by Tony Abbott
Title Page
Dedication
1. The Magic Staircase
2. The Land of Living Trees
3. Mirror, Mirror, in the Sub
4. Welcome to Panjibarrh!
5. A Hidden Village
6. A New Enemy?
7. The Powers of Sparr
8. The Bronze Giant
9. Dust Is Our Friend
10. One Last Thing?
The Adventure Continues …
Also Available
Copyright
Bing-bing-bing!
It was early Saturday morning.
Eric Hinkle bounced up from his bed and shut off the alarm. He stared into the dim light, trying to recall his dream. Then he remembered it.
“Oh, no,” he groaned. “Another night without dreaming of Droon!”
Dreaming was important.
After Eric and his friends visited Droon, Princess Keeah told them that their dreams would tell them when to return. But it had been two weeks since anyone had dreamed of Droon.
That meant something was wrong.
Very wrong.
“The magic has to keep working,” Eric said to himself. “It just has to!”
He dressed quickly and snuck down to the kitchen. He tiptoed to the back door and unlocked it. His best friend, Neal Kroger, slid in quietly.
“What’s to eat?” Neal asked.
Eric stared at him. “Never mind food,” he said. “What did you dream about last night?”
Neal took a deep breath. “The usual. Pizza.”
Eric moaned. “Pizza? No wonder you’re hungry.”
“In my dream I was sitting in the middle of a humongous pizza,” Neal said. “And I had to eat my way out to the crust. What about you?”
Eric sighed. “I was hitting a metal garbage can with a broomstick. Bing, bang, bong all night.”
“Did it wake your parents?” Neal asked.
Eric gave him a look. “No. Then I woke up and realized it was just my alarm going off.”
Neal shook his head as they tramped down the stairs to the basement. “Doesn’t sound like we’ll be going to Droon today,” he said.
“I can’t believe this,” Eric groaned.
He remembered the first time he, Neal, and Julie discovered the magic entrance to Droon.
They were cleaning up Eric’s messy basement when they found a small closet hidden under the stairs.
They went inside, flicked off the light, and — whoosh! — the floor turned into a rainbow-colored staircase.
Of course they went down the stairs.
Soon, they met Princess Keeah and the wizard Galen. They helped them fight a wicked and very powerful sorcerer named Lord Sparr. They had gone on lots of adventures since then.
Until now.
“What about the soccer ball?” Neal asked.
Princess Keeah had put a spell on their soccer ball. It would float in the air and become a globe of Droon when she needed them most.
Eric shook his head. “It’s busted. Look.”
He picked up the ball from its place on the workbench. He dropped the ball to the floor.
Boing! It bounced back.
“This ball is only good for playing soccer.”
Neal twisted his face into a frown. “Keeah said we’d return to Droon as long as the magic keeps working. I guess we’re not going back.”
“Oh, man!” Eric whined. “Julie will be sad.”
“Or mad,” Neal said. “We’d better tell her.”
“Tell me what?” Julie said as she ran down the stairs. “Your mom said it was okay to come down, Eric. Am I too early?”
“More like too late,” Eric said, shooting a look at Neal. “You didn’t happen to have a dream about Droon last night, did you?”
Julie shook her head. “No …”
“That’s it,” Neal said. “Good-bye, Droon.”
Julie grinned. “I mean, no, it wasn’t just any dream….” She headed straight for the door under the stairs.
“What?” Eric turned to her. “You mean —”
Julie laughed. “Last night I had the ultimate dream about Droon! I was floating high over the countryside. Then I saw a bunch of crowns — gold crowns — just sitting on a hilltop in the middle of no-where!”
“Cool!” Neal exclaimed.
“But,” Julie continued, “the coolest part was that I had a crown, too. I was Princess Julie! It was so awesome. We are definitely going back. Now!”
“Yes — yes — yes!” Eric yelled. “Let’s do it!”
Julie quickly pulled open the small door. She waved her hand in. “Enter.”
They all piled in. Neal closed the door.
Julie flicked off the light.
Click! It was dark for an instant. Then —
Whoosh! The floor vanished beneath them. In its place was the top step of the magical rainbow-colored staircase. The staircase to Droon.
Eric jumped. “It’s so good to be going back!”
“What can I say?” Julie said. “I’m special.”
“You better believe it!” Neal said. “We’d actually have to finish cleaning Eric’s basement if it wasn’t for you!”
The three friends climbed down the rainbow steps. Cool air wafted up from below. It smelled sweet. The sky was pink and purple with streaks of bright orange. The sun was just about to rise.
“It’s nearly dawn here,” said Neal. “Hey, look at those trees.”
The stairs ended in a misty grove of low, blossoming trees overlooking a clear green lake. The pink morning mist clung to the branches.
The kids jumped off the staircase just as the steps faded from sight. Eric knew the stairs would reappear when it was time to leave.
“I am so glad to be here,” he said.
Julie looked around. “This is weird. Nine trees in a perfect circle. Trees don’t normally grow in a circle. I think someone planted them this way.”
“Maybe there are people nearby,” Eric added.
Suddenly, the branches twitched.
“Did you see that?” Neal asked.
Before Eric could answer, the trees leaned their trunks toward the children.
Their rough branches thrust down like arms, grabbed Julie, and tightly curled their waxy leaves around her like fingers.
Then one of the trees pulled her off the ground.
“Helpppp!” she cried, struggling to get free.
But Eric and Neal couldn’t help her.
One tree seized Neal by the ankles and pulled him up sharply. Another clutched Eric’s waist and dragged him off his feet.
“Let us go, you overgrown twigs!” Eric shouted, smacking at the branches to get free.
But the trees only tightened their grip.
“Now I know what they mean by plant food,” Neal groaned as the tree holding him swung around. “And I think we’re it!”
Julie’s tree shook her up and down. “I promise I’ll never eat a vegetable again. Just let us go!”
But the trees didn’t let go.
They swung the kids high over the ground.
“Oo-oo-oo-oh!” Eric moaned. “I feel si-i-ick!”
The branches only coiled more tightly around him. He felt his strength slipping away.
“This can’t happen!” he cried, gasping for breath.
“This is Droo-oo-oon,” Neal cried. “Anything can happen!”
“I wish Keeah and Galen were here,” Julie yelped. “They’d make these trees act like trees!”
At that moment, the sun began to rise.
Golden light slanted across the treetops.
Suddenly, the trees lowered their branches. They loosened their grip, and the children slid to the ground.
The t
rees coiled back to their original shapes.
And went completely still.
It was a quiet circle of trees once more.
Eric scrambled over to his friends. “Are you guys okay?” he asked.
“Ask me later,” Neal coughed. “For now, let’s just get out of here.”
“I agree,” Julie said, rubbing her arms where the branches had clutched her. “That sure was a Droonian moment.”
Eric pointed to the lake at the bottom of the hill. “Let’s get down there. Fast!”
They hurried to the sandy shore. The lake water glistened like glass. A light breeze rose off the surface.
“Peaceful,” Julie said. “I wonder where —”
Splish! Splorsh!
The center of the lake began to bubble.
Neal stepped back. “Okay, now what?”
The water splashed. A small round eye pierced the surface. Then a long curved neck.
“Now — we hide!” Eric said, pulling Neal and Julie facedown in the sand.
“Sppp — ah!” Neal spit out sand as he looked across the water. “Terrific. Weird eyeball, long neck. This means only one thing. Sea serpent!”
“It’s a lake,” said Julie.
“Lake serpent!” Neal cried.
Soon, a body rose from the water. It was green and short and stubby, about the size of a small car. Sunlight flashed off its wet side.
“That’s not a serpent,” Julie said. “It’s a …”
Vrrrm! It rumbled up onto the beach on fat green wheels. It lurched to a halt in the sand.
“A lake serpent with wheels?” Eric said.
Boing! A hatch on the side popped open.
A head appeared. Then a face. The head had bright orange hair that stood straight up. In the middle of the face was a little pug nose.
“Max!” Julie exclaimed, jumping up and running over to the green machine.
Eric nudged Neal. “You were so afraid. Can’t you tell the difference between a serpent and a submarine?”
“Afraid?” Neal shrugged. “I call it being careful.”
Max clambered down from the hatch. He saluted with three of his eight legs. “Your favorite spider troll — at your service!”
He tapped the side of the sub. Boink! Boink!
Two more heads appeared from the hatch.
One was a young girl with long blonde hair. She was wearing a jeweled crown. The other was an old man with a long white beard and frizzy hair.
“Princess Keeah! And Galen!” Eric said. “Boy, are we glad to see you guys!”
“As we are to see you,” Princess Keeah said. “You’ve come just in time to help us again.”
“But we almost didn’t make it,” Neal said. “Some trees attacked us!”
“Then the sun rose and they let us go,” Eric added.
“But mostly, I had the greatest dream,” Julie said. “I even had a crown!” Then she told them all about it.
“Time will tell what it all means,” Keeah said.
Galen smiled. “And what do you think of my latest invention? I call it my Below-Water-Motor-Powered-Transportation Vehicle.”
Neal frowned. “You mean … a sub?”
“Sub?” Galen looked quizzically at Neal. “I like that name. Sub. It certainly saves time.”
“Which is good,” Max chirped. “Because our time is running out. We’re on a mission to find Lord Sparr!”
“Come aboard,” Galen told the children. “I will explain.”
A moment later, the three friends joined Keeah, Max, and Galen inside the small ship.
“Very cool!” Eric said as they took seats in a small round cabin. A control panel circled the front wall under a large window.
Max took hold of the controls. He pushed a large green button. Motors whirred behind them. The small ship rumbled down the beach to the water.
“We’re on our way to Panjibarrh,” Keeah said. “It’s where the terrible giant, Zor, is supposed to have been buried. Lord Sparr is there.”
“Dive, Max!” Galen commanded. “Dive!”
As the submarine splashed down into the green lake, Eric turned to his friends. “I think this is one adventure we’ll always remember.”
“For starters, we’ve never been attacked by trees before,” Julie whispered.
“And I’ve never been in a sub before,” said Neal. “Blub-blub!”
The underwater world was beautiful.
Thick bunches of sea vines coiled up from below. Bright red balloon plants puffed and unpuffed as they passed.
A school of yellow lumpy fish swam by, grinning right into the window.
“This is awesome,” Eric said.
“I’m sure glad we’re in here,” Neal added.
Keeah smiled. “It won’t be long now. Lord Sparr is nearby. We are getting close.”
Galen pointed to a map on the control panel next to Max. “We have tracked Sparr to the Dust Hills of Panjibarrh. Legend says that is where the giant, Zor, lies buried in his lost tomb.”
Eric shuddered as he remembered their last adventure. The evil sorcerer Sparr stole an ancient piece of jewelry. It was called the amulet of Zor.
The amulet was supposed to have the power to bring the giant back to life.
Max twittered nervously. “They say when the giant lived, he was taller than a mountain!”
“With luck, we’ll stop the big guy,” Neal said.
“With luck and with help,” Keeah said, touching a single white feather that hung on a silver chain around her neck.
The kids knew what it was.
It was a feather from Keeah’s mother, Queen Relna. A spell had transformed her into a white falcon. But she had changed shape again.
No one knew what shape the queen had now.
The princess smiled, touching the feather again. “This makes me feel as if she is with me.”
Zzzzt!
“What’s that sound? Are we leaking?” Neal said, whirling on his seat. “Because I don’t like leaks when I’m in a sub.”
“It is Galen’s magic mirror,” said Max. “It has something for us to see….”
The wizard stepped over to an old mirror hanging on the back wall of the sub. The mirror allowed the wizard to see what was happening in different parts of Droon. The rippling surface flickered with a dull glow.
The kids already knew what was about to happen. They had seen the mirror before in Galen’s tower.
Galen waved his hand and the mirror cleared.
“There’s a dark room,” Keeah said, peering at the image. “It’s dusty and dirty and very large. Big stones are everywhere.”
“It is a tomb,” Galen said softly. “And look!”
Stomping toward the mirror was the sorcerer himself. Lord Sparr.
His long black cloak swept across the floor of the tomb. And the pointed purple fins behind his ears certainly didn’t make him look any friendlier.
“I see we’re tuned to the wicked sorcerer station,” Neal said. “Man, he gives me the creeps.”
Surrounding Sparr was a troop of plump, red-faced warriors in black armor. They carried shovels and picks and torches.
“Here!” the sorcerer said, pointing down.
Flickering torchlight glowed on a large, dusty stone. A strange symbol was carved on it.
“The sign of Zor!” Keeah gasped. “Sparr has already found the lost tomb!”
Sparr’s eyes flashed. He shivered as he stood over the large stone. “So … I have found the lost empire. And the legend is true. Zor lies here.”
“Lost empire?” Eric whispered.
Galen sighed deeply. “Droon is a world with a long past, my friends. Lord Sparr has discovered what remains of the ancient dark realm of Goll. It is an empire whose cities now lie buried beneath the earth but that once ruled this world. Goll is a lost civilization. An empire that time forgot.”
“Too bad Sparr remembered,” said Neal.
The sorcerer snapped his fingers, and his Ninn warriors began quickly d
igging around the edges of the stone.
Clank! Clong! Before long, the Ninns pulled the stone from the floor. They looked down. They backed away from the hole, trembling.
“Have you found … him?” Sparr said.
The Ninns muttered to themselves.
Sparr pushed them out of the way and leaned over the hole. His fins turned pale, almost white.
The mirror zoomed in. There, lying open to the flickering torchlight, was a large dark object.
“Oh, my!” Max muttered.
“What is it?” Eric asked.
“It’s a … a … head!” Keeah gasped.
The head was six feet long from chin to brow. The large eyes were closed. The dust of centuries covered the cheeks and lips.
But the strangest part was the skin.
It was dark and smooth and glimmered golden red in the torchlight.
“He’s … made of metal!” Eric said.
“Bronze,” Galen muttered. “Zor is a giant made of bronze. He walked the earth long ago.”
Neal stared at the mirror. “A giant, huh? If that’s just his head, this guy must be huge!”
“Bigger than huge,” said Eric. “Enormous.”
“Enormous? Ha!” said Neal. “He’s humongous! He’s colossal! He’s —”
“Will you shhh!” Julie hissed.
“We are afraid, Lord Sparr,” one of the Ninns whispered. “We want to go home.”
“Home!” Sparr snarled. “My true home lies above, in the Upper World! The only way for me to get home is with this giant’s help!”
Eric stopped breathing. Home? In the Upper World? In my world?
“What does that mean?” Neal asked.
Julie started trembling. “He’s scaring me.”
“Dig, my Ninns! Dig!” Sparr shouted. “Dig up the rest of him! Zor shall rise again!”
As the Ninns dug away at the huge stones, the sorcerer stormed away into the tomb’s darkness.
Zzzzt. The mirror faded.
The front window of the sub bubbled furiously. The water seemed lighter. Max was steering the ship up through the water.
Up to the surface.
Galen nodded gravely. “Now our real journey begins. Our journey to find Lord Sparr. And to stop him!”
Julie peered through the window as the sub splashed above the surface. “There’s land ahead. A long beach and big brown hills beyond.”
