally starting to figure out sarcasm.
Pevensie Park has become a maze. The path zigzags in strange directions. Tangles of vines block out the sunlight, making it impossible to see more than a few feet in front of me.
Then I catch sight of it. A glimmer. Barely more than a glowing dot. But in the darkness, it’s like a spotlight.
“This way!”
I switch directions, plunging toward the light. Fred staggers to keep up. As we get closer, the glow intensifies. Acorns rain down from above. Birds swoop from low branches. I’m worried they’re planning to fly in our faces, but they have something else in mind. Something much worse.
“Watch out!” I scream. “It’s a poop attack!”
Fred ducks, covering his head. “Ugh! How revolting!”
We manage to escape the birds (and their poop), but we’re not out of the woods yet. Up ahead, a few dozen frogs have emerged from the bushes. And they’re back to their stupid chant.
“Invaders must be punished!”
“Invaders must be punished!”
In their slimy hands, the frogs are holding little spears. They line up in front of us, blocking the path. Their croaking voices overwhelm all other noise.
“Invaders must be punished!”
The frogs raise their spears…
Take aim…
And launch their weapons…
Thirty mini-spears fly in our direction. I guard my face with my hands. It feels like running straight into a storm of toothpicks. But at least I manage to block any of the spears from getting in my eyes or down my throat.
With a huge jump, I clear the battalion of frogs and crash through the thicket. Branches slash at my face and arms. But my momentum carries me through, and I land in the open.
No more dirt path. Now I’m racing across sidewalk. I can hear Fred’s footsteps and his rapid breathing beside me.
After being surrounded by darkness, the sudden flood of sunlight is blinding. But I don’t let that stop me. I keep running, blood pumping with adrenaline, until I’m more than a block from the park.
When we get to a traffic light, we stumble to a stop. I reach into my pocket and grab my phone.
“What are you doing?” Fred asks.
“Calling my mom,” I say. With the supposed earthquake, and the fact that I never actually made it to first period, there’s a good chance the school has called my mom. I need to talk to her. Tell her I’m okay—at least for the time being.
But it’s impossible to make the call. My phone’s acting totally glitchy. The screen flickers. The icons seem to be shrinking. Growing dimmer and dimmer, like pennies disappearing into a pool of water. Until they’re gone. Swallowed by the dark screen.
I swipe my thumb across the screen again, but nothing happens.
“That’s weird,” I say. “My phone’s not working.”
Fred peers at the screen. “How odd. Do you think it has anything to do with—?”
“The Sorceress?” I shove the useless phone back into my pocket. “That’d be my first guess.”
It’s one thing to send fantasy creatures rampaging through town, but mess with people’s phones? That’s taking it too far. The Sorceress needs to be stopped.
At least we won’t need GPS to find our way to Legendtopia. The swirling dark cloud in the sky is like the world’s biggest billboard: EVIL MAGIC THIS WAY!!! The black funnel is enormous, looming over everything. A giant, creepy V that emerges straight from Legendtopia.
Turning away from the toxic-magic pollution cloud, my eyes land on a more welcome sight. A gas station. I lead the prince inside, where he tours the place like it’s a museum. The candy bars and motor oil and magazines. It’s all brand-new to him.
While Fred studies the merchandise, I stock up. Before leaving home this morning, I rummaged through my sock drawer, scrounging together the last of my birthday money. Twenty bucks. That should at least buy us some supplies. I grab bottles of water, bags of nuts, energy bars.
As we approach the counter, I come down with a sudden case of nerves. It’s the middle of the morning on a school day. Our clothes are muddy and torn. Our arms and legs are covered in scratches. Basically, the two of us look like we skipped school to mud-wrestle with a panther.
But the gas station employee doesn’t seem to notice. All his attention is on the TV behind the counter. The screen shows flashes of images. Video footage that looks both very familiar and very strange. A grocery store that’s been completely overtaken by talking squirrels. Crows perched on a power line, cawing rude insults to anyone who walks by. Thorny vines cracking through concrete, climbing up the walls of houses, trapping residents inside.
A reporter’s voice speaks over these videos: “Local authorities are baffled by the bizarre events that have gripped Shady Pines today. No word yet on the cause, though some experts are speculating that—”
The screen begins to flicker. It’s just like what happe
ned with my phone a few minutes ago. The video drops away, replaced by darkness.
“What the…” The employee reaches out and whacks the side of the TV. “Stupid thing’s broken.”
He hits it again. And again. And—
All of a sudden, a new image appears on the screen. A close-up view of a face that I’ve seen before.
My spine turns to ice.
The Sorceress is staring out of the TV.
“Greetings, citizens of Urth.”
The Sorceress speaks in a melodious voice. Her high cheekbones glimmer with a pale light. Her mouth curls into a beguiling smile. And there’s something about her dark eyes. Something that makes me want to lean in closer, to take a better look.
“I have spent the past three years seeking a way into your world,” she says. “And now that I am here, I wish to introduce myself. I am your sole authority. Your ruler. Your queen.”
The Sorceress’s eyes are like dark pools, inviting me to dive deeper and deeper. When I attempt to look away, I…can’t. No matter how hard I try, the magical current is too powerful.
In a musical voice, she repeats herself. “Your sole authority. Your ruler. Your queen.”
I can feel the same words forming on my lips. Then I remember the evil in the Sorceress’s heart. The terrible things she has in store for Urth. I can’t allow myself to be sucked into her hypnotic spell. I clench my fists. Grind my teeth. Summon every last shred of my strength.
Must.
Turn.
Away.
At last, I manage to pull my attention from the television. Instead, I fix my gaze on the gasoline station employee. He’s staring at the screen as though it’s the most interesting, most captivating, most wonderful thing he’s ever seen.
“My sole authority,” he mutters. “My ruler. My queen.”
Beside me, Kara is just as entranced with the screen. With the same faraway longing in her expression, she begins to speak in a low, lifeless whisper.
“My sole authority,” she mumbles. “My ruler. My—”
“Stop watching!”