He was right.
A shrill whistle sounded out from the enormous trees to their left, louder than a recess bell and much higher pitched. They both looked and saw Miss Lani, two of her tiny fingers between her lips. She winked at them once again.
“Show time!” Mason yelled.
The boys ran, as Tim had told them to. Carter glanced quickly behind him and saw Miss Lani had located the other faeries, which also meant (and he took a big gulp, trying to shove this thought back down into the bottom of his stomach) she’d found the dragon. He was exactly where Tim thought he might be, on the outskirts of the forest. Years ago, Tim had discovered a cave and assumed it was the dragon’s lair, due to all the dragon dung in front of it, as well as a couple of half-eaten carcasses.
Miss Lani whistled again, however, this time it wasn’t a signal for the boys, it was the signal she was supposed to give to alert the other faeries that the boys were in front of them and on the run.
The brothers knew they needed to keep moving in order to evade those humming wings. They had a decent lead, when Miss Lani whistled once more. This time it meant the boys had made a wrong turn. Mason was only a few feet ahead of Carter, and he veered sharply to the left.
Carter yelled out. Something deep in his gut insisted the other way would lead them to the dragon. “It’s the other way, Mason!”
“What?” Mason was breathing hard.
“Turn right. I’m sure of it.”
For one of the first and only times ever, Mason listened to his brother and changed course. Miss Lani stayed silent. She would surely have whistled again if they were going the wrong way. Then they saw it, straight ahead. Mason stopped. Carter smashed right into Mason’s back.
Panting, he gasped, “We can’t stop now! They’re gaining on us. Then the dragon will wake up and chase us down.”
“Oh, I think he’s going to chase us no matter what,” Mason replied.
Before Carter could ask what his brother meant, both of them were stunned speechless as the great dragon emerged slowly form his lair. At first it only stretched one humongous foot with long, pointed talons. Then he poked his massive head out of the deep cave, and peered from side to side. He blinked his eyes sleepily several times, until they came to rest directly on the terrified boys.
The dragon could not fathom his good fortune—breakfast standing just twenty feet in front of him.
“Oh jeez, he sees us,” Carter muttered out of the side of his mouth.
“Uh-huh.” Mason was at a loss for words. The faeries were gaining on them. Could Miss Lani possibly help them out of this one?
The dragon took a thunderous step forward, yawned, and then lowered his head, belching out a ball of fire in their direction. They each jumped back.
“He nearly burnt my toes off!” Carter yelled.
“That’s not all he’d like to burn. Well, maybe not burn…I’m betting he doesn’t like his meat well done!” Mason yelled.
“Mason! This is no time for joking!”
The dragon took another step forward.
“Light wands!” They shouted together. The boys quickly got their wands out of their packs as the dragon watched nonchalantly. He yawned again, and breathed another burst fire in their general direction. He was obviously not intimidated in the least. If anything, he was bored and toying with them.
The faeries showed up, swarming around the brothers. This was not going at all as planned.
The boys flashed their wands at the faeries, discouraging some, but they were persistent. It didn’t take long before their hypnotic wing flapping started to have an effect on the brothers. As for the dragon, he didn’t want to work too hard that morning, and was happy to let the faeries have their fun.
Where was Miss Lani? Had they been duped? Had Tim and Claudia been nothing but liars? If so, then Chelsea had been a liar too, and who knew who else. Maybe they’d been wrong about everyone.
“Where’s Miss Lani?” yelled Carter. “And the heart-song?”
He heard the whistle once again and looked in the direction of the dragon. Miss Lani and the heart-song were both fluttering about the enormous beast, which, although mighty, didn’t appear to be very bright. Finally, something in their favor! Their two little pals flew around his face. The heart-song pecked at him when she could get close enough. He batted her away like a fly and she fell to the ground. Carter screamed. Now he was angry. He flung his wand around like he was demented. The faeries ducked. He clobbered several of them. Discouraged, they flew away. He then bravely charged the dragon.
Mason yelled at his little brother to stop, but if there was one thing he knew, it was although it took a lot to make Carter angry, once you did, you’d better look out. He had spent many afternoons laughing over Carter’s multiple timeouts in the bathroom for temper tantrums and angry outbursts—usually instigated by Mason.
However, this situation wasn’t going to end up in a timeout for Carter. No, his temper was bringing him dangerously close to the wide-open mouth of a hungry, fire-breathing dragon. At least the faeries’ hypnosis wasn’t working any longer. Both boys had too much adrenaline pumping for that.
Several faeries left the scene, fearing the scorching light of the boy’s magic wands. Miss Lani still fluttered around the dragon, doing her best to annoy and distract him.
The boys swung their wands haphazardly, hoping to hit the dragon wherever they could. The beast was now agitated. He’d had more than enough. He swatted Miss Lani away again, but she came right back at him. She pinched the tip of his nose between her minute fingernails. He stumbled back and reached up, howling in anger.
Miss Lani continued to fly around the dragon like a wasp. The few remaining faeries were so baffled by her behavior, they watched in confusion. The heart-song lay on the ground close by, not moving.
Mason and Carter knew they must seize the moment and take advantage of it. They gave each other a knowing nod and clasped hands. Turning on their light wands, they aimed for the dragon with much more accuracy than before. They targeted his chest, exactly as their guidebook suggested when Jemlock played this role.
The stunned dragon fell back, fire breathing from his nose, heading straight over the top of Mason’s head and singeing his hair as it flew past.
“Agh!” Mason screamed.
In the midst of all the noise and chaos, no one noticed the sound of a flute playing nearby. The dragon regained his composure and bared down on the boys, coming closer as they continued spearing him with light from their wands. And the flute played on, growing louder by the minute. The faeries took note of this, and something very strange began to happen. They surrounded the dragon, wings flapping in unison. The song from the flute—at first dark and sad, and then triumphant—was somehow controlling the faeries!
All at once, the boys saw who was playing the flute as he stepped out from between the trees. At that moment, the dragon fell to the ground, with a hard thud. The faeries continued their frenzied flapping. The dragon’s eyes closed. He was hypnotized as Claudia’s mother had been. The faeries had turned against him. Why?
The boys had a feeling it had to do with the man standing in front of them with the flute.
“Hey, fellows!”
It was Jemlock, the warrior from the game! He came bounding over, flute in one hand and jeweled sword in the other.
Not for the first time on this adventure, their jaws dropped. How could this be? The dragon began snoring loudly behind them.
“I’ll finish him off, lads. Your test here is done. Besides, now I can finally redeem myself in the eyes of my future father-in-law.”
“Who is that?” Mason asked.
“Tim! Didn’t mention me, did he? Can’t blame him really. I’m the reason poor Em is in that sleep, but soon she’ll be wide awake! I was sent out that day to protect her from the faeries, and got a bit lost on the trail. Mrs. Emily went the other direction. Good thing I reached her before the dragon did. Them awful faeries had her hypnotized real good, though. As y
ou can imagine, old Tim wasn’t too pleased with me. He banned me from his home and from Claudia, the love of my life. So I figured if I could come up with a way to train them faeries to do me bidding, then I could find a way to come here and get the old fire-breather meself. Hadn’t gotten all the kinks worked out, but then I found your Miss Lani and she told me about the plan.
“I thought you could use a bit of help. And it worked! Now I can take the dragon’s head back to old Tim and me precious love, along with Miss Lani, and finally redeem myself!”
Carter and Mason were speechless. They hadn’t ever factored Jemlock into their plan, but they were grateful he’d appeared. Neither one of them had a desire to behead the dragon. Besides, Jemlock had earned the right.
“All right,” were the only words Mason could muster.
“The heart-song!” Carter suddenly remembered her.
“What happened to the pretty thing?” Jemlock padded warily across the dragon. The faeries continued their noisy flapping, now hypnotized by Jemlock’s flute playing. “That’s it girls, keep up the good work,” Jemlock ordered them.
“The dragon knocked her down,” Carter replied.
“Let me see what I can do for you. You must have your heart-song with you, lads. She’ll be a very useful ally, come later this evening.”
Jemlock picked the bird up and, puffing out his cheeks, gently blew on her. Seconds later, her eyes fluttered open, and she began tweeting her sweet tune again. She really poured it on strong when she realized the dragon was no longer a danger to them.
“Now lads, I would love to stick around and chat but I’ve got me work cut out for me. Besides, you two have more adventures to come, now don’t you?”
The boys continue to stare silently at this small, but mighty warrior.
“Cat got your tongue? That’s understandable, considering… The fellas you’re about to have a go at are an unruly lot, but they consider themselves quite cultured. I personally think they’re a bit puffed up and full of themselves.”
The boys shrugged their shoulders, not sure what Jemlock meant.
“Conceited, snobby, you know.” Jemlock scratched his head. “They’re not all bad, but you’ll have to do a bit of fancy footwork to get your way with them. And the one who holds the key to the entry into the palace, well, he’s a nasty one for sure, yes he is! He’s filled with something worse than snobbery.” Jemlock glanced down at his watch. “All righty then, no more time for chit-chat. I’ve already rambled too much, and me own spells will be wearing off if I don’t dig me heels in. So, Miss Lani here will take you to the edge of the forest, I’m certain you’ll find your way from there. Ta-ta! Oh,” Jemlock lowered his voice, becoming far more serious than before, “And good luck. Godspeed.”
Miss Lani flew out ahead, and the boys turned back to see Jemlock standing over the dragon with his jeweled sword raised high above his head. He winked at them and yelled, “Beat the queen, and this here lug will provide the whole island and then some with quite a feast!” He brought the sword down across the dragon’s neck. The boys grimaced and turned away, not wanting to watch. It was pretty disgusting. “Don’t you worry, lads, he won’t feel a thing.”
Mason and Carter faced forward and followed Miss Lani. After a few moments of silence—other than the heart-song’s tweeting—Carter finally said, “That was kind of weird, huh?”
“What?”
“You know, meeting Jemlock. I mean, like, he’s our hero and all when we’re kicking the game’s butt, but to meet him in person…weird,” Carter said.
“I think they call that surreal. It’s kind of like having a dream, but it’s real.”
“Yeah, exactly. It was surreal. I never expected it to happen, and if I ever thought it would, even in this bizarre situation we’re in, I would’ve never thought it would be like that.”
“I know what you mean. I thought he’d be more like a hero. But he was really more a regular guy,” Mason announced.
“I don’t know about that, Mason. I don’t know too many ordinary guys willing to chop the head off a dragon. I’m pretty glad he came along. You know I have this thing about blood.”
“Uh-hmm.” For the first time ever, Mason didn’t make fun of his brother’s phobia about blood. Carter usually passed out at the sight of it, especially when it was his own. He was not a good candidate in the doctor’s office. Mason usually had a field day teasing him once he woke up and had to drink a cup of orange juice.
But today was different. Carter’s fears were okay, and nothing to be made fun of. The kid had more than proved himself in this venture, and Mason had a newfound respect for his younger brother.
“Anyway, where do you think she’s taking us?” Carter pointed up at Miss Lani who flew up ahead.
“Not sure. I skimmed the guidebook but since we’ve never made it this far in the game, I never really read much about this level. If I remember right, I think the book said something about the palace guards being ghostly and famous.”
“What do you think that means?” Carter asked.
Mason hesitated before answering. He had a bit of an idea as to the ghostly part, but as for the famous, he wasn’t sure. He thought about not letting Carter in on his thoughts. But what good would that do? If he were right, they’d both be prepared, and if he were wrong, well…then, he’d be wrong, and they’d face that obstacle when they came to it. “Remember last Halloween when Dad took us to that Nightmare on Frightmare Street haunted house?”
“Yeah,” Carter said in a timid voice. He hadn’t cared much for it. Mason had acted as if he’d enjoyed it, but Carter remembered his brother switching their nightlight on for about a week or two afterwards. He used the excuse that he’d been getting up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. Carter hadn’t believed him, but didn’t want to get smacked, so he’d let it go. As far as he’d been concerned at the time, the nightlight was a really good idea. The haunted house their dad had taken them to had been very scary and pretty darn authentic looking. Even Dad made a comment about it being a bit too real, and maybe they wouldn’t go back to it next year. Neither had protested.
“I remember the Nightmare on Frightmare Street house. Why?”
“Because I’ve got a feeling where we’re headed is going to be something like that, only worse.”
Carter made a face. “I wish I hadn’t asked.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
THE MASTER SOULS
Tired, hungry, scared, and beaten down, the boys carried on. They knew they were almost there, and at this point they were ready to take on just about anything that got in their way. They’d fought off a tyrannosaurus rex, avoided being destroyed by acid poop bombs dropped from vicious pterodactyls; they’d climbed the ferocious volcano and frozen the lava monster; they’d fought off a man-eating, robotic shark and bloodthirsty pirates; they’d dealt with rabid faeries and one hungry, fire-breathing dragon. Whatever was waiting for them behind the doors of the house they were standing in front of, couldn’t be any worse than what they’d already encountered. This freaky looking dump was what their mother would refer to as charming— minus the cobwebs and rickety stairs on the porch.
They trudged on, tiptoeing through what reminded Mason of his mother’s rose garden. It was odd to see a run-down house with such a lovely garden. The roses smelled almost like his mother’s and he had to fight back tears. Mason really wanted to go home. He knew Carter did, too. But neither boy was leaving without their sister, and so they continued on. As they neared the front steps, they could hear music coming from inside. Carter stopped.
“What is it?” Mason asked.
“Mozart. Whoever is in there is playing Mozart. In fact, they’re playing Eine Kleine Nacht Musik. That’s German for ‘a little night music.’”
“You would know that,” Mason noted sarcastically. He actually thought it was kind of cool Carter knew so much about music, but he certainly would never let on. He was also a little jealous because art and music were something Carte
r and Mom had in common. The two of them would talk and share these things all the time. Sure, their mom also liked to talk about gymnastics, since she’d done that as a kid, too; but Mason always wanted to be the center of attention. He’d learned when you had siblings, there was no getting around the sharing thing or the jealousy that came with it.
“So, who do you think is in there?” Carter interrupted his thoughts, as they took their first step onto the stairs.
“You got me, but I think we’re about to find out.”
Mason reached out to the front door knob of the dilapidated old house and turned it. It swung open, and the music became much louder. They took a step inside, and the door slammed shut behind them. They both jumped.
Carter yelled, “Agh!” as a large spider fell down onto his face.
“Cleaning lady hasn’t been by for awhile,” said a man dressed in an old-fashioned, expensive dark suit.
He was also semi-transparent. This dude was unquestionably a ghost.
“I’m Mr. Poe. Edgar Allan, to be exact. We’ve been expecting you.” He stretched out his see-through arms, gesturing around him.
The boys’ glanced behind Poe into the large living room, where quite a few apparitions lurked. Carter recognized some: the artist, Van Gogh, his ear still missing, Shakespeare, writing at a desk with a quill and parchment, and, of course, Mozart himself. Carter was in awe. Rather than feeling fearful, he was elated. This was so cool! But he could see by the look on Mason’s face that he didn’t share Carter’s excitement. Mason was pale. He was actually shaking.
“It’s okay, Mason,” whispered Carter. “I don’t think any of these ghosts are out to get us. They’re famous artists, musicians, and writers.”
“I don’t care who they are,” Mason muttered. “If they’re in this game, they’re out to get us.”
“On the contrary,” Mr. Poe interrupted. “You see, we don’t want to be here, no more than either of you. No, not a one of us. Queen Zamora has enslaved all of our souls for the genius we once possessed. There are spirits here from all sorts of universes and planets. They are what she calls master souls, and, according to her, when she conquers Boysen, all of our abilities will join together as an energy force and become part of her. Not even our souls, as tormented as they are, will continue to exist. We will cease to be. She will have captured our very essences.”
The Clover Siblings and the Evil of Desmal Page 10