Quest for the Keys

by Scholastic

  Farran sucked in his gut and said bravely, “Well … we have one …”

  “But who made it?!” Skyra stomped her foot on the stone floor. The elves and Emily looked at one another uneasily. “No matter,” Skyra continued. “You’ve come this far. But to open the portal, you need more than just those keys. Go back to where you started because I will never let you pass!”

  The word never echoed over and over. Emily felt the sorrow of the atmosphere beginning to overtake her, but she couldn’t get discouraged now!

  “Madame Guardian,” she said, bravely stepping forward. “We don’t mean to disturb you—”

  “Silence!” Skyra pounded a tall walking staff, making the floor quake. “That portal was built for one special person. Now she is gone, and it will never be used again!”

  “I need to go through it!” Emily wailed. Skyra looked at her stonily. Emily turned and walked a few steps away, and her friends gathered around her.

  “What should we do now?” Azari asked.

  “Well, we actually haven’t followed the map’s last instruction,” Naida reminded them. “Emily’s clue.”

  “That’s right!” Emily grabbed the map, and it shimmered. The message that had appeared for her before when they first started out—which felt so long ago—appeared again. She read, “Greetings, Four Elements and Girl from Another World. You will need each other to claim the legacy of the sisters.”

  “Oh!” Aira said, catching on. “We worked together, but now we have to ‘claim the legacy of the sisters!’ ”

  “But we aren’t sisters,” Farran said. “Plus, in case you forgot, I’m a boy!”

  “You’re like a sister to me,” Azari said with a laugh. “And there are five of us. In the legend, the sisters opened the portal with the keys. So that’s what we have to do!”

  “Are you forgetting the Queen of Mean?” Farran asked. Imitating Skyra’s voice, he said, “NEVER!”

  “What was that?!” Skyra shouted angrily.

  “Er … nothing,” Farran replied guiltily.

  “Finding all the keys also seemed impossible at first,” Emily said. “But we always found a way!”

  “So what’s the plan?” Farran said.

  “No plan,” Azari said. “Action!” She rushed toward the throne, catching Skyra off guard. The other elves were right behind her, all using their magic any way they could think of. Skyra raised her staff and a gust of wind blew Azari’s small fireball into a gigantic flame. The elves zigzagged across the room, dodging the fire.

  Azari used her magic to sweep the flames together into one area, and Naida called up water from the moat to extinguish the blaze.

  Then Skyra conjured a mighty hurricane wind, but Aira was able to turn it into a tiny harmless breeze.

  Skyra’s wind encouraged wild vines to curl in through the windows like snakes, threatening to attack them, but Farran cut off the ends and turned them into a bouquet, while Azari’s fire caused the vines to shrivel back.

  Emily hung back, shouting, “Farran! To your left!” and “Azari—duck!”

  One by one, each elf reached the wall to thrust their key into the corresponding keyhole and turn it.

  Finally, the fourth key was in … but the portal didn’t open.

  “I told you,” Skyra said. “The keys aren’t enough!”

  All the magic fighting stopped.

  Emily was devastated. Her sorrow mingled with Skyra’s, and the castle seemed darker than ever. The portal wasn’t open. She had lost all hope. She was going to be in Elvendale forever.

  The elves gathered around Emily, holding her tight as they walked toward the door.

  Emily couldn’t believe it was going to end this way. Her chest was tight and her tears flowed freely.

  Before they left the room, Emily turned back and took one last look at Skyra. The Guardian sat with her head hung low, taking heavy breaths.

  Suddenly, Emily knew what to do.

  “I think Skyra is doing this to us because she’s filled with so much sorrow she can’t bear to see anyone else happy. She’s heartbroken,” Emily said. Thinking of the love she still felt for her grandmother, she continued, “I know exactly how that feels. It’s endless sadness. Your heart feels shattered into a zillion pieces, and you don’t think it can be mended.” She touched the cool medallion around her neck.

  “How do you heal a broken heart?” Farran asked. “I can fix things, but nothing that would help now.”

  “I can invent things,” Aira said. “But this is bigger than my talents, too.”

  “I …” Emily thought about her walk in Grandmother’s garden. She’d gone there to make her own heart feel better. Now that she had had this adventure, and had shared Grandmother’s song and some of her stories with new friends on the way, she realized she did feel better. “Let me try.”

  Emily approached the throne. “Skyra, I understand what it’s like to lose someone you love. It hurts in a way you didn’t think was possible. But maybe if you help us, your heart will begin to heal.”

  Skyra turned her head away, but Emily could tell she was still listening.

  “You feel like you’ll be lonely forever, right? Like it’ll always be this bad.” She took the chain from around her neck and held it up so the blue pendant caught a tiny ray of light that streamed in from a crumbled window.

  “My grandmother gave me this medallion to keep her close in my heart,” Emily said quietly. She took the necklace off and looked at the stone on her palm. Skyra raised her head, and Emily nearly dropped the pendant as the stone became a bright, glimmering blue—just as it had when she’d first come through the portal to Elvendale.

  What was even more shocking was that the top of Skyra’s staff also began to glow the same blue.

  Emily stared at the staff. Skyra stared at the medallion.

  Tipping her head, eyes filled with confusion, Skyra began to sing softly …

  “Earth moves the air,

  And the wind feeds the fire.

  Magic is here,

  If you dare to believe …”

  Emily joined in for the next verse, their voices getting louder and stronger as they sang together.

  “Sail out to sea

  On an ocean of mystery,

  And bring your heart

  To the ones that you meet.”

  Suddenly, the sorrow that coated the castle lifted. A burst of magic came from Skyra’s staff. The walls repaired themselves, and light filled the room. Fresh air blew in through the little windows, clearing the dust and dirt. Flowers bloomed from vines that crept in through the windows and now decorated the walls. A rainbow arched across the center of the room.

  “How do you know that song?” Emily asked Skyra.

  “It is the song of the five sisters,” Skyra replied. Emily noticed how beautiful she was now that her sadness had been swept away. Skyra looked closely at Emily, really seeing her for the first time. She smiled at Emily’s ears. “I know who you are!”

  “You do?” Emily asked, completely shocked.

  “Yes,” Skyra answered, looking a little shocked herself. “If I am right, your grandmother was the fifth sister in the legend.”

  The air felt suddenly thick. Emily was stunned. “No. That’s not possible.”

  With a thoughtful gaze, Skyra squinted and asked, “Tell me, what is your name?”

  “I’m Emily,” she replied. “Emily Jones.”

  Skyra surprised them by laughing happily. “Of course! Emily Jones, granddaughter of Emily and Richard Jones.”

  “But … how?” As Emily considered this stunning information, the elves gathered around her.

  “I never thought this day would come,” Skyra said. “Welcome, Emily Jones!”

  “So her grandmother was one of the sisters!” Aira whispered to Farran, who replied, “I knew it all along!”

  Skyra explained, “She was not an elf, and she struggled to live in this magical world. She had those crazy round ears! She eventually discovered another wo
rld full of people like her, but realized that if she stayed there, she would become mortal.” Shaking her head, Skyra added, “It was the hardest decision of her entire life, and she put off making it. But then she met Richard.”

  “Grandfather?” Emily asked.

  “Yes. She fell in love and followed her heart to him.” Skyra touched her own heart and said, “Though she did not have any magic, your grandmother had the greatest gift of all.”

  “I don’t understand,” Emily said. “What was her gift if it wasn’t magic?”

  “Her love.” Skyra helped Emily hang the medallion back around her neck. “You have shown that same love in your kindness to me, your courage, and your ability to unite these elves of the four elements on this quest.”

  “It’s true!” Naida said. “We all worked together.”

  Skyra said, “I no longer need to protect the portal from this side. From today forward, you will able to travel back and forth whenever Elvendale calls you. Emily Jones, your love is the final key needed to open the portal.”

  “My love? Elvendale is going to call?” Emily wasn’t sure what that meant. She started to ask. “I—”

  “Emily, look,” Skyra pointed her staff, and in the center of the room was the portal. It was an oval of swirling blue fog, sparkling and magical. Flickering images of earth, fire, wind, and water mingled together in the mist. “The portal is open to you now,” Skyra said. “Your home is waiting.”

  “I need to say good-bye,” Emily said, feeling like she wanted to leave and wanted to stay at the same time.

  The elves clearly felt as conflicted as Emily.

  “We know you have to go, but we wish you could stay in Elvendale!” Azari said.

  Emily replied, “Thank you all for your amazing kindness. I’ll never forget it.”

  Aira leapt forward and hugged Emily tight. “That’s right, you won’t! Because this isn’t good-bye. It’s more like ‘see ya.’ ”

  Naida and Azari jumped in with more hugs. “We love you!”

  Farran wrapped his arms around all the girls. “I knew you were special when I saw those ears!”

  “Our not-an-elf,” Azari said, just as she had when they first met. “Little Ears Emily.”

  Everyone laughed.

  “Now, my dear,” Skyra told Emily, escorting her to the edge of the mist. “One more thing. You must not tell anyone about the portal. Elvendale is a special place, and we need to keep it safe.”

  “Of course.” Emily nodded. She desperately wanted to protect her new friends and all of Elvendale.

  Suddenly, an owl fluttered into the castle. A white owl with a golden markings on his chest! He settled on the edge of Skyra’s throne and watched.

  Golden Glow whinnied from the corner, and bowed low toward Emily.

  “You know what to do.” Skyra said with a warm smile. “The heart knows the way …”

  Emily ran into Grandmother’s house shouting, “I’m back!”

  “Oh, good,” her mother said. “We were just finishing up here. Ready to go?”

  “What?” Emily said. “But I’ve been gone for so long! I thought you’d be worried.”

  Her father looked at his watch and chuckled. “It’s only been twenty minutes! You and your imagination …”

  “But …”

  Emily looked at her parents. Her journey had really happened! But, here, in her world, it was as if no time had passed at all.

  She wished she could tell her parents about her adventures. She’d sailed across the sea in a boat, met a squirrel, eaten at a bakery at the base of an active volcano, and flown through the sky with two pegasi. She’d made wonderful new friends, experienced lots of magic, and helped solve clues to help get her home. And she’d met Skyra, who missed Grandmother as much as she did …

  But Emily had promised Skyra she wouldn’t tell anyone. And, honestly, she doubted her parents would believe her, anyway.

  “We have something to ask you,” her mother cut in to her thoughts. “It’s important.”

  Emily held her breath. What could it be? Did they somehow know about Elvendale?

  “We were wondering,” her father said. “How would you like to live here? We know how much you love the garden. If you’d like, we can all move into Grandmother’s house. It’ll become ours.”

  Emily jumped up and wrapped her arms around her parents. “I’d love it!” She glanced over their shoulders into the garden, toward the tree where she’d gone through the portal.

  “Wow,” her mom said. “We didn’t know you’d be so excited.”

  “I am!” Emily said. “Can we stay here tonight?”

  “Of course,” her father told her. “Why don’t you go get washed up for dinner.” He looked down at her tennis shoes and shook his head. “Those things sure are dirty!”

  Emily laughed. She ran to the room that was now hers, and sat on the bed.

  “Whoa!” She leapt up and turned around. The abstract painting hanging over her bed actually depicted four keys! In all the nights she’d slept in this room visiting Grandmother, she’d never noticed. As she looked closer at the overlapping keys, she saw that behind one key was a cloud; behind another, flames; behind the third, a tree; and behind the fourth, a wave.

  Emily was shocked. She’d always thought the painting was just some crazy modern art that Grandmother had picked up at a flea market. Now she wondered if maybe Grandmother had painted it herself.

  “I love you, Grandmother,” she said out loud. She sat on the bed, and felt something lumpy in her pocket. “Strange. I thought I gave all the cookies to the dragon,” Emily muttered.

  It was the map, folded and tucked neatly into her jeans.

  Emily smiled as she unfolded it. She set it on her bedside table, and weighed it down with the medallion.

  “Dinner!” her mother shouted from down the hall.

  “Coming!” Emily called. To the map, she said, “I will be back in Elvendale in no time. I know it!”

  As Emily closed the door to her room, she didn’t see the medallion begin to glow a most brilliant blue …

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  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  e-ISBN 978-0-545-91357-7

  First printing 2015

  Cover design by Becky James and Angela Jun

  Cover art by Scott Brooks