Read Journey to the Volcano Palace Online
Authors: Tony Abbott
Journey to the Volcano Palace
Journey to the
Volcano Palace
Illustrated by Tim Jessell
Contents
Dreams
Eric Hinkle couldn’t breathe.
The air around him was dark and smoky and hot. The evil sorcerer Lord Sparr was after him, chasing him down a long, dark tunnel.
“Now that you know my secret,” Sparr shouted, “you will never be able to leave!”
“I don’t know any secret!” Eric pleaded. “Let me go! Let me out of Droon!”
“NEVER!” was Sparr’s only word.
The sorcerer’s eyes were filled with anger. The weird fins behind his ears were purple and shiny. He was getting closer. Closer!
The tunnel ahead of Eric split in two.
Go right!
said a voice in his head.
“Oh, man!” Eric swallowed hard. He had always had a problem with right and left. He looked at his hands. Which was right? It took him a second to decide. “This way!” he said.
He charged ahead into one of the tunnels.
No!
said the voice in his head.
The right one!
“Ha! Now I have you!” Sparr shrieked as Eric ran up against a solid wall. “My secret is safe!”
“Help!” Eric cried. “I’m trapped!”
Sparr lunged.
Eric leaped out of the way.
Thud!
“Ouch!” Eric groaned.
He opened his eyes. He was in his room. He was half on the floor, half still in bed, wound up tight in his bedsheet. He looked like a mummy.
“Whoa!” he said. “What a nightmare.”
The door opened. His mother stood in the doorway. “Eric, what was that noise?”
“Uh, I guess I fell out of bed,” Eric said, unwinding himself from his sheet. “But I’m okay.”
Mrs. Hinkle helped him up. “By the way, Eric. Where is Droon?”
Eric nearly fell to the floor again. “Huh?”
“You were talking in your sleep,” his mother said. “Something about a place called Droon.”
Eric gulped. He blinked. His mouth opened to answer, but nothing came out.
Droon was a secret. No one was supposed to know about the incredible world he and his friends had found under his basement stairs.
Galen the wizard had made them promise not to tell anyone.
The problem was, ever since his first time in Droon, Eric couldn’t think of anything else.
Now he was even
dreaming
about it.
And Princess Keeah had told them that when you dreamed about Droon, it meant you would go back.
“Uh, Droon is a place we, uh…made up,” Eric said. “Neal and Julie and I.”
He hated to lie. But until he and his friends found out more about Droon – and about the evil Sparr – it wasn’t safe for people to know.
“Sounds secret,” his mother said. “By the way, your friends called. They’re coming over.”
Eric dressed quickly. He had to tell Neal and Julie about his dream right away.
He got to the backyard in time to see a small, scruffy dog chasing Neal across the lawn.
Grrr!
The dog kept biting Neal’s feet.
“Stop it, Snorky!” Neal tossed a biscuit across the yard. The dog bounced after it. “Hey, Eric.”
“I’m glad you’re here,” Eric said. “It happened. I had a weird dream about Droon –”
“Not me.” Neal shook his head. “I was so tired teaching Snorky to fetch, I fell asleep before I hit the pillow. Actually, I fell asleep on my floor.”
“I woke up on the floor!” Eric said. “It was weird. It felt like someone from Droon was
sending
the dream to me.”
At that moment, Julie came into the yard.
Eric ran over to her. “Julie, something strange is going on –”
“First, let me tell you about my dream,” Julie said. “I was in Droon –”
“Me, too!” Eric gasped. “Sparr was chasing me because I knew his big secret. But I forgot what the secret was.”
“Hmm.” Julie bit her lip. She always did that when she was trying to figure something out. “I was at a pool of water. I was really thirsty and I wanted to take a drink, but something creeped me out. I forget what it was, but it was very yucky.”
Grrr!
Snorky ran back across the lawn. He fastened his teeth on the toe of Neal’s right sneaker.
“Let go of my shoe!” Neal cried. “Wait a second….I remember now. I had a scary dream, too! I forgot most of it, except…”
“Except for what?” Julie asked.
Neal shrugged. “I remember it was about my feet. I was in Droon, and my feet hurt.”
Snorky leaped suddenly for Neal’s left shoe.
“Heel!” Neal snapped, shaking his foot.
“Well, he’s
eating
your heel,” Julie said.
“Maybe he’s learning!” Neal tossed another biscuit, and Snorky ran for it. “Let’s get inside.”
The three kids jumped up the back steps into Eric’s kitchen and headed for the basement.
“Droon is full of secrets,” said Julie. “Secrets we need answers to. We need to go back.”
Neal frowned. “But what if all of our dreams come true?” I mean, my dream was pretty weird.”
“There’s only one way to find out,” said Eric.
They tramped down the stairs into the basement. It was messy. It was beyond messy. Eric knew he’d have to clean it one of these days.
Cleaning all the old toys and junk out of the basement was his special project. Neal and Julie had said they would help.
When we get back
, Eric thought.
He pulled open the little door under the stairs. They entered a small, empty room.
They closed the door. They all held their breath as Eric switched off the light.
Whoosh!
The floor vanished beneath them.
In its place was a long flight of stairs. The steps shimmered in the light from below.
The light from the land of Droon.
“Yes! We
are
going back,” Eric whispered. “I wonder where the stairs will lead us this time.”
“Or if it’s day or night in Droon,” said Neal.
“Let’s stop talking and find out,” said Julie.
The three friends stepped slowly down the stairs. The air was hushed and cool. And the sky below them turned deep blue and sparkled like a million jewels.
A giant moon cast golden light on the stairs.
“Nighttime,” Eric whispered.
Before they knew it, the three friends were in Droon once again.
Sands of Time
A wide sea of sand stretched away as far as the eye could see. Sand hills – dunes – rolled and dipped all the way to the horizon.
“Wow!” Neal said. “This is my first desert.”
The moonbeams made the dunes glitter with golden light.
“This is awesome,” Julie said. “Droon is beautiful at night.”
Eric breathed in the cool air. “Let’s climb over that dune,” he said, pointing to one of the high, curving hills of sand. “For a look.”
They stepped down from the bottom step.
The sand was warm.
They climbed to the top of the dune and peered over.
Not far away was a striped tent. Shaggy, six-legged beasts stood outside. The kids remembered them from their first time in Droon. The beasts were called pilkas.
“Somebody’s camping,” Neal whispered.
Eric noticed a strange purple flag flying over the tent. “Careful,” he said. “You never know what you might find.”
“We don’t have much choice,” said Julie, pointing behind them. “The stairs are fading.”
The three friends watched as the rainbow-colored steps vanished in the sky.
“I hope we find them again later,” Neal said. “Wherever they are.”
Slowly, they approached the tent. A large flap hung down over an opening.
“Let’s peek in,” Julie whispered.
Suddenly, a voice spoke from inside the tent. “Come in!”
Julie held her breath and pulled up the flap.
The three friends looked inside.
Their friend Princess Keeah was sitting on a rug spread out over the sand. She was dressed in a light blue tunic. In her long blonde hair she wore a golden crown.
Next to her sat the old wizard, Galen Longbeard, and his assistant, Max.
Lining the inside of the tent were piles of extra-plump purple-colored pillows.
“Welcome back!” Keeah said, laughing when she saw the kids.
