Max Stone and the Lost Star of Zirdon Read online

  He reached up on his tippy toes and just about reached the top of the door frame. He fished around for a few moments until his fingers touched off something long and cold. It had a smooth shaft and it felt like a key. He reached higher, trying to get it down. With a leap he flicked it down.

  A shiny silver key fell at his feet.

  He had the key to the attic.

  He slowly turned the key and pushed open the creaky old door.

  He wasn’t entirely sure what he had expected, but this sure wasn’t it. For a start, the attic was much, much bigger than he had imagined. The window he had seen from outside let in the gloomy light from outside. The attic was stacked high with boxes and he turned to his left looking for a light. He found an old-fashioned string cord and pulled. A bulb in the centre of the room flicked on and cast a dim light.

  As he looked around he thought this was a most fantastic place.

  To his left stood a row of stuffed animals that just had to be make-believe. In an ornate glass cabinet stood an enormous powerful eagle with two heads. In its talons, that seemed to be made from ninja swords, it gripped a ginormous hare-like creature. In a much smaller cabinet perched a large chicken with four wings. In the glass case next to this one was a wild boar with a face so terrifying and so full of tusks it just had to be from a movie set. ‘Or’, Max thought, ‘from an alien planet.’

  All around the dusty wooden room stood jars that contained very strange blobs with rows of teeth that peered out at him. They all appeared to glow faintly in the dim light of the room. On a table in the centre of the room stood more jars with even more curious creatures. Max swallowed hard and took a step closer. He had that sort of feeling that one part of him wanted to turn and run but his curiosity got the better of him.

  A faint light shone on a gold and green gloopy liquid in tall jars. Inside, creatures that must have been born in the depths of hell, with twisted snarls and rows of gnashing teeth, stared out at him. Beside these stood spiders with impossibly long fangs, and poisonous looking tips. Two-headed-lizards with bright markings lay next to what he could have sworn were baby dinosaurs.

  Max took two steps backwards, swallowing hard. He nudged off the edge of the table as he walked backwards sending a jar with bright gloop into a wobble. He reacted fast and steadied the jar before it fell. Phew, that was close. He felt a tiny trickle of sweat on his forehead and he tried to keep calm.

  To his right stood a large jumble of boxes, and behind them on the wall hung a vast collection of swords and weapons Max had never, ever seen before. He knew his Granddad was a great hunter. He had once seen his machete and the heavy cross bow he always took with him on hunting expeditions.

  The weapons on the wall were something different altogether.

  Ornate harpoons with silver handles and three pointed arrows hung on the wall. Next to them hung blades that swirled at dangerous angles and had been designed for creatures not of this world. These blades had complicated handles and seemed to be forged from unknown metals. Under these were guns, or what Max thought were guns. These had been crafted from steel so highly polished they shimmered in the dim light of the attic.

  Further into the room a jumble of rugs stacked to his right caught his eye. Max reached out his hand to touch one of them and the rug responded to his touch as though it were alive. He jumped back in surprise.

  This place sure gave him the creeps.

  And then he spotted something just under the window, a small red Swiss army knife - the sort with all kinds of blades and bits for camping.

  Max knew that this wasn’t just any Swiss army knife; this one had a dragon logo painted onto it. That was his Granddad Arthur’s. Before he died his Granddad had promised to give Max this particular knife when he turned eleven. He remembered it well.

  It stood on a small ornate looking box just under the window sill. As Max looked over a small ray of sunshine reflected off the dragon logo on the knife. He reached over and took the knife in his hand.

  His Granddad had promised it to him after all, and now he was thirteen. Of course his Granddad hadn’t lived long enough to give it to him, but he figured it would be ok.

  Max Stone marvelled at the penknife. It felt good in his hands. It had three blades of different sizes, a small screwdriver, a corkscrew, a can opener, even space for a small little tooth pick. This had been had been lost but Max didn’t mind.

  This was the coolest knife he had ever held in his whole life.

  Max’s eye was drawn to the interesting box that the knife had been sitting on. It was almost as if, well as if he was meant to find it. The penknife and the box! It was as if it had been left there for him by his Granddad Arthur. He slipped the penknife into his pocket and reached out and picked up the box.

  The box itself was about twice the size of an old fashioned cigar tin but made of deep brown wood with a gold trim all along the edge.

  The surface was highly polished, and the trim along the edge looked like a very precious metal. But it was the alien-looking symbol in the middle of the box that really made it stand out. It had been skilfully carved, showing four blades in a star formation surrounded by a circle.

  His fingers trembled a little as he flipped open the box.

  His eyes lit up at the contents. Inside lay a scroll, and a curious-looking stone of some sort. The box had been carefully lined with tinfoil and he cautiously lifted out the precious paper. It was an ancient looking map and Max opened it out onto the wooden floor of the attic. He placed his penknife at the top of the fragile old map to stop it rolling back and the stone from the ornate box at the other end.

  ‘Wow’ flashed into his mind and Max wondered at the alien symbols on the map. It was full of names and words he had never heard of.

  In the centre stood a proud looking city marked the ‘City of Elgonze’. To the right, and drawn in his Granddad’s own handwriting, was a small hut marked as Mar-Hoc-Seia’s house. Max couldn’t imagine why, but he was sure that this was important.

  To the North of the city his finger traced a large river named the Zagger Zee, a river that wound its way through jagged-looking mountains. To the north of the city and just across the Zagger Zee River a small “x” had been carefully marked. His Granddad had taken particular attention to make the mark ‘The Stone of Azul’ in fine writing and Max knew it meant something special but he had absolutely no idea what that might be.

  He looked more closely at the stone he had taken out of the box and it felt smooth and highly polished in his hand. It began to glow slightly and started to feel warm and inside the stone he could see something. He pointed it in the direction of the small attic window and it came alive in the light.

  A small blue spec inside the stone seemed to have an energy of its own. He rubbed the stone and polished it, hawed on it and polished it again.

  He took the stone for a closer look right up to the small attic window and another ray of sunshine broke through the clouds. The stone responded to the light. Max could make out some sort of blue symbol deep within the stone. He squinted his eyes to get a better view and it looked like a tiny blue star had been captured inside the stone’s smooth surface

  ‘Whoooah’ he said out loud.

  The more he held the stone to the light the more it pulsed in his hand. Outside, the clouds cleared a little, and rays of sunshine burst on to the lawn around the ancient apple tree.

  ‘That’s it’ he thought out loud, ‘it wants more light’. He hastily threw the map back into the box, tucked the box under his arm and made sure the penknife was secure in his pocket.

  He dashed down the first flight of stairs and then the next, gathering speed as he went. By the time he reached the landing of the first floor he was taking two steps at a time. The stone felt warm and excited in his hand, the box and the map held secure under his arm. He paused for breath and looked at the stone and the blue light inside seemed to fade inside the gloom of the house. He darted outside.

  He stood under the old apple tree
and, as the light bounced off the stone, something changed. The small blue symbol grew warmer and brighter. It began to spin, slowly at first, and then faster and faster. Soon it was spinning wildly.

  All around him Max felt the winds begin to change. Where the sun’s rays had begun to break through, now the sky turned dark and angry. Rain clouds took on a sinister look and swirled high overhead. The stone in his hand whirred with energy and a lively blue light filled his hand.

  Max tried to throw the stone away but it was stuck fast. And, worse still, it began to lift up towards the sky, dragging his hand with it. He tried with all his strength to pull his hand back down but it was no use.

  The stone, with his hand stuck to it, began to lift higher and higher, up towards the clouds that now spun into a tornado. There was simply no letting go.

  The sky roared with angry thunder and the stone in his hand sought to go higher and higher.

  ‘This day can’t get any worse’ Max thought to himself, pulling down hard on the stone trying to stop it lifting him clear off the ground. He was wrong, for just then a bolt of blue energy shot from the stone into the very heart of the angry storm above.

  A giant rift tore through the clouds and it seemed to crack the sky open. Max was terrified.

  This rift yawed in the chaos of cloud and the stone pulled Max towards it.

  It hummed and buzzed as if somehow connected with the electric energy of the storm. Max was up on his tippy toes. Another flash of blue light bolted from the stone into the centre of the rift. The tear in the sky opened out as if making a doorway, a doorway to another dimension in space.

  Max couldn’t let go. He trembled as the stone lifted him clean off the ground and high into the sky.

  ‘Nooooo’ he roared into the wind, but it was no use.

  The bolt of blue lightening that the stone sent from its core seemed to make the rift angrier and angrier. He felt the vibrations as the star symbol inside the stone spun frantically.

  Max cried out loud once more in vain ‘Nooooo!’ But it was no use. There was nothing he could do. He was being lifted up, closer and closer to this doorway in the sky.

  Suddenly he felt the draw of the stone grow even more powerful; the energy from within shot another huge bolt of blue into the sky.

  The stone, with him stuck to it, gathered speed and headed straight for the middle of the vortex. All around him the storm roared angrily, clouds swirling, and leaves swooshing from everywhere. Below, he heard trash cans fall over and spill out their contents. He saw his Gran’s garden furniture swished off the ground and hurled over the hedge. He could hear the snapping of tree branches, maybe even whole trees themselves, as the wind wreaked havoc.

  This was a real live tornado and Max Stone was caught in the eye of it. There was nothing he could do.

  The pull on the stone grew stronger and Max, with the box still clutched under his arm, rose further up into the air. He glanced below to his Gran’s house, a huge big old house that now looked like a tiny spec.

  Higher and higher he rose, the stone now moving at a terrific speed, as they hurtled towards the gateway in the sky.

  For a moment his flight upwards slowed slightly and he thought there was hope - hope he might safely return to the ground.

  But his hope was short-lived as the stone gave one last enormous surge and he and the stone disappeared into the doorway to another dimension.

  Max Stone disappeared out of this world and into the next.

  CHAPTER THREE

  OUT OF THIS WORLD

  Max felt himself being hurled from the rift and he crashed heavily to the ground. Instinctively he protected the box and rolled over onto his shoulder in a tight ball. He tried to break his fall but he hurt his left ankle when he landed. It hurt like crazy.

  Max looked around at where he was and it frightened him. He didn’t recognise anything. This was a totally alien place. The sky burned of fire and where at home the sky was blue and you could see the sun, here it flared red and he could see planets dotted about. He was sure he had landed on some alien planet, nestled in a gathering of unknown stars.

  The landscape too was different from home. It was scorched and burnt. He could see no trees, and no signs of life. All he could see were huge large rocks and boulders scattered about in large heaps.

  ‘Where am I?’ he asked out loud. He picked himself up from the dusty ground, and brushed off the red coloured sand from his sweatshirt.

  He winced as he put pressure on his leg. His foot really hurt. He still held the stone in his right hand - it was no longer stuck to him and he flung it angrily at the ground ‘Get away from me’ he shouted at it, worried now at where he was and frightened that he was lost and alone.

  On his palm the stone had left its mark, four blades in the star shape. There was a small diamond shaped crystal at the centre. He looked at the front of the box that he still clutched and the symbols matched exactly. He had second thoughts about throwing away the stone, thinking it might be of some use or value somehow. Besides, it was his only real connection to home and it seemed a little foolish to just throw it away.

  He opened the wooden box and put the stone inside. His eye caught the map and he took it out. It made no sense to him with the alien symbols, and the strange names. He just couldn’t make any sense of it. On the map there were areas where there were no markings and he guessed that if this was a map of this planet then he was probably in one of these.

  But where?

  Right in the centre of the map stood the ‘City of Elgonze’ and just to the north was the house of Mar-Hoc-Seia. Clearly, he was nowhere near the large Zagger Zee River marked on the top left. If he was, surely there would have been some life-trees or something. Just then a strange-looking bird screeched high in the sky. Max looked up and saw instantly that this was no bird. This looked more like a flying dinosaur, a pterodactyl. Its large beak was sharp and pointed and its wings were not of feathers but of thick leathery brown skin. At the end of the flying creature’s wings were sharp-looking talons that glinted even from so far away. It squawked noisily as it flew overhead and began to circle around where Max stood.

  All of a sudden Max Stone felt helpless, standing out in the middle of this barren place. He felt like dinner.

  In the distance he spied a cluster of large rocks just off to his right. Perhaps he could find cover in there.

  Max clutched the box tightly under his left arm and set off. He now knew that he would really need the map. If he could find anything familiar on the map, he might be able to get to some water or shelter. As he stood up, a sharp burst of pain reminded him he had fallen badly on his ankle and he gingerly limped forward.

  Overhead the creature screeched as it watched its dinner go on the move.

  Max gritted his teeth and hobbled towards the cluster of rocks. Small lizard-like creatures, marked in bold blues and yellows, skitted off into the sand as he disturbed them. One looked very like one of the creatures he had seen on the table in the attic.

  As he got closer to the pile of rocks, the creature above him squawked and screeched louder and angrier. It circled lower and lower until Max could feel the wind of its giant wings flapping overhead. He caught a close up view of its sharp talons, and it spurred him to run as fast as he could. His leg ached painfully but Max had to keep trying. He was just a few short steps away from shelter.

  The creature swooped, its talons catching Max by the hood on his sweatshirt. It lifted him off the ground for a frightening few seconds and he heard the material of his hood rip.

  He crashed clumsily to the ground. He hurt his leg even more but he didn’t care, it was far better than ending up as dinner for some prehistoric monster.

  He scrambled into the pile of stones, breathing heavily and sweating. A large flat stone lay over two boulders, making a sort of little cave and he huddled inside. His breath came in short sharp bursts, and overhead the creature flapped about crying a harsh call.

  Max was safe, for now.

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sp; He rolled up the leg of his jeans and carefully rolled down his sock to look at his sore ankle. It had swollen out painfully and already took on the multi-colour of a good bruise. He circled his foot, moving it very slowly. There was nothing broken and he sighed in relief. The creature had done him a bit of a favour because his hood hung from his sweatshirt by a thread. He tore it off and tied it tightly around his ankle to give it some support.

  He looked once more at the box and at the symbol on the front. The shape in his right hand matched it perfectly. It wasn’t sore to touch, but it looked to him as though it might last forever.

  He opened up the box and took out the map, searching for any clues that might help him. He felt his tummy rumble and he wished now he had taken a bowl of his Gran’s soup, instead of just the small slice of brown bread.

  He was also thirsty, his throat burning from the heat of the desert. His leg burned with the pain and knew he just had to cool it down.

  High overhead the creature circled, keeping an eye on its tasty meal, ready to swoop if he left the safety of the rocks and stones.

  Max turned his attention back to the map where he once more looked at the City of Elgonze. It was drawn as a magnificent looking city with high towers reaching into the alien sky. He noted again Mar-Hoc-Seia’s house, so carefully marked in his Granddad’s hand writing. The Zagger Zee River flowed through jagged mountains, but he was nowhere near here, for all that surrounded him was a flat barren landscape.

  Max thought he must have been to the south-west of the City of Elgonze, since the map here was blank. He really needed to move north, towards shelter and water, but how on earth would he do it?

  And that was just it, this wasn’t earth, and who knew what lay ahead of him if he did make Elgonze or the Zagger Zee River for that matter?

  ‘And how am I even going to go looking?’ he asked himself, not really wanting to know the answer, for he knew already. His leg was so sore and swollen that any amount of walking would be impossible. Besides, even if he could walk, how would he get past the creature that waited to tear him into shreds?