Epic (3 page)

Queen Tara felt confident with her decision. “This is it. This is the one.”

From his view above, Ronin scanned the forest.
The sooner this is over, the better,
he thought to himself.

Suddenly, a leaf near him started to decay. He immediately knew something wasn't right. He fired an arrow at a branch, and a Boggan that was hiding behind the bark fell.

The tree shuddered, as if coming to life, and then Ronin's worst fear came true: an all-out Boggan attack!

R
onin and the Leafmen reacted instantly and spurred their hummingbirds on. The birds were great in battle because they could fly backward or forward. This gave the Leafmen the opportunity to face every direction to fend off the surprise Boggan attack. Another group of Leafmen split off and made a protective, dome-like shield over the queen.

“Your Majesty, get to the barge!” Ronin told Queen Tara.

The queen took off toward the barge, as the Leafmen advanced on the Boggans erupting from the tree. Queen Tara was almost at the barge when she spotted the daughter Jinn and her mother running away from a Boggan. The queen summoned a branch that swatted the Boggan away.

“I told you she was awesome!” the daughter said to her mother.

A horde of Boggans ran toward Mub and Grub.

“This it it, Mub!” said Grub, preparing for a fight. “My chance to be a Leaf—”

The Boggans ran right over them, ignoring the slug and the snail.

Queen Tara looked at the water and gasped. She saw pods disappearing, being yanked underwater from below. She began to run, and as she did, leaves bent over her to shield her.

But the Boggan arrows pierced the leaves, burning holes through them. The decaying power of the Boggans was doing its best to wreck the forest.

So as Queen Tara passed Boggan-wounded leaves or stems, her touch restored them. She also used the forest itself: commanding vines to grab Boggans off their mounts, or asking branches to bend to block the Boggans' paths.

In an upper tree branch, Mandrake paused to assess the attack. Dagda flew up to him.

“We had numbers, and we had surprise,” said Dagda. “How are we losing?”

But Mandrake was focused on the task at hand. “You get the pod, and I'm going to get the queen.” He spurred his bird and swooped down, heading toward Queen Tara. Dagda struggled to follow behind.

On the ground, Tara clutched the pod close but stopped short when a giant, snarling Boggan blocked her path. The daughter Jinn was close by and looked at her trapped hero. Then the young girl pulled back a branch, which snapped forward, effectively taking out the Boggan blocking Tara.

“Nice one!” the queen said to the girl. “You're stealing my moves, kid!” Then the queen turned to a Leafman. “Take her to safety. I have to lead them away from the crowd.”

“You're totally my hero!” the girl called to Queen Tara.

As Queen Tara ran toward Ronin, leaves and branches formed a makeshift staircase in front of her. She leaped onto his bird and held on.

“Okay, so maybe you were right,” she said to Ronin over the sound of the wind.

“Remind me to gloat later!” replied Ronin.

At that moment, a wretched screech pierced the air.

Ronin looked up to see Mandrake and Dagda bearing down. Dagda fired, and Ronin deflected. Dagda fired again and again, but Ronin blocked each arrow.

Mandrake drew his bow.

Ronin drew his bow and shot at Dagda.

Mandrake fired an arrow a split second before Ronin's arrow found its mark—taking down Dagda. Ronin thought he'd foiled the attack, but for Mandrake the battle was far from over. . . .

At the same time, M.K. stumbled along in another part of the forest, feeling lost and frustrated. Somewhere up ahead, she heard Ozzy barking. As she turned toward the sound she spotted a tiny glow. It was the queen floating toward the ground. M.K. kneeled down for a closer look. The queen had been wounded. Since the queen could no longer protect the pod, she breathed her energy into it and tossed it up to M.K.

As soon as M.K. caught it, a connection was made and there was a sudden flash of light. M.K. hurtled through the air as if hit by a hurricane–force gust of wind. Sound and motion slowed down and the human world and the world of the Jinn began to smash together.

“Aaaaaahhhh!” cried M.K., as she flew among swirling leaves.

Finally she landed, bouncing on soft moss. She was Jinn-sized now, though not yet aware of it. She felt something and looked at her arm. The pod's tendrils clung to her.

Then she saw Queen Tara.

“Take the pod to Nim Galuu,” the queen said quietly. “It's the life of the forest.” After saying it, she magically faded away.

“W
hat did the queen say to you?” Ronin asked M.K.

M.K. furrowed her eyebrows. “Something about glue. Or a canoe.”

“Nim Galuu,” Ronin said.

“The scrollkeeper?” asked Ronin's lieutenant, thinking of the wise man of that name.

Ronin thought for a minute and then gave instructions to his lieutenant. “I'll take the pod to Nim's. Mandrake will be looking for a cluster, not a Leafman traveling alone. You and the others go back to Moonhaven. Keep everyone safe.”

As the other Leafmen took off, M.K. turned to Ronin. “Who are you people? Is this some kind of reenactment or something?” She spotted a jumbo-sized honeybee pass by. “That's a big bug.”

“It's about average, actually,” Ronin said.

M.K. laughed. “Then
I'm
tiny?” She looked around and then the truth dawned on her. “Oh no. Oh no. No, no, no!”

“Look, I'm not sure why the queen brought you here either,” said Ronin. “But she gave you that pod, so you're going to have to come with me.” He reached for her, but she pulled away.

“Make me big,” said M.K.

“Excuse me?” said Ronin.

“I'm not going anywhere until you make me big again!” insisted M.K.

“I don't do magic. Talk to Nim Galuu about that. He might know something,” said Ronin. He tried to grab the pod from her, but Mub stepped in his way.

“Whoa, whoa, not so fast, soldier boy,” said Mub. “You do not yank on a pod!”

M.K. couldn't believe her ears. “Talking snails!”

“Actually, he's a snail, I'm a slug,” Mub clarified. “No shell over here, baby. It just slows me down.”

Grub piped up. “We are the official pod caretakers, sir.”

“It can't survive without us,” said Mub.

“We keep it moist,” said Grub.

“Moist is what we do!” Mub added proudly.

“You're kidding,” said Ronin.

Mub and Grub didn't say a word.

“You're not kidding?” Ronin sighed. “Fine.”

Ronin turned to M.K. and said, “Better get on the bird. Good seats are going fast.”

“Bird,” said M.K., as she caught sight of their mode of transportation. “Of course.” She climbed aboard the bird, wondering if the day could possibly get any weirder.

F
rom far away, it looked just like a flock of birds swooping around trees, happily flitting through the forest. But a closer look would reveal that a race was underway!

A sparrow rocketed past with Nod aboard. He piloted the bird skillfully, moving up through a pack of other birds, each with a jockey aboard. They all jostled, bumped, and snapped with their beaks during the dangerous race. Lining the branches were shady-looking Jinn, who were placing bets.

A couple of rough jockeys pulled up to Nod.

Nod shouted, “I'm telling you this is where I belong!”

“You belong in the back of the pack,” yelled one of the jockeys.

“I mean racing—the best man wins, no other rules. Nobody telling you what to do,” Nod shouted.

Another jockey cried out, “You talk too much. And you're not winning this race!”

Nod just smiled, then shouted, “Sorry, can't hear you, going too fast!” And he darted ahead.

“Final lap!” called the announcer.

One of the racers caught up to Nod. “You know what will happen if you win?”

“Yeah,” said Nod. “You'll lose.”

With that, Nod pulled ahead and won the race. The crowd cheered.

Unfortunately, as soon as the race was over, Nod found himself getting roughed up by a couple of nasty jockeys. A frowning, toad-like Jinn named Bufo watched.

“Nod, you know I like you,” began Bufo.

“I like you, too,” Nod said.

“And yet, you don't do what we agreed,” said Bufo. “We agreed that you would lose, but then you won.”

“I can't help it if I'm fast,” replied Nod. “If you want me to lose, you've got to give me some better competition.”

Bufo smiled. Sort of. “I admire your independent spirit, Nod. I'll miss that.” He turned to one of his men. “Feed him to something. A snake would be good.”

Nod's eyes grew wide. He didn't really want to be some animal's lunch.

“Nah, snakes just swallow you whole,” said a voice.

It was Ronin!

“Now, if you put him in a hornet's nest,
that's
a show!” Ronin said, his sword drawn.

Bufo rolled his eyes. “Oh, look. It's Ronin, defender of the weak. Pooper of parties. Here to ruin the fun.”

“I didn't ruin all of it,” corrected Ronin. “I let you hit him.”

“Twice,” Nod added.

Ronin motioned to Bufo. “Hop along now, little froggy.”

Bufo and his men did just that. They all knew they were no match for Ronin.

Once they were gone, Nod immediately tried to get the upper hand. “Are you here to beg me to come back? Because I'm not going to do it. You said some very mean things.”

“I didn't come for you,” Ronin said. “The Boggans attacked, and the pod is in great danger.”

Nod froze. “Ronin, I'm sorry. I should have been there.”

“This isn't about you. I'm just here to get birds,” said Ronin. “If we don't get the pod to Nim Galuu's, the forest will die.”

In that instant, Nod finally wanted to help. It was time for him to grow up and take on some responsibility. “Let me grab my saddle.”

“What? No, I didn't ask for help,” said Ronin.

“Really? Because it sounds like you could use a rider with my—”

“Ability to absorb punches?” finished Ronin. “The situation's desperate. Let's not make it hopeless.”

Just then, M.K. yelled. Ronin and Nod turned to see her upside down in slime and tangled in the bird's reins. Ronin and Nod looked at one another and instantly agreed that Nod would come along on the journey.

A few minutes later, the group was on the move. Ronin steered his hummingbird with Mub and Grub riding with him. Behind them was a sparrow with Nod and M.K., who wore the pod like a backpack.

Nod looked back at M.K., instead of in front of him. “Hey, I'm Nod, by the way.”

“Hi,” replied M.K. “Could you just face the way the bird's driving?”

“Don't worry, she practically flies herself,” said Nod.