Magnificent stag, mighty as a king,
Hear my words, my spell do sing;
Sprout forth: breath, horn, and wing
Let life return, a blossom in spring.
She opened her eyes. The great peryton stirred; she watched as a cluster of feathers began to emerge from his stubby and torn wings. A small tine sprouted from one of his antlers. Then Prince’s eyes flickered—but that was all. His wings, his horns, his breath—they grew but a little.
Kendra lowered her head and felt her heart pound in agony and despair. She had failed. The sounds of the Rumble Pit returned to her ears: growls and snarls and groans. Then she heard a voice rise over the din, and it was one that was all too familiar.
“Ready to give up already?”
Kendra whirled around. There, standing on the slope of the Rumble Pit, was Uncle Griffinskitch.
He was as old and white as ever, but his blue eyes were twinkling, and in his gnarled hands he held his staff of Eenwood. Kendra stared at him, her mouth agape.
“What? Is this anyway to greet your old master? Humph!”
And maybe it was the way he said it, or maybe it was because it had just been so long since she had heard his voice—but at that moment Kendra thought her heart might fly from her chest, for never in her whole life had she been so happy to hear her uncle humph.
THERE WAS NO TIME NOW for long and tearful reunions. Below them was the Rumble Pit, full of battling gladiators, and above them, hundreds of Krakes were still swarming. And in between, on the slope, the peryton was dying.
Uncle Griffinskitch hobbled forward, his eyes focused with determined intent. It was then that Kendra noticed a long rope ladder dangling behind him, and coming down it were none other than Oki, Jinx, and Ratchet.
“Look, Kendra!” Oki squeaked. “We found some old friends.”
Kendra craned her neck, her eyes following the ladder upwards to some sort of strange shape hovering in the air. It looked like an enormous bird, but one built of wood. Its tail and wings were sails, its eyes a pair of large windows. It was like a giant, floating ship! A figure leaned over the edge of the mysterious vessel and waved at her; it was Professor Bumblebean! Somehow her friends had cut a hole through the dome of the Rumble Pit and sailed right into the center of the action.
Kendra looked back to her friends on the ground and tugged her braids in confusion.
“My invention,” Ratchet explained proudly. “The one Oki and I worked on for all those weeks. It’s a cloud ship—we call her the Big Bang.”
“But how did you get here?” she asked. “How did you—,”
“No questions now, Kendra,” Uncle Griffinskitch said firmly. “We have work to do.”
With this said, he laid his hand upon the peryton’s body and began to chant beneath his breath. Then, still murmuring, he reached into his beard to produce a small pouch and began sprinkling some crushed petals over the broken beast. It was as if he had come prepared exactly for this situation, as if he knew exactly what to do.
Kendra felt something hit her head. It had come from the stands, where some of the braver and more curious Krakes had returned to see what was happening in the pit, only to find themselves staring down at their greatest enemies: Eens. Enraged, the lizardlike monsters began furiously bombarding Kendra and her friends with stones, trinkets, coins— anything they could manage to find. Some of them even began spitting, trying to reach the Eens with their deadly venom.
“Just be thankful they don’t have spears,” Jinx said as she picked up one of the stones and hurled it back at the attackers. She struck one of the Krakes, causing it to lose balance and tumble over the side of the arena. It fell through a gap in the steel dome, and with a squeal slid right past Kendra and into the swarming nest of gladiators at the bottom of the Rumble Pit.
“Good shot, Jinx!” Ratchet said. As for he and Oki, they had come armed with some of their magic powders and now they handed these over to the grasshopper so that she could use her tremendous strength to fling the tiny bags up into the seats. The Krakes quickly ripped the bags to shreds—only to discover that they contained Ratchet’s infamous Snore Galore powder. Soon the whole lot was a-slumber.
“More Krakes may come,” Jinx said to Uncle Griffinskitch. “Whatever you’re going to do, you better hurry.”
“Humph,” the old wizard grunted, and it was the type of humph that meant he knew all too well the need for haste. “Help me, Kendra,” he said, raising his staff over the peryton. “Your wand; we must work together.”
Kendra nodded and stood alongside her uncle. Closing her hands around her Eenwand, she shut her eyes and tried to find the magic. She felt it loudly and clearly now, booming out from the elder wizard. It touched her like an echo and amplified. Uncle Griffinskitch began to chant:
Glorious beast, so torn asunder
Ripped apart by magic’s blunder,
Banish now, lightning and thunder,
Replaced here with vigorous wonder.
There were other verses, and Uncle Griffinskitch recited them over and over until, at last, Kendra heard a rustle, and opening her eyes, she watched the great peryton rising to his hooves. She gasped in awe—he was not only alive, he was repaired, his great white wings and barbed antlers glimmering in the light. Kendra had never seen him look so majestic.
She turned to Uncle Griffinskitch and hugged him so tightly that the old man wheezed. “Thank you!”
“Humph,” he muttered, but it was a quiet, happy sort of humph.
“Look at me, Arinotta!” Prince proclaimed in delight, flapping his feathers. “Look at my wings! Feel the gust of their wind! Ah, this is what it is to be a peryton. I could take on the world, Arinotta, fly to the moon.”
“Well, first, let’s get out of the pit, then we can worry about the moon,” Jinx said, already scrambling back up the rope ladder. “Come on! Back to the cloud ship.”
Up went Oki and Ratchet. Kendra was to go next, when out of the crowd in the Rumble Pit came a voice that cried, “Lemme come!”
It was Pugglemud. He looked worse than ever; his clothes were torn and his beard was ripped to shreds, but his eyes glimmered with greed at the sight of the ladder. Scrambling up the slope, he pushed Kendra aside, and she began to slide downwards.
She heard Uncle Griffinskitch cry out and zap Pugglemud with his wand, but it was too late. She had already slid back into the depths of the pit, amidst the fighters.
Will I never escape? she wondered.
Then the peryton was there, his great wings churning and beating back the gladiators. He landed before Kendra, strong and mighty. A gryphon stormed towards them, beak snapping; Prince sent it sprawling with the rack of his antlers. A gargoyle he dispatched with a kick of his hooves.
“Quickly now, Arinotta. On my back.”
Kendra looked at him in shock. “But you said—,”
“I know what I said,” the peryton snorted. “We’ve both been arrogant, none more than I. Ride now, Arinotta.”
He lowered his head as a sort of gangplank, and reaching up, Kendra used the tines of his antlers as handholds to climb onto his back.
“And now we fly.”
He galloped across the floor of the pit and up the nearest slope, gaining speed, his wings pounding. Suddenly, the ground disappeared beneath them. Kendra clutched his neck tightly. A dragon lashed out at them with its long neck and gushing fire, but Prince weaved out of the way and came back around to strike the beast with his antlers. It fell back in a squeal of pain.
Kendra looked down and saw Ratchet’s cloud ship rise from the crater; Uncle Griffinskitch was safely aboard. There was no sign of Pugglemud; she guessed that her uncle had made short work of the pesky Dwarf.
“I’ve had enough of this dreadful hole,” she told the peryton. “Let’s get out of here.”
“Fur and feathers!” he exclaimed in cheer. “I could not have said it better myself.”
Prince soared towards the hole in the dome above them. Some of the Krak
e soldiers who were still in the stands began firing arrows, spears, and other missiles at them, but in a moment they were through the hole, and Kendra found herself amidst a clear blue sky. She gazed downwards and saw that Krake Castle was quickly becoming nothing more than a dot on the ground. They were so high rivers looked as if they had been drawn with a pencil, the rocky crags were like crumpled balls of paper. And then Prince circled even higher, and Kendra saw nothing but a white expanse of clouds stretching into the distance. She had never felt so small, for in every direction there was nothing but space. She couldn’t even imagine what it would be like to fall from such a dizzying height—and, of course, she didn’t want to imagine it at all, and so she just kept her grip tight and let the wind whip her face.
“Ah, Arinotta!” Prince declared. “Feel the sun on your face, the breeze in your hair. Isn’t it grand?”
Kendra leaned forward and stroked his fur. She couldn’t have agreed more.
KENDRA LEANED OVER THE SIDE of the Big Bang and stared down at the wispy clouds stretching before her. Two days had passed since her escape from the Rumble Pit, but this was her first time out on the deck of the cloud ship. After their flight, the peryton had delivered Kendra to her friends, where she had immediately collapsed in exhaustion. They whisked her away to her own private bunk below deck, and there she had slept without interruption, straight through two sunrises.
Now she stood at the railing of the vessel, marveling. The Big Bang was like a regular ship in many ways, but instead of plowing through water, it soared through the skies.
“For once our clever Ringtail invented something that actually works.”
It was Uncle Griffinskitch. He hobbled up next to Kendra, little Oki by his side.
Kendra smiled and turned to gaze back at the sky. For a while all three stood there silently. They could hear Ratchet from below deck, enthusiastically explaining to Jinx and Professor Bumblebean how to pilot the ship.
“I still don’t understand,” Kendra said to her uncle momentarily. “How did you escape Burdock’s dungeons? How did you know where we were? How did you know what to do?”
“All good questions,” Uncle Griffinskitch said. “But it’s not my story to tell.”
“Whose is it then?” she asked.
Uncle Griffinskitch chuckled. “You wouldn’t believe me, even if I tried to explain. Don’t worry, you will know the answers soon enough. In this you must trust.”
Kendra furled her brow in confusion and tugged on a braid.
“Well,” Oki said, “do you think somewhere beneath all that cloud lies the land of Een?”
“Unlikely,” Uncle Griffinskitch said. “For that is not where we are headed.”
“We’re not?” Kendra cried.
“Nay,” Uncle Griffinskitch murmured. “Een is hardly safe these days, not with Burdock still in power.”
“Winter Woodsong stayed there,” Oki pointed out.
“Humph!” Uncle Griffinskitch snorted. “That was no choice of mine! You know Elder Woodsong! She’s as stubborn as frost on a cold morning. She would not abandon Een.”
Kendra thought about the last time she had seen Winter Woodsong, and remembered the harsh words she had hurled at the old woman. How she wished she could speak to her again, to apologize.
“Do not fret,” Uncle Griffinskitch told Kendra, reading her mind. “You shall see her again.”
Kendra nodded, hopeful. “Where do we go now?”
“We shall seek this City on the Storm,” the old wizard declared. “If Kiro is headed there with the shard, then we must follow him.”
“But how do we know it’s safe there?” Oki asked. “It could be filled with Ungers.”
“Or Eens,” Kendra piped up. “My parents could be there.”
“It is my deepest hope,” Uncle Griffinskitch said, stroking his long white beard.
“Do you know where it is?” Kendra asked the old wizard. “Have you heard of this City on the Storm?”
“Nay,” Uncle Griffinskitch replied solemnly. “But if it exists, we will surely find it. With this strange ship, we can fly to the ends of the skies, if need be. We shall discover it, one way or the other.”
“I hope so,” Kendra murmured. “What if Kiro rebuilds Greeve’s cauldron before we track him down?”
“Is that what you think he will do?” her uncle asked.
“No,” Kendra said, giving her braids another tug. “I don’t know. Effryn said he thinks Trooogul’s back on the Unger side—but if that’s the case, why would he tell me where he was headed?”
“It could be a trap,” Oki suggested.
“Maybe,” Kendra said. “I know he’s an Unger now, but he’s still my brother. I just don’t think he’s against us. Yet I can’t understand why he wanted the shard so badly. It doesn’t add up, Uncle Griffinskitch.”
“Humph,” the old wizard murmured, and it was the type of humph that suggested he was in deep thought. “Well,” he said after a moment, “perhaps the answers await us at the City on the Storm. We must have patience until then.”
He turned and wandered across the deck, and Kendra sighed. There was that word again: patience.
It made her think of her wand, and she touched it now—and instantly felt a spark of energy. It was a quiet energy, but still it was there. She was thankful for it.
“Oh dear!” Oki cried suddenly.
“What’s wrong?” Kendra asked.
“Nothing,” the little mouse replied. “I meant oh deer in a peryton sort of way.”
He pointed across the sky, and Kendra followed his paw to see the mighty prince winging towards them. The great stag swooped down and fluttered alongside the ship, next to where Kendra was standing.
“Ah, Arinotta,” Prince declared. “I see you are feeling better. Rest has served you well.”
“And you?” she asked. “Have you rested?”
“The skies are my bed, the clouds my pillow,” the peryton replied. “Just soaring across this cerulean plain restores me. But I have come to bid you farewell, Arinotta. It is time for me to return to the Mountains Zephyr, to be with my own kind again.”
“I will miss you,” Kendra told him, reaching out to touch his thick coat.
“And I you, Arinotta,” he returned. And then the magnificent beast stretched forward and whispered a strange word in her pointed ear.
“What does that mean?” Kendra asked.
“Why, it is my name,” the mighty peryton said. “My secret name, Arinotta. If ever you need help, seek me on the Mountains Zephyr. If the perytons try to block your way, simply utter my name, and it will be your key to find me. And I promise you, Arinotta, all my vigor and might will be at your service.”
She smiled and, leaning over the railing, hugged him around the neck. He chuckled in delight and, breaking free of her grasp, circled gracefully around the ship, once, twice—and then soared off into the horizon, his great wings glinting in the sun.
As Kendra watched him glide away, her mind meandered. Would they find this mysterious City on the Storm? Why was her brother headed there? And what did he plan to do with the shard from Greeve?
“Kendra, are you okay?” Oki asked, tugging her sleeve to interrupt her musings.
She looked down at her friend and smiled. “Yes,” she assured him. “Better than I’ve been in a long, long time.”
Then she took the mouse’s paw, and turning to look back upon the cloudscape, she stared towards the distant horizon, towards adventure.
Full size Map here
Readers Respond
to Kendra Kandlestar
Lee Edward Födi shares some of his favorite letters
Kendra Kandlestar is a wonderful read that weaves fantasy, adventure, and suspense. It’s so cleverly written that the characters seem to come to life!
~ Sarang, age 11
I really enjoyed your book Kendra Kandlestar and the Box of Whispers. My favorite characters are: Kendra, Jinx, and Professor Bumblebean. I Like Kendra because she overc
omes her fears of the outside world. I like Jinx because she tells you that small can mean also fierce. I like Professor Bumblebean because of his knowledge of the outside world. I also like the book tree in his library. This is a really good book. I can’t stop reading it and I can’t put it down. Thanks for writing an awesome book.
~ Joelle, age 10
I love Kendra Kandlestar! The books are so great! I can’t wait till the next one comes out!
~ Marion, age 9
Hi Mr. Födi, I read your book Kendra Kandlestar and the Box of Whispers and it was amazing. I liked your book so much I made a rap about it.
~ Miguel, age 12
I completely LOVE the Kendra Kandlestar series! I didn’t know about it at first, but Mr. Lee Edward Födi came to our school, said his wonderful and funny life story, and inspired me to read his books!
~ Sarah, age 10
A few days ago I finished The Box of Whispers and today, I finished The Door to Unger. They were awesome! I was wondering: in the third book, will Kendra learn her magic from “The Humph Master” (Uncle Griffinskitch) and when she does, does she unlock the location of her family by using magic?
~ Shiraz, age 8
I WANT YOUR THIRD BOOK SO BADLY THAT I CANNOT READ ANY OTHER BOOKS! I actually loved Harry Potter before I read your books. They were like the best to me. I never found a book funnier than that until . . . I read your book! It is SO fun! I am dying for your third book. And please write a fourth book. And a fifth book. And a sixth book. And a seventh book . . . all the way to one hundred.
Dear Kendra,
I am Esther. Tell Mr. Wiz that he should write lots of books about you. If he says no, eat him.
Kendra Kandlestar and the Shard From Greeve Page 18