Max held Moki to the lock and the fire kitten inserted his tail inside.
“Forget a skeleton key,” Dirk said. “They should call it a kitty key.”
Moki smiled. “Am I doing good?”
“You’re doing great,” Puff answered. “Really great.”
Soon the lock started to glow and Moki withdrew his tail. “It’s all melty inside now,” he announced.
Sarah put her finger up to her mouth and slowly pushed the door open. Just as Max had said, the guard sat at a desk ahead of them. His arms were folded and his head was down. Max set Moki on Puff’s back and watched intently, his heart racing.
Sarah crept up to the guard. It seemed like it took forever for her to cross the distance, but the guard never moved. When she made it, she expertly wrapped her arm beneath his chin, crossing her other arm behind his neck and then pushing forward with a grunt. The guard sprang to his feet, but Sarah anticipated the action and jumped on his back. She squeezed with all her might, taking hold of her bicep with her hand and wrapping her legs around the guard’s waist. The brute scrambled to get to his sword, Sarah riding him like he was a bucking bull.
Max and Dirk sprang into action, running over and grabbing the big man’s wrist, doing their best to stop him from getting to his blade. Dirk also stomped on the guard’s foot for good measure (something he later said was gangster style). The guard was strong, and despite Max and Dirk hanging on his arm, he managed to get to his sword and begin drawing it out. But Sarah’s choke-hold was tight, and eventually the man’s brain decided it had had enough of going without oxygen and called it a day.
The big guard dropped to his knees.
Dirk and Max scrambled out of the way as the guard fell forward with a thud, Sarah riding him all the way down with her arms, like two boa constrictors, cinching ever tighter around his neck. “Hurry, grab something to tie him up!” she exclaimed. Since they were in a dungeon, there was no shortage of shackles, locks, and chains. Sarah released her hold and helped Max and Dirk secure the guard.
“Do we really need all this stuff?” Max asked as they clamped a set of shackles closed. “In the movies, people pretty much stay knocked out forever.”
“Yeah,” Dirk added, noticing the guard beginning to blink. “You hit a guy on the head and you don’t have to worry about them anymore.”
“If you actually hit someone hard enough they were unconscious for hours, you probably killed them,” Sarah said as she pulled the chains tight around the guard’s feet.
They stood and admired their handiwork. The guard was nearly covered from head to foot.
“Well, I don’t think he’s going anywhere,” Puff said.
“Just remember the stuff you see on TV isn’t realistic,” Sarah told Dirk.
“She’s right, you know,” the guard said, joining in on the conversation. “People think a bang on the head’s all part of the job. But a concussion’s no laughing matter. You might want to educate yourself about such things before you go knocking people about.”
“See?” Sarah said.
“And thank you for not squeezing me till I was dead,” the guard added, looking up at Sarah. “It’s a pleasure working with a professional.” He turned to Dirk, however, and scowled. “Unlike Mr. Foot Stomper over there. Don’t you know how easily you can break a toe? I could lose my job, having to hobble around because you went and broke a toe when there was no call for it.”
“Aren’t we going to stuff rags in his mouth or something?” Max asked. “You know, so he doesn’t yell.”
“Stuff dirty rags in my mouth?” the guard repeated, sounding shocked. “I don’t know what’s going on with you two, but I don’t think I like it.”
“So you’re not going to yell?” Dirk asked.
“Oh right, because that would be a really good idea seeing how I’m all tied up and defenseless. I’ll just yell out as loud as I can so you can come back and conk me on the head and do me in for good. I’m not an idiot, you know. I’m perfectly able to wait around for someone in the Tower to eventually show up.”
“Uh, I guess you do have a point,” Max said.
“Come on, we’ve got to get going,” Sarah urged.
“Wait, we need to check that box over there,” Dirk said, pointing to a strong box nearby.
“We do?” Puff asked.
“We have to be able to get our stuff back,” Dirk said. “Every dungeon has a nearby room where all your stuff is kept.”
Sarah looked at the box. “More game logic?”
“Exactly,” Dirk announced. He walked over and opened the box. His resulting smile said everything.
Moments later they had had their gear back, including Glenn. Max slid the dagger back into his belt.
“Storming the castle, are we?” Glenn asked.
“More or less,” Max replied.
“Then remember, a castle made from sand will always fall into the sea,” Glenn replied. “Or you can just knock it over. You know, because it’s just sand.”
“Good to have you back,” Sarah said, a little too sarcastically for Glenn’s liking.
They moved to the other side of the small room, where two doors stood, one with a heavy bar thrown across it.
“The torture chamber’s past that barred door and down some stairs to your right,” the guard said. “The other door sends you up into the Tower. You can keep going up all the way to the top, or veer off at any of the side doors to get at the Tower’s interior.”
“You’re a very helpful guard,” Max said. The guard managed to shrug.
“The first week, they make you memorize the whole place,” he said. “Don’t get asked for directions, really, so kind of a waste of time. Well, until now. I guess it goes to show you never know when something you learned might come in handy.”
Sarah lifted the bar off the door and carefully opened it. “I think we’ll find Princess down here,” she said. It opened into a dingy cellar with various torture racks scattered about. In the center was a square cell covered in fluff.
“Is that what I look like?” Puff asked.
“Nah,” Dirk lied.
Max found a large key ring hanging on the wall and grabbed it. He moved over to the cage and unlocked the exterior door. Inside, Princess was chained to the floor in her unicorn form. Magar was scrunched up in the corner with his head buried in his hands. He looked up as they entered.
“Wow!” Sarah exclaimed, seeing Princess standing there as a living, breathing unicorn. The others stopped and looked at Sarah.
“What?” she said a little defensively. “I can like unicorns.”
They stepped inside and looked around. The cell’s interior was covered in layers of hard scales tied firmly to the bars.
“Oh, hey,” Dirk said to Princess, a sudden gleam in his eye. “You have to totally say, ‘Aren’t you a little short for a wizard?’ ”
“What?” Princess asked, tilting her head to the side. It was strange hearing her talk as a unicorn; she had a bit more of a neighing sound than the usual human voice.
“You know, because you’re a princess, and you’re trapped in a cell. And Max is here to rescue you . . .”
Max sighed. “Ignore him—it’s a Star Wars reference.”
“Star wars?” Magar asked.
“Why is the cell covered like this?” Sarah asked.
“Dragon scale,” Princess replied. “But can we stop yapping and get us out of here?” Max used the key he’d found to unlock Princess and Magar while Moki watched from Puff’s back. Once free of the cage, Princess transformed into her human form—her horn now a wand in her hand.
“The serpent’s escutcheon presented a most formidable prison,” Magar said after thanking them. “It kept us from using any magic to free ourselves.”
“I transformed before they could take my wand, at least,” Princess added. “Not that they were happy about it.”
“It’s what this is all about,” Max said to the group. “Rezormoor is killing the dragons to
build a suit of armor.” He explained what he had learned.
“It could actually work,” Princess admitted. “We can’t let that happen.”
“And that’s just what he’s told me,” Max said. “Who knows what else he has planned.”
“Rezormoor’s not the kind of man to put all his eggs in one basket,” Princess said, nodding.
“What are you talking about?” Dirk chimed in. “Of course you put all your eggs in one basket. Do you know how long it would take to carry eggs one egg at a time?”
Sarah sighed. “Really, Dirk? Is that important right now?”
“I’m just saying,” he continued. “You show me a person who comes up with a saying like that and I’ll show you the crappiest egg gatherer who ever lived.”
“I find it strangely discouraging that he might be right,” Magar admitted.
“Yeah,” Max agreed. “Welcome to Dirk’s world.”
Princess tapped her wand in her free hand. “So does anyone have a plan, or are we making it up as we go?”
“A little of both,” Puff said.
“Come on,” Max said, leading them back to the door. “I’ll explain on the way.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
MAX AND HIS WANDERING EYE
THEY STOOD IN FRONT OF the rune-covered door as Princess tapped her finger on her wand and pondered what to try next. On the other side lay Rezormoor’s chamber and the Codex of Infinite Knowability. Princess had assumed she could use her magic to break the seal that held the door shut. But so far she’d been wrong.
“We could always go around and try getting in through the main door,” Max suggested, keeping his voice down. He remembered seeing two large doors when he was inside the room.
“I wouldn’t recommend it,” Magar said. “Once the general alarm is raised, the entire Tower will converge on us. There are powerful mages guarding Rezormoor’s main entrance—not that Princess couldn’t handle them, but it wouldn’t be quick or easy.”
“So in other words, this is our only way in,” Dirk said.
“And it’s a very tricky lock,” Princess grumbled. “The door’s held by a magical rune. It’s sealed tight.”
“Except for down here,” Moki said. They peered down at the fire kitten as he swished his tail under the door.
Princess and Magar shared a look. “There is that spell,” Magar said.
“I couldn’t do it myself,” Princess said. “I can’t touch the Codex.”
“But Max could,” Magar replied.
“If he can control it,” Princess said.
Max swallowed. “Control it?”
“I can make it so you can reach under the door,” Princess told him. “But it takes some ability on your part to make it work.”
“Guys, Max is totally a magic user,” Dirk said. “He’s got ability.”
“I’ve cast spells before,” Max said, hoping he wasn’t about to get himself into a really bad situation.
“Then we may have no other choice,” Princess announced. She turned to Max. “I think I have a way for you to be able to reach the Codex. But it’s a very difficult spell to control.”
“Normally a student starts very slowly,” Magar added. “A fingertip, then a finger. Then two fingers, and only for a short distance.”
“Because there’s a chance it can’t be undone,” Princess said. “If you let it get away from you, it could become permanent.”
Max didn’t like the sound of that. But he didn’t hesitate. “I can do it,” he said. Princess nodded. She directed him to lie on the floor and stretch his hand out so his fingers pressed beneath the door. Princess then touched his hand with her wand and a strange electric shock shot through his arm.
“Now walk it through,” Princess said. “Slowly and carefully. Don’t lose control of it—don’t let it get away from you.”
Max began to inch his hand forward, and impossibly it began to flatten and stretch like it was made of rubber.
“Neat!” Moki announced from Puff’s back.
Max strained as his hand tingled violently. It tugged against him as if it wanted to disconnect from the rest of his body, but he managed to walk it under the door.
“That’s good,” Princess said, her face on the floor as she did her best to peer under the door. But Max was struggling to maintain control. His fingers wobbled like they were made of Jell-O, and he could feel the bones in his hand softening.
“Not too much!” Princess warned. She saw waves moving along Max’s hand and arm as it lost more of its form. “Max, don’t lose control of it.”
Max strained against the storm of pins and needles that had become his hand and arm. He focused, fighting against the pull that threatened to let everything come apart. Like rubber, he thought to himself. Not too soft, not too hard. The waves along his arm ceased, and he felt his flesh grow harder.
“Yes, that’s it, Max. That’s it,” Princess encouraged him. Max could feel the stone beneath his fingers, although the tingling sensation made it hard to guide his movements. He kept going, and before long he’d lost sight of where his hand was moving.
“I can’t see what I’m doing now,” Max complained.
“You should be able to tap your fingertips and sense what’s around you,” Magar said. “It’s all part of the spell.”
Max tried tapping his fingers, but he couldn’t get any read on what was going on. He didn’t like how this was going—the storm of pins and needles threated to rise up again.
“Don’t lose focus,” Princess said. “You just need to get used to it.”
Max walked his hand farther inside. He tried to remember what the room had looked like—the large fireplace and tall chair, the stone stand, the zombie duck, the . . . zombie duck!
Max suddenly stopped, his heart pounding in his chest. His hand must have traveled ten or fifteen feet by now, and the only thing he could think about was the horrible zombie duck sleeping at the foot of the chair. He pressed his face against the door and tried to see something—but there was only the long pink ribbon that was his arm.
“There’s a zombie duck in there,” Max said. Sweat had broken out on his forehead and chills ran up and down his spine.
“You can’t sense it with your fingers?” Magar asked.
“No!” Max whispered as loudly as he dared. “I could be inches from it—I could be right on top of it, for all I know.” The tingling sensation ran up and down Max’s arm, and he had the strange feeling that the zombie duck was very near. “What happens if it bites me?” he asked, both desperately wanting to know and not wanting to know.
“Dude, it’s a zombie. I think we all know what that means,” Dirk said, trying to be helpful.
“Dirk!” Sarah scolded him.
“He’s right, Max,” Puff said sternly. “You must not let it bite you.”
Princess and Magar shared another glance.
“Are you thinking what I am?” Magar asked.
Princess nodded. “I think we have to try.”
“Try?” Max said, fighting to keep his arm under control. “Try what?”
“I’m going to help you see what’s going on in there,” Princess said. “Now stay with me. You know how your hand is feeling weird right now?”
“Yeah?”
“Well, this is going to feel significantly weirder than that,” she said.
“Wait, what?” Max asked. But Princess tapped her wand on Max’s head and suddenly his left eye closed.
“What’s happening?” Max asked, suddenly very nervous.
“I’m sending your eye to your fingertip,” Princess announced as casually as if she were explaining that macaroni and cheese contained cheese. And then Max could feel it—his eyeball had up and left the one place that his eyeball was supposed to be and had begun traveling beneath his skin and down to his outstretched arm. It was the same rubbery, tingling sensation as before, but because it was his eye it felt a thousand times worse. An endless barrage of fireworks exploded in his head and he nearly lo
st control of his arm. After what seemed like an excruciatingly long time, Max’s eye suddenly popped into place at the end of his middle finger. His other fingers raised like the legs of an insect around it. Suddenly his vision was filled with two perspectives, and it gave him an instant headache.
“Close your right eye so you don’t get confused,” Magar recommended. Max did so and the world came into focus. The fireworks and pain in his head fell away, and for all intents and purposes he was now a strange one-eyed hand bug that was staring into the sleeping face of the zombie duck.
Max forgot all about the implications of having an eye on the end of his finger and backed his hand up at once. Now that he could see, he felt more control over his hand as well.
“Is it working?” Sarah asked. Max concentrated on backing his hand up before answering.
“Yeah, I think I’m getting the hang of it.”
“I’ve never heard of this kind of magic before,” Dirk said. “It’s kind of gross.”
“We’ll add it to the list of things you’ve never heard of, okay?” Princess replied. She turned her attention back to Max. “Now go and find the Codex.”
“Okay, sure,” Max said. He drove his one-eyed hand critter across a rug and over to the black base he’d seen before. He managed to bend his arm at a ninety-degree angle and begin walking up the side of the rock surface. It was colder than he’d expected, which seemed a strange thing to worry about, given his current arm/hand/eye situation.
Max continued climbing, reaching the top of the stand and seeing the Codex floating in the air. He realized the pins and needles had largely gone and he was feeling more confident in his control. He concentrated on his fingers, stretching them even farther. Eventually they extended long enough that they wrapped themselves around the Codex like rubber bands.
“I’ve got it,” Max announced.
“Keep going, Max,” Puff encouraged him. “You can do it.”
Max nodded and continued to focus. He began to retract his arm, keeping his entire arm suspended in the air.
“You learn quickly,” Princess said, her own eye pressed against the floor and peering under the door. “You’re a Sporazo, no doubt.”
Fluff Dragon Page 19
