“You’re right about my wealth,” Rumor gloated. “Look about you. I have gold as far as the eye can see. More treasure than you could count in a lifetime. Trinkets, baubles, and all manner of curios have I collected. But nothing is more important to me than the Box of Whispers. I would give away all of my other wealth for it.”
“Still, the box is not yours to keep,” Uncle Griffinskitch told the dragon. “It belongs to the Eens, and we mean to take it back.”
“NO, THE BOX IS MINE, I TELL YOU!” Rumor roared, so loud that their cage rattled. He prowled menacingly before them, his nostrils flaring angrily with smoke. “Why don’t you scurry back to your tiny land, back to the rest of your frightened, foolish little folk?” Rumor growled. “You think you are so wise, with your Council of Elders. More like a council of buffoons! You think you know so much about the box, but I tell you—you can’t begin to imagine its power!”
“I believe I have a pretty good idea,” the tiny wizard said with determination.
“You’re a fool,” Rumor sneered. “A whiskered little fool.”
“You don’t frighten me,” Uncle Griffinskitch declared. “No power shall you steal from me.”
Rumor narrowed his yellow eyes at the wizard. “You really are quite clueless, aren’t you?” the dragon asked with a chuckle. He was silent for the next few moments, as if in deep thought, and the only sound in the chamber was that of the beast’s long pink tongue, flickering in and out.
“I tell you what, Gregor,” Rumor said finally, and Kendra was surprised that the dragon knew his name. “I will make you a proposal. A wager, if you will. Each of you will come before me, one at a time, and take a test. If any of you can succeed, then you may take the box and go free.”
“And if we don’t?” Uncle Griffinskitch said.
“Well, I don’t set the punishment if you fail. In a way, you do,” Rumor said wickedly. Then he added, as though he were offering them a great gift, “But listen, you don’t all have to succeed. Just one of you; then you all go free.”
“That is all?” Uncle Griffinskitch asked. “We solve your test, and then we can go free? And with the box?”
“That is the deal,” Rumor said. “But I know you Eens and your little animal friends all too well. You are weak. You will all fail.”
“We shall see,” Uncle Griffinskitch said defiantly.
“Indeed, we shall,” Rumor said. “Well, I must be on my way. When you hear the crash of my gong, the first of you may come before me in the vault of riches. I believe you know the way, being thieves and all. And remember, only one at a time.”
The dragon turned and rumbled away, his shoulders scraping the sides of the chamber as he went.
“Lemme out, lemme out!” Pugglemud begged, as soon as the dragon was gone. “Don’t leave me in this cage!”
“Why would we help you?” Jinx growled. “You certainly had no intention of helping us! We’ve been sitting here for two days.”
“I was goin’ to help you,” Pugglemud said. “I was on my way when I got captured.”
“Nonsense!” Jinx scowled. “The only thing you care about is gold.”
“How could we let you out?” Kendra asked the Dwarf. “We don’t have a key for your cage, and we’re sure not strong enough to bust it open.”
“Oh, I’m in a sorry way,” Pugglemud wailed.
“I do say, Elder Griffinskitch,” Professor Bumblebean said, turning his attention away from the Dwarf. “I don’t know about this contest. Do you think this game with Rumor is such a good idea?”
“Humph,” the old wizard grunted in reply. Professor Bumblebean shrugged, but Kendra knew what her uncle meant with that humph. He was saying: “Do you have a better plan?”
THE GONG OF THE DRAGON sounded only a few moments later.
“It’s time already!” Kendra cried.
“My word,” Professor Bumblebean remarked. “He’s certainly not giving us much time to prepare, is he?”
“I don’t need to prepare,” Jinx declared. “I’ll be back before you know it.”
“What are you talking about, Captain?” the professor exclaimed. “You’re not going first.”
“Of course I am,” Jinx said.
“May I remind you,” Professor Bumblebean said, “that I am our best authority on magical creatures. As such, I believe I will proceed first.”
“Oh, you pompous, overblown word nerd,” Jinx snapped. “What are you going to do, Blatherbean? Bonk him with your book?”
“This is no time to argue,” Uncle Griffinskitch said. “I am an elder, the only one here. Therefore, I will go first.”
“You are both forgetting one important thing,” Jinx said.
“And what’s that?” Professor Bumblebean demanded.
“As captain of the Een guard and official protector of the elders, it’s my duty to face any danger first,” Jinx replied.
“That may be,” Professor Bumblebean said, “but this is a special situation.”
“Nonetheless, I intend to fulfill my duty,” Jinx defended.
Just then the gong rang a second time.
“Humph,” Uncle Griffinskitch muttered. “Regrettably, Captain Jinx is right. It is her duty to go first.”
“I must tell you, Elder Griffinskitch, I disagree with this course of action,” Professor Bumblebean said.
“So noted,” Uncle Griffinskitch said, turning to Jinx. “Captain, I don’t trust the dragon, but I do trust your bravery. Draw on your courage, and you may defeat that red devil.”
“It’ll all be over soon,” Jinx said.
Then, with her head held high, Jinx hopped out of the cage and quickly left the chamber. Kendra and the others waited in anxious silence, but only a few minutes passed before the gong sounded again.
“My word!” Professor Bumblebean cried. “Jinx has failed, and all too quickly!”
“What happened to her?” Kendra cried.
But no one could answer.
“I’m going next,” Uncle Griffinskitch declared.
“Oh, please be careful,” Kendra said, clutching the old Een’s sleeve.
“Try not to worry,” Uncle Griffinskitch said, squeezing her by the shoulder. “You’ll be okay.”
“What do you mean?” Kendra cried, feeling a surge of panic. “Don’t talk like that! You sound like you’re not coming back.”
Uncle Griffinskitch drew close. “Listen,” he whispered in her ear. “I’ve got to go now. But somehow I can’t help feeling that you will have a part to play in all of this yet. You’re headstrong and curious, Kendra. I think that’s why the orb chose you for this trip. So remember these qualities. They may save you yet.”
And with these parting words, he shuffled out of the cage and towards the vault of riches.
“What happens if we all fail?” Oki asked after the old wizard had parted.
“I don’t know,” Professor Bumblebean admitted. “I’m sure Elder Griffinskitch will succeed. And if for some reason his magic does not prevail, my intellect surely will.”
Kendra wasn’t sure if these words offered any comfort to Oki, but there was nothing they could do other than wait. The three companions climbed out of the cage and paced nervously back and forth in the sea of gold coins that carpeted the floor. After their long imprisonment, it felt good to stretch their legs. All the while, Pugglemud wailed and complained, but Kendra did her best to ignore him.
Then, suddenly, the gong rang again.
Professor Bumblebean let out a deep sigh and shook his head sadly.
“Uncle Griffinskitch!” Kendra exclaimed. “Why don’t they come back, Professor? What’s happening?”
“I don’t know,” Professor Bumblebean said with a gulp. “Well, it’s my turn now, I suppose.”
“The dragon’s winning!” Kendra said. “We have to do something.”
“Well, if there was ever anything that a Bumblebean was meant to do, it was to pass a test,” the professor said, pushing up his glasses with determination. “I�
�m sure I will triumph in this malicious game, so don’t fret. I will soon return with your uncle and the captain both.”
He bent down and gave Kendra and Oki an uncharacteristic hug. Then he was gone, and now it was just the three of them—Kendra, Oki, and Pugglemud, who was still loudly blubbering and bemoaning his fate.
The waiting was the worst thing. Kendra couldn’t help thinking of her uncle. He had obviously failed the trial. But with what consequence?
“Do you think Bumblebean will do it?” Oki asked Kendra.
“I just don’t know,” she said. “I wish I knew what to expect in there. Maybe then we’d have some clue as to how to defeat the dragon.”
“Kendra, if Bumblebean fails, I want to go next,” Oki said. “I don’t want to sit here all alone with Pugglemud.”
“No, I think I should go,” Kendra said. “My uncle is an elder after all.”
“So what?” Oki said. “I work after school for the elders. So I should go.”
The two friends argued over the subject until they were interrupted by the bang of the gong.
“Oh, no!” Oki cried. “Now what will we do?”
“Come on,” Kendra said. “Let’s flip one of these gold coins. Whoever wins the toss can go.”
“Okay,” Oki agreed. “I choose heads.”
Kendra picked up one of the large gold coins and heaved it into the air. She and Oki followed it with earnest gazes as it flipped through the air and landed with a clink at their feet.
“Tails,” Kendra announced. “I go first.”
“Drat,” Oki said.
Just then they heard the gong again.
“I better go, Oki,” Kendra said. “But listen, I have an idea. Why don’t you wait a few minutes, then follow me? Maybe you can learn what happens inside the vault and use it against Rumor.”
“Wouldn’t that be cheating?” Oki asked.
“I don’t know,” Kendra said. “But we have to try something, don’t we? We’re just Eenlings. I don’t know if we can pass this trial unless we help each other.”
“Okay,” Oki said. “Let’s do it.”
“Bye for now,” Kendra said, hugging her friend tightly.
“Good luck,” Oki murmured.
“Thanks,” Kendra said and, with a nervous gulp, she turned and left the chamber.
SOMETIMES IT’S BEST not to know what awaits you around life’s next corner. This was certainly true in Kendra’s case, for if she had known what she was about to face, she may have just run away. But all she could think of now was somehow saving her friends and her uncle, and it was this hope that forced her tiny feet down the long passageway that led to the vault of riches.
She could hear Rumor’s voice inside her head as she drew closer: “Een has helped Unger! Een has helped Unger!” Kendra tried to tune the voice out. She needed her mind to be clear. When she reached the glittering vault, she paused and peeked inside. There was the dragon, nestled comfortably in his pile of gold and treasures, with his tail curled tightly about his body. To Kendra’s astonishment, he was considerably larger than the last time she had seen him, only a short time ago. In front of Rumor, resting on its pedestal, sat the Box of Whispers. It pulsed with a warm, radiant glow that bathed the entire vault in light.
“Well, don’t linger there all day, Kandlestar,” Rumor said. Kendra was surprised that he could see her and even more surprised that he knew her name. She was so tiny, after all, and the vault was so enormous. Timidly, she approached the dragon. She had only gone a few steps, however, when she saw Captain Jinx standing in front of her, facing the Box of Whispers.
“Captain Jinx!” Kendra called, running up to her.
But when the grasshopper didn’t reply, Kendra realized that it wasn’t Jinx at all, but rather a statue that looked like her. In fact, it looked exactly like her.
“W-what’s going on?” Kendra asked.
Rumor roared with laughter.
Then Kendra looked ahead and saw the figure of Professor Bumblebean standing closer to the box and, even closer, a statue of Uncle Griffinskitch. Both statues were made completely from stone, just like Jinx’s statue. Kendra stared at the figure of Uncle Griffinskitch. Every wisp of his beard, every detail, had been sculpted to perfection. Then the horrible truth slowly sunk in. This wasn’t just a statue of her uncle. It was her uncle. He, along with Captain Jinx and Professor Bumblebean, had somehow been turned to stone. Kendra might as well have been struck by lightning—the shock was the same. She fell to the ground, speechless and horrified. There her uncle and companions stood, frozen in mid-movement, expressions of surprise forever captured on each of their faces. Their eyes, now cold and stony, stared blankly ahead.
“W-what’s happened?” Kendra sobbed. “What did you do to them?”
Rumor stifled his laughter and glared down at the small Een. “Why, I have done nothing, Kendra,” the dragon replied in mock innocence.
“But they’ve been turned to stone!” Kendra cried, feeling the tears roll down her cheeks.
“Yes, indeed, but not by me,” Rumor said. “They have been petrified, Kendra, petrified by their own fears. You see, they were in control of their own fate, just as you are.”
“You tricked them,” Kendra accused.
“No, Kendra, not I,” the dragon replied, slithering closer to her. His long tongue flickered out, tickling her cheek. “You see,” Rumor said, “my test is simple: go into the Box of Whispers and face what is there.”
“That doesn’t make sense,” Kendra sniffled. “The only thing in there is the . . .”
“The secret of the magic curtain?” Rumor interrupted. “Yes, that’s one of the things.”
“One of the things!” Kendra cried. “What do you mean?”
“And now you shall know the truth about the Box of Whispers,” Rumor glowered. “It just doesn’t hold that one secret. It holds all the secrets of Een!”
The Dragon laughed at Kendra’s look of shock. “That’s right, young Kandlestar,” he hissed. “Every single secret ever kept since the dawn of your pathetic little land is recorded inside the box. As soon as someone forges a secret, the box knows about it. Some of the secrets are deep and dark. Some are frivolous. Some are secrets no one would ever care about; others would mean the very ruin of Een. But to the box, all the secrets are the same. It protects each and every one. Even yours, Kendra.”
“M-m-mine?” Kendra stammered.
“Yes,” Rumor replied, his pleasure all too apparent. “See, all I ask is that you go into the box and take out your secret, the truth that is hidden there, deep inside its magical belly. Can you do that, Kendra? Can you confront your secret? For your friends could not. The trial of whispers was too great for them!”
“Who are you to hold our secrets?” Kendra asked bravely. “Why should we not keep our secrets if we so please?”
Rumor laughed and circled about Kendra. “Then keep them, Kandlestar,” he hissed. “Make the same mistake that all the Eens have made since the dawn of time!”
Kendra trembled as she stared up into the dragon’s gleaming yellow eyes. “What do you mean?” she asked. “What do you know of the ancient Eens?”
“Would you like to hear my secret, Kendra?” Rumor asked. “Never mind, I will tell you anyway. You see, I know everything about the Eens, because, my little friend, I am an Een!”
Kendra could not believe her ears. “No!” she cried. “That’s not true! That’s impossible!”
Rumor towered over the fallen girl. “No, Kandlestar,” the dragon growled. “I think you know it’s the truth. How else could I get through the magic curtain? Only Eens can do that. I tell you, I am an Een, because after all, it was the Eens who made me.”
“No! No!” Kendra sobbed. “We would never make a monster like you!”
“Oh, it was not on purpose, I assure you,” Rumor explained. “You see, over a thousand years ago, the ancient Eens made the magic curtain to protect their land from the outside world. And they put the secret of the cur
tain into the Box of Whispers, to keep it safe. But they enchanted the box too strongly. You understand, Kandlestar, that the box was meant to hold only the secret of the curtain. But its magic was so powerful that it absorbed every secret kept by every Een, no matter how small, no matter how insignificant.”
“I know all about secrets,” Kendra retorted, thinking of Trooogul.
“Of course you do,” Rumor said. “But do you know how powerful secrets are, Kendra? To what lengths we will go, just to protect them? And what do you think happened to the Box of Whispers as it tried to absorb more and more secrets? The power became too great. The box could not contain the darkness of so many whispers. And deep within the Elder Stone, where the Eens kept the Box of Whispers, there was another magical object. Do you know what that was?”
“No,” Kendra said miserably.
“An egg,” the dragon replied, with a long, wicked grin. “A simple egg, laid by a dragon. An egg that the elders had long ago forgotten about. But the egg began to grow with life, Kendra. It grew with the power fed to it by the Box of Whispers, which lay no more than a coin’s toss away. And once the ancient Eens realized this, they took the egg and cast it into the wilds of the outside world, hoping to never see its darkness hatch. But they were too late. For it did hatch, Kandlestar . . . it did hatch.”
“And you were born,” Kendra guessed.
“Exactly,” Rumor said. “So, you see, the box is mine. It fed me with the power of all the secrets of Een, as numberless as the grains of sand that line the ocean. The ancient Eens even named me, you know. I could hear them, as I grew inside the egg. They couldn’t bring themselves to say the word ‘dragon,’ so they said things like: ‘Have you heard the rumor? The rumor about the egg?’ and ‘What will we do about this rumor?’ So, you see, I naturally thought Rumor was my name.”
“Why didn’t you come back to Een sooner?” Kendra asked.
“Well, I couldn’t find it, for one thing,” Rumor replied, seeming rather pleased that she had asked. “After all, I was in an egg when I was taken away, so I couldn’t exactly mark the spot. For a thousand years, I combed the lands, searching for the box. And during that time, I amused myself by collecting all the treasures known to man and monster. Gold. Diamonds. Precious stones. Everything that gives the greedy the urge to steal and the wicked the desire to murder. But always my box was calling to me. It is like my parent, after all. So why should I not have it?”
Kendra Kandlestar and the Box of Whispers Page 12