Kingdom Keepers II: Disney at Dawn

by Ridley Pearson

“It could be,” agreed Wil a. “They locked up Maleficent in the dungeons, let’s not forget.”

  Philby spoke confidently. “I say we get inside Expedition Everest and check out the yeti. That

  could be where the answers lie. Jez drew it in her diary. It has to mean something!”

  “It means that’s where the danger lies,” muttered Jez.

  Finn said quietly, “Chernabog is using Maleficent—maybe to get him off of Everest or even

  out of the Park. Maleficent used us to reveal and capture Wayne. If they eliminate Wayne, then

  they take away years of knowledge about al the Parks, al the history of this place. If they’re trying to gain control of the Parks, Wayne has to go. He’s proved that.”

  “He has the knowledge and leadership,” said Wil a, “to stop them.”

  Leadership, Finn thought. Wayne had given him a lecture on how to be a good leader. Had Wayne known what was coming?

  “Wayne is not the only one they need to get rid of,” Maybeck reminded them. “I’d say we’ve

  become a pretty big pain in the—”

  “But!” Finn said, interrupting, “there’s obviously stuff we haven’t figured out. Maybe a lot of stuff. It’s pretty obvious we don’t have it al . We can’t make any conclusions without going in there, without knowing more. I’m going in there. And I have a hunch Amanda and Jez are, too, because

  Jez dreamed about it.”

  The two sisters nodded.

  “This is stupid,” Maybeck whined. “It could be a trap.

  “Which is why you and Wil a and Charlene wil remain outside of Everest,” Finn directed. “If

  we get nailed, you’l have to come save us.” He knew if there was one thing Maybeck loved, it was

  being the hero.

  Maybeck snorted. “Okay,” he said, relenting.

  “Philby wil come with me because he’s so good with tech stuff, and if there’s one thing we

  know about Expedition Everest, it’s that it’s high-tech.”

  “I haven’t studied it much,” Philby cautioned.

  “We’l take our chances,” Finn said.

  “The Park closes in, like, five minutes,” said Charlene.

  “That may work even better for us,” Finn declared.

  “What about the fact that Jez’s daydream has Ape Man swinging you around like a

  drumstick?” Maybeck crossed his arms, believing he’d final y found a hole in Finn’s plan.

  “But what he doesn’t know,” Philby said, “is that we already know that, and that’s gotta be to

  our advantage.”

  “Not if you’re the one being swung around,” said Maybeck, clearly chal enging Finn.

  “I’l take my chances,” said Finn, staring back at Maybeck’s twitching smile and wondering

  why he’d volunteered.

  63

  THE LINE FOR EXPEDITION EVEREST had been shut down fifteen minutes prior to the Park closing to

  make sure the rol er coaster was free of passengers by the appointed time. The line twisted through a startling reproduction of a Nepalese vil age, complete with prayer flags and Asian memorabilia.

  Finn, Philby Amanda, and Jez stuck together. They passed into the backstage area through a

  “Park Rangers Only” gate and simply walked into the enormous structure that housed the exotic

  rol er coaster.

  Finn had expected to need his ID and perhaps some quick talking to get them al inside, but

  with the closing of the ride to the public, someone had left the backstage door open, and the kids simply walked in.

  “It’s three structures in one,” Philby explained in a hush. “The massive superstructure that supports the exterior building, the rol er coaster, and the yeti.”

  “I thought you hadn’t studied it,” whispered Jez.

  “I haven’t studied it thoroughly,” Philby replied, “but that doesn’t mean I haven’t read up on it a little.”

  “We may need the rol er coaster for our escape,” Finn said to Philby. “Why don’t you stay and

  try to handle that?”

  “Done,” said Philby. He could be a handful when he showed off.

  “See you up there,” Finn said.

  The metal stairs reminded him of a fire escape. The three of them climbed and climbed. Then

  they climbed some more. Far below they suddenly heard men’s voices. The lights went out. Then

  a reverberating thunk as a door was slammed shut with a finality that Finn felt up his spine.

  With the lights out, the building’s vast interior was held in an unnatural haze caused by the few

  emergency lights strategical y placed throughout.

  No one said anything at first, but a tremor of fear passed between them.

  Finn couldn’t lose the image of his being swung around by his feet. Step by step he felt himself drawn to that fate.

  Amanda started talking, possibly to break the mood established by the lights going out.

  “What is it that something—someone—like Chernabog wants?”

  “Power,” Jez answered.

  “Exactly,” Amanda agreed. “He’s been locked up in here ever since they built the ride, and

  now he wants freedom and power, probably in that order.”

  “And you’re saying he’d have gotten both if I hadn’t dreamed what I dreamed,” Jez said.

  “He stil may get both,” Amanda cautioned. “And what’s the one thing anyone seeking power

  is afraid of?”

  “What is this?” Finn complained, “a social sciences class?”

  “Answer the question,” Amanda pushed.

  “His enemies,” Finn answered.

  “Yes! His enemies,” Amanda agreed. “In particular, any enemy who is potential y more

  powerful than he is. So who are his biggest enemies? You—the Kingdom Keepers—or Wayne, or

  Jez, or whom?”

  “Al of the above,” a winded Finn replied. The stairs seemed to go on forever. The trio passed

  along the rol er coaster’s high-tech tracks and the arctic scenery that only made the chil of the air al the more convincing. “Or none of the above,” Finn said, his mind racing.

  “You’re messing with us?” Amanda said accusingly.

  Finn answered, “Chernabog is rarely seen in any of the Disney stuff. Fantasia and Fanstasmics are it, I think.”

  “And al the postcards and stuff that show the Disney vil ains,” Amanda corrected.

  “That, too. But in the Fantasmics—he’s beaten by the sorcerer, Mickey,” said Finn. “And in

  Fantasia, by the sun.”

  “Interesting,” said Amanda. She didn’t sound winded at al . Finn wondered if she was

  levitating herself up the endless stairs.

  Jez asked, “Are you saying he has to defeat Mickey before he can be assured of maintaining

  any power he gains?”

  “Defeating Mickey,” Finn said, “defeats us al . Without Mickey, there is no Magic Kingdom, no Animal Kingdom, no Disney at al .”

  “But then why kidnap Jez? Why involve the five of you? What do you guys have to do with

  Mickey?” Amanda asked.

  “Nothing,” Finn answered. “That’s what’s puzzling. But think about it: the sooner he eliminates

  Mickey, the sooner there’s no one to stop him from overtaking the Park.”

  mybest: ice truck just arrived!!!

  Finn told the two sisters the news. “The ice truck pul ed up around back.”

  “Then this is it,” Jez said, her voice trembling. “Whatever Maleficent has been planning, it’s

  happening right now.”

  They rounded a corner and then quickly jumped to one side to hide.

  What they’d witnessed was emblazoned in their minds. Far above them towered the

  frightening figure of the yeti. It stood thirty feet tal or more, leaning out over the track—the embodiment of evil: monstrous an
d otherworldly.

  At the yeti’s feet stood a tal figure in a black robe. They were too far away to see the purple

  fringe on the cape or the green skin, but no one in the group doubted it was she. Hidden by an

  outcropping of rock, they continued higher until the steady chanting of her voice could be heard.

  She was conjuring a spel . As the staircase curved, fol owing the rocks, they were forced to drop to their stomachs and bel y-crawl up the metal stairs. Then Finn raised a hand signaling the others to stop.

  He didn’t know exactly why they’d come here—only that they couldn’t turn away from Jez’s daydream. Perhaps they were here to witness whatever Maleficent planned, perhaps to stop it. He

  believed their attendance here critical to Wayne’s rescue, yet he knew they were no match for the

  yeti. Not if Maleficant awakened the thing.

  And then it became perfectly clear to him: they had to stop her from awakening the yeti in the

  first place. Chernabog must not come to power. This was the secret to preserving the peace in the

  Animal Kingdom. This was why Jez had dreamed it in the first place.

  More than anything, Finn’s concern for Wayne remained at the forefront of his thoughts. He

  had to find out what had happened to him, where he’d gone. And to that end, he must not be afraid.

  This became his focus: he must not be afraid. He felt a tingling sensation wash over him.

  It was true: he did not see the green skin or the fringe on Maleficent’s robe, and he was betting she couldn’t make out the sudden slight shimmer to his skin, either.

  He rose to his feet and cal ed out boldly, “Do you real y think you’l get away with it?” His electronical y-edged voice echoed in the cavernous building.

  Amanda and Jez slunk back and down, once again hiding in the lee of the rock outcropping.

  Far below—miles it seemed—a loud pop was heard, fol owed by sudden humming. The round rail to the left of the stairs carried a slight tremor.

  The rol er coaster had been switched on.

  64

  IT ALL HAPPENED SO QUICKLY: his words echoing around the building; the steady increase in electronic and mechanical sounds as the rol er coaster started up; Maleficent’s arms shooting up

  from her sides and lifting her robe like magnificent wings.

  The twitching of the yeti’s fingers, like the paws of a sleeping dog.

  Too late! She had already awakened the giant.

  His massive head moved side-to-side, and a loud crack thundered through the snowcapped

  mountains.

  The hum and whir of the rol er coaster grew steadily closer.

  “Sil y, sil y, boy!” Maleficent spun around and shot a bal of fire at Finn. The size of a soccer

  bal , it exploded at his feet, flaming out.

  And whereas once Finn would have been terrified by such things, would have stood

  transfixed by the power she displayed, something had come over him. She was nothing but an

  il usionist, a magician using her substantial skil s to scare him. He was no longer convinced she

  even possessed the ability to kil him—or, if she did, then why hadn’t she done so?

  “If you were going to kil me,” he shouted, “then you would have done that the first time we

  met. But you can’t, can you? Walt Disney would never al ow a creation of his imagination to take a life.”

  The tingling grew stronger; he felt it in a way, a degree, he’d never experienced. This confrontation was making his DHI stronger.

  “But I am not of his imagination,” Maleficent said. “I am of the old stories—tales that existed

  for hundreds of years in places al around the world. Tales of things that actual y happened.” She shot another bal at him. Again, he did not move from his spot. Again, the flames fel short.

  The giant yeti was awake now, towering over them al , eyes blinking. Finn did not recoil. He

  could not picture Wayne and the other Imagineers building creatures designed to harm them.

  The rol er coaster sped closer.

  “I wil kil you,” Maleficent said, “when you are no longer of use to me.” She bent backward and

  looked up at the hairy creature above her. “When Lord Chernabog has no further use for you.” She

  let out a laugh—a bloodcurdling cackle—that for the first time chal enged Finn’s DHI status. His

  feet and hands grew cold, and it took al his wil to overcome this poison and return to his ful DHI.

  The beast had the reaction time of a snake. One moment Finn was standing on the stairs.

  The next, the yeti had him by the legs and was swinging him overhead.

  His legs…not the legs of his DHI. Amanda and Jez jumped out from their hiding places and

  Jez shouted, “Let him go!”

  “Ah!” Maleficent cried out. “If it isn’t the Fairlies.”

  Amanda craned forward, her neck thrust out. Maleficent knew way too much.

  Finn knew the secret to his own survival was to push away his fear, but being swung at thirty

  miles an hour over the head of a forty-foot-tal giant proved a difficult chal enge.

  Maleficent suddenly floated—levitated—off the platform, clearly, nothing she’d planned for herself, for she flailed her legs and arms, dog paddling like a kid struggling to swim for the first time.

  “You put me down, child!” she roared.

  She hurled a bal of flame at Amanda, who leaned slightly left, al owing the asteroid to pass. It

  exploded into the Himalayas.

  “PUT HIM DOWN!” cried out Amanda, “OR I WILL DROP YOU AS YOU WISH!”

  Maleficent moved like a puppet twenty feet to the left. Now there was nothing but a sixty-foot

  fal to concrete beneath her.

  Finn felt the tingling return, and, as it did, the yeti’s hand closed shut through his body—

  nothing but light. Finn clamored up the beast’s arm toward its massive head. The yeti swiped at

  him, but again his hand passed through Finn’s DHI, unable to touch him.

  He caught a glimpse of Maleficent as she began to transform into a crow. But as she did,

  Amanda released her and the green-skinned creature fel fifteen feet straight down before stopping in midair.

  “You try that again,” Amanda warned, and I’l drop you before you have the chance.

  Maleficent looked down and seemed to consider her odds. Then she looked back at

  Amanda.

  “You harm me, you little tart, and your friend wil never see his precious Wayne again!”

  With the mention of Wayne, Finn slipped. He fel off the yeti’s shoulder, and the sensation immediately removed his DHI. He slid down the side of the creature, grasping at the matted gray

  hair and somehow control ing his fal . As he reached the yeti’s leg, it moved. Then the other. The giant’s feet broke free of the platform where it had stood for several years. The entire building shook.

  A series of screams was fol owed by the rol er coaster shooting up at them through the darkness. Philby, Maybeck, and Wil a zoomed past—backward—and out of sight.

  Maybeck waved at Maleficent.

  The witch proclaimed: “You wil bring me the Stonecutter’s Quil , or you wil never see the white-haired man again.”

  At that moment, the yeti began to change. The hair was sucked inside its arms, turning the

  gray skin smooth; the legs and arms shrank, and the neck grew thinner, while the head also lost its hair and sprouted horns. The giant creature had been reduced to a figure much greater than Maleficent, but no longer a thirty-foot-high beast. Horns sprouted, while black webbing formed under the thing’s arms like…bat wings.

  Chernabog.

  Finn heard the rol er coaster slowing in the distance. It would be returning—and when it did,

  he, Amanda, and Jez needed to be on it.

  The pen, Finn re
alized. The Stonecutter’s Quil was the pen Walt had used to imagine the

  first plans of the Parks. It had demonstrated great powers the one and only time Finn had seen it

  used. Powers, he assumed, that could be put to evil use as easily as they had been to good.

  A wal of tension formed between Amanda and Maleficent. The witch produced another bal

  of fire, but this time Amanda levitated it as wel . It hovered next to the witch, burning hotly and il uminating her green face.

  “You wil regret this, little one,” Maleficent muttered, clearly afraid of her own fire. “You are playing with things you know nothing about.”

  She grew the head of a vulture. Wings began to sprout.

  Amanda released her. Again, Maleficent fel abruptly, before slowly being carried aloft.

  Evidence of the vulture was gone; the green-skinned fairy hovering over the precipitous fal .

  The strain on Amanda was evident. She had quickly grown pale, her body now shaking.

  Finn saw that Maleficent was merely playing for time. She knew Amanda couldn’t keep this

  up forever.

  “Release Wayne!” Finn cal ed out, “or she’l drop you.

  “The Quil ,” Maleficent said, “or you’l never see him alive again.” She looked over at Finn, who held to Chernabog rather than drop to the platform where the creature might squash him like

  a bug.

  Amanda’s strength gave out, and she col apsed into Jez’s arms.

  “You harm any one of us and you wil never see that pen!” Finn shouted. He let go, jumped,

  slid down the mountain slope, and aimed straight for the two girls, hoping his timing was right, for he could see the rol er coaster from the corner of his eye. Chernabog stepped forward, raising his arms in defiance. But he was too late.

  Finn’s wild slide down the mountainside connected with both girls at the exact moment the

  rol er coaster arrived. He stretched out his arms and caught both Amanda and Jez, his momentum

  carrying al three of them headfirst into the passing rol er coaster. They tumbled into a middle car.

  But the safety bars on the ride were already set, having been locked at the start; and, as the

  cars gained substantial speed, Finn held on to the weakened Amanda as Jez reached out to cling

  to the car, and with Maybeck, Philby Charlene, and Wil a cal ing out from the back, the Kingdom