The Secret of Zoone Page 23

  “Always,” Ozzie said, hugging the cat close.

  29

  Ozzie’s Risk

  Dawn had broken in Zoone, marking the end of the Convention of Wizardry. Even so, none of the magic-makers left; there was too much to do, too much to discuss. That evening, a special meeting was held in the conference chambers. Unlike the meetings that had happened during the convention, this one involved more than just wizards. Many members of the station’s crew were there, including Lady Zoone, Fusselbone, and Cho. But the true guests of honor were Ozzie, Tug, and Fidget.

  Master Nymm rose to his feet and took the podium. He did not look remotely noble. Even though he had donned a new robe, his body still bore the injuries of his fight with Crogus. One side of his face was scorched from the glibber king’s fire, and his beard and eyebrows were singed short.

  “I stand before you, humble and ashamed,” Nymm began in an uncharacteristic tone. “Many secrets have been revealed. Many of them were kept by me.”

  He stared soberly at the assembled audience and took a deep breath. He looked so low and miserable that Ozzie could almost feel sorry for him.

  “As the council now knows, Crogus escaped from Morindu several months ago,” Nymm explained. “We thought walls of stone and a clockwork contingent of deaf guards could hold him captive. But we were wrong. Each day, when he was served his gruel, Crogus uttered his poison at his captors. Even though they were deaf, his spells still wriggled into their minds, still took root. Once enslaved by his magic, the guards unlocked the glibber king’s cell, removed his cuffs—then dropped dead from the toxin coursing through their veins, allowing Crogus to slip across the rivers of lava and into the wilds of Morindu.”

  Ozzie glanced at the assembly of wizards, but he could read no expression on their faces. They remained silent and stoic as they listened to Nymm’s confession.

  “When I learned of this terrible event, I decided to keep it a secret,” Nymm confessed. “My intention was not to deceive, but to prevent panic from spreading across the council and throughout the worlds. The authorities on Morindu assured me that they could recapture the glibber king before he could brew any strife, and I took solace in the fact that I had enchanted him with a spell that would hinder him from using any key or track to reach Zoone. If he even tried to touch a key to the nexus, he would be injured. When the council questioned me on his whereabouts on the opening night of this conference, I’m ashamed to admit that I let pride rule me. Instead of confessing the truth, I stuck to my story, claiming that Crogus was still in Morindu.

  “Of course, we now know where the glibber king went. He was able to find his way to Eridea, where he took up residence near the last door to Zoone, the most magical place he could find in that world of scarce enchantment. From this base of operation, we now know that he was at least able to communicate—and plot—with his daughter, Salamanda. Yes, the same girl who infiltrated the council by posing as my apprentice.”

  Nymm winced as he spoke this last sentence, as if feeling the pain of Salamanda’s deception anew. Ozzie knew how he felt.

  “Thankfully, the glibber plot to take over Zoone was thwarted,” Nymm proceeded gravely. “The battle with Crogus cost us two members of our council; Mysteeria Creed and Tahanu Renn both perished in the confrontation. Our only consolation can be that the glibber king was also killed.”

  Nymm’s voice had begun to quaver during the mention of the fallen wizards. He took a moment to recover his composure before continuing. “Still, the danger is not over, for the daughter of Crogus has escaped. We have scoured Zoone, but have discovered no trace of the glibber girl. We can only assume she slipped through a doorway to hide somewhere in the multiverse. And so, we must remain vigilant, and guard against her possible return.”

  Nymm hesitated again. “As for me, I am stepping down as leader of the council and going into exile. I was blind to Salamanda’s duplicity and I lied to the council; I have proven unworthy of the role. The council has already agreed with this decision. Adaryn Moonstrom, second in command, succeeds me.”

  Nymm descended from the podium, his head bowed. Adaryn Moonstrom rose to take his place. Her thick silver hair was arranged in a nest of braids and buns, and her eyes sparkled like metal. She looked even more regal than when Ozzie had first met her.

  “We shall attempt to dwell no further on somber matters this evening,” the sorceress announced. “Instead, we shall celebrate Zoone. These past eleven days, the council has been critical of Lady Zoone’s management of this station. Yet her crew has proven its worth. If not for them, what would be the state of the worlds? And so, I revoke the dismissal of Lady Zoone, Captain Cho, and the three youngest members of the crew. Indeed, not only are you restored to your positions, you shall be rewarded for your bravery in stopping the glibber king and saving the station. I now ask Ozzie Sparks, Fidget of Quoxx, and Tug the skyger to step forward.”

  Ozzie glanced at Fidget. She smiled and clutched his hand. Ozzie took hold of Tug’s tail, and together the three of them marched to the center of the chamber to stand before the council.

  Torannis Talon, expert in magical creatures, rose to his feet and smiled from behind a pair of half-moon glasses. “First, we shall reward Tug,” he declared, lifting his hands. “Gentle skyger, I grant you wings.”

  A circle of light swirled around the gigantic cat; when it disappeared, a resplendent pair of wings was on his back.

  “Look!” Tug purred. “Look at my wings!”

  He began to beat them and rose instantly into the air. The creature who had been so clumsy on his feet now seemed ever so graceful. He did a loop around the chamber, the stir of his feathers causing the banners on the walls to flutter with delight.

  “Good job,” Ozzie said as Tug landed alongside him.

  Then Dorek Faeng, master of charms, stood. His face was covered in such thick hair that it was hard to discern any expression. But when he spoke, his voice was loud and clear. “Quoxxian girl, I remove your curse.”

  He clapped his hands and uttered a strange spell. As he did so, a white mist gushed around the princess. Then a cloud formed above her head and began to rain, completely drenching her.

  Fidget erupted into laughter. “Water!” she exclaimed. “Pure water. And look, Ozzie—nothing’s happening.”

  Ozzie smiled. He couldn’t tell the difference between the droplets of rain and her tears of happiness.

  Finally, Adaryn Moonstrom spoke once more. “And now for Ozzie Sparks, boy of Eridea.”

  Ozzie tried to stand taller. “Yes, Mistress Moonstrom.”

  “There is magic in you, Ozzie Sparks,” the sorceress proclaimed. “If Crogus had poison in his words, then it seems you possess the antidote. Perhaps it’s because you were given such a small dose to begin with, and were able to build an immunity. Or perhaps it’s just you. In any case, you have acted bravely, and have earned a reward.”

  Ozzie shuffled in his spot.

  “Tell me, what weighs on your mind?” Adaryn wondered.

  “It’s Salamanda,” Ozzie replied. “She’s out there still. She’ll cause more problems. We have to stop her.”

  “We?” Adaryn asked, though not unkindly. She looked down at him contemplatively before eventually saying, “Take comfort in this: Salamanda Smink is a fugitive. Now that her master has been defeated—thanks to you, Ozzie Sparks—she is alone and weakened. The council will make it a priority to find her, but I insist that you chase worry from your mind. Instead, I must ask you a most profound question: Do you still wish to go home?”

  Ozzie gazed into the sorceress’s lustrous eyes, hesitating.

  “Well?” Adaryn pressed.

  “Mistress Moonstrom,” Ozzie said, “I feel like Zoone is my home. Where I belong. But my aunt is still in Eridea. She needs me and . . . I think I need her.”

  Tug let loose a quiet moan.

  Ozzie turned to the skyger. “Tug,” he said, “you and me, we’re a team. Nothing’s going to change that. The thing is, Aunt
Temperance and me . . . we’re a team, too. But I’m the only team she’s got. And then there’s my parents. Well, they haven’t been around much. But, you know”—and here he paused—“there’s potential for anything to happen.”

  Tug smiled. At least Ozzie thought it was a smile—because it was still hard to tell with skygers. “I understand, Ozzie,” he said. “Just to tell you, Zoonians are good at understanding.”

  “Zoonians?” Ozzie wondered.

  “Sure,” Tug said. “This is where I belong.”

  Ozzie looked to Fidget. Her cloud of rain had dissipated, and she nodded at him, dripping wet and joyful.

  “It’s a yes,” Ozzie said, turning back to Adaryn Moonstrom and the rest of the council. “I’ll go back. At least for now. But when Aunt Temperance is better, I’d like to return—and bring her with me.”

  “And you would certainly be welcome,” the silver sorceress declared. “However, there is one problem with your request. We have examined the door to Eridea, and it appears the ointment that Salamanda used to repair it is very weak, lacking any vital magic. We are convinced that the door will close again, at any moment, and we have not yet figured out a way to keep it open permanently after it was so severely damaged by Crogus. If you truly wish to leave, you should do so immediately. But beware: If you return to Eridea, you may well be stuck there.”

  That caught Ozzie off guard. Going back temporarily to Apartment 2B was one thing. But permanently? That was another. He turned and contemplated the crew. He saw Cho’s gentle eyes. He saw Fusselbone hop nervously from foot to foot. He saw Tug’s curly ears twitch. He saw Fidget’s inappropriately purple hair glisten with beads of water. Then he turned back and found Lady Zoone standing right next to him.

  “The choice is yours,” she said, the little creatures in her hair chirruping in agreement.

  “But . . . I’m better here,” Ozzie told her, suddenly having second thoughts about his decision. “More powerful. You said so yourself.”

  Lady Zoone smiled, from way up on her impossibly long neck. “I did say that. But you’re not like Crogus, Ozzie. His only magic was that which he stole. You have become more powerful here, but you didn’t take that power from Zoone; you just discovered it here. If you ask me, life isn’t about where you are; it’s about who you are.”

  Ozzie contemplated his aunt’s key. Mr. Whisk had attached it to a new cord and it was hanging from his neck again. Lady Zoone’s wisdom was all fine and dandy (to borrow an Aunt Temperance phrase), but could he really chance never being able to return to Zoone?

  “Do you want to know what I think?” Ozzie said after a moment. “Doors are for opening, for going through—not just standing there, closed. I think going through this one will help repair the track, help connect my world to Zoone. You said something like that, didn’t you, Lady Zoone? When you came to the apartment. You said that the magic had to flow.”

  “I did indeed,” she said, blossoming into a smile.

  “Then I’m going to go through,” Ozzie declared. “I’m going to risk it.”

  30

  The Door to Somewhere

  Ozzie reached up and lightly brushed his palm across the rough and weathered wood of Door 871. The door to Eridea. The door to his home. He fingered the metal door handle, but he didn’t open it. Not quite yet. Instead he turned back and gazed at the large crowd that had assembled to see him off. There was Fidget, Tug, Cho, Lady Zoone, and many of the members of the station crew. Or to put it another way, Ozzie realized, his friends.

  There were many final hugs and farewells, but Ozzie saved Tug and Fidget for last.

  “It’s not good-bye forever,” Ozzie said as he embraced the purple-haired girl and the skyger. “I plan to come back.”

  “I’m counting on it,” Fidget told him.

  “Don’t worry, Ozzie,” Tug said, licking Ozzie with his blue tongue. “We’ll be waiting.”

  It was time to depart. Ozzie inserted the key in the lock of the door, turned the handle, and stepped into the tunnel. It was like he remembered it, with a swirl of stars slowly spinning around the track. Ozzie felt it moving slowly along beneath his feet. He looked back to see Fidget and Tug smiling at him from Zoone. He kept looking until they faded from sight.

  Before long, a new door came into view, though it seemed to be the same as the one he had just stepped through. He reached the end of the track; Ozzie opened the door and stepped through, into The Depths. They were empty and dark, but somehow not so frightening anymore. Ozzie turned to the door that was now behind him, the door to Zoone. He was surprised to see that the sideways “Z,” the one that he had originally thought was an “N,” was now repaired.

  Who would have fixed it? he wondered, only to realize that it might have been him. Perhaps going through the door had helped to repair it—at least a little.

  Ozzie smiled, then raced up the winding stairs, into the hallway, and to Apartment 2B. He opened the door and stepped quietly into the living room. It was still in shambles, the lamp leaning against the armchair, the pictures lying smashed on the floor, and the sofa sagging pitifully, as if it had been only recently vacated by a very large house cat.

  Maybe no time has passed at all, Ozzie thought.

  But he wasn’t quite right about that.

  Aunt Temperance came tearing out of the kitchen. “Ozzie?! Is that you! Where have you been?”

  Before he could answer, she reeled him into her arms. “I heard this horrendous boom from The Depths. When I came out here, I found this mess. And . . . and . . . you were gone.”

  Her long lock of silvery hair had come loose again. Ozzie could feel it tickle his cheek. But Aunt Temperance left it where it was.

  “I’m really sorry about what I said before,” Ozzie said. “I didn’t mean it. I’m glad I’m stuck with you, Aunt T.”

  “Oh, Ozzie,” she murmured. “You have no idea. I . . . I thought something happened to you.”

  “It did,” Ozzie said slowly. “I . . . I went to Zoone.”

  Aunt Temperance pulled back and looked intently at Ozzie. Reaching behind her, she fumbled for the nearest chair and sat down. “I see,” she murmured.

  Ozzie looked at her uncertainly. For a fleeting moment, he wondered if he should have just lied. Was she going to retreat to her room again and stare at the ceiling in silence?

  But Aunt Temperance didn’t move. She just sat in her chair and stared fixedly at him. “It’s real, then?” she asked eventually. “It really is?”

  Ozzie nodded.

  “I was always afraid it wasn’t,” Aunt Temperance said slowly. “Or maybe I was afraid it was real and . . . well, never mind all of that for now. You’d think we’d start learning more as we get older. But sometimes I think we start learning less.”

  “You sound like Lady Zoone,” Ozzie said.

  Aunt Temperance let out a long laugh, the kind of laugh Ozzie wasn’t sure he had ever heard from her before.

  “Well,” Aunt Temperance said, leaning forward. “I’d like to hear all about it. Sounds like you discovered a world of potential.”

  “Worlds, actually,” Ozzie told her. “Worlds.”

  Acknowledgments

  Thank you to my family, especially to Marcie and Charlotte, who were witness to my many moments of creative agony. To the Scooby Gang, who bolstered me along the way.

  To my agent, Rachel Letofsky of CookeMcDermid, who first saw the potential of Zoone. To my wonderful editor at HarperCollins, Stephanie Stein, who swung open the door to shine a light on the manuscript.

  To my readers along the way, who provided me with invaluable and expert feedback: Marcie Nestman, Paige Mitchell, Kallie George, Sarah Bagshaw, Renuka Baron, Nadia Kim, and Bohyun Kim.

  Finally, to my countless students who watched Zoone being built from the ground up over the years and begged to be in the book. There are too many of you to mention by name, but I will give a nod to those of you who have pestered me the longest. For the record: Chris, you are Glibber #1 (the one fir
st whacked by Fidget’s umbrella); Jamie, you are Glibber #2 (the one who steals Ozzie’s key); Chelsea, you are Glibber #3 (the one who eats Ozzie’s shoe); and Chloe, you are Glibber #4 (the one who Fidget hurls her umbrella at). The rest of you are amid the glibber horde—or, if you prefer, you can imagine yourself as a traveler crossing the hustling, bustling platforms of Zoone in search of your own perfect path.

  About the Author

  Photo by Shimon Karmel

  LEE EDWARD FÖDI is a children’s author, illustrator, and educator—or, as he likes to think of himself, a daydreaming expert. He is the author of several books for children, including the Kendra Kandlestar series. In his spare time, Lee is a traveler, adventurer, and maker of dragon eggs. He especially loves exploring castles, mazes, tombs, and temples—the types of places where he can lose himself (sometimes literally). Lee lives in Vancouver with his wife, son, and unhelpful cat. Visit him online at www.leefodi.com.

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  Copyright

  THE SECRET OF ZOONE. Copyright © 2019 by Lee Edward Födi. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

  www.harpercollinschildrens.com

  Cover art © 2019 by Evan Monteiro

  Cover design by Michelle Taormina

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2018949020

  Digital Edition MARCH 2019 ISBN: 978-0-06-284529-0

  Print ISBN: 978-0-06-284526-9 (trade bdg.)