The Case of Firebane's Folly

by Liam O'Donnell

  “You can read magic, Fizz?” Hugo asked.

  Tank chuckled. “Not if he can help it.”

  “I can’t read it, but a friend of ours can.” My thoughts sailed up through the Dark Depths to my home far away. “Aleetha. She’s training to be a wizard in the Shadow Tower.”

  “She probably has her nose buried in a thick book right now.” Tank scratched her ears. “She could read that in a wink.”

  “Then we must speak to her!” Hugo danced on all eight legs.

  “How?”

  “There is a wizards’ outpost in Lava Falls,” he said. “They will know how to reach her. Even if the wizards can’t contact your friend, they should be able to read the magic note.”

  “Can we trust the wizards in the outpost?” Tank asked. “They could just take the note and ditch us in Lava Falls somewhere, just like Captain Scorn left us in the swamp.”

  My snout twitched. Wizards in the Dark Depths sounded like trouble. I’d had enough of their magic to last me until graduation. Now they were haunting my dreams and sending me notes.

  “Tank has a point,” I said. “We show the note only to Aleetha.”

  Tank studied the note over my shoulder. “Why would that old fish-head give us a message written in magic?”

  “I have no idea.” I handed it back to my friend. “Keep it safe for now. There’s more to that old lagalander than we know.”

  “You’ve got that right!” Hugo said. The spider skittered back up the rocky path. “Look where we are!”

  The murky, moist air of the Swamp of Sorrows was replaced by the sweltering heat of bubbling lava. Around us, small pools of fiery liquid bubbled and boiled. Squat, tough-looking fungi grew along the edges of the pools. A narrow road cut a winding path through the swamp of fire, leading to the gates of Lava Falls.

  “These are the Fire Fields.” Hugo moved around a puddle of bubbling lava and onto the winding road. “Stick to the road, and be careful where you step.”

  Tank stood on the edge of the path with her zoomers over her eyes. They were one of the few tools that hadn’t spilled from her belt. She pointed off to the far side of the Fire Fields.

  “Who are they?”

  Many shapes lumbered across the field. They looked about as tall as an ogre and just as wide. The creatures walked through lava puddles as if they weren’t there. It took me only a second to see why.

  “They’re made of fire,” I said.

  “Those are fire folk,” Hugo said. “They live in the lava and don’t like strangers. Avoiding them is wise.”

  “Good advice.” Tank pulled the zoomers from her eyes and followed Hugo onto the road.

  The journey across the Fire Fields was hot and twisting but, thankfully, uneventful. As the walls of Lava Falls drew closer, my tail curled tighter.

  From dragonkin to dwarves, creatures never seen in Slick City lived in Lava Falls. Other monsters, like goblins and trolls, also lived here. They came from all over Rockfall Mountain to seek their fortunes working in the dwarf mines and the shops of the city. And if the stories were true, the ancient dragon Firebane Drakeclaw called this place home. Very soon I would see these sights with my own eyes. I couldn’t tell if I was curious or terrified.

  The guards at the main gates barely gave us a second glance as we passed by. They were too busy dealing with the morning rush of merchants arriving with wagonloads of goods to sell.

  “Lava Falls is a hub for all monsters in the Dark Depths,” Hugo explained as we slipped through the gates. “They come here to stock up on supplies and trade their goods. It’s always busy.”

  “At least we can blend in with the crowd,” Tank said. “With any luck, we’ll find the dwarf without being spotted by Captain Scorn.”

  “He won’t be happy to hear we survived the swamp,” I said.

  “First we find the wizards’ outpost,” Hugo said. “They will know how to contact your friend.”

  Together we moved down the bustling street. Monsters of all sizes packed the road, going about their daily business. Wide-shouldered rockstompers pulled wagons loaded with heavy-looking crates. Goblin traders skipped alongside the four-legged beasts, calculating the price of the goods inside each crate. Down one side street, a group of tool-carrying trolls worked on broken machines piled in a repair yard.

  We soon arrived at a wide plaza that was filled with even more monsters. Rows of stalls filled with fruit, fungi and other goods lined the flat open space. Vendors stood by their stalls, haggling with customers and shouting for others to come see the deals they had on offer.

  “This is the town square,” Hugo said. The spider pointed to a large building on the edge of the square. Wide steps carved from rock led up to a set of brightly painted doors. Guards stood in front of the doors. “That is the town hall. Far below that building lie the Braces of Balance. The only way to the braces is through that door.”

  “That explains the guards out front,” Tank said.

  “It does.” Hugo nodded. “But it is not the building we are looking for.”

  It turned out the building we were looking for was kind of hard to miss.

  Not far from the town square we spotted a spire of black rock rising up from the ground.

  “Is that the Shadow Tower?” Tank gulped.

  “More like a Shadow Tower Junior,” I said.

  The spire was a replica of the wizards’ school in Slick City, but much smaller. It didn’t come close to matching the height of the original tower back home. But it was one of the tallest buildings in Lava Falls and loomed menacingly over the city, just like the tower in my hometown.

  “Are you sure about this?” I said when we got near the tower. “Couldn’t we just use your phone, Tank?”

  Tank shook her head. “I’m not getting a signal this far under the mountain.”

  “The wizards will have a way,” Hugo said. “They always do.”

  The spider hurried up the steps to the wizards’ outpost. He opened the ornate door at the base of the tower and slipped through without a second’s thought. Tank followed, then stopped when she saw I hadn’t moved.

  “It’ll be all right, Fizz,” she said. “Wizards love us. We saved the Shadow Tower from destruction, remember?”

  “And we nearly got smushed a quadrillion times.” I glared at the tower. “I don’t want to go in there. Magic still freaks me out. And you know that magic messes with your technology.”

  “All true,” Tank said. “I’ll do the talking. It’ll be fine. You’ll see.”

  Hugo popped back out. “We’re in!” The spider crawled to the top of the doorway. “Les the Magnificent will see us.”

  Tank looked to me, ears alert. “Les the what?”

  A creature made of rock stepped through the door. “The Magnificent!” he said. “It’s a nickname the other wizards gave me.”

  “You’re a rock elf!” I said.

  Les reached out a rocky hand. “I’m Les. Pleased to meet you.”

  It turned out Les was a boulder mage and just a little older than Aleetha. He led us into the tower and explained that this was his first posting after graduating from the Shadow Tower. He didn’t know Aleetha, but he knew how we could contact her. We followed Les down a narrow hallway and into a small curved room. A table and a wide screen hovered near the wall.

  The room filled with laughter. My tail danced. Aleetha’s ebony hair bounced. And Tank, well, Tank was practically in tears. Aleetha had been in our class until she was accepted to train to be a wizard in the Shadow Tower. Now she was too busy studying to hang out with us, like she used to.

  “Aleetha! It’s so good to see you. We need your help. Everything has gone wrong.” Tank took a breath and then filled our wizard pal in on the whole situation. I chipped in here and there, and soon Aleetha was up to speed like a snagbat on a gubberslug. Tank showed her the note from Gilthil.

  “Magic?” Aleetha’s eyebrows arched. “Old magic. I don’t recognize these symbols. I’ll need time to work it out.”
/>
  “Time?” I said. “We don’t have this connection for long.”

  “No problem. I’ll just borrow it.” Aleetha leaned forward and reached out of the screen. Her hand darted to the note and snatched it from Tank’s hand. The hand and the note slipped back through the screen. Aleetha opened the note and read it closely.

  A red light flashed on the screen.

  “We’re out of time,” Hugo said.

  “Thanks for the new mystery, you two!” Aleetha waved. “I’ll be in touch soon.”

  The screen went dark, and she was gone. The room suddenly felt empty.

  The door opened and Les the Magnificent stuck his rocky head into the room. “Sorry your call ended so quickly,” he said. “That’s all the connection time we can offer you. I hope it was enough.”

  We followed the rock elf out of the tower.

  “Come again, friends.” Les waved a stony hand and shut the door to the wizards’ outpost.

  Around us, the street buzzed with traffic. We headed back to the town square. Tank stopped in mid-step with her jaw hanging open.

  “Rocket bike,” she gasped. “Twin-boosters. Auto-synch blast capacity.”

  I yanked her arm. “No time for geeking out.”

  But she wouldn’t stop. She was like a kobold with a bone. Not letting it go.

  “Just like Mr. Ravel’s bike,” she said.

  I spun to where she was pointing. There it was. Mr. Ravel’s rocket bike. Parked there in front of the Molten Burger Diner.

  “What’s the matter?” Hugo asked.

  “That’s the thief ’s rocket bike,” I said. A dwarf pushed through the restaurant’s front door. He had a scar that ran down his face. “And that’s the thief.”

  Tank grinned. “That was easy.”

  The dwarf climbed on the rocket bike. The twin-boosters roared to life, sending a jet of flame out the back of the bike.

  “Maybe not that easy,” I said. “He’s getting away!”

  The bike swerved into the traffic and raced down the street. As quickly as he had appeared, the crown thief had disappeared.

  And along with him went any chance we had of finding the crown.

  But as soon as things got bad, things got worse. Someone else stepped out of the diner.

  Captain Scorn.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Snatched by the Scales

  We hid.

  What did you expect us to do?

  Tank jumped behind a barrel of fish on ice. Hugo zipped into the air like spiders do. And me? I stood there frozen like a gremlin in a rainstorm.

  Hugo dropped down on a thread. “Whoa.” The spider’s eyes were wider than a surprised lagalander’s. “That was close.”

  Tank stepped out from behind the barrel. I followed with my tail between my legs. Literally.

  “I’m sorry,” I mumbled.

  “It’s all good,” Tank said. “He didn’t see us.”

  “Yeah, but now he’s gone,” I said.

  “No, he’s not.” Tank held up her phone. “I tagged him with a tracker as he passed.”

  “And grabbed me at the same time?”

  “What can I say?” Tank winked. “I’m that good.”

  “Wait a minute,” I said. “I thought you lost all your gadgets in the swamp.”

  “A smart troll always carries a few spare parts in her pockets.” Tank wiggled her ears. “But we have to be quick. The signal is cutting in and out. Hurry!”

  Tank took off down the street in the direction Scorn had gone. Hugo swung his way deftly over the busy street. I followed them both and hoped no one would step on my tail.

  We caught up with Tank in a back alley. It was a narrow, empty laneway. There were no vendors. There was nobody, actually.

  She shook her phone and growled. “I lost the signal here.”

  I spun around. There were no doors or hiding spots.

  “Where did he go?” I said. “He didn’t just vanish. Did he? Can spiders do that, Hugo?”

  Before Hugo could answer, something scraped along the ground. My snout twitched. I know the sound of claws when I hear them. I spun around. Two dragonkin marched into the alley. They walked straight toward us. More of the scaly creatures followed. The largest of the dragonkin waved a long-clawed hand in our direction.

  “Seize them,” he said.

  The dragonkin moved quickly and grabbed us. Their cold hands held my arms tightly. I didn’t even try to fight back. And my mind was too busy with questions to think about escape. Where had Scorn gone? Who were these dragonkin, and how did they know we were here? Were they working with Scorn?

  The dragonkin’s claws tightened around my arm until it felt like he was crushing my scales. Beside me, Tank yelped in pain and suddenly collapsed in a heap. Her captor picked her up and carried her away. My vision blurred. The alley swirled like it was getting sucked down a drain. Then everything went dark.

  When I woke, everything was on fire.

  A wall of flames surrounded me. The fire reached as high as I could see. I sat on a stone floor, warmed by the heat of the flames. Beside me, Tank and Hugo shook themselves awake.

  “My head feels like it was stomped by a battle bot.” Tank rubbed her ponytail. She pulled herself to her feet. “What happened?”

  “Those dragonkin. That’s what happened.” My arms ached where the lizards had held me. Two small marks dotted my elbow scales. “They did something when they grabbed us.”

  “Poison,” Hugo said. The spider rubbed all eight of his eyes. “Their claws ooze a powerful poison. One scratch can paralyze an ogre. They gave us just a little dose. We got lucky.”

  “I don’t want to know what unlucky feels like,” I said. “But I do want to know where we are.”

  “But I know you.” The dragonkin grinned.

  His voice sounded as old as Rockfall Mountain. His scales were as black as scorched obsidian. I tried to speak, but my jaw just hung open. How did he know our names? Who was this stranger? One thing I did know. He was no ordinary dragonkin.

  “You have wings.” Hugo scurried backward, stopping only when he got too close to the wall of fire behind him.

  “Indeed, I do.” Two massive wings unfurled from the stranger’s shoulders. Each wing stretched almost to the flaming walls around them.

  My jaw stayed open as my brain played catch-up. I had never heard of a dragonkin with wings. From the way Hugo was jumping on the spot, he clearly had.

  “If you have wings, that means you’re an actual dragon,” he said.

  The stranger’s eyes danced. “Correct!”

  Tank’s eyes narrowed as she looked at the stranger from scaly head to sharp-clawed toe.

  “But there’s only one dragon in Rockfall Mountain,” she said.

  “Correct again.” The stranger's eyes blazed. His wings doubled in size and spread out wide around us. We watched, stunned, as the creature transformed from dragonkin to dragon.

  CHAPTER NINE

  A Dragon's Deal

  Firebane Drakeclaw loomed over us like a month of detentions.

  “Greetings, young monsters.” A smile ran the length of the dragon’s snout, exposing rows of sharp teeth.

  My scales trembled and my tail quivered. Beside me, Tank tugged on her tool belt while her mouth moved up and down. No words came out. Hugo hopped on the spot, all eight of his eyes fixed on the giant monster suddenly in front of us.

  Firebane Drakeclaw, the deadliest monster in Rockfall Mountain, stood within biting distance of me and my friends. Stories of the dragon’s rage and destruction were legendary. Goblin mothers merely had to mention Firebane’s name to quiet their noisy children. Principals would threaten to invite the beast to their schools to deal with unruly students. And here he was, standing in front of us, grinning like we were on an after-school playdate.

  Firebane stretched his massive wings to their full width.

  “Ahhh,” he sighed. “It feels so good to return to my natural form.”

  “Dragons can ch
ange their shape?” I said.

  “Oh yes,” Firebane said. “Being able to shape-shift often comes in handy, but it plays havoc on my old bones. And it is very good to finally meet Tank and Fizz, Gravelmuck Elementary’s finest detectives.”

  That snapped me out of my fear. “How do you know we go to Gravelmuck?”

  “We’ve never met you before,” Tank added. “I would remember meeting a dragon.”

  “Very true, Tank.” Firebane laughed. It sounded like an army of slag giants marching to war. “We have not met, but your detective skills are well known. You saved me from losing a large portion of my treasure to the Gremlin Gang. Remember?”

  Memories of our first big case flooded back to me. Tank and I had stopped a gang of thieves stealing a roomful of treasure. Firebane Drakeclaw’s treasure.

  “You heard about that?” Tank asked.

  “Of course! It was my treasure you saved,” Firebane said. “I tell all my friends about the fourth-grade detectives who saved my loot. I’ve wanted to meet you ever since. And here we are. Isn’t it wonderful?”

  Tank and I both agreed it was wonderful. It’s never good to argue with a dragon who thinks you’re a supersleuth.

  “Let’s get down to business, shall we?”

  Firebane waved a claw, and the wall of fire vanished.

  We were in a library of dragon-size proportions. Bookshelves taller than my school and packed with books ran along the walls. A table as wide as three ogres dominated the middle of the room. Spread across the table were papers, books and a pile of colorful gems. Against the far wall stood a massive set of glass doors that opened onto a wide balcony. Gloomshrooms sprouted along the edge of the balcony. They had dimmed for the evening, so I couldn’t see much beyond their soft glow.

  “Where are we?” Tank asked.

  “My home.” Firebane paced past a set of glass doors large enough to accommodate his massive size.

  “How long were we out?” I rubbed my arm where the dragonkin had grabbed me. “It was early morning when your goons jumped us. Judging by those gloomshrooms, it’s evening already.”