Balance Keepers #1: The Fires of Calderon Read online

  Albert looked every which way on the ground, but the dog was nowhere to be found. Suddenly he heard a whimpering noise, followed by a bark. Both sounds were coming from high above, up in the Tree of Cinder. Albert craned his neck, searching through the gloom.

  A few seconds later, they saw all too well what was up there. Everything about the scene was like their first Realm simulation in the Pit, but instead of a bell at the top, there was something trapped in the clutches of a dozen Hissengores, and that something had eyes like headlights pointing down at them.

  Albert’s heart sank. The slithering monsters had grabbed the easiest prey they could find and hauled it up into the tree. “No way,” Leroy said. “We are not letting Farnsworth get eaten alive by Hissengores.”

  “Where’s the threat from the simulation? The thing that’s supposed to attack us?” Birdie asked.

  Almost as if in response to Birdie’s words, a buzzing sound, like an approaching swarm of killer bees, came toward them through the gloom.

  “Oh man. I was afraid of this,” Albert said, wiping his sweaty hands on his shorts. “Climb! Now!”

  Everyone grabbed a swaying black vine and started the ascent as a King Firefly broke through the trees. This one was huge, with four silvery wings that spread twenty feet across. Its body was oval shaped, and on its tail end a piercing light shone so bright Albert, Leroy, and Birdie had to look away. This was no Guildacker that couldn’t navigate the many obstacles in the Forest of Thorns. This was a King Firefly that could swerve expertly back and forth, perfectly dodging everything it came across. When it saw Albert and the rest of the Hydra team racing into the scorched branches of the Tree of Cinder, the creature’s big bug eyes turned to slits.

  Leroy froze on his vine, his face a mask of terror as he watched the Firefly. The creature buzzed, staring Leroy in the face.

  “I’m gonna puke!” Leroy called out over his shoulder. His thin arms were starting to tremble. He scooted up his vine, trying to get away, but the King Firefly followed suit.

  “Hey, up here, little Firefly!” Albert called out, trying to get the Firefly’s attention away from Leroy. “No need to get testy. Can’t we talk about this?”

  The King Firefly buzzed angrily. The light on its tail end grew brighter and its eyes flamed from black to bloodred.

  “It’s getting really angry!” Albert shouted, just as the beast opened its mouth and coughed up a ball of flames right in Albert’s direction.

  “Swing!” Birdie screamed. “Rock back and forth like in the Pit!”

  Albert swung on his vine just in time, then grabbed on to another as the ball of fire flew by. He turned and watched what was left of the vine he’d been on as it sizzled and dropped to the ground.

  Below him, Leroy had scurried down to the forest floor. He looked so terrified that Albert knew his friend wasn’t going to be of any help right now.

  “Move fast, Birdie!” Albert said. “Just like the simulations! Pretend it’s a race!”

  They scurried up their vines, leaping from one to another as the King Firefly flew a circle around the sprawling limbs of the tree.

  But it was no use. Every time they got close to Farnsworth, the King Firefly shot another fireball, and they were pushed back down.

  Albert had an idea. “Keep it distracted! Make it mad!”

  Birdie began swinging back and forth on her vine, shifting her weight in the hot, ashen breeze blowing off the fires elsewhere in the Realm.

  “All right, Firefly,” Birdie said. “Let’s dance!”

  Just when Albert was about to tell her not to do what he thought she was about to do, Birdie swung from her vine. She soared through the air, a look of sheer determination on her face. Albert nearly lost hold of his own vine as he whipped around to see her land right on the back of the King Firefly.

  “You’re crazy!” Leroy shouted from the forest floor as he watched her fly past.

  The King Firefly started bucking like a wild bronco. Albert saw Birdie wrap one arm around the King Firefly’s neck.

  “What are you doing?” Albert cried out. Birdie had always been brave, but this was an entirely new level of courage—one that might be more dangerous than useful.

  The King Firefly, which seemed to be possessed by an evil plan to kill everything it saw, laid eyes on something in the distance.

  The Guildacker had found them through the trees, and it was heading right for the Tree of Cinder.

  “Birdie, it’s going for the Guildacker! Let go!” Albert cried again.

  He watched, helpless, as the leather-winged Guildacker locked eyes with the Firefly. A battle of winged beasts was about to begin, and Albert’s friend was right in the middle of it.

  Now she couldn’t let go. She was way too high. She could break a leg or an arm, so Albert watched, holding his breath, as Birdie held on. The Firefly whizzed off through the trees, with the Guildacker on its tail.

  Albert tried to think of a symbol that would allow him to help Birdie, but in the heat of the moment, he drew a blank. He grabbed his Tile and his dad’s, and closed his eyes. Come on. Please, we’ve come too far. Please, help me find a way to fix this.

  Albert opened his mouth, intending to say, “Don’t hurt her!” but instead of his own voice, a strangled roar came out.

  The Guildacker turned just before it was out of view. It locked eyes with Albert and let out a deep, ground-shaking roar. Use the dagger, Albert heard it say. Then the Guildacker took off through the trees after Birdie and the Firefly.

  “No!” Albert and Leroy screamed together.

  “I’m okaaaaay!” Birdie called back. “Get Faaaarrnswooooorth!”

  Albert didn’t like the idea of not pursuing Birdie, but he didn’t know how else to help. Had the Guildacker understood his plea? And what was that about using the dagger?

  “Leroy!” Albert called down. “I think we better stay here, get Farnsworth, and look for the silver eggs.”

  “I can’t do it, man,” Leroy said. His face was white as chalk. “I just can’t.”

  Albert shimmied down the vine and joined Leroy at the base of the tree. “You’ve come so far, Leroy. You’ve trained hard for this moment.”

  Leroy nodded, but said nothing, so Albert continued.

  “Think of Birdie. She’s counting on us right now to succeed. Think of how proud you’ll feel about yourself!” Then, for good measure, he added, “Just picture Hoyt’s face when we get back to the Core, and you prove to him that you’re a real Balance Keeper.”

  Leroy looked up at Albert. He took a deep breath and nodded. He straightened his new glasses on his face, cracked his knuckles, and turned his hat backward.

  “Okay! Let’s do this! For Birdie!”

  “For Birdie,” Albert said, and it took him back to that moment in the Pit, where Leroy and Albert were on their own, and they won the simulation together as a team. “Let’s go.”

  With renewed determination, Albert and Leroy bolted up the tree, reaching Farnsworth and the snapping Hissengores in no time. As Albert and Leroy turned toward them, the Hissengores began spitting green sulfur. Albert grabbed a black vine, kicked off the trunk of the tree, and spun in a wide circle around Leroy and the Hissengores. As Leroy grabbed a vine and did the same, the Guildacker’s voice rang in Albert’s ears. Use the dagger.

  Of course! Use the dagger against the Hissengores! “Leroy! The dagger! Use the dagger!”

  Leroy nodded. For a second, he looked like he wasn’t going to do it. But a look of calm came over his face, and Albert watched as Leroy pulled the dagger out of his boot.

  “Leave our dog alone!” Leroy yelled as he swung back toward the Hissengores. He held the dagger out in front of him and sliced through the air as he swung past. The blade touched more than one Hissengore, slicing through their thick skin. One by one, the Hissengores released Farnsworth and tumbled toward the ground. The paralyzing poison had worked!

  “You’re a natural!” Albert cried out.

  Several of the His
sengores that hadn’t been struck moved off, afraid of Leroy and his blade of steel, but one remained, unwilling to let go of its prey.

  Luckily for Farnsworth, he was a smart dog, and when a smart dog is trapped by only one Hissengore, it senses an advantage. Farnsworth bit into that last Hissengore with all he was worth, sinking his teeth into snakeskin as his eyes burned blue.

  The last Hissengore shrieked wildly, uncoiled, and tumbled to the ground.

  “Good boy!” Albert shouted.

  Farnsworth barked and wagged his tail happily, searching for a way off the wide limb he stood on.

  “Don’t go doing anything crazy, Farnsworth,” Leroy said. “It’s a long way to the bottom.”

  Leroy and Albert swung close to the limb and tried to reach out and grab Farnsworth, but he moved back, just out of their reach, and kept barking.

  “What is it, boy?” Albert asked.

  “Maybe he likes it up here,” Leroy guessed. “Probably the safest place in Calderon, even with the Hissengores.”

  “Come on, Farnsworth,” Albert said, reaching for the dog. “We’re going to look for the silver eggs down below, but we can’t leave you up here. We don’t know when the Hissengores will return.”

  “We gotta move fast,” Leroy said. “Rescuing a dog and having Birdie fly off on a giant King Firefly wasn’t exactly in the plan.”

  Albert felt a new sense of urgency at the sound of Birdie’s name. Farnsworth wasn’t the only one that might need saving, and they were burning way too much time in the Forest of Thorns, even if they might find the eggs there.

  “Why won’t he let us save him?” Leroy groaned as he tried and failed once more to swing close and grab Farnsworth off the branch.

  This time, Farnsworth began pawing the trunk, like he wanted to climb up it and go even higher in the tree.

  “This dog is losing his marbles,” Leroy said as he gave up the vine and landed on the branch, carefully balancing a few feet away from Farnsworth.

  Albert landed beside him. “I think he’s trying to tell us something.”

  Both boys took a step forward, holding their arms out at their sides to help them balance, and followed the path of blue light from Farnsworth’s eyes up farther into the tree. It was even darker and thicker with branches and thorns above. Albert didn’t want to go up there if they didn’t have to, but then he looked back down at Farnsworth.

  “Leroy,” Albert said. “I think he can smell something that we can’t. See how he’s sniffing up the tree?”

  “Pizza?” Leroy asked, turning toward Albert on the limb.

  Albert gave Leroy that look. “Dude. Not now. What if it’s the silver eggs?” Albert said, hardly daring to believe that they could be so close to finding the Means to Restore Balance.

  “Ooooooohhhh,” Leroy half whispered, gazing back up into the tree. “Let’s go for it.” He dug into his pocket and pulled something out. It was the strange cat statue Lucinda had given Leroy when they first entered the Core.

  “I can’t believe you thought to bring that!” Albert said.

  “Hey, I don’t have the Master Tile like you.” Leroy laughed, and Albert watched, amazed, as Leroy walked along the tree branch with catlike precision. Albert focused on the symbol for Balance, and they started the ascent.

  Climbing the Cinder Tree was tricky business. For starters, the higher they climbed, the more the tree felt like it had been torched a thousand times over, which maybe it had. The bark was cooked like charcoal, and it broke off in their hands more than once. By the time they looked down and saw Farnsworth twenty feet below on the limb, they were covered in soot.

  “I feel like a hamburger hot off the grill,” Leroy said, holding up his blackened hands.

  “It’s amazing it’s stayed alive so long,” Albert said, stopping abruptly at a knothole in the tree the size of a basketball.

  “Who said it was alive?” Leroy said.

  “I said it was alive,” Albert said. “And it totally is. Look.” He moved aside so Leroy could peer in, too.

  Bright green vines snaked around the inside of the tree. There was a soft, green glow filling the hollow space.

  “Pretty cool,” Leroy had to admit. “Where’s the light coming from?”

  “Down there,” Albert said, peering into the vast inside of the tallest tree in the Forest of Thorns. He closed his eyes and pictured the eyeball-shaped symbol for Enhanced Vision, and when he opened them, it was like he was looking through binoculars. Far below, at the very, very bottom of the tree in a protective cage of tangled roots, sat four silver eggs the size of baseballs. They glowed brightly, like small, silver suns.

  “Dude,” Albert whispered, “this is it. The silver eggs.”

  “No way.” Leroy leaned back against the tree trunk. “I mean, I know I said this is where they’d be, but I’m not sure I really believed they existed. This is just getting too weird for words. What can you see down there?”

  Albert swallowed hard. “There’s only one way to retrieve those things.” He looked at the hole, then at Leroy. “I’m guessing you aren’t going to climb down there with me?” Albert asked.

  Leroy shook his head. “No way, Jose. Nope. Not a chance.”

  Albert stared down into the hole.

  “We could send Farnsworth, but he’s all the way down there,” Leroy said.

  “I don’t think we want to entrust the antidote for saving the world to a dog.”

  Farnsworth barked as if his feelings had been hurt, and Albert looked down.

  “Dude,” he said. “We’ve got company.”

  More Hissengores than ever were hissing at the base of the Tree of Cinder, and some of them were starting to slither up the tree. There was a roar in the distance. Was the Guildacker coming back for them? Was Birdie all right?

  “Better hurry,” Leroy said. “Birdie might need us. There’s no way we can let her face those monsters alone.”

  The Guildacker roared again. It sounded like it was getting closer.

  “Here goes nothing!” Albert patted Leroy on the back. He took a deep breath and grabbed his Tile and his dad’s. Somehow, having a piece of his dad made Albert feel braver. He would do this. For his dad, for Grey and Aria, and for everyone else on Earth. Albert reached into the hole, and grabbed ahold of a green vine as thick as his wrist. He pulled himself inside the tree and held on for dear life. When he looked up, he saw that the tree narrowed quickly—he was near the very top. But looking down, he saw how far he could fall.

  “I’m inside a tree,” Albert said. “This is nuts.”

  Leroy poked his head inside. “Enough with the shock and awe. You gotta move! The Hissengores aren’t going to stay down there much longer. And I think I might see the Guildacker!”

  Albert started working his way down through thick tangles of green as quickly as he could. It was like descending a miniature version of Jack’s beanstalk, with soft light that turned everything lime colored.

  “Those silver eggs really put off some light!” Albert shouted up to Leroy, moving faster as he grew more used to his surroundings. He slipped once, and nearly crashed down to the bottom of the tree, but at the last second, his instincts kicked in, and he found a handhold and pulled himself back up.

  “Steady, Albert,” he told himself.

  After a few more seconds of climbing, Albert saw that the thick vine he was on stopped in midair. He looked around for another one to grab, but from here, all the vines were tiny; they certainly wouldn’t hold his weight. The eggs were at least fifteen feet below, sitting on the ground at the bottom of the tree’s hollow trunk. He hung from one arm and tried to reach the eggs with his free hand, but they were way too far down.

  I can’t jump down there or I won’t be able to make it back up.

  Unless . . . the Jumping Jackalope symbol! He could picture it and jump back to the vines.

  Albert took a deep breath, let go of the vine he was on, and dropped to the bottom of the tree.

  “We’ve gotta go!”
Leroy cried out, his voice echoing down to Albert.

  “Drop the knife!” Albert called down. He scooted safely against the edge of the tree. The knife landed with a twang on the ground beside him.

  Quickly, Albert cut the eggs free one at a time. He couldn’t hold them and climb, so he put them in his pack. With each silver egg he hid away, the inside of the tree grew darker, until the last egg was in his hand and he could barely see two feet in front of his face.

  “Hurry up down there!” Leroy called. “They’re on the move big-time!”

  Albert dropped the last of the four silver eggs into his backpack and everything went dark. “You can do this, Albert,” he said. “Just leap. The vine is right there, waiting for you.”

  And so he did, picturing the Jackalope. Once on the vine, Albert knew he had to move fast. He pictured Hoyt’s Speed Tile. Funny how that guy’s power has helped me out so many times . . . When he reached the hole, Leroy was freaking out.

  “There’s, like, a hundred of them!” Leroy said. “And they’re halfway to Farnsworth!”

  Farnsworth was barking down at the Hissengores, acting a lot bigger than he was.

  “Hold this,” Albert said, handing his pack through the hole.

  By the time Albert squeezed through and put his pack back on, it looked like more than two hundred Hissengores were slithering up the tree.

  “Oh man! Maybe Hoyt was right about us,” Leroy said, looking very afraid. Albert didn’t know what to say, so he didn’t say anything. And in that brief moment of silence, he closed his eyes and heard a sound.

  “Do you hear that?” he asked.

  “Yeah, I hear it,” Leroy said. “That’s the sound of a hundred Hissengores coming to choke the life out of us.”

  “No, not that,” Albert said. He touched Leroy on the shoulder, closed his eyes, and listened. “That.”

  Leroy inhaled a sharp breath and Albert knew he heard it, too: a growl, deep and heavy, coming closer by the second.

  Albert held out the dagger. Leroy balled his fists. They stood side by side, ready to face whatever was coming their way.