Kendra Kandlestar and the Box of Whispers (13 page)

KENDRA STOPPED dead in her tracks, frozen with fear.

Oki, whose eyes were mostly squeezed shut, walked right into her.

“Ouch!” he cried. “Kendra, what are you doing?” Then he followed her gaze to see the giant blinking eye of the dragon.

“EEK!” Oki screeched.

“Quiet!” Jinx scolded. “What’s gotten into you?”

“Dr-dr-dr,” Oki stuttered.

“What?” Uncle Griffinskitch asked gruffly.

“Dr-dr-dr,” Oki stammered again, now shaking uncontrollably.

Kendra herself couldn’t find her voice at all. The box was now glowing brightly in her hands. She could feel it pulsate against her body.

“My word!” Professor Bumblebean cried impatiently. “Speak, little one.”

“Dr-dr-dr-DRAGON!” Oki finally cried, pointing upwards.

Everyone now looked up, just as the gargantuan dragon seemingly came alive and rose to his full height. Kendra could not have dreamed of a bigger, more ferocious creature. He was covered in thick red scales that clattered and clicked with the rippling of his muscles. Two long leathery wings were folded in sharp angles upon his back, though Kendra could not imagine how he could fly in the narrow passages of the castle. As for his claws, these were sharp and gnarled, and he had a long tapered tail that thrashed about the passage like a whip. Inside his mouth were rows of tiny, sharp teeth that dripped with rancid green saliva, and out of the back of his throat flickered a tongue so long and slithering that it reminded Kendra of a snake. And, of course, there were his eyes, large and yellow and gleaming like mirrors.

It was with these eyes that the dragon now gazed upon Kendra and her friends. Then, without warning, the monster unleashed a dreadful shriek, a sound so loud and piercing that at once everyone stumbled backwards. It was a shriek they had all heard before—on the very day the box had been stolen.

“Days of Een!” Uncle Griffinskitch exclaimed. “The Red Thief!”

“WHO DARES TO STEAL THE BOX OF WHISPERS?” the dragon bellowed. “For I am Rumor the Red Dragon, keeper of all treasures known to man or monster, and that box is my most prized possession!”

The dragon’s voice was so loud that it seemed to reverberate through the entire castle. Kendra gasped and her eyes went as wide as two full moons. She had heard Rumor’s voice before—in her dreams—a hundred times over the past days and weeks. As she stood before the dragon, a cold chill going down her spine, Kendra realized that it had been his voice all along: “Een has helped Unger! Een has helped Unger!” Now, the nightmare was real. She was facing her accuser. But how could it be? Her mind began to swirl with questions, but only for a moment. Jinx grabbed her by the arm and swung her about.

“RUN!” the tiny grasshopper yelled.

Kendra clutched the Box of Whispers and fled down the passage until she reached an enormous door. She had no choice but to stop. “What now, Captain Jinx?” she cried.

But there was no reply.

“Captain Jinx?” she asked, turning around. Uncle Griffinskitch, Professor Bumblebean, and Oki were at her side, panting from their run. But there was no Jinx.

“Where did she go?” Kendra asked, desperation in her voice.

“There!” Oki cried, pointing back down the passageway.

Kendra looked down the dark hall, but could see nothing but the giant dragon. Then she caught a glint of metal. It was Jinx, standing before the mighty beast, her tiny sword drawn in proud defiance.

With the immense monster looming over her, she looked smaller than ever. But this didn’t seem to stop her. She rushed forward, slashing at the dragon’s giant toes, but the instant she struck the tough, armored scales, her sword snapped in half like a twig.

Rumor let out a loud laugh, and the whole passage seemed to tremble. Then, he drew back and unleashed a jet of flames upon the passage.

“Uh-oh! Not good!” Jinx cried, squeezing her eyes shut.

But the flames never reached her. Before Kendra could realize what was happening, she saw Uncle Griffinskitch, with his magic staff, standing in front of Jinx. He had turned the fire into a shower of flower petals that now floated harmlessly to the ground. Kendra gasped. How had her uncle managed to get to Jinx’s side so quickly?

“Hurry,” Uncle Griffinskitch ordered the grasshopper. “Get out of here!”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Jinx shot back, pulling out another sword.

“The box!” Uncle Griffinskitch shouted. “Protect the box!”

Kendra had heard that tone from her uncle countless times. It meant, “No arguing!” Jinx seemed to know that too, for she turned and bounded down the passageway on her long, powerful legs. In the next moment, she had joined Kendra and the others at the end of the corridor, trapped against the door.

“There’s no way through!” Professor Bumblebean told the grasshopper frantically. “The door is too heavy to open, and there’s no room under it either.”

Jinx gritted her teeth and with all her strength hurled herself at the door—but it didn’t budge. With a fury, she threw herself at it again, but its massive timbers showed no response. “It’s no use,” she finally wheezed.

But Kendra barely heard her, for now she turned her eyes back to her uncle, down at the other end of the passage. The old white wizard had raised his crooked staff, and was holding it before Rumor.

“Now what’s he doing?” Oki said.

“He’s going to fight him,” Kendra said.

“Out of my way, old man,” the dragon snarled, smoke swirling out of his nostrils.

“Humph,” Uncle Griffinskitch muttered in reply. It was the type of humph that meant he wasn’t impressed.

“FINE,” Rumor growled. With a snap of his tail, he struck the ceiling and sent a shower of stones crashing towards the old Een wizard.

“He’ll be crushed!” Kendra screamed.

But Uncle Griffinskitch didn’t even blink. His staff flashed and the falling stones suddenly changed to soft white snowflakes, settling gently upon the ground.

“You’re starting to annoy me,” Rumor hissed.

“Humph,” Uncle Griffinskitch grunted, his eyes ablaze. The dragon came at him again, and this time his long pink tongue zipped out and curled around the wizard like a rope.

“He’s going to swallow him whole!” Kendra screamed.

Without thinking, she started to run towards her uncle, but Jinx grabbed her by the leg and pinned her to the wall.

“Just keep out of his way,” the grasshopper uttered. “He’s up to something.”

But it didn’t seem like it to Kendra. Her uncle didn’t seem to move a muscle, even though his hand and staff were free. Kendra held her breath as she watched the dragon pull the old Een right inside his gaping mouth. Then, at the last possible moment, Uncle Griffinskitch flicked his staff and fired a mighty zap of lightning down Rumor’s long throat.

The dragon shrieked, reeling back as blue lightning crackled through his mouth. As he sat there, stunned and smoking, Uncle Griffinskitch turned and hobbled down the passage as fast as his legs would carry him.

“Quickly, we only have a few moments,” the wizard panted.

Kendra had never seen her uncle so spent. He was trembling head to foot, and beads of sweat were rolling down his face, which now had gone as white as his beard. She quickly rushed to his side and helped support him.

“We can’t get through the door,” Jinx told the wizard.

“I’ll blow it open,” Uncle Griffinskitch said, furrowing his brow. He lifted his staff, but it was clear he had not one spark of magic strength left in his now frail body. He collapsed to the floor in a heap.

Then Kendra heard a rumbling. It was Rumor. He had recovered from his injuries and was now lumbering down the hall, his great body smashing against the walls and sending sheets of dust and rubble to the ground. In only a matter of seconds, he was upon them.

“No more tricks!” the dragon growled angrily. “I want my box!”

Rumor smashed his tail against the ground, and the floor shook so hard that Kendra and her companions were tossed into the air. Before they could hit the ground again, the scaled beast stretched out his massive claw and caught them in his palm.

“Days of Een!” Uncle Griffinskitch gasped, as the dragon closed his long, bony talons about them. “I landed on my staff!” The flustered wizard reached beneath him and pulled out his staff. It was broken and useless.

“I’ve had enough of this!” Jinx cried angrily. She began pulling knives and daggers from her weapons belt, thrusting them one by one into the dragon’s palm. But it didn’t matter how strong she was or how hard she stabbed. Every weapon broke against Rumor’s thick skin.

“It’s of no avail,” Professor Bumblebean told the grasshopper. “You’re wasting yourself, Captain.”

Kendra felt herself being lifted upward with the others. The scaled fingers of their prison opened and they found themselves staring into Rumor’s large glimmering eyes.

“Annoying little creatures,” he rasped. “Give me back my treasure!”

Kendra spoke before she had time to think better of it. “It’s not your box. It’s ours. It belongs to us Eens!”

“No!” Rumor said, reaching down with his crooked nails to snatch the box and key away from Kendra and Oki. “The box is definitely
mine!”

Kendra was sure the dragon would crush the box, for it was so small, and he was so enormous. But in handling the tiny treasure, the beast seemed to have the gentlest of touch.

Kendra and the rest of the company were another matter. Rumor didn’t seem to care at all if he hurt them, and while cradling the box ever so carefully in one hand, he roughly closed his other about the company, plunging them back into total darkness.

Kendra felt the dragon turn and slither through the castle. She tried to peer out of the cracks between the dragon’s claws, but he was holding them so tightly that she couldn’t see out. Then Jinx tried. Her head was just small enough to squeeze out between the cracks in their scaly prison.

“We’re back in the treasure vault,” Jinx relayed to Kendra and the others, and they could hear the coins and other riches crunch and jingle under the dragon’s tremendous weight. “He’s returning the box and key back to the pedestal.”

“I’m sorry,” Kendra heard Rumor tell the box affectionately. “Now you are back in your rightful place.”

“I wonder what happened to Pugglemud,” Professor Bumblebean said. “Can you see him, Captain?”

“Yes, there he is!” Jinx whispered excitedly. “I can see him hiding behind a large mirror in the corner.”

“I guess even he knows enough to hide,” Kendra said.

“Shhh,” Uncle Griffinskitch warned, still trembling with exhaustion. “The dragon might hear us.”

But Rumor started moving again, and their voices were muffled by the sound of treasure crunching beneath him.

“Do you think Pugglemud can see you?” Kendra asked Jinx.

“I don’t know,” Jinx said. “I have to get his attention somehow. I hate to say it, but he might be the only one to save us now.”

“Throw something down there so he knows we’re here,” Oki suggested.

Jinx pulled her head back in and looked about the enclosed fist. Most of their possessions had been lost during their capture, but Professor Bumblebean had managed to hang onto two of his precious books.

“Oh, don’t you dare!” the professor cried when he saw what Jinx was thinking. “Elder Griffinskitch—don’t let her!”

“We have no other way,” the old wizard panted.

“Oh, my ancestors would be horrified,” the professor sighed, handing over
The Illustrated History of Krodos.
Jinx took the hefty book, squeezed it out between Rumor’s claws, and let it fall. With a clatter, it landed on the gold-covered floor.

Rumor did not hear the sound over his own footsteps, but Pugglemud noticed the book. He peered from behind the mirror and looked at the book curiously. Then, he gazed up at the dragon and spotted Jinx’s head sticking out of Rumor’s fist.

“He’s seen us,” Jinx reported.

“Good work, Captain,” Uncle Griffinskitch said. “Let’s hope he helps us.”

Then, they felt Rumor turn and rumble out of the vault.

“Where’s he taking us?” Oki asked.

At last the dragon came to a stop. He opened his fist, and Kendra noticed they were in a room with still more gold and riches, but also with dozens of cages of all different sizes, scattered haphazardly about the mounds of treasure. Rumor found a silver cage to his liking and tossed Kendra and the rest of the company inside. With a flick of his long tongue, he slammed the door shut.

“Welcome to the chamber of cages,” he said, glaring upon them with his large yellow eyes. “This is what happens to those who try to steal my treasures!”

Kendra looked up at the beast. His eyes seemed to glimmer with self-satisfaction, and it angered her.

“You’re not so tough,” she declared, stepping to the front of the cage. “It’s easy to pick on us. We’re just tiny.”

“Is that so?” the dragon responded, the smoke curling out of his nostrils.

“Kendra,” Uncle Griffinskitch murmured softly from behind her. “It’s okay. This isn’t the time for your boldness. Don’t anger him.”

But Kendra couldn’t help herself. She felt that tiny spark in her rise up. It was the same type of spark that had grabbed hold of her on the night when she had rescued Trooogul. She could not help but to act, and in this case, that meant giving the dragon a piece of her mind. “What about the giants?” she demanded of Rumor. “You’re just their lackey, aren’t you? Shouldn’t you at least take us before your masters?”

“WHAT?” Rumor screamed (and the very bars on their cage rattled). “What masters do you think I have, teenie Eenie? Who do you think is more powerful than I?”

His tongue flicked out angrily, hitting Kendra and knocking her right to the floor of the cage.

“Kendra!” Uncle Griffinskitch cried helplessly.

Jinx helped Kendra to her feet, and the young girl turned and looked at Rumor once more. “I thought there were giants here,” she said, feeling even braver, now that Jinx was at her side. “Where are they?”

“Giants? There are no giants here, my friends,” Rumor hissed, with a particularly nasty emphasis on the word friends. “There haven’t been for over seven hundred years.”

“My word!” Professor Bumblebean exclaimed. He had been held speechless with fear since being tossed into the cage, but now his curiosity got the better of him. “What happened to the giants?” he asked. “I thought the castle of Krodos belonged to them.”

“It belongs to ME,” Rumor sneered. “I rid this castle of the giants and their gang of cronies long ago, back when the land of Een was but a child.”

“So it was you alone who stole the Box of Whispers,” Uncle Griffinskitch said.

“I didn’t steal it,” Rumor said, his long tongue flickering out warningly. “I tell you, I took what was mine.”

“Humph,” Uncle Griffinskitch grunted. “Then what do you mean to do with us?”

“Are you going to e-e-eat us?” Oki stammered anxiously.

Rumor lifted his great head and laughed so hard that they shook once again within their cage.

“Of course not!” the dragon said. “I would never eat such disgusting little creatures as you! The very thought of you in my belly makes me ill. I have no use of your flesh. You see, I feed on something quite different.”

“And what’s that?” Kendra asked.

“I’ll tell you,” Rumor said with a wicked twinkle in his eye. “It’s
fear.
” And with that, the red dragon turned and slithered out of the chamber, back into his endless rooms of treasure.

“Did he say fear?” Jinx asked.

“He did,” the professor replied. “I do say, I’ve never come across such nonsense in my studies. How does he exist on fear? The fear of what, I wonder?”

“Humph,” Uncle Griffinskitch grunted. “The fear we have of him, I imagine.”

“If that’s the case, then he must feel like he just ate a ten-course dinner,” Oki said, trembling from head to tail. “I’ve never been so afraid in my life!”