Kendra Kandlestar and the Crack in Kazah (3 page)

THERE’S NOTHING WORSE than running into your most miserable enemy when you’re already in a spot of trouble. It’s like being kept after school, only to find yourself sitting next to the class bully. Agent Lurk was worse than a class bully. He was one of the most vile and insidious Eens Kendra had ever known, and now she found herself dangling right in front of him.

The last time Kendra had seen Agent Lurk was in the Rumble Pit, amidst the roar of deadly gladiators. She had been half-convinced that he had met his end there, beneath the swat of a Krake’s tail, but here he was, yet again, and looking as ominous as ever. He wore a long cloak that concealed every part of his body except for his two talon-like hands, which were grayish and misshapen; on one finger he wore a large and brooding purple ring. As for the cloak, Kendra knew its power. At any moment Agent Lurk could turn invisible.

For the present, Kendra could see him, and it made her desperately wish that she had a free hand to tug her braids. Like a shadow, Agent Lurk had chased her across sea and forest—and now sky. She had no idea how he had tracked her down, yet again, but there was no doubt what he wanted from her: the shard from Greeve, that stone of dark and destructive magic.

Doesn’t he know Trooogul has it?
she wondered.

There was no time to dwell on the matter, for Agent Lurk now pulled his skarm alongside Kendra and with one cruel claw snatched her aboard his slimy mount. There was no saddle on the skarm, and immediately Kendra felt herself begin to slip from the beast’s back. She threw herself against the skarm’s worm-like skin, clenching with both hands and feet. It was disgusting.

As for Agent Lurk, he seemed completely at ease on the skarm’s back. He loomed over Kendra and hissed, “The shard! Give it to me, girl!”

Kendra strained her neck and glared up at him. “I don’t—”

Then, suddenly, Jinx was there. She seemed to appear from thin air, leaping aboard the skarm and striking Lurk right in the chest with one of her long legs. The tiny grasshopper soon had the nasty agent pinned against one of the skarm’s wings.

“Well, if it isn’t
Agent Twerp
!” Jinx said.

Kendra blinked—hadn’t she seen Jinx plunge to uncertain death only moments ago? “H-h-how . . . ,” Kendra stammered.

“I have wings, you know,” Jinx retorted, not daring to take her eyes from Lurk. “I fluttered down and landed right on top of one of these slimy worms. I’ve been playing hop-skarm ever since—until I landed here. Oh, by the way, I think you dropped this.” The grasshopper tossed Kendra her wand.

“How did you find it?” Kendra asked with a sigh of relief.

“It landed right on my head when I was hopping skarm,” Jinx explained. “Lucky for you I managed to catch it before it bounced away.”

“A touching tale,” Agent Lurk quipped. “Now you can release me, bug.”

“Sure,” Jinx said, sneering into Lurk’s shadowy cowl. “Just as soon as you get us off this slimy slug.”

Agent Lurk’s only response was to turn invisible, and it suddenly looked as if Jinx had one leg standing on empty air. “Don’t worry,” Jinx told Kendra. “I can’t see him, but I can feel him beneath my foot. He’s still here.”

Then Kendra heard Lurk give a sharp hoot, and the skarm, upon hearing this command from its master, began circling upwards in a dizzying spiral until they were higher than the
Big Bang
.

“Hang on!” Kendra cried.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got this little creep!” Jinx hollered.

“I meant hang onto the skarm—not Lurk!” Kendra called, closing her eyes and clenching even more tightly to the giant worm. Then she heard one of the ship’s cannons fire, and in the next instant the skarm lurched beneath her. Kendra opened her eyes and saw that the flying wriggler had been struck full force by a ball of
Snot Shot
. At once the skarm began to ooze mucus—then it sneezed, so violently that Kendra, Jinx, and Lurk were all jostled from its back.

How many times am I going to fall today?
Kendra wondered as she spun through the air.

But the
Big Bang
was beneath them now, and by some magic force they were all plucked from the sky and brought to a safe landing on the ship deck.

“Are you all right?” Oki squealed, scampering over with the rest of the crew.

Kendra nodded. “What happened?” she murmured.

Uncle Griffinskitch tapped the deck with his staff. “Eenwood can do more than zap skarm,” he grunted.

“A little help here, someone?” Jinx called.

Kendra turned to see the grasshopper struggling with Agent Lurk. The nasty Een had turned visible again, but only for a moment. He started to shimmer away.

Oki scampered over and threw a few flecks of powder into the empty space near Jinx’s claw. “I think that’s where his face is,” Oki said.

“What are you doing?” Jinx demanded. “I don’t want him spraying snot all over me.”

“Oh, that wasn’t
Snot Shot
—it’s
Snore Galore
,” Oki said, and indeed, they suddenly heard a loud snore and Lurk turned visible once again.

“My word!” Professor Bumblebean remarked. “I suppose that Agent Lurk’s cloak doesn’t function while he slumbers. How long until he arouses from his stupor?”

“I only gave him a few flakes,” Oki replied. “He could wake at any moment!”

“We better find a spot to keep him below deck,” Uncle Griffinskitch said. “I have a few questions to ask once he awakens.”

It was only then that Kendra noticed how quiet it was. “What happened to the skarm?”

“The cannons finally got the better of those slimy suckers,” Ratchet declared proudly. “They’ve all retreated.”

“Humph,” Uncle Griffinskitch muttered.

“Well, your uncle’s magic helped too,” Ratchet added sheepishly.

“Come on,” Jinx said. “We best get Lurky here tied up.”

With her mighty strength, the small grasshopper hoisted Agent Lurk above her head, and they all followed as she carried him below deck to an empty storage compartment. Here Jinx bound Lurk with a length of rope and leaned him against the wall. For a moment they all just stood there, staring at him. Then Uncle Griffinskitch reached out and removed the large purple ring from Lurk’s finger.

“There’s something mysterious about that ring,” Kendra said. “And it’s cracked!”

“Aye,” Uncle Griffinskitch agreed, turning the damaged gemstone over in his hands.

“
Oojipooka
,” Oki murmured.

“What did you say?” Kendra asked.

“Oojipooka?” the little mouse replied uncertainly.

“I do say, I’ve never heard of such a word,” Professor Bumblebean remarked, somewhat flustered.

“That’s because Oki and I made it up,” Ratchet declared. “Oki and I are going into the word-invention business. Oojipooka is something you say when you are surprised by a mysterious object that can’t be explained. Good job, Oki! You used the word perfectly!”

“You half-wit hairballs,” Jinx groaned. “Who in their right mind would pay for a word?”

“I’m inclined to agree with our dear Jinx,” Professor Bumblebean said. “Eens have thousands of words that they already employ. Furthermore, one can’t just invent a word without submitting it for official scholarly scrutiny!”

“
Zoomba!
” Ratchet cried.

“What?” Kendra asked, not understanding either Ratchet or the Professor.

“HUMPH!” Uncle Griffinskitch grunted, tucking the ring behind his beard and glaring at the crew. “Enough of this nonsense.”

Professor Bumblebean didn’t look as if he wanted to let the matter drop—but then Agent Lurk sputtered awake and everyone turned to watch him.

It took a moment for the captured Een to collect his wits—but as soon as he did, he instinctively melted into invisibility. He quickly realized that he was tied up and reappeared.

“Fools!” Lurk screeched. “Let me go!”

“We don’t take orders from you,
Agent Irk
,” Jinx scowled. “And now we can finally see who’s really hiding beneath your hood.”

Lurk wriggled furiously in his binding, but there was no escape for him now. Jinx threw back his hood and at once Kendra felt her blood run cold. Agent Lurk looked like a picture of death and disease. His pale face was maimed and pocked with scars, and his head was so bald that he had not enough hair for even a single braid. One eye was dark and brooding, while the other was a vacant, milky white. He was a ghastly, terrifying sight to behold, but even so, it wasn’t his deformity that startled Kendra so—it was his age.

Agent Lurk was a boy.

YOU’VE PROBABLY HAD THE EXPERIENCE of meeting someone for the first time and being completely surprised by what he or she looks like. It usually happens with a long-distance relative, someone you might have seen in a blurry old photograph or even talked to on the phone, but never actually met in person. Then, when you finally do see them, they turn out to be completely different from how you pictured.

Such was the case with Agent Lurk. Even though Kendra had been chased by him all the way from the land of Een, not once had she seen beneath his mysterious hood. His appearance had been left completely to her imagination—and what she had imagined was a man ancient as a tree.

How wrong she had been! Agent Lurk was no more than thirteen years old, scantly older than Kendra herself—yet he was deformed and desiccated.

“W-what happened to you?” she murmured.

“I don’t need to answer you, girl,” Agent Lurk sneered, seeming to relish the crew’s reaction to his disfigurement. “I am my own master.”

“My word!” Professor Bumblebean exclaimed. “You are clearly not an elder of Een, Leerlin Lurk. Surely, like every other good citizen of Een, you must answer to the council of elders.”

“Ha!” Lurk chortled, a twinkle in his one good eye. “Then turn the ship around. Let us return to the land of Een and submit ourselves to the mercy of the council.”

“Humph,” Uncle Griffinskitch grunted. “It is a dull game you play, boy. You know as well as I that the land of Een is in shambles. Your own accomplice, Burdock Brown, rules the council like a king.”

“The land of Een is just as it should be,” Lurk said. “I’m glad Burdock drove you and that old crone Winter Woodsong from the council.”

“Aye,” Uncle Griffinskitch growled. “Then a loyal subject ye shall make for ‘King Burdock.’”

“I would rather live in Burdock’s kingdom than by the foolishness of any council of yours,” Lurk hissed, but to Kendra’s surprise, he wasn’t directing the statement at her uncle. He seemed to be glaring right at
her
.

“Wh-wh-what?” Kendra stammered. “What did I do? I’ve never had any say on the council! I’m only twelve years old!”

Lurk’s neck arched backwards as he unleashed a long and icy cackle. It was a strange and chilling sound; Kendra couldn’t help but feel that there was a hint of pain and sadness in it. Yet when Lurk looked back at her, his one good eye was brimming red with hatred.

“Where is Kazah?” he demanded.

“I don’t know, but that’s a fantastic word,” Ratchet declared. “Oki, maybe we should add it to our dictionary.”

Oki peered out from behind Kendra’s cloak, but could only manage a quiet “eek.”

Lurk scowled at the mouse. “Een critters—ridiculous to the last. In Burdock’s land we shall be rid of your kind all together. Especially if I have anything to say about it.”

“Is that so?” Jinx retorted. “Well, this is one Een critter that would happily pitch you over the side of the ship.”

“Listen here, Kandlestar,” Agent Lurk growled at Kendra. “Maybe you should learn to control these wild beasts you hold so dear to your heart. They need taming. Civilization. I can happily show you a few techniques.”

“Eek!” Oki squealed.

Uncle Griffinskitch banged his staff against the floor. “HUMPH!” he boomed, and Kendra knew (much to her comfort) that it was the type of humph that meant he wasn’t the least bit spooked by Agent Lurk. The old wizard walked a half circle in front of the boy, gazing at him intently. “What do you know of Kazah?” Uncle Griffinskitch asked after a moment.

“More than you,” Lurk retaliated with gnashing teeth. “Kazah is more powerful than you can imagine.”

“I do say,” Professor Bumblebean interjected. “I know most everything about Een and I have never heard of the power of Kazah.”

“Not everything is in one of your books,” Lurk sniggered. “At least not
yet
.”

“Or in the books
you
know about,” Uncle Griffinskitch told Agent Lurk as he reached into his beard and extracted the mysterious purple ring.

The effect on Agent Lurk was instantaneous. “Kazah!” he cried. He lurched forward, against the tug of his bindings, snarling so that Kendra could even see the gums above his teeth. At that moment he looked as dangerous as a wild beast, and it caused her to shudder. “You will give Kazah to me at once,” Lurk demanded. “You can’t possibly understand its power.”

Professor Bumblebean adjusted his spectacles and leaned over to examine the cracked ring. “With such an egregious fracture, I doubt this tenebrous stone has any enchantment at all.”

“Pompous windbag,” Agent Lurk growled. “The crack
is
its power. I’m the one who discovered
that!
The crack in Kazah has allowed me a greater journey than you can ever imagine.”

“My word!” Professor Bumblebean declared. “Whatever do you mean?”

But Agent Lurk ignored him. He turned back to Kendra and said, “Tell me, where is the shard from Greeve? It must not be joined with the other fragments of the cauldron. Take the shard—take it now—and throw it overboard.”

“We can’t,” Ratchet said. “We don’t even ha—”

“Quiet your tongue, Ringtail!” Uncle Griffinskitch bellowed.

But it was too late. “Ah, I see,” agent Lurk said. “You don’t have it—which means it’s with the Unger. We must stop him from repairing the cauldron. Otherwise, I promise you this: the land of Een, the one you so know and love, will perish.”

“Humph,” Uncle Griffinskitch muttered. “Should we love what the land of Een has become under Burdock Brown? Should we love watching the homes of innocent Eens burn? Should we love the comforts of a dungeon cell?”

“If it’s for the greater good,” Lurk replied.

“Then there is your folly,” Uncle Griffinskitch retorted. “The greater is not always good.”

With these final words, the wizard turned and shuffled out of the chamber.

“You just stay put,” Jinx snarled at Lurk. Then she led Kendra and the rest of the crew from the compartment and shut the door behind them. They climbed the stairs to the deck, where Uncle Griffinskitch was ruminating over the ring.

“What now?” Kendra asked the old wizard.

“We continue forth,” Uncle Griffinskitch said after a moment. “We shall find Kiro and unravel this mystery. Captain Ringtail, how much damage do you think the ship sustained during the skarm attack?”

“There’s a few holes to patch up,” Ratchet replied. “We need to find a place to berth so we can look her over.”

“Very well,” Uncle Griffinskitch said. “We’ll make repairs—then onwards we go, to seek the City on the Storm.”

Everyone set about to help prepare for the landing, yet Uncle Griffinskitch kept Kendra behind for a moment.

“What is it?” she asked.

“Kazah,” the old wizard replied. “This ring . . . I think it is meant for your keeping.”

“Why?” Kendra asked, giving her braids a startled tug.

Uncle Griffinskitch looked at her intently, as if carefully planning his words. “I have seen you wear it before,” he said at last.

“What do you mean?” Kendra asked. “In a dream? When you were meditating?”

Uncle Griffinskitch shook his head, a mysterious look in his eyes. He placed the ring in her hand; it felt cold and heavy, but Kendra could feel no spark of magic.

“I don’t know what I’m meant to do with this,” she said.

“Humph,” Uncle Griffinskitch muttered. It was a soft, quiet humph, one that Kendra couldn’t even begin to decipher.