Swoosh! The chariot wound down through the smoky air of the Dark Lands and circled behind the Ninn encampment.

“I see things are changing in Droon,” said Galen as they landed. “We have new friends to help us fight against the beasts now. This is good!”

Captain Bludge hustled right over to them. He and the wizard bowed to each other. “It got worse,” Bludge said, pointing to the fortress. “More beasts come. Look.”

More gray beasts than they could have imagined were ranged across Plud’s walls. Every inch of the fortress was alive with them. Their red eyes gleamed in the light of many flaming torches.

The chief of the Ninns groaned and turned away from his former home. “Our Plud —”

“Will be yours again,” said Galen firmly, “if we have anything to say about it.”

The red warrior looked at the wizard. “You are Galen. For long time we are enemies.”

Galen shook his head. “Not today, my friend. But we’ll discuss all that later. For now, turning back the beasts is turning back Ko. And Ko must go!”

“But how will we get into the fortress?” asked Julie. “I’ve never seen so many beasts.”

Captain Bludge looked thoughtful. “We attack front gate,” he grunted. “You attack there.” He pointed a stubby finger far to the east. Near where the walls of the fortress met the cliffs was a small, round pipe.

Bludge continued, “Beasts not ready for attack there. That is kitchen pipe.”

“Kitchen?” said Neal, perking up at the word. “Do you think the beasts eat lunch?”

“Neal!” snapped Julie. “You can’t eat until we’re done here. Kem, either!”

Neal gave the dog a pat on each head. “Life is tough, isn’t it, boy?” he grumbled.

“Rrrr!” Kem agreed.

“Bludge, that is an excellent plan,” said Galen. “We’ll enter Plud and battle the beasts from inside.”

While the Ninns massed in a single army to charge the heavily guarded front gate, the kids, Max, and Kem, under Galen’s stealthy lead, rode the chariot carefully through the surrounding forest until they were close under the high cliffs. There, they waited among the black trees for the red warriors to begin the attack. They didn’t have to wait long.

“To Plud!” came the battle cry of the Ninns as they charged across the plain to the fortress’s front gate.

“To Plud!” repeated Galen. “Eric, fly us straight inside the fortress!”

Except that he couldn’t. The instant Eric drove the chariot near the fortress, the kitchen pipe echoed with a high shriek — eeeee! — and ten wingsnakes swooped right out at them.

“Eric, get us out of here!” cried Keeah. “The beasts must have expected us!”

“That way!” said Julie, pointing to the unmanned upper walls of the fortress.

Eric turned the Medallion and flew the chariot unseen through the smoke, only to find a second band of wingsnakes swooping over the high walls at them there.

Four more attempts to surprise the beasts led to four more failures. Meanwhile, the Ninns were forced back across the plains.

“They know exactly what we’re going to do!” grumbled Eric, finally driving the chariot back to the forest as the battle came to a pause.

“How could the beasts know?” asked Keeah. “It’s like someone’s telling them —”

Neal gasped suddenly. “No. Not telling them. Told them! Fefforello! Eric, don’t you remember? Back when he was the bad Sultan, Fefforello said he would help Ko. This must be what he meant. He’s a genie, so he must have gone ahead in time to see what we would do. Then he went back in time and told the beasts.”

“You mean the Sultan was that shadowy figure we saw in Plud?” asked Eric.

“I’m pretty sure,” said Neal.

“If only the genies were with us now,” said Galen, pacing back and forth in front of the chariot. “It might be our only chance —”

“Too late!” cried Julie. “Catapult!”

Blammm! A fireball exploded nearby, sending everyone for cover in the chariot. As a second fireball zoomed toward them, Eric spun the Medallion and drove the silver vehicle back over the dark trees. He zigzagged across the sky until they were safely back in the Ninn camp.

Captain Bludge, his sword at his side, hurried over to them. “Plud is lost. The beasts have won.” Suddenly, he paused. “Wait,” he said. “Where is other boy?”

Galen whirled around on his heels. His eyes widened. “Neal. Neal! Where’s Neal? We couldn’t have left him in the forest!”

“Not in the forest! There!” said Max.

Everyone turned to see the tiny figure of a boy with blond hair chasing a two-headed dog across the open ground beneath the walls. Five wingsnakes were closing in on him, their fiery breath nipping at his heels.

“Neal!” cried Eric, feeling his knees go weak. The wingsnakes drove Kem and Neal toward the lake. A moment later, Eric heard the ice crack and the water splash. The two figures vanished under the surface of the lake. “No! No! Neal —”

“Yeah, what?” said a familiar voice.

Everyone turned to see Neal standing behind them. He was soaking wet but smiling, and he had a wet Kem wrapped in his arms. “Hey, guys.”

Keeah gasped. “Neal, you were just down there! But now you’re here. How … how …”

Neal held up his hand. “Hold on … five … four … three … watch this …”

He pointed to Plud.

All of a sudden, a wild shriek echoed from the main tower and across the plains, getting louder by the second. The next moment, the main gates burst open and the beasts — every last one of them — rushed away from Plud.

They leaped, they flew, they crawled, they ran. From the walls and the towers, from the halls and the sewers, from the dungeons and weapon rooms, the army of Ko’s beasts fled the giant fortress of Plud.

It was over in a matter of minutes.

Before there were any more blasts, before an arrow was fired, before a single Ninn or beast yelled, “Ouch!” the vast legion of beasts had run away, far away, into the deepest, darkest distance of the Dark Lands.

The Forbidden City of Plud was empty.

“Pretty cool, huh?” said Neal.

“Rooo!” Kem agreed.