The Seventh Crystal

  LET SLEEPING DRAGONS LIE

  Before Jimmy could talk him out of it, Chris crept closer to the dragon’s nest. The creature was sound asleep, nestled in a mass of dead thorns and brambles. It was covered with green scales and bigger than three elephants. Every time it breathed out, flames shot from its nostrils.

  Chris tiptoed around the beast, searching for the crystal. He spotted a stairway cut into the wall behind the dragon and started up it. At the top he discovered a glass case on a marble pedestal. Inside it was a single large crystal, surrounded by six slight depressions, on a red velvet cushion.

  It was bigger and more beautiful than Chris had even dreamed. He took it out of the case and held it gently in his hand. The crystal sparkled with every color of the rainbow.

  “Hurry, Chris. It’s awake!”

  Published by

  Bantam Doubleday Dell Books for Young Readers

  a division of

  Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc.

  1540 Broadway

  New York, New York 10036

  Text copyright © 1996 by Gary Paulsen

  Cover illustration copyright © by Steve Chorney

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law.

  The trademarks Yearling® and Dell® are registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries.

  eISBN: 978-0-307-80402-0

  Interior illustration by Michael David Biegel

  v3.1

  Dear Readers:

  Real adventure is many things—it’s danger and daring and sometimes even a struggle for life or death. From competing in the Iditarod dogsled race across Alaska to sailing the Pacific Ocean, I’ve experienced some of this adventure myself. I try to capture this spirit in my stories, and each time I sit down to write, that challenge is a bit of an adventure in itself.

  You’re all a part of this adventure as well. Over the years I’ve had the privilege of talking with many of you in schools, and this book is the result of hearing firsthand what you want to read about most—power-packed action and excitement.

  You asked for it—so hang on tight while we jump into another thrilling story in my World of Adventure.

  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Adventure Guide: Medieval Knighthood

  CHAPTER 1

  Chris Masters watched the clock on the classroom wall. His palms had begun sweating. There was nothing on his desk. He’d already stuffed his books and papers into his backpack.

  Timing was crucial. He tried not to blink, so that he wouldn’t miss the exact instant the minute hand began to move.

  The long black hand of the clock edged forward. His heart started beating faster. He turned sideways in his desk and sat in a crouched position, his left foot slightly behind his right.

  Ten more seconds.

  A deep voice thundered from the front of the room. “Mr. Masters, can you repeat the instructions I just gave the class?”

  Chris’s whole body tensed. The bell rang, but Mr. Higgins, the science teacher, ordered the students to remain in their seats. Cynthia Rider, Lincoln Junior High’s head cheerleader, glared at Chris for holding up the class.

  Mr. Higgins walked slowly down the aisle, holding a wooden ruler. He stopped in front of Chris’s desk and pointed the ruler at him. “Well?”

  Chris ran his hand through his short brown hair, lowered his eyes, and tried to think. He had been so intent on the clock that he hadn’t heard a word Mr. Higgins had said in the past five minutes. He made a feeble stab at an answer. “Did you tell us to have a nice weekend?”

  The class roared with laughter. Mr. Higgins’s face turned red clear up to his bald spot.

  “No. I did not.” The teacher took a deep breath and tried to regain his composure. “The rest of the class is dismissed. Mr. Masters, you will stay and write In the future, I will pay attention in class five hundred times.”

  “But Mr. Higgins, you don’t understand. If I don’t … I mean if they get ahead of me …”

  “Yes?”

  Chris slumped miserably in his desk and sighed. “Nothing.” He was dead meat. There was no way he could explain to Mr. Higgins that every day at three o’clock he ran a race to save his life. Well, maybe not his life, at least not yet. But it was definitely a race for his physical well-being. That and any money he might have saved from lunch.

  Shawn Stiles was the oldest and biggest kid at Lincoln. He and his friend Cliff Bacon made a career out of pushing the other students around. Lately they had targeted Chris, and for the past two weeks they had been waiting for him after school. When they caught him, they slapped him around and took anything he had that they wanted.

  Chris knew better than to rat on the two bullies. If he did they would never let up on him. So he handled it by being the first and fastest kid to leave the school grounds every day.

  Except today.

  CHAPTER 2

  Chris walked out the double doors beside Mr. Higgins. The teacher had lectured him all the way down the hall about the importance of staying alert. Occasionally Chris nodded to make it seem as if he were paying attention.

  Actually Chris was alert. He’d already checked out the parking lot and watched for movement behind the Dumpster. The shadows at the end of the building worried him. But then so did the trees by the fence.

  Mr. Higgins stepped into his old blue sedan and rolled the window down. “You’re a good student, Chris, but you’d be doing us both a favor if you’d pay more attention.”

  “Right. Thanks, Mr. Higgins.” Chris waved and darted behind the next car, crouched low, and scuttled through the remaining row of parked cars.

  At the last car he stopped and scanned the area. No one was in sight. So far so good. He could see the sidewalk where Shawn and Cliff, grinning and howling like hungry hyenas, usually waited. They weren’t there.

  It looked clear to the oak tree. Chris’s hopes soared. Maybe they’d gotten tired of waiting and had crawled back into their holes.

  Cautiously he rose from his hiding place and moved to the fence. If he could make it past the oak tree, he could blast across the street and run all the way home.

  His feet flew. Everything around him was a blur. He made it to the fence. Quickly he shoved his backpack through a jagged hole and started to climb through after it.

  “What’s the big hurry, Chris?”

  Chris had one leg through the hole in the fence. He looked up. Shawn had stepped from behind the oak tree and was standing over him, smirking. Chris pulled his leg back and turned to run.

  “Now, don’t do that.” Cliff had already swung around the fence and cut off Chris’s escape. “We have some business to take care of, remember?”

  Chris took a step backward. Cliff grabbed the front of his T-shirt and pushed him into the fence. “You better have something good for us after keeping us waiting all this time, shrimp.”

  “Look, guys,” Chris said, gulping, “I’m not carrying anything you’d want. My grandmother forgot to give me my lunch money. All I had for lunch was an apple left over from yesterday.”

  Shawn picked up
Chris’s backpack and rummaged through it. “You know, Chris, it looks like you may be telling the truth this time.” The hulking boy turned the pack upside down and dumped Chris’s books and papers on the sidewalk. “But since we know how much you hate to disappoint us, we’ll just take this fine backpack your granny bought you.”

  Cliff laughed. He twisted the collar of Chris’s shirt even tighter. “Thanks, Chris.”

  “What’s going on here?”

  Chris felt Cliff release his grip. The bigger boy stepped back and put his hands innocently into his pockets.

  Chris wheeled around. He couldn’t believe his luck. Mr. Higgins had driven up beside them.

  Shawn knelt and started putting books back into Chris’s bag. “There’s nothing going on, Mr. Higgins. Chris here just dropped his backpack, and Cliff and I were being neighborly. You know, helping him pick up his stuff.”

  Mr. Higgins’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Is that right, Chris?”

  Chris nervously scratched the back of his neck. “That—That’s right. They were helping me.”

  Shawn handed him the backpack. “Here you go, Chris.” He slapped Chris hard on the back. “We like helping out our good friend Chris. Don’t we, Cliff?”

  Cliff nodded, and the two bullies sauntered down the sidewalk. Shawn looked back over his shoulder. “Don’t worry, Chris, we’ll always be around to help you.”

  Chris breathed a sigh of relief as he watched them leave. He picked up the rest of his papers and had started to cram them into his pack when he noticed that Mr. Higgins was still there watching him, waiting for an explanation.

  Chris gave the teacher a halfhearted smile, backed down the sidewalk a few feet, shrugged—and ran.

  CHAPTER 3

  “I’m home, Grandma.” Chris dropped his backpack onto one of the kitchen chairs and took the lid off the cookie jar. It was full of freshly made chocolate chip cookies. He put one in his mouth and scooped up a handful to take to his room.

  From the living room he could hear the television blaring. His grandmother was watching her favorite soap opera. He decided not to bother her and instead went straight upstairs to get down to business.

  Business consisted of trying to find the secret path to the ancient palace in the Valley of Zon. He’d been working on this particular computer game for almost three days and had made it only as far as the River of Storms.

  It was unusual for Chris to have trouble with any video or computer game. Most of them were too easy for him. His mind just seemed to know what was going to happen before the computer made it occur.

  But this game was special. It had come in the mail three days ago with no return address and very few instructions. The first night he worked on it until two in the morning. The graphics looked so three-dimensional that when he turned it on, it almost seemed as if the people and places were real.

  The game opened with a medieval scene—a huge castle shrouded in fog. Then words scrolled up the screen, telling the mysterious legend of a beautiful princess with magical powers. This princess ruled her people well until a disloyal knight kidnapped her. Using black magic, he turned her into a statue so that he could steal her kingdom.

  The object of the game was to make it through all the traps and hazards the black knight had laid for those who might follow him, and then discover a way to free the princess.

  The first time Chris played the game he was chased by creatures that spit fire. Then he’d gone in circles for hours until he’d stumbled on a magic compass, which led him to the river.

  The next day he had found a hidden cave in a forest. But the cave didn’t lead anywhere and there didn’t seem to be a way out of it.

  Chris sat down at his desk and switched on his computer. He took a deep breath. “No game is gonna get the best of me.”

  The title screen lit up in an array of dazzling color. The words The Seventh Crystal appeared in bold print, followed by the picture of the castle. Chris pushed the Start button. A young boy wearing a ragged brown peasant’s costume ran down a dusty path. The boy passed several village people coming and going near a grassy meadow. Suddenly two thieves jumped in front of him and tried to block his path. Chris pushed the Jump button and sailed over the attackers. They were chasing the boy, and he had no weapon for protection.

  Chris paused the game. He knew how to get to the forest, but he didn’t want to get stuck in the cave again. He closed his eyes and tried to imagine what he would do next if he had created this game.

  Suddenly his bedroom door flew open with a bang. “Hey. Are you getting anywhere with that?”

  Chris spun his chair around. Standing in front of him was a stocky redheaded boy whose face was covered with freckles.

  “I just got started, Jimmy. I’ll beat it, though. You know they haven’t made the game that can stop me.”

  Jimmy Johnson was Chris’s next-door neighbor and best friend. Jimmy was a year younger than Chris and still went to Taft Middle School.

  “You were late coming home, Chris. Did they get you today?”

  “Yeah. But it worked out all right. A teacher drove up just in time.” Chris turned back to the game. “You want to watch?”

  “Maybe for a while. My mom says I have to be home early. My dad is coming to get me for the weekend.”

  “Where’s he taking you this time?”

  Jimmy sat on the edge of the bed. “Who knows? Did you get out of the cave yet?”

  Chris shook his head. “I started over. I figured I must have missed something along the way that would let me out of it.” He studied the computer screen. “I don’t see anything. Do you?”

  “Why don’t you ask some of those people on the path?”

  Chris looked up and smiled. “Jimmy, you’re a genius.” He started the game again and used his mouse to maneuver the peasant boy so that he made contact with the images of the villagers on the path. Nothing happened until he came across the image of an old woman.

  She was waiting in the meadow, not scurrying around like the rest of the people, just sitting patiently under a tree. When the peasant boy stopped in front of her, she gave him a toothless grin and put something round in his hand.

  “What is it?” Jimmy asked. He moved closer to the screen.

  “I can’t tell for sure. But I hope it helps me get out of the cave.”

  “What’s she saying?”

  Words appeared in a green box at the top of the screen. Chris read them aloud. “ ‘The lion’s mouth at the Palace of Zon is the only way to save the princess.’ ”

  Jimmy looked puzzled. “What’s Zon?”

  Chris paused the game and took an envelope out of his desk drawer. He opened it and showed Jimmy the letter inside. “This came with the game.”

  Chosen One,

  The ancient palace lies in the Valley of Zon. It is imperative that you come immediately. You are my last hope. Look for the secret path. The stars will lead the way. Take care. The eyes of Mogg are everywhere.

  Darvina

  Jimmy moved back. “Those are weird instructions. Have you figured out who sent the game to you?”

  “Nope. But I’m glad they did. It’s been a long time since I’ve played anything that was this much of a challenge.”

  “Jimmy, are you up there?” Chris’s grandmother shouted from the bottom of the stairs.

  Chris went to the landing. “He’s here, Grandma.”

  “Tell him his mother wants him to run down to the store for her before his father comes to get him.”

  Chris turned and was about to repeat the message. Jimmy held his hand up. “I heard. Want to come with me? I hate crossing over those old subway tunnels. They give me the creeps.”

  Chris glanced at the game. He hated to waste precious time that could be used to defeat it. Then he looked at Jimmy. It was obvious that his friend wanted him to go. The shortcut over the tunnels saved time, but it was dangerous. The city had put up No Trespassing signs and an old chain-link fence blocking the tunnels off from the general
public, but everyone still cut across them.

  Chris walked to the computer, saved his game, and turned it off. “Sure, I’ll go with you. I can work on this old thing anytime.”

  CHAPTER 4

  “Don’t forget to get skim milk, Jimmy. The cheap brand.” Jimmy’s mother looked at Chris and raised an eyebrow. “And don’t waste any time at the arcade.”

  “Okay, okay.” Jimmy took the money she handed him and waved for Chris to follow him out the front door.

  “She treats me like a baby,” Jimmy complained when they were outside the fence around the yard.

  “Don’t worry.” Chris kicked a rock down the sidewalk. “They seem to grow out of it when you get to junior high.”

  “Can’t be too soon for me.” Jimmy stuffed the money in his front pocket. “Want to cut through the park?”

  “Why not? Race you to the fountain.”

  Chris gave Jimmy a small head start and then sprinted after him. They made it to the fountain at the same time. Jimmy was breathing hard and sat down on the concrete edge.

  Chris looked up at the statue in the middle of the old fountain. It was a girl holding her hands out. No water flowed out of the fountain now. It was covered with rust, and a bluish green slime had started to form where the water used to be.

  He had never really looked at the girl before, but for some reason today he couldn’t take his eyes off her face. She looked so sad, almost as if she would cry if she could manage it.

  “Come on.” Jimmy pushed him gently. “We better get to the store or I’m gonna be in trouble.”

  Chris backed away from the statue and reluctantly turned to follow his friend. He shook his head. What was the matter with him today? Three steps later, he tripped on something in the grass and almost fell.

  “Are you okay?” Jimmy asked, picking up a dirt-covered metallic gadget from the grass. He started to throw it back down, but changed his mind and slid it into his jacket pocket.

  “Yeah, I’m fine.” Chris scrambled to his feet. “I don’t know what’s wrong with—” He stopped. Directly in front of them was an elderly woman sitting under a tree. Chris blinked. It couldn’t be. She looked exactly like the woman in the video game.