Quest for the Keys

by Scholastic

  “Yes!” Naida gave a clumsy high five to everyone in reach. “We have three of the four keys now! This is brilliant!”

  “Just one more,” Azari said, snatching up the key. “Then, hopefully, off to the castle.” She thrust the map to Aira. “Don’t let us down!”

  Locating the final key was proving to be more difficult than they first thought. The map had showed it on top of a mountain, which Emily and the elves had been climbing for hours. But after they got partway up, the image of the key started moving! It had been moving around on the map ever since, but kept coming back to the mountain they were on.

  They stopped for a break. Everyone was breathing heavily.

  “The clue hasn’t even appeared yet!” Emily complained. Her toes hurt. She wished she’d worn boots into Grandmother’s garden instead of her cute, but flimsy, sneakers.

  “Why won’t the key stay still?” Aira asked, frustrated.

  “We’ll never catch it!” Naida moaned. Azari and Farran were up ahead, scouting the area.

  Emily and Aira studied the map some more. The key went from the highest mountain peak to a valley to a steep cliff. “I bet the key is in the sky!” Aira realized. She held her arms up, concentrating, and starting to give off a light purple glow. But then she stopped. “I can’t bring it any closer with my magic. Hey, maybe I could build us a net!”

  “I could call over some vines to help make it,” Farran said. “But I don’t know if a net can move fast enough to catch that thing.”

  “This mountain is too high,” Azari said. This was the first time that Emily had heard her sounding so discouraged.

  “Maybe we should turn back,” Naida said.

  “But we need that key,” Azari replied with a heavy groan.

  “We just might not be able to get it,” Aira countered.

  “Emily could live in the water caves with me,” Naida suggested.

  That comment made Emily’s heart start to pound heavily. Elvendale was beautiful and magical, but it wasn’t her home! She needed to find a way back. And now the group was arguing about whether or not they should even still try to find the fourth key!

  Emily stepped away, feeling overwhelmed by the possibility of failure. She sat with her head on her knees, breathing deeply, trying not to cry.

  Soon she felt a hand on her shoulder. It was Naida, who asked, “Are you okay?”

  Emily shook her head and let it all out in a burst. “I’m sorry,” she said with a sniff. “I just feel homesick. It seems like we’re so close, but it also seems so impossible. Even if we do figure out how to get the key, we still don’t know if we can find the portal! And if we do find the portal, can we can open it?” She sniffed one more time. “I know you meant well when you said I could stay with you, but I want to go home. I’m starting to be afraid I may never see my family again.”

  By this time, everyone else had stopped bickering and moved closer to Emily. “I’m so sorry, Emily,” Azari said.

  “I know!” Aira announced. “To cheer us all up, I could sing!”

  “No!” everyone else exclaimed, their voices echoing off the mountain.

  Azari quickly followed with, “We mean, uh, no thanks. But maybe Emily could sing her grandmother’s song again. It was so nice.”

  Emily agreed, thinking that the song would at least help take her mind off her heartache. She felt so much love from her grandmother whenever she sang the song. Maybe it would give them added strength to track down that last key!

  She felt a tingle inside as she started to hum at first, then sang the words:

  “Earth moves the air,

  And the wind feeds the fire.

  Magic is here

  If you dare to believe …”

  Suddenly, the trees began to sway and a heavy breeze blew dirt around them. Emily looked up and saw two winged horses flying their way!

  “Wow. Pegasi!” Naida exclaimed. “I don’t know if you have any of those in your world, Emily, but seeing even one pegasus is rare in Elvendale.”

  Emily couldn’t tear her eyes away from the amazing creatures. The winged horses had snow-white, unblemished coats. They soared through the air, gentle and graceful, as if on clouds. She felt like they must have come for a reason.

  “Beautiful!” Emily gasped. “Aira, can you talk to them, since they fly?”

  “It can’t hurt to ask them to help us,” Naida encouraged Aira.

  Aira looked thoughtful. “I’ve only tweeted birds before. You would not believe how much they gossip! But pegasi do have wings …”

  She raised her arms toward the horses, sending magic their way. Emily felt a new surge of hope—which changed to panic as the pegasi sped down toward them at lightning speed!

  “Are they going to stop in time?” Emily shouted.

  They did, landing lightly near Aira. She approached them slowly, bowing respectfully as she went. Soon Aira was whispering softly to them. Emily looked on in awe.

  Aira turned to the others, face shining. “Their names are Starshine and Rufus—and they want to help!”

  As everyone gathered around the pegasi, Aira said to Emily, “It was your song.”

  “What?” Emily didn’t understand. “Grandmother’s song?”

  “Actually, I don’t think I am explaining this right,” Aira said. “It wasn’t the actual tune. Starshine told me they’d been called here by a feeling. It was like a magnet that pulled them to us. I think it was you.”

  “Wow!” Emily said. That wasn’t what she had been expecting.

  Aira smiled. “Just thought you should know.” She spoke with the winged horses again, then announced, “Two pegasi can’t carry four elves and a girl up a mountain.”

  “Darn it!” Azari exclaimed. “Should we split up?”

  Emily felt like there must be a way for them to stick together. She looked around, really paying attention to their surroundings for the first time in a while—she’d been too wrapped up in her homesickness to notice much before. There was a windmill nearby!

  She called to the others, “Could two pegasi pull us all in some sort of cart?”

  Farran turned in the direction Emily was looking. “Oh! We can use wood from that windmill,” he said.

  “Yes! We’ll make a sleigh!” Aira exclaimed, and started shouting instructions to everyone. They all got to work.

  Farran’s tools came in handy, though the sleigh they built still ended up a little rickety.

  “Do you think it’ll fly?” Emily asked Farran.

  “It might, but it won’t be safe,” he replied, looking skeptical.

  Azari, usually so brave, was starting to turn the same shade of green as Farran’s clothing the longer she looked at the sleigh. “This might be a bad idea,” Azari said as Aira connected the sleigh to the pegasi.

  They all climbed on board, and the horses started flapping their wings. As Aira began using her wind magic, the sleigh rose from the ground. Emily felt a thrill run through her.

  Farran was clearly trying to be supportive, and let out a weak, “Wahoo!” but then closed his eyes and clenched his seat.

  “It’s still not too late to change our minds!” Azari muttered, grabbing Emily for support.

  Emily was surprised that she didn’t feel scared. She trusted Aira’s magic, and knowing that there was something about her that had brought the pegasi to them gave her strength.

  “Starshine and Rufus, give us wings!” Aira shouted as she called forth a strong gust of wind.

  They lifted off. Emily tingled with nerves and excitement.

  “This is amaaaaaaazing!” she shrieked. In Elvendale, the magical surprises never seemed to end!

  Naida laughed as the wind whipped her hair. She was loving it as much as Emily. “I’m always in water,” she said. “But flying is wonderful!”

  “Now where is that key?” Aira asked. “It must be somewhere near here.” She scanned the sky.

  “Find it fast so we can slow down!” Azari begged.

  Naida said, “L
ook at the map—it’s still showing the key moving all over the place.”

  Finally, the clue appeared. Aira read the golden letters. “The key is a mouthful …”

  “Is that it? That doesn’t make sense,” Farran said. “But ‘mouthful’ reminds me that I’m kind of hungry.”

  “You are not!” Azari told him. “We are in a scary situation. It’s not the time for snacks!”

  “Danger makes me hungry!” He rubbed his tummy.

  “I have some of Johnny’s cookies,” Emily said, pulling them out.

  Farran reached for one, then immediately dropped it into the sky. “Draaaaagoooon!”

  “What did he say?” Emily asked Naida, watching the cookie fall and fall toward the earth until it disappeared from sight.

  Naida touched Emily’s arm, then pointed up. Above them on a mountain ledge sat a dragon. A real dragon! Emily was in shock.

  The dragon took off, circling once around them, then landing back on his perch.

  Emily was looking at the map in Aira’s hands.

  “Did you see that?” she asked the elves.

  “No!” Farran said. “My eyes are closed.”

  “Mine, too,” Azari admitted.

  “When the dragon circled us, so did the key on the map.” Emily considered the clue. “Mouthful. Oh no!”

  “You know where the key is?” Aira asked.

  “I think the fourth key is in the dragon’s mouth! That’s the answer to the riddle,” Emily said. The elves all gasped, but Emily was lost in thought, remembering the snapdragons in the garden, the flowers that looked like tiny little dragon mouths. What had Grandmother said about them? “Dragons get mean when they are hungry, so be sure to feed them treats and keep their tummies full. I hear they like cookies.” Cookies!

  “Aira?” Emily asked, “Can you make cookies fly?”

  A few moments later, Aira gently tossed a cookie up to the dragon, keeping it afloat longer than would’ve been possible without magic. The dragon spotted it and leapt after it eagerly. He dove for it, but missed. Aira tossed another and another, but each time the dragon missed the cookie.

  “C’mon! Save the chocolate chip ones,” Farran said, rubbing his belly.

  “Sorry,” Emily said, handing Aira the final cookie. “This is the last one!”

  The dragon was ready—and when he opened his mouth to snatch it up, something shiny fell out.

  “There it is!” Emily pointed at the glittering speck falling fast toward the earth below. “The key!”

  “We’ll never find it if it hits the ground,” Azari yelled at Aira. “Do something!”

  “On it!” Aira steered the pegasi downward. The sleigh dove straight toward the ground.

  Azari screamed. Farran’s mouth was wide open in terror, but no sound came out.

  Emily felt dizzy as the sleigh jolted and spiraled toward the sharp rocks below.

  “Where’s Aira?” Naida said suddenly.

  Emily snapped her head to look. Aira wasn’t at the reins!

  “Whaddya mean, where’s Aira?!” Azari shrieked.

  Farran found his voice. “What is haaappppennnninnnngg?!”

  A loud whistle brought Emily’s attention to the side of the sleigh. She leaned over, and there was Aira—hanging on to the edge, holding a purple key.

  Emily and Naida pulled her back inside, and she directed the pegasi to head back up into the air, just in time. They all hugged, relieved and happy.

  “We have all four keys!” Emily cheered. They had done it. All that was left was finding the portal. Could it get her home?

  There was only one way to find out. She announced, “To the castle!”

  As they soared through the sky, Emily felt energized. Her heart was full with everything she had experienced in Elvendale, and she hoped that she would soon be back in her own world.

  Once she got home, she’d miss her new friends, of course. Would she ever see the elves again? She thought of the owl that she’d followed into Elvendale, and wondered if any of the animals her friends could talk to, like Pluma or Miss Spry, could pass through the portal, too. Maybe they could bring messages back and forth, and she could be pen pals with the elves …

  “Whoa.” Aira slowed the pegasi, causing Emily to look up. There on the horizon, rising through the mist, was a dark, mysterious stone structure.

  Was this the castle? The gray walls were dirty and crumbling. Wild vines had grown to the tops of the towers. Thick bushes with sharp, pointed thorns covered the ground. There was a moat, but it held only a trickle of dirty water.

  “It looks sad,” Emily said as they landed lightly near the fortress.

  “Look at all those vines and bushes,” Naida remarked. “Will we be able to get past them?”

  “Yep,” Farran said with confidence. He stood in the sleigh and raised his hands to work his magic, then turned to them and said, “Something is happening—my magic is surging! I feel supercharged! Check this out.” With a flick of his wrist, the vines and bushes began to move.

  “We’ll call you Fantastic Farran,” Azari said, cheering him on.

  “Ferocious Farran,” Farran corrected with a dramatic growl.

  Under Farran’s new power, the ground beneath them rumbled. Was this what an earthquake felt like? Emily was a little scared.

  Even though Farran’s magic was strong, the plants seemed to be resisting him. Emily could practically feel them shouting, “Go away! You aren’t welcome here!”

  “Someone used some serious magic to make it hard for anyone to get in!” Farran cried.

  Finally, with a resounding crash, the vines gave way, revealing an arched entryway.

  “Awesome job!” Aira said.

  “I’ve gotta say … Not bad, Ferocious,” Azari said, giving Farran a friendly smack on the back.

  While the others joked, Emily seemed to be the only one with a sense of foreboding. The entryway looked dark and unfriendly. There were torches along the way, but untended, they gave off mere glints of light, heavy with smoke.

  Emily could tell the pegasi sensed whatever danger she did—they seemed eager to leave. As soon as Aira unhooked the reins, the pegasi took off into the sky.

  The group walked through the entrance and down a passage lit with a lone dim torch. Azari used her magic power to take and enhance a ball of fire from the torch to illuminate their path.

  Naida said, “It’s odd, but I am feeling the same as Farran did—that my magic is somehow much more powerful. And I have a strong feeling that we should go this way …” She led them down a hall until a gigantic waterfall blocked their path. The water was black, full of dirt and soot. Naida closed her eyes and twisted her wrist—and the water changed to a brilliant, sparkling blue! She waved her arms and created an opening for them all to pass through.

  “Wow,” Emily said softly to herself. When the water changed color, the castle seemed a little brighter. Just a tiny bit, but Emily could feel it.

  Around the next corner, they encountered a wide lava flow.

  “Got it,” Azari said. She started using her magic, and also noticed that she was stronger. This time, she could easily part the lava flow so they could all pass. “Piece of Johnny’s cake!” Azari said.

  Past the lava was a staircase that led them up and up into a dimly lit cavernous room. Shadows danced across the walls.

  Suddenly, something rustled up ahead.

  Aira shrieked, but Azari said, “Don’t be afraid. It’s another pegasus!”

  “That doesn’t mean this one is as nice as the others,” Naida said.

  “True,” Farran said. “Every family has a bad apple.” He quickly added, “Not mine, of course …”

  Aira took a deep breath. “Actually, I am feeling supermagic right now, too!” she said. With confidence, Aira slowly approached the creature and bowed low.

  Everyone waited in frozen silence. Finally, the pegasus bowed back to Aira.

  “This is Golden Glow!” Aira told them at last. “He says he knows wh
ere we need to go and he’ll lead us there.”

  That was great news!

  Emily’s nerves settled as they followed Golden Glow. The castle didn’t seem as scary now that they had a leader who knew the way.

  He took them up more stairs, through crumbling doorways, and into a huge room, bigger even than the one where they’d found him. Emily thought that Grandmother’s whole house could probably have fit into this room.

  Then she realized the room wasn’t empty. There was a large black throne tucked tightly in the shadows against the back wall. Golden Glow walked over to it.

  Azari was the first to follow the pegasus. She revived a dying torch, revealing four small keyholes in a wall near the chair. “That must be how we open the portal,” she said, holding her key up.

  “We did it!” Aira cheered. She, Naida, and Farran got their keys out as well, and Emily felt a rush of love for her new friends. They’d done this together. And in a few minutes, she’d be home again.

  A rustling sound made them all freeze.

  “Um, was that Golden Glow?” Farran hissed.

  “Azari, can you make it brighter in here?” Emily whispered. “I think somebody’s in that throne!”

  Emily squinted as Azari raised the fire on the wall torch, casting away the shadows to reveal a woman, tall and thin, dressed in a dusty white and purple robe. She was staring at them with a clouded expression.

  In the glow of Azari’s flame, Emily could see the woman’s eyes were rimmed in red, with dark circles below them. This must be where the castle’s sadness came from. This woman, whoever she was, had so much sorrow the entire mountaintop shared it with her.

  The woman’s eyes widened. “You are not welcome here,” she said. Golden Glow whinnied. “Leave now, or face the consequences.”

  “We’ve come so far …” Emily said in a cracked voice. She could see the keyholes. They had the keys. “Please,” she asked, “who are you?”

  “I am Skyra, Guardian of the Portal,” the woman announced in a low whisper that echoed eerily through the room. “How did you get here?” she demanded.

  Naida reluctantly held up the map.

  “Where did you get that?” Skyra’s voice boomed through the cavernous space. “There has never been a map to the portal.”