“Tell me from the beginning.”
“I wish I’d never gone to the outhouse,” he mumbled. He let me go and turned toward the brook, wrapped his arms around his knees. He looked at the water and his voice became a monotone.
“The clouds were heavy,” he said. “There were no stars. I knew it was going to rain, but I really had to go. So Dad took me.”
“I remember,” I said.
“So we went to the outhouse and I used it and then we went back outside. There was already thunder.” He opened his hand, and the mirrored playing card had become the silvery stone knight figurine Dad had given him, nestled in his palm. “I left it in the outhouse,” he said, looking at the figure. “I set it down and left it there by accident. And then when we were almost back to the tent, I remembered. I told Dad we had to go back, but he said it would be there in the morning and we could get it then. So I … I yanked my hand out of his and ran back to the outhouse.”
He paused.
“I should have waited until morning. I should have listened to him. But I didn’t.” He turned the figure over in his hand. “When I came out of the outhouse, there was a monster. A real monster, not like we used to make up. It was on Dad’s head, an octopus with black tentacles. Dad was fighting, but it was winning, and I…”
He slammed his fists against his head.
“Theron, don’t—”
“I ran, Lore. I was so scared. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know monsters were really real. So I ran.” He shook his head. “I should have fought it, but I ran.”
I scooted next to him and put my arm around him. “You did what you were supposed to do. If Dad couldn’t fight it, you couldn’t have.”
He shook his head. “Well, I turned around. When I stopped being so scared, I ran back to fight the monster. I knew I wasn’t big enough, but I wished for it so hard that I heard a voice whispering that I could be. That I could be Darthorn. And I started to feel bigger. But I couldn’t find Dad. All the trees were different. They weren’t the campground trees anymore, they were these trees.” He waved at the forest around him. “I couldn’t find him, and I swore that no one else would get attacked if I could help it. And I forgot about the campground. I forgot about you and Mom and Dad. I didn’t mean to.”
I put a hand on his arm.
“Where is the campground?” he asked. “How did I lose it?”
“It’s not here,” I said. “This isn’t our world.”
He looked back at his silver figure in his hand. “Where are we?”
“Gruffy calls it Veloran.”
“Have you been here all this time, too?”
“No,” I said. “I was left behind. I’ve been living with Auntie Carrie and Uncle Jone. For a whole year. But Dad’s stone brought me here.” I pulled the necklace out. “I wished to find you guys, and I came here.”
“You wished?”
“Yes. I can make things happen. Like you made yourself into Darthorn. And I know who took Mom and Dad.”
“You do?” he asked, looking up at me. His stone knight flattened into the mirrored card and unfolded over his hand, then unfolded again, starting to cover his arm.
“Wait,” I said. “He’s not here. He’s taken Ripple’s kingdom, and that’s where we’re going. His name is Jimmy. A boy from our world.”
Theron narrowed his eyes. “Jimmy who?”
“He was in Annalee’s class. Short red hair.”
Theron’s face darkened. “I know that boy. He beat up Micah.” He clenched his teeth. “He’s a bully.” His mouth became a flat line and he looked at me through narrowed eyes. “Jimmy Schmindly.”
My ears rang. “What?” I whispered. Mr. Schmindly. Have you seen my son? Mr. Schmindly’s son was the Ink King!
“I don’t forget names,” Theron said, mistaking my question for disbelief. “And it’s a doofy last name.”
The Ink King’s father was my praying mantis shrink, who knew about the Wishing World, who had been trying to control me for almost a year now. I could barely breathe. I felt like I’d eaten rotten food.
“He has our parents?” Theron asked.
“Yes,” I said. Mr. Schmindly. Jimmy Schmindly. Froggy Pop Star Schmindly. All working together.
“Well, he’s going to give them back,” Theron growled.
“Yes,” I said. “Yes, he is.”
CHAPTER 15
My brother and I lay on the bank of the stream with our feet in the cool water. We stared up at the white streaks of the night sky, barely able to see the “blue moon” beyond.
“That’s Earth,” I told him. “That’s our home.”
“We’re on the comet?”
“Yes.”
“Dad would think that’s so cool.”
“Yeah, he would.”
Without my family, I had always felt like I was falling, like there was no real ground to stand on. But I had Theron back now. Anything was possible. As long as we had each other, we could get our parents back, no matter how many Ink Kings or Mantis Doctors tried to stop us.
I didn’t remember falling back asleep, but I must have. In my dreams I was flying, and Theron flew next to me, holding my hand. The dream went on and on, and for the first time in a year, I was truly happy.
I woke up smiling, and Theron was still there, sleeping next to me. I blinked.
Gruffy stood over us with a smile of his own. He clicked his beak together and nodded at me. “Squeak told me. This is your brother?”
Theron came awake, startled. He scrambled to his feet and started to grow, shoulders widening, arms thickening as he faced off with Gruffy. Little mirror plates began to cover his body. Clack clack clack. His hair lengthened into Darthorn’s long mane.
“Be at ease, protector,” Gruffy said. “I want nothing but safety for you and your sister.”
Darthorn stood there, taller than Gruffy and implacable, the shield gleaming on his arm.
“But the time is upon us,” Gruffy continued. “We must take to the air again.”
“I’m coming with you,” Darthorn said in his deep voice.
“We would be honored by your company. And I know that if there is fighting before this is done, your prowess will be most helpful.”
“You’re going to the sea?” Darthorn rumbled.
“Yes,” Gruffy said.
“I will meet you there.” He strode toward the trees. The giant pug stood waiting, and he leapt onto its back.
“Wait!” I shouted, running up to him. “You’re going?”
“I’ll follow you, Lore. I have since you got here.”
“I’ll see you at the sea, then.”
He nodded.
“Well then, let’s go!” I said.
We flew through morning, yellow light glinting off the colorful trees. I felt more awake than I ever had. I breathed the fresh air and put my hands out to cup the wind.
“Lady Lorelei!” Ripple gasped, clenching my waist tightly.
I yelled into the wind just for the joy of it, just to hear my own voice flying back at me.
Gruffy glanced over his shoulder, the edge of his beak curled up in a smile. He screeched at the sunrise with me.
“Put thy hands down! I beg of thee!” Ripple said.
I laughed, and Gruffy screeched again.
By midday, we reached the ocean.
Gruffy circled and landed on soft, white sands. The turquoise sea was breathtaking, except for one part a little ways out, in the very center. Thunderclouds roiled and the water was dark. I felt my heart sink as I looked at it. The black mass of clouds seemed alive as lightning burst within them, lighting their bubbling underbellies. Rain poured on the water below. That was the same storm that had taken my parents. Looking at it, I felt small and helpless like I did that night.
To the right of the thunderclouds, the burning red gash in the sky glowed, bigger than ever.
Gruffy knelt so that Ripple and I could dismount. The great griffon’s eyelids half-covered his large eyes. He looked t
ired. I thought of the vicious roaches and how valiantly he had fought. He had been so scratched, but either he healed really fast, or his fur and feathers covered the damage from view.
“Gruffy, you’ve been flying forever. We should rest,” I said.
“You are kind, Doolivanti. But I am fine.”
Pip flapped overhead. “He’ll go till he drops. Go till he drops.”
“Pip exaggerates. I am fine. I shall rest my wings. A griffon recovers strength simply walking instead of flying.”
“A griffon is the most stubborn creature in Veloran. The most stubborn creature in Veloran.”
Gruffy’s tail lashed back and forth on the white sand. Pip flapped away, hovering at a safe distance.
I turned to the forest bordering the beach. Darthorn emerged from the trees, light gleaming off the mirrored plates and thorns of his armor. The plates receded and he shrank to his normal size.
I ran toward him.
“How do you get here so quickly?” I hugged him because I could. Just because he was here and he was alive and it was the most wonderful thing ever.
“HuggyBug does it,” he said.
“Who?”
He pointed at the giant pug, who stood at the edge of the forest, watching with his mirrored eyes.
“HuggyBug the pug?” I said.
Theron looked down and dug his bare foot into the sand. “I know. It’s not very cool. It’s just, I was scared when I got here. That’s what I called him. When I became Darthorn, I tried to call him ‘Spike,’ ’cause it sounded better. But he didn’t answer to that name.”
“HuggyBug is way better,” I said. “Does he always run that fast?”
“Oh, he doesn’t run,” Theron replied. “He blinks. He just sort of blinks and the trees move. He can go anywhere in the forest, but he can’t go past it. See?” He looked up where HuggyBug stood, right at the edge of the trees, but not beyond. “He won’t come out onto the sand.”
“Will he be okay?” I asked. “If you leave?”
“Ha! Nothing messes with HuggyBug. He showed me everything I know about the forest.”
We returned to the group, and I looked at the stormy ocean.
“Tis my home,” Ripple said softly. “My realm. And tis held hostage by shadows and darkness.” She sighed. “An’ thou wouldst follow me, I shall show thee the Sea as she was meant—”
“My friends,” Gruffy interrupted. Everyone turned, following his gaze.
A dozen giant creatures rose out of the rolling surf, waves crashing on translucent shells. They were as tall as Gruffy, spidery legs lifting their oval bodies high into the air. Red eyes on tall stalks peered down from a great height, and they held their pincers even higher.
“Everything in Veloran is huge,” I murmured. “What are they?”
“Grumpalons,” Ripple said, her voice as calm as the still wind. “They were ever protectors of my realm, patrolling this shore for villains.” Her dark blue eyebrows came down over her all-blue eyes.
“Caution, princess.” Gruffy stepped forward and flexed his wings. “There are many. Perhaps we retreat and find another entrance to the Sea?”
“A wise plan if I ever heard one,” Pip squawked. “If I ever heard one.”
The princess didn’t seem to be listening to either of them. Her gaze remained on the advancing Grumpalons.
“Let us—” Gruffy began.
The princess strode across the sand toward the frightening giant crabs. Her dress rippled like the tide.
“Princess!” Gruffy called after her.
“There she goes. There she goes.”
With a single leap, Gruffy drew alongside the princess. The Grumpalons had almost reached them.
“Princess, we have no plan,” Gruffy said. “I will happily give my life for your cause, but we cannot win this battle.”
Ripple looked at Gruffy, her eyes flashing. “Grumpalons were charged with the protection of my realm.” She waved her hand at the roiling storm over the murky sea. “I shall call them to task.”
“Prudence, perhaps, is—”
“I shall call them to task!” She started forward again.
Gruffy was silent, then said, “Indeed, princess.” He turned his noble head to face the line of advancing Grumpalons.
Now that they were so close, I realized I’d misjudged them. They weren’t huge, they were enormous! They loomed over Gruffy, taller than elephants. Their translucent arms were thick and covered with bumps that, in some places, sloped to spikes and looked to be as hard as Darthorn’s armor. Their pincers were as long as my arms. They spread out, surrounding us.
Theron grew. Mirrored armor flew across his body, coming together. Clack clack clack. In seconds, Darthorn stood defiantly on the other side of Ripple.
Pip flew high above, out of reach. Squeak perched atop Gruffy’s head, his tiny marble eyes flicking from one Grumpalon to the next. I wondered if the mouse was formulating a plan. I wished I had a plan. Was there any kind of plan that would work? We were outnumbered ten to one.
“Thou darest accost us, Grumpalons?” Ripple said to the nearest. “Tis thy charge to protect these shores!”
I thought of frail Ripple in the tunnels of Azure City. I thought of frightened Ripple flying on Gruffy’s back. Neither of those girls was anywhere to be found. I smiled, watching Ripple write her own story.
The Grumpalons came to a stop.
“It is our sworn duty,” the lead Grumpalon said, a wide mouth splitting the front of his oval body. “To serve the ruler of the Sea.”
“And when the ruler of the Sea wast bound and caged and supplanted, didst thou think nothing of swearing thy allegiance to the villain who didst supplant her?” Ripple asked.
The Grumpalon twitched as if she’d poked it with a stick.
“Didst thou curl into thy shell when the shadow settled over the Sea, Montregon?” She addressed him by name. “What assailed thy senses that thou wouldst assist this Ink King?”
A rumble went through Grumpalons, their big mouths opening, closing and making burping sounds.
“Princess Ripellia?” the lead Grumpalon said. Burps rumbled around the circle.
“It bespeaks well that thou dost recognize thy princess. What didst thou, with all thy might, whilst my realm was taken and I imprisoned?”
The Grumpalons bobbed up and down. “The fighting was finished before we reached the palace, princess. Ratsharks and Beetlins infest the sea. We could not best them.”
“And tell me, Grumpalon, how fiercely didst thou strive?”
The Grumpalons shifted, pushing white sand. After a moment, they settled and the leader spoke again.
“They took the Grumplings, princess. They slew half our number and took our small ones.”
Ripple’s hands unclenched and she stepped forward. The sea surged toward her, sloshing around her ankles. Her dress mixed with the water, then became a swirling pillar that lifted her up above the Grumpalons. She put a hand on the towering crab’s shell between its eye stalks.
“Tis a grievous crime,” she said softly. “Were I in thy position, I might have taken thy course.” She turned, looking down at each of the Grumpalons in turn. “And yet, a year has passed since this villainous Ink King has come to rule. Wouldst thou wait forever for thy Grumplings?”
The lead Grumpalon shifted. “The Ratsharks are without number. They infest the sea and the palace. We could not oust them the first time. What hope have we now?”
“With thine allies,” Ripple said with finality. “Together, and only thus, might we find hope.” She raised her arms over her head. “I have returned, and I bring the life of the Eternal Sea with me. United, let us show this Ink King where shadows belong.”
The Grumpalons started bobbing up and down.
“Wouldst thou follow thy princess into battle?” she demanded. “Given this second chance, wouldst thou uphold thy oath and take back thy small ones?”
The Grumpalons bobbed up and down vigorously.
“I h
ave returned to bring justice to this villain and any who stand with him. An’ thou dost see this as thy duty, then follow me, for I stand before thee.”
The Grumpalons flicked sand and water with their mighty legs, their claws scraping deep.
Gruffy screeched his approval.
“Spread word to thy fellows! We swim upon the palace and soon! An’ they would stand by our sides, we shall retake our kingdom!”
The Grumpalons burped and flicked their legs as they turned and scuttled toward the water. In moments, the white beach was empty except for a thousand Grumpalon prints in the sand. The sea withdrew down the beach, lowering Ripple back down.
“That was amazing!” I said.
Ripple turned toward me, and she sighed. “Twas but a step, and a small one at that.” Her inspiring confidence faded. “The Grumpalons did not deceive. An army stands twixt us and victory. Needs must we raise our own that we might stand even the slightest chance.”
“I’m not afraid of Ratsharks,” Darthorn said.
“He speaks for us all,” Gruffy agreed.
“Squeak!”
“I guess we won’t be home for dinner. I guess we won’t be home for dinner,” Pip squawked, flapping overhead.
“Jimmy’s gonna give back everything,” I said.
“What other allies might we count upon?” Gruffy asked.
“Such a course lies not straight. There are but two who might aid us. Ratsharks and Beetlins never lived in my kingdom ere now. They would not be inclined to assist us, I daresay. The Swisherswashers, perchance. Or the Flimflams.” She paused. “Though the Flimflams may be a fool’s errand.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Verily, they are unpredictable. And mad as a…” She seemed to search for the right word, and then shrugged.
“You mean crazy.”
Ripple looked at me. “Indeed, milady. I have not quite the proper speech. In thy world, when one is truly and thoroughly mad, what wouldst one be compared to?”
“Um.” I thought of Alice in Wonderland. “Mad as a March Hare. Or mad as a Hatter.”
“Well, in Veloran, if thy wits are wild,” Ripple said as she began walking up the beach, “we say thou art ‘mad as a Flimflam.’”
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