“
Thank you for coming on
such short notice,” she said. Whispers and gasps rose from the
stunned crowd. Male elves hung their heads in disbelief. Their
wives wept softly.
An adolescent, female elf
yelled: “Please don’t abandon us! We need you here!”
Her plea caused the people
in the crowd to clap their hands and chant “We need our queen!”
over and over again. The chant spread like a wave throughout the
crowd, and it increased in volume gradually. After a few minutes,
the chorus of voices overwhelmed Queen Persephone. She clapped her
hands over her ears and gritted her teeth.
Queen Persephone beckoned
for Dr. Stine, Angelique, and Alexander to join her on the
platform. They pushed their way through the crowd of upset
civilians and climbed six marble stairs until they reached the red
carpet under her throne. Dr. Stine stood next to Queen Persephone
and held her hand. Angelique and Alexander stood to the right of
the throne. Several elves booed and yelled at Dr. Stine when he
kissed Persephone’s cheek.
“
Don’t let them take you
away from us, Queen Persephone! We need your leadership and your
magical hands! Who will cure us if you join them? Who will rid us
of illness and heal our wounds?” an elderly woman yelled. She
trembled beneath her torn clothes.
“
My son, Prince Quentin,
will protect the kingdom during my absence. He knows the power of
white magic! He’ll thrive as your leader, healer, and mentor in my
absence. I promise that I’ll return as soon as I can,” Queen
Persephone said.
The chorus of voices
exploded: “We need our queen! We need our queen!”
Queen Persephone leaned
toward Dr. Stine. Her lips brushed against his ear. He grinned
while he listened to her whisper: “Follow me. We’ll avoid the crowd
and exit through the back of the palace.” Dr. Stine nodded in
agreement. He clapped his hands at Angelique and Alexander, who
followed Dr. Stine when he walked behind the throne and descended
the steps toward a corridor. Light from torches cast their shadows
on the wall.
“
I bid you farewell! Please
pray for my safe return!” Queen Persephone said. As men, women, and
children protested, yelled, and cried, she turned away from the
crowd and followed Dr. Stine and the others. At the end of the
corridor, two female clerics greeted them. They wore silver robes
and crucifixes hung around their necks. The clerics bowed and
allowed Queen Persephone and the others to open the door and step
outside.
Queen Persephone walked
toward a male elf. The elderly man held the reins of the black
stallion, Shadow. Dr. Stine, Alexander, and Angelique smiled and
surrounded the horse.
“
I said goodbye to my
people. Now you must say farewell to your horse,” Persephone said.
She stroked the horse’s mane and kissed him on the nose.
“
What? Aren’t we going to
need him? We’ll get to the castle faster if we ride on horseback,
won’t we?” Angelique asked.
“
Shadow has been with us
for a long time. He’s like family to us,” Alexander
said.
“
If he comes with us, he
will die. He can’t survive in the harsh environments we’ll
encounter. To be honest, he’d lure predators to us and we’d all
die. We’ll be safer without him, and he’ll be safer if he stays
here. I promise that he will get plenty of exercise, sleep in his
own barn, and eat like a king. And when our journey is over, you’ll
be able to come back and claim him,” Queen Persephone
said.
Dr. Stine, Angelique, and
Alexander stroked Shadow’s mane and patted him on his head.
Angelique leaned forward and kissed him between the eyes. Dr. Stine
hugged him around his sturdy neck. Alexander wept and laughed at
the same time when Shadow’s lips pulled away from his huge, white
teeth. The loyal horse whinnied and grunted.
“
Good-bye, Shadow. Thanks
for everything,” Dr. Stine said. His trembling fingers scratched
the horse’s nose.
“
You’ll see us again soon,”
Angelique said. Shadow’s tongue licked her face.
After the elderly, male elf
took Shadow to the barn, Queen Persephone whirled on her feet and
smiled at Dr. Stine, Angelique, and Alexander. She exhaled a loud
whistle, which prompted Razor to emerge from a small house. At the
same time, Stanley dived from the thatched roof of a fruit vendor.
Razor trotted at Angelique’s heels and Stanley perched himself on
Dr. Stine’s left shoulder. Then Queen Persephone guided them toward
a wide, cobblestone path. The path formed a narrow gap between a
pair of large rock formations. At the end of the path, a pair of
giant, oak doors separated the elves’ kingdom from a wasteland. In
the distance, hot lava spewed from a volcano’s crater.
“
The difficult part of the
journey begins now. I can’t promise that all of us will survive.
Most of my warriors never make it to the top of Mount Zahn,”
Persephone said.
“
We’ll do our best. At this
point, we have no choice,” Dr. Stine said.
Queen Persephone approached
the doors and acknowledged a group of six soldiers, who belonged to
her kingdom’s Elite Guard. The male elves, who wore silver plate
armor, held heavy shields, and wielded glowing swords, bowed to
their queen. When she snapped her fingers, they stood at attention
and saluted. Queen Persephone glanced over her shoulder and said:
“This is your last chance to change your mind. When we walk through
those gates, there’ll be no turning back.” She trembled and her
face turned pale.
“
We must get to Xavier’s
castle. We can’t give up now,” Angelique said. Alexander nodded his
head. Dr. Stine pointed at the gate and stepped forward
eagerly.
Queen Persephone exhaled a
deep sigh. She turned to face the soldiers. Then she closed her
eyes, whispered a quick prayer, and ordered them to open the gate.
Moments later, chains rattled, gears grinded, and wood scraped
against cobblestones. Fiery embers, thick layers of ash, and hot
wind whirled in the passageway. Queen Persephone stepped through
the gate and guided them into The Valley of Fire.
***
Hot lava oozed from the
crater of Mount Vera and flanked the western side of Mount Zahn.
The sun dived slowly behind the mountain range while the hue of the
smoke-filled sky shifted from bluish-gray to reddish-orange. The
smoke, which rose from a forest fire in the east, faded in short
intervals, which allowed Persephone and the others to see a meteor
shower in the darkening sky. When Alexander noticed the full moon,
he stopped walking, trembled, and erupted into spasms.
“
Are you okay, Alexander?”
Persephone reached into a leather satchel slung over her shoulder
and found six flasks. Yellow fluid bubbled in the flasks. She’d
created extra antidotes for Alexander’s illness in case the initial
dose wasn’t strong enough. After she removed one of the flasks and
offered it to Alexander, he declined. When the smoke hid the moon
from view, Alexander stopped trembling and regained his
composure.
“
I think it’s wise for you
to drink another dose of the antidote. I’m worried about you. Your
affliction could complicate our journey,” Persephone
said.
“
I told you that I’m
fine
! Please stop nagging me!” Alexander said.
“
Don’t raise your voice!
Show her some respect!” Dr. Stine said. His face turned
red.
About half a mile to the
east, the ground split and a wall of fire surged from the deep
crevice. Angelique groveled against Dr. Stine when a loud, rumbling
sound roared beneath their feet. Persephone stumbled backward and
held onto the flask, which almost slipped through her fingers.
After the small earthquake subsided, Dr. Stine kissed Angelique on
her forehead and smiled at her. She picked up Razor and held the
dog protectively against her upper torso. Razor licked her face and
wagged his tail.
“
When was the last time you
checked your battery pack?” Dr. Stine said.
Angelique placed Razor on
the ground. She peeled the cloth of her dress away from her
mechanical heart. She ogled the display and gasped. It revealed
that she’d go into cardiac arrest in 8 hours, 45 minutes, and 23
seconds. She motioned for Dr. Stine to step forward and look at the
display. He craned his head forward, read the numbers, and frowned.
His hand dived into his pocket and touched the cool metal of the
spare pack.
“
Is something wrong? You
look upset,” Persephone said.
“
We’re running out of time.
We’ll need a miracle to get to Xavier’s castle before my battery
pack dies. At least we found a spare pack in the Calypso Desert,”
Angelique said.
“
We have eighteen hours to
get to Xavier’s castle. I’ll need to switch out battery packs in
about seven hours, just to be safe. I’m hoping we’ll be at the top
of Mount Zahn by then,” Dr. Stine said. He scanned the ruptured
landscape, the slow-moving lava floes, and the burning forests and
shook his head. He knew they would need more time.
Razor barked and jumped up
and down when a beeping noise chimed from his sensors. Angelique’s
eyes widened and Dr. Stine smiled. Persephone walked toward the dog
and scratched his ears.
“
What is it? Why is he
beeping like that?” she asked. Her wide eyes ogled the tiny
dog.
“
He located another battery
pack! It’s located due north of here! We need to find it
immediately!” Dr. Stine said. He sprinted toward the towering
statues of two elf warriors, which had been chiseled in the sides
of rock formations hundreds of years ago.
They walked slowly toward
the giant statues. Towering walls of fire rose from deep cracks in
the charred ground. Enormous geysers spewed streams of molten lava
high into the air. Dense clouds of smoke caused Angelique, Dr.
Stine, Persephone, and Alexander to choke and cough. When Dr. Stine
peeked around the enormous toes of a statue’s left foot, he
motioned for everyone to stop walking and remain silent.
Persephone, Angelique, and Alexander tried to obey, but curiosity
compelled them to glance around the corner. Angelique bit her
tongue to stifle a scream. Persephone exhaled a high-pitched
shriek. Alexander felt light-headed. Razor growled and bared his
teeth.
The snout of a
Tyrannosaurus rex dived deep into the upper torso of a triceratops.
Blood oozed from a wide gash on the right side of the predator’s
abdomen. When Dr. Stine noticed blood and gore on the tip of the
triceratops’s long, middle horn, he realized that the triceratops
had gouged the Tyrannosaurus during battle. The beast’s snout
emerged from the deep wound. Intestines dangled from between the
predator’s sharp, enormous teeth. Blood smeared the beast’s face
and created the illusion of a crimson mask. The Tyrannosaurus rex’s
yellow eyes glowed in the gloom of dusk.
“
How did the beasts escape
from the subterranean gardens of Hades?” Dr. Stine
asked.
“
I don’t know. Someone
should’ve monitored the seal more closely,” Persephone
said.
“
Look over there,”
Angelique said. She pointed at the ground next to the giant’s tail.
Everyone gasped when they followed the path of her finger. The
newly discovered battery pack sparkled on the ground next to the
tip of the Tyrannosaurus’ twitching tail.
Vertebrae popped along Dr.
Stine’s spine when he craned his neck to glance at his left
shoulder. Stanley’s talons dug into the cloth of his robe and his
flesh. The owl’s eyes blinked against ash and smoke. Dr. Stine
stared at the owl, kissed him on his beak, and said: “Go get the
battery pack for us, Stanley! I know you can do it!”
Stanley flew away from Dr.
Stine’s shoulder and soared into the air. Dr. Stine, Angelique, and
Alexander watched the owl swoop toward the battery pack while the
Tyrannosaurus feasted on the internal organs of the fallen
triceratops. They felt gusts of wind on their backs and heard the
flapping of enormous wings. Dr. Stine whirled on his feet when he
heard a loud screech. Angelique remembered her experience in The
Enchanted Forest of Sorrow and trembled as she turned around.
Persephone and Alexander screamed when talons dived into their
shoulders. Sorrow flapped her wings and lifted them into the
air.
“
It’s Sorrow! She followed
us from the enchanted forest!” Angelique said.
Dr. Stine sprinted toward
Persephone and grabbed her ankle with his right hand. He wept and
tugged as Sorrow soared higher into the air. Persephone kicked her
legs and tried to pry the pterodactyl’s talons away from her
shoulder, but Sorrow’s grip was too strong.
Alexander squirmed and
pounded his fists against Sorrow’s talons. The pterodactyl’s claw
tightened its grip around his midsection and squeezed the breath
out of him. He watched Dr. Stine lose his grip on Persephone’s
ankle as Sorrow lifted them into the air. He felt the sensation of
warm blood ooze across his shoulder and down to his chest as the
pterodactyl carried them toward a huge mound of bones. He trembled
while he stared at the ribcage, skull, and spinal column of a
brontosaurus’ corpse. Moments later, he succumbed to shock. While
Persephone begged him to stay awake, he slipped into a fuzzy haze
and plunged into darkness. When he woke up later, he wouldn’t
remember when Sorrow dropped him and Persephone into a nest of eggs
near a cave’s entrance.