Pirates of the Purple Dawn

  Title Page

  Dedication

  1: The Vision Thing

  2: In the Stone Tree

  3: Stopping by the Woods

  4: Dark Land of Dark Deeds

  5: The Crushing Wheel

  6: Double Your Fun!

  7: Helping a Friend

  8: Doom at the Dome

  9: Home, Evil Home

  10: The Trickster and the Tricked

  The Adventure Continues …

  Also Available

  Copyright

  When Eric Hinkle found himself in a creepy tunnel, with weird, hissing noises all around him, he realized he would much rather be in school.

  “Oh, yeah,” he said to himself. “I’d be at my desk, Neal and Julie would be just two seats away, with Mrs. Michaels up there, teaching stuff, maybe even giving us a quiz. Really, I’d be fine with a quiz! But no …”

  No. Eric wasn’t in school.

  In fact, he was as far away from class as it was possible to be. Jagged, rocky walls pressed on him from every side. He could barely see a thing. His feet hurt. His head throbbed. He felt sick.

  “Yeah, and what’s that?” he wondered.

  He could just make out an odd green haze drifting in the darkness ahead. And now and again he could smell something.

  What was it? Apples?

  “Apples! Like at my house!” he said, recalling the trees outside his bedroom window.

  But Eric wasn’t near his house, either. He was somewhere else entirely. He was in the fantastic, magical, and secret world of Droon.

  Of course, he was in Droon. Where else would a weird old tunnel be?

  “But if I’m in Droon,” he asked, “where are Julie and Neal? They’re always with me.”

  Just then, as if in answer to his question, he heard a whisper in his ear and felt a tap on his shoulder. But when he turned around, no one was there. “Okay, I really don’t like this place!” Eric said out loud.

  When he turned around to face forward again, Eric was startled to see the shape of a tall figure moving toward him. The green haze poured from it like smoke from a fire. And the smell of apples was stronger than ever.

  “Wh-wh-who are you?” he stammered.

  In a low voice that sounded as if it could belong to either a man or a woman — or neither — the figure spoke. “Look here!”

  A thin hand rose up from the silhouette and pointed behind it. Squinting into the shadows, Eric saw … a map?

  It was a map, floating in the darkness. It appeared lit from within. It was the sort of living map he had seen before in Droon. Clouds and birds and the black waves of the Serpent Sea moved across its surface.

  There was something else, too. Over the Dark Lands swirled a small purple cloud. As Eric watched, the cloud grew and grew until it finally engulfed all of Droon.

  “What is that?” he asked.

  The figure beckoned him closer. “You will know soon. For now, speak to me of Droon. Tell me everything. I must know!”

  Eric didn’t know who the figure was, or what it wanted, but he felt compelled to answer, as if he was under a spell.

  “Julie and Neal and I go down the magic stairs in my basement all the time,” he began. “Along with Princess Keeah, the wizard Galen, and Max the spider troll, we use our powers to battle the leader of the beasts, Emperor Ko, and his moon dragon, Gethwing.”

  The green smoke reached at him like a hand, squeezing him, making him go on.

  “Then there’s Lord Sparr. Everybody knows how evil he used to be. But one of his spells backfired, and he turned into a boy. He helped us a lot. After that, he became himself again. But he was different.”

  “Different?”

  “Sparr tricked Ko,” Eric said. “Then he escaped to a strange island where he jumped into a bottomless pit. Now he’s gone —”

  “Gone! That’s what I needed to know!”

  The scent of apples seemed to engulf Eric suddenly, then oozed back into the darkness.

  “Wait!” he said. “Who are you? What’s that purple cloud — ?”

  “A warning and a challenge for all wizards,” the figure said. “Are you up to it?”

  “Warning? Challenge? Wait —”

  The figure seemed to step away, and the smoky light began to fade. The apple smell drifted away, too. The tunnel grew lighter.

  “Wait! Stop!” Eric insisted. “You had me under a spell. You’re planning something. Well, you won’t get away with it! Neal’s a genie and Julie can fly and I’m a wizard with visions and really powerful powers —”

  He heard sudden wild chattering all around him and felt his fingertips grow warm.

  A hand grasped his shoulder from behind and another from the side.

  “Get your beasts off me!” he cried, wiggling free. His fingers sparked wildly, and a beam of silver light exploded into the darkness.

  BLAMMMM!

  When the smoke cleared, Eric found that the mysterious figure had vanished entirely. Staring at him, her eyes the size of moons, was none other than his teacher, Mrs. Michaels. The hand on his shoulder didn’t belong to a beast, but to Neal. The voice in his ear was only Julie’s, and the chattering came from his classmates. Finally, the map in front of him wasn’t of Droon but of the regular world, and there was a big black hole in its center from the fiery blast he’d sent at it.

  He was in school, after all.

  “Uh-oh,” Eric whispered.

  Mrs. Michaels stared from Eric’s sparking fingers to the map behind her and back again.

  “Eric, did you blow up our map?”

  His chest pounding, Eric realized he must have just had a vision. Someone wanted to know about Droon. About Sparr. And whoever he or she was, they were also trying to warn him about something.

  Mrs. Michaels moved down the aisle. “What is a Gethwing? And who is Keeah?”

  “Dude,” Neal hissed in his ear, “you told her everything, totally out loud!”

  “Way to spill our secrets, Eric!” added Julie.

  “And who is this Lord Spore person —”

  “Sparr,” said Eric. “I mean … who?”

  Mrs. Michaels stopped at his desk. “What is this place Droon you talked so much about?”

  He tried to smile. “Uh … well … about that … you see … the thing is … could you please repeat the question?”

  “No way!” said a girl jumping up from her seat. “Droon is some kind of magical world! I always knew there were magical worlds, and this proves it. Let’s go to Eric’s house now. Can we, Mrs. Michaels? Field trip —”

  All of a sudden the door flew open —bang! — and a tall man in a cloak of midnight blue and a cone-shaped hat walked into the room.

  Backward.

  “It’s that wizard Eric blabbed about!” cried a boy. “It’s Lagen!”

  Eric, Julie, and Neal gasped. They knew it wasn’t Lagen, or even Galen, the wizard’s real name. It wasn’t even a real wizard. It was Galen’s opposite, the “pretend wizard.”

  It was Nelag!

  Nelag didn’t have real powers. He often said and did the exact opposite of what you’d expect. He spoke in riddles, almost never got hurt, and was almost always funny.

  “Good-bye, everyone!” said Nelag. “My name is not Nelag!”

  Neal groaned. “And I thought it was bad when Eric told everyone we had powers. What is he doing here?”

  Unrolling a little scroll with tassels hanging from each end, the pretend wizard cleared his throat, lifted four fingers, and said, “I have come for two reasons. First of all, the second reason is … Eric, Julie, Neal, I bring a secret message for you! We must go down the secret staircase in Eric’s basement. Another secret adventure awaits you secretly in Droon!”
/>   For a moment, silence fell over the classroom. Then everyone exploded.

  “Let’s go down those magic stairs!”

  “There’s a shortcut through my yard!”

  “This could be extra credit!”

  “Wait!” said Mrs. Michaels, facing Nelag. “You said there were two reasons. What’s the first reason?”

  Nelag looked at his four fingers. “I’m so glad you asked.” He stuck those fingers into his mouth and whistled as if he were trying to stop a truck. A tiny yellow bird shot out of the tip of his tall hat, flew to the ceiling, and sprinkled glittery dust over the class.

  Everyone fell into a trance.

  Mrs. Michaels blinked as the dust fell into her eyes. She spun around, went to the front of the class, turned, and stared into space.

  “Eric, Julie, and Neal are dismissed!” she announced. “Everyone else is having a quiz. In science. And English. And social studies. And art. And recess …”

  “And math?” asked Neal.

  “Math, too,” said the teacher.

  “Whew!” said Neal. “I’m glad I’m missing that one —”

  “Neal!” said Julie, pulling him into the hall with Eric and Nelag. “Let’s get out of here before they all remember what just happened!”

  The four friends shot down the hall. In no time, they were out the door and tearing across the parking lot toward Eric’s house.

  “That was so nuts!” said Neal. “Eric, what was in your head? You spilled all our secrets!”

  “Until Nelag unspilled them,” said Julie. “Thanks, Nelag. You were awesome.”

  Nelag bowed. “I’m told that a lot.”

  Eric led them across several streets and finally into his yard. “I was having a vision. I was in a very strange lair. Someone made me tell them all about Sparr.”

  He paused on his back steps and remembered the growing purple cloud. “Guys, the person warned me and said that we’d be challenged today. I think Droon is going to be very weird. We need to be ready.”

  “Nelag, is that why you came for us?” asked Julie.

  Nelag held up four fingers again. “Sorry. I only had two things to tell you. For the rest, we have to go to Droon!”

  Eric slipped through his back door, stepped into the kitchen, and listened. “All clear.”

  The four friends dashed straight to the basement. They pulled a stack of boxes away from a door underneath the stairs and entered a small closet. Nelag stepped in backward.

  With a quick click, Julie turned off the light. The closet went dark for an instant, then blazed in a glow of rainbow light. A long curving staircase shone brilliantly below.

  “What would our friends do if they knew that Droon really was real?” asked Neal.

  “Same thing I do every time the stairs appear,” said Julie. “Freak out!”

  Laughing despite his uneasiness, Eric took the first step down the stairs, then another and another. Together he and his friends descended through the clouds. They soon saw the silvery walls and colored domes of Jaffa City, the seaside capital of Droon.

  Neal tugged a small square of blue cloth from his pocket. When it blossomed into a large, puffy turban, he slipped it on. “Zabilac, First Genie of the Dove, makes an official declaration — adventure, here we come!”

  “Except that adventure seems to be coming for us,” said Nelag. “Here’s some water.”

  They turned to see a giant black wave barreling across the sea straight toward the city.

  “That’s not some water!” said Eric. “That’s all of it! That wave is a hundred feet tall!”

  “And it’s coming right for us!” yelled Julie.

  “It’s a wave of death!” Neal cried. “Run!”

  “I have a better idea!” said Nelag. “Let’s hum! Brum-dum-de-dum, a wizard’s life for me —” He sat down abruptly on the stairs.

  Tripping over him in a mad heap, the children plummeted from the stairs just as the giant wave crashed down.

  The four friends tumbled onto the seawall.

  “Help!” they cried. “Helppppp —”

  Even before they finished yelling, a man wearing a long blue cloak and carrying a tall staff raced across the plaza below. At his heels ran a girl with flowing blond hair.

  “It’s Galen!” yelled Neal. “And Keeah!”

  “Hold on!” called Galen.

  “Hold on?” cried Julie. “To what?”

  Galen grabbed Keeah’s hand, thrust his staff in the ground, and — floomp! — the two wizards vaulted to the top of the seawall together. While Keeah murmured strange words, Galen took a tiny blue bottle from under his cloak and uncorked it.

  “And … in!” he boomed.

  With a tremendous noise and a terrifying wind, the entire wave was sucked right down into the mouth of the tiny bottle!

  SLOOOOOORRRRRRP!

  In less time than it takes to say it, the wave was gone, the sea was peaceful, and the sun was shining.

  “There. That’s better!” said Galen. He recorked the bottle and slipped it back in his cloak. “Up now, children. You’re fine.”

  The three friends and Nelag staggered wobbily to their feet.

  “What just happened?” asked Neal. “Something magical, I bet.”

  “Magical, indeed,” said Galen. “Much is happening in Droon today, my friends!”

  “In our world, too,” said Eric. “I had a really strange vision in class this morning. Some stuff I didn’t understand.”

  Galen’s face grew serious. “Good. Visions will help us. Come to my tower. Hurry, all!”

  The wizard’s tower was a tree so old it had long since turned to stone. As they made their way to it, Keeah explained the giant wave and why Nelag was sent to fetch them.

  “No sooner had we left the island where Sparr vanished than the island itself vanished into the sea. This caused big waves all over Droon. Galen and I have been busy stopping them. Luckily, this was the last.”

  Together, the friends entered the tower and started for the top.

  “But good has come from the waves, also,” added Galen. “They swept Ko and his beasts to faraway shores and scattered Gethwing and his wingsnakes, too.”

  “My mother and father and their navy were stranded far inland,” said Keeah.

  “Are they all right?” asked Julie when they reached the tower door.

  “Safe and sound!” chirped Max, opening the door and welcoming the children.

  Galen’s chamber was crammed with books and scrolls, weapons, a giant gold spyglass, statues, mirrors, and half a dozen chairs centered around a workshop table.

  Nelag plopped down in front of the telescope and began to yawn.

  “We’re going to search for the king and queen now,” said Max. “We’ll journey to an ancient region of Droon called Jabar-Loo!”

  “Jabar-Loo. It sounds cool,” said Eric.

  The princess smiled. “It will be cool. But dangerous, too. I’ve been reading the ancient scrolls about Droon’s early times, to learn as much as I can before we get there.”

  “Kind of like extra credit!” said Julie.

  Neal frowned. “A kid said that same thing in class this morning. What’s extra credit?”

  “Something we should all be doing all the time,” said Galen. “Now, Eric, your vision.”

  Taking a deep breath, Eric told them everything he could remember about the strange figure in the tunnel. “The person said wizards would be challenged today. Plus, it showed me a purple cloud. It grew and grew until it covered the whole world.”

  “Use the spyglass!” said Max. “See what you can see.”

  Leaning over a sleepy Nelag, Eric looked toward the east. All he could see were the black smoky skies of the Dark Lands. “Maybe it isn’t big enough yet,” he said.

  Galen stroked his beard thoughtfully. “Keeah, perhaps it’s time for some different extra credit. The red book, I think. The chapter on clouds.”

  The princess ran over to Galen’s bookshelf and pulled a large
red book from it. She began leafing through it.

  All at once, a tiny light shot in through the tower window and circled their heads.

  “Oh my gosh, it’s Flink,” said Julie. Flink was Galen’s pixielike messenger.

  The old wizard raised his palm, and the twinkling light settled into it.

  “The great white tower of Zorfendorf Castle is gone!” the creature sang.

  “What?” said Neal. “Gone? How can a big thing like that just be gone?”

  “The standing stones of the Ring of Giants, too!” sang Flink. “Even the cobbled wall of Doobesh. Stones from all across Droon are disappearing!”

  Galen was aghast. “Magical stones are disappearing. There must be a reason…. The purple cloud! Eric, this is your vision’s warning —”

  Suddenly, Keeah jumped, holding the red book in her hands. “I’ve found it! The cloud is called the Purple Dawn. It happens after a break in time.”

  “A break in time?” asked Neal.

  “A rift,” said Galen. “Of course. What we have here is a pathway from Droon’s past.”

  Keeah tapped the page. “Portentia was around for the first Purple Dawn. I say we go to her and ask her what she remembers.”

  Portentia was an oracle who lived in a big rock in the Farne Woods near Jaffa City. She spoke in riddles and rhymes and had helped the children many times before.

  Galen smiled. “Very good, Keeah. We’ll journey for your parents soon, indeed. But this morning’s dawn brings more pressing concerns. And I think you should be in charge today. What do you say?”

  Keeah nodded happily. “I’d love to! Eric, Neal, Julie, everyone — let’s hold on tight. We’re all going for a ride!”

  The princess murmured soft words, and Galen’s magical tower began to spin around and around. A minute later, it lifted up from the ground, and the company of friends flew north across the plains toward the Farne Woods.

  Whoosh-shoosh! The flying tower spun over the plains north of Jaffa City and was soon in sight of the dense forest.

  “I haven’t been to these woods in so long,” said Keeah as the tower began its descent. “I can’t wait to see Portentia again.”

  Eric couldn’t wait, either. He knew — as they all did — that Portentia’s wisdom about Droon was mystical and deep. If anyone knew about visions, it would be her. “I’m going to ask who came to me in my vision —”