Kendra Kandlestar and the Shard From Greeve (22 page)

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?”

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.