It was her brother.
TROOOGUL WAS FIGHTING for his life. His gladiator’s armor was now of little help to him; he was firmly caught in the serpent’s coils and was slowly being squeezed to death. One of his arms was pinned against his own body, trapped by the creature’s constricting coils, while the other was clutching at the snake’s neck, trying to hold back its snapping jaws. Then Kendra saw the black reptile spit a deadly spray of venom. Most of the poison hit Trooogul’s shoulder plate, causing it to sizzle and smoke.
Quickly, Kendra scrambled over the snake’s writhing body. Her mind searched desperately for some words she might use with her wand, but she abandoned the idea of magic when she saw a large rock lying on the nearby ground. With a grunt she lifted the stone and dashed around to the other side of the serpent. Just as it was about to spit again, she hurled the rock into its gnashing jaws. The creature reared back, feeling its throat clog. As it flailed and twitched, trying to dislodge the rock, its coils loosened and Trooogul quickly leapt free.
“Thankzum, Little Star!” he snorted. He quickly ripped off his shoulder plate, for the serpent’s venom had nearly melted through to his skin.
Just then, a shadow loomed above, and both Kendra and Trooogul turned to see the huge, block-shaped head of the giant. He stared at them with dull eyes, as if trying to decide how he might best like to squish them.
Trooogul didn’t give him the time to make his choice. Only an arm’s length away was the serpent, still trying to cough up Kendra’s rock. Grabbing it by the tail, Trooogul used the snake as a makeshift rope and ran a figure eight through the giant’s legs.
“Now runzum!” Trooogul roared, but when Kendra didn’t move quick enough for his liking, he picked her up, heaved her over his shoulder, and lumbered across the pit. With one free claw he struck out at any who stood in his way.
With an annoyed grumble, the giant attempted pursuit—only to trip over the long serpent that now entangled his ankles. He wavered for a moment then fell straight backwards, slamming into the side of the Rumble Pit with such a thunderous boom that one might have thought it was the start of an earthquake. An even loader roar came from the Krake audience; they were enthralled to witness the fall of such a powerful gladiator.
“Nowzum chance!” Trooogul told Kendra, suddenly turning back. He wrenched off his helmet and once again rushed over to where the serpent was writhing in a dazed motion on the ground. With Kendra clinging to his neck, Trooogul used his mighty claws to open the snake’s great mouth and, squeezing its glands, quickly filled his helmet with some of the burning venom.
“Mustzum hurry!” he gasped, as the helmet began to bubble and smolder beneath the pool of toxic liquid.
“What are you talking about?” Kendra demanded—but as Trooogul charged towards the fallen giant she suddenly realized his plan. The giant, lying wounded against the side of the pit, was so enormous that he served as the perfect ladder up to the pavilion where the queen sat on her gilded throne.
“Are you mad?” Kendra cried as she clung to Trooogul’s thick hide. “You can’t attack the queen!”
“Mustzum getzee shard,” the Unger grunted as he scrambled up the giant’s leg.
“No!” Kendra yelled, but she held tight to the Unger. To leap free would mean a tumble back into the pit.
“Youzum no understandzum!” Trooogul snarled. He was now loping across the giant’s mountainous chest.
“I understand all too well!” Kendra retorted. “You’re obsessed! You want to rebuild Greeve’s cauldron!”
Trooogul’s eyes flared with intensity, but he had now reached the top of the giant’s broad, flat head; the only thing separating them from the Krakes’ seating gallery was the dome. With a snort, Trooogul flung his venom-filled helmet at the barrier and a patch of the metal grate began to instantly hiss and dissolve. Still holding Kendra, the Unger launched himself from the giant’s head, through the hole.
They landed with a thump, right in the midst of the Krake crowd. Kendra felt her stomach reel; there were thousands upon thousands of Krakes in the seating gallery, more monsters than she had ever dreamed could be in one place. The queen is mother to them all, Kendra thought. They’ve all come from her huge eggs.
Trooogul showed no interest in the surprised Krake spectators. He stormed straight towards the the royal pavilion, where Queen Krake herself sat in all her grotesque glory.
“Ooh-cha!” the gargantuan queen cried when she saw the oncoming Unger. She slammed one claw against the arm of her throne and bellowed at her Krake drones, “Erk erk erk! Get-cha Unger!”
“Look out!” Kendra cried as a wave of arrows, spears and other weapons began to rain down upon her and Trooogul.
Quickly, Trooogul dropped Kendra to the floor and leapt in front of her to block the assault. Most of the oncoming weapons rattled off the Unger’s thick skin, but Kendra saw two arrows pierce his shoulder. If Trooogul felt any pain, he didn’t show it; as soon as the first wave of weapons had been thrown, he bounded ahead on all fours, fixed on a collision course with the startled and squawking queen. Scores of Krake drones swarmed to block his path, brandishing swords or preparing to snap at him with venom-filled beaks. But nothing would stop Trooogul at this moment. Kendra watched in awe as he cleared the Krakes away with great swipes of one muscular fist, sending them sprawling.
Desperately, Kendra dashed after her brother. “Kiro! Wait!” she cried.
But he did not wait. With a resounding roar, Trooogul reached the Krake throne and leapt at the queen. She emitted a sharp and panicked shrill, and Kendra realized all at once that the enormous Krake was nothing more than a coward. Trooogul was a tenth of her size, a mouse compared to an elephant, but she squealed all the same. Then, just as Trooogul struck her, the queen reared backwards, causing the whole throne to tilt and overturn with a tumultuous crash.
Kendra saw the queen’s head strike the ground; her long tongue curled out from her beak—she had been knocked cold. More Krake soldiers scuttled onto the pavilion to protect their queen. Kendra couldn’t see Trooogul, but she knew he was somewhere in the broken mess of throne, for a moment later, she saw Krakes flying forth from the wreckage, all victims of the Unger’s mighty fists.
Then Kendra noticed the shard from Greeve lying amidst the rubble of the throne. At first she stared at it, blankly, wondering where it had come from—and then she realized that it must have been flung from the queen’s neck during Trooogul’s attack. Kendra bent over and picked the stone up by its cord. It dangled in front of her, swaying slightly, as if to hypnotize her.
Use me, the voice inside her head growled. Destroy this wretched place and everyone in it!
Kendra’s brow furled. She tried to think of the torn and battered peryton, so damaged by her dark magic, but the shard seemed to cloud her mind. That was just an accident. These things happen on the road to triumph. Don’t you think your mother, one of the greatest sorceresses of Een, knows that?
Then Kendra heard a voice, deep and commanding, that broke her trance.
“Little Starzum! Givezum Trooogul shard.”
Kendra looked up and saw her brother standing before her. He had defeated the queen’s soldiers, for the time being at least, and now he stalked forward on all fours, a burning glare in his eyes.
“N-no-no,” Kendra said. She was still holding the shard by its cord, but now she hid it behind her back. “You don’t need it,” she said.
“Yeezum,” Trooogul grunted. “Trooogul must havezum shard. Soon, Little Starzum understandzum.”
“Come with me,” Kendra implored. “We’ll go back to Een together. We’ll find a way to turn you back to Kiro.”
“Nozum!” Trooogul barked. “Therezum only one wayzum now for Trooogul. Must repairzum cauldron. Even Kandlestarzum knowzum this.”
“No I don’t,” Kendra retorted.
“Notzum Little Starzum. Otherzum.”
“What are you talking about?” Kendra asked. “What other Kandlestar?”
&n
bsp; Trooogul seemed about to answer when suddenly his eyes flew open with surprise; Kendra instantly knew someone was behind her. She whirled around to see a cloaked and crooked figure lunging towards her. It was Agent Lurk! She could have dived out of the way, but instead Kendra held the shard out in front of her.
“Stop!” she yelled. “I’ll use it! You know I can—and you know what it can do.”
Her warning had the desired effect; at once Lurk halted. Even though his expression was hidden by the folds of his cloak, Kendra knew the mysterious Een was seething with anger.
Slowly, Kendra backed up and turned so that she could see both Lurk and Trooogul at the same time. She tried to stare down the two of them, each now edging towards her.
“Listen to me, girl,” Lurk hissed. “I promise you this: give the shard to the Unger and it will be the end of Een as you know it.”
“No listenzum to Eeneez!” Trooogul roared at Kendra. “Givezum Trooogul shard. Trooogul will savezum Eeneez.”
Kendra looked at her brother, then back to Lurk. With one free hand, she tugged on her braids.
“Give me the shard!” Agent Lurk commanded. “Or throw it into the pit. Destroy it then! Whatever you do, don’t give it to the Unger.”
“H-he’s my brother,” Kendra sputtered.
“He’s an Unger, you stupid little child!” Lurk roared.
Then many things seemed to happen all at the same time. Lurk rushed at Kendra, his ravenous hands clutching for the shard. Trooogul pounced towards Lurk, his claws curled in great fists. Attacking both of them was Queen Krake; she rose from the wreckage of the throne, now awake and alert with fury, and if she had ever been afraid, she was no longer. With her giant tail she lashed out at Lurk and Trooogul, striking the stone floor of the pavilion with such ferocity that it began to crack and split in half. Kendra felt the ground beneath her tilt away, and she slid backwards. The shard slipped from her grasp; she watched it rattle across the breaking floor, right towards Queen Krake. Yet the monstrous Krake was too focused on destruction to notice the shard. She slammed her tail again, like a massive club, this time bringing it down right on top of Agent Lurk. But just before the tail smote him, Kendra saw Lurk’s cloak shimmer into invisibility. When Queen Krake next raised her tail, Agent Lurk was nowhere to be seen.
Then the floor tilted more steeply, and Kendra lost her footing completely. She tumbled backwards, head over heels, right into the seating gallery where the Krake audience swarmed. Kendra’s cloak flew over her head, and she was instantly cast into darkness. She tore at her cape, trying to extricate herself from the jumble of cloth. When at last she did, it was only to find herself staring up at a horde of Krakes. The beasts had her completely surrounded and were leaning over with malevolent intent.
“Een-cha getcha chompzee now!” one of them cackled, and all Kendra could do was close her eyes and wait for their poisonous bites.
NOTHING HAPPENED. I should be a goner by now, Kendra thought. She opened her eyes to see the Krakes looking up towards the broken pavilion and the ruined remains of the throne, their beaks gaping in astonishment. Kendra saw a bright flash, like a crackle of white lightning—and in an instant, the Krakes scattered like a brood of terrified hens.
Kendra had no idea what had just occurred, but one thing was clear: it had seriously spooked the Krakes, for they were now emptying the arena in droves. Kendra looked over at the pavilion, which had ruptured into three or four massive slabs of stone; the queen was nowhere to be seen—but Trooogul was there, using one crooked claw to balance himself on the block that tilted beneath his feet. In his other claw, the mighty Unger grasped the shard from Greeve, and when he saw Kendra poke her head up, his eyes went wild and wide, as if he was looking at a ghost. Then the section of stone beneath him began to crumble, but he leapt to safety, a split second before it plunged towards the Rumble Pit below. With an onerous grunt, Trooogul landed in the seating gallery next to Kendra.
“Thankzum, Little Star,” he gasped. She could see that he was ravaged and exhausted; blood and sweat trickled down his face, and the stub of a broken arrow still protruded from his shoulder.
“You’re hurt,” Kendra murmured, reaching towards him.
But he jerked away. “City on Stormzum,” he gasped at her. “Little Star rememberzum! Rightzum?”
“I’ll come with you—,” she began, but before she could finish these words, he tore away, galloping over the rows of seats, towards the top of the arena where the exits were. There were a few Krakes lingering up there, but they did not try to stop the terrifying Unger; indeed, they hurriedly parted to make way for him.
What just happened? Kendra wondered desperately.
She had just decided she would go after him when she heard a desperate shriek from the Rumble Pit below. She was not sure if she had ever heard such a cry of pain; she stared frantically down into the crater where the battle of the gladiators still raged; like a blazing fire, it would have to burn itself out.
Kendra watched the combat, now as a spectator, her stomach stirring with horror. Many of the warriors were still engaged in fierce fighting, but many more lay along the sides of the pit, wounded and defeated. Then Kendra heard the appalling shriek again; it was the peryton. He was on the far side of the crater, staggering terribly; his head drooped low and awkwardly as he collapsed to his knees.
Kendra looked back for her brother, but he was nowhere to be seen. He was gone, and with him Greeve’s shard. If she wanted to find him—and the stone—she needed to go after him now. But looking back to the pit, back to the peryton, she knew what she had to do. With an anxious yank of a braid, she scrambled over the edge of the pit. She leapt through the smoldering gap in the dome that Trooogul had created earlier and quickly slid down the steep slope of the pit, straight past the still-unconscious giant, and into the battle.
All too soon she was back amidst a sea of wallops and whacks, lost somewhere in the dark bottom of the arena, overshadowed by the thundering bodies of the fierce warriors. But Kendra now realized an advantage to being so small. Compared to her, most of the gladiators were mountains, and she quickly slipped through the writhing swarm to reach the other side of the pit. As she climbed higher, trying to rise above the rumble, she looked about desperately for the peryton.
Then she saw him. Part of the Rumble Pit slope had been gashed by some massive fist or weapon, creating a small depression, and it was here where the great stag now lay. He was grievously wounded, and he lay on his side, his body heaving up and down with labored breaths. Kendra rushed to him. With all her remaining strength she lifted his great head and cradled it in her arms.
“Prince! I am here,” she whispered.
“Ah, Arinotta,” the peryton murmured when he felt her touch. “I’m afraid I am nothing without my wings or antlers. I fought as if they were still mine! And, of course, they are not. And so I have failed my father yet again. I will come to my end in this terrible place.”
“Don’t say such things!” Kendra sobbed as tears spilled down her cheeks. “Come on, can’t you rise to your feet? We’ll escape yet.”
“Alas, it is too late for me, Arinotta,” he gasped, his eyes rolling backwards in his head. “You must go now, before I’m pulled back down to the bottom of the pit.”
But Kendra would not go. She only pressed closer to him and felt the fading warmth of his breath. She was wailing loudly now, her sobs lost in the rancorous roar of the arena.
Then, desperately, she pulled her wand from her belt and clenched it in both hands.
Oh, magic of Een, I need you now, she thought. She closed her eyes and tried to find the enchantment in the Eenwood, yet again, one more countless time. Just as Uncle Griffinskitch had taught her, she tried to shut out the world around her and invite the poetry into her mind. Then, for a moment, she felt words begin to stir in her throat:
Magnificent creature of feather and wing,
Hear the call of my enchantment ring;
Sprout now—
But the words disappeared, suddenly, like a clutter of leaves in the wind. With a stifled sob, Kendra opened her eyes and stared down at her wand. For the slightest instant she thought she had felt a spark in the wood. Had she imagined it?
“Prince . . . did you feel something?” she asked. “Anything?”
“Nay,” he moaned.
Still clutching her wand in one hand, she buried her head into his rough fur. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered in his ear.
“Do not be,” he whispered back.
“But you don’t understand. It was me, Prince. It was me. I’m the one who destroyed you.”
He said nothing. His breathing was now no more than painful wheezing, and Kendra clung ever more tightly to him. Then, at last, the stag managed to find his words. “I know, Arinotta,” he said gently. “I know.”
Kendra lifted her head and looked at him. The peryton’s eyes were closed, his breathing stilled. Had he known all along? Had he known from the moment the black lightning had reached up from the shard and claimed him? And yet he had never shown her anything but kindness in the depths of the dungeon.
It was at that moment that Kendra knew she loved the beast. It was not his wings, nor his horns, nor his lustrous fur. It was simply him. “I’m so sorry,” she murmured, and she said it again, over and over, until the words turned to choked tears.
Then it happened. As she embraced him, Kendra felt some shift inside her heart. It was like a great door of stone pulled slowly upwards on chains rusted from long disuse—but it lifted all the same, revealing a faint glimmer of light. Kendra felt a tremor in her hand.
It was the wand. Something in it had come alive.
Kendra tried again. She raised the wood in both hands, shut her eyes, and concentrated. She breathed deeply, exhaled, and breathed again. The tiny girl from Een had never been in such a loud and raucous realm, but now the clamor in that awful pit seemed to fade into slumber. She felt the world around her slip away as she melted into that quiet, magic place within her. She tuned herself to the energy she felt coursing through her wand—indeed, coursing through her very body—and at last these words came to her:
Kendra Kandlestar and the Shard From Greeve Page 17
