The Moon Rock

Stylus ground his teeth together. “You’ll never catch me!”

Poople, Noople, and Quill stood in front of Stylus. The Empress and the Ant Queen circled around so they were behind him. Percy, Doughnut, and Zoughnut hovered in the air above him. Feather ran over to the pile of rocks, grabbed one and stood close to the Empress and the Ant Queen.

“You're surrounded, Stylus. Give up and we will spare your life.” Noople said.

“He’s too evil, Noople. He’s escaped too many times. We've got to kill him.” Poople said, lifting her sword a little higher in the air.

Feather threw a rock at Stylus. “Give me back my daughter!”

Stylus saw the stone coming out of the corner of his eye and dropped quickly to the ground. The rock sailed over his head and bounced off the dirt. Poople charged in.

Stylus spun on the ground. He didn't just spin once and stop. He kept spinning, over and over, like a top spun by an enormous child. Each time he spun he got faster. Dirt started to fly out, spraying Poople in the eyes. She shrieked and fell to the ground, dropping her sword and covering her face with her hands. Stylus spun faster. More dirt flew. Noople grabbed Poople and pulled her back away from the spinning dirt drill. Everyone else found something to hide behind.

Stylus began to sink into the dirt. As he spun faster, he disappeared into the ground, but dirt continued to fly out of the hole. Quill tried to step closer to see what was going on, but the spray was too intense.

“Poople, are you alright?” Noople asked.

“Yeah, I just got a bunch of dirt in my eyes. Where are the Witch and the Wizard? We could have used their magic in that battle to help fight Stylus.” Poople said, wiping her eyes.

“They split off looking for you guys. They thought you were taking too long.” Noople said.

“Oh no! How did we miss them?” She clenched her hands into fists. “What if they’ve found the riddle door? Worse, what if they’ve found the dragon! We've got to go help them!” Poople yelled.

Quill rushed over. “Noople and I will go. Do not be concerned. Poople, you stay here and help secure the prisoners. Noople, help me gather all the treasure off of our fallen enemies. I promised I’d return it to our friend, the dragon.”

Noople gawked. “You have a friend who is a dragon?”

“It’s a long story.” Quill explained.

Noople and Quill took all the dragon’s treasure off of Grok and the other lizardmen and stuffed it into a bag. They then turned and raced back in the direction of the cave, the dragon, and the riddle door.

Poople set about tying the two surviving lizardmen together with ropes. She then tied that rope to a tree. Feather, with tears in her eyes, looked at Poople. “Now how do I get my daughter back?”

The Empress walked over. “A prisoner exchange. We will offer Grok and this other lizardman in exchange for your daughter.”

The Ant Queen nodded as she munched on an apple. “It seems like Grok is important to Stylus. I think he will accept this offer.”

Percy landed on the ground next to Poople. “It also seems as if Stylus has been getting some formal wizard training. That little digging trick is not from some magic ring. He cast that spell all on his own.”

“Who has been training him?” Poople asked.

Their packs full of treasure, the two friends ran so fast that they practically floated over the ground. Noople looked over at Quill and smiled. Quill laughed and the two picked up the pace, sprinting to the cave entrance. Over the sound of their heavy breathing, they could hear voices inside.

Slowly, they crept inside.

The Wizard and the Witch were pacing back in front of the riddle door. The door, of course, was smiling.

“More friends, on which I can depend?” The door asked. “Care to throw your wit into another riddle bit?”

The Wizard jumped up, surprised. “Noople! I'm lost here in a bit of a jumble… a puzzle I guess and… well I took a bet and I don’t want to get turned into a door! This nonsense...is, well... is impossible! Help?”

Quill spoke up. “Door, we have returned to give back the dragon’s treasure, as we promised.” He showed a piece of gold from his backpack. “Is it necessary for us to play the game again, or can we pass?”

The Wizard twitched. “Dragon? There's a dragon on the other side of that door?”

Noople shrugged. “Quill said they’re friends.”

The door smiled. “Rules aren’t just pretty glittery jewels. They must be followed or they become hollowed. If you want on the other side, past my riddle you've got to glide.”

Quill nodded. “Very well. What is the riddle?”

The Witch piped up. “I'm at the end of time and space and the beginning of the end and at the end of life. What am I?”

Everyone fell silent. Soon all four of the friends were walking around the floor, thinking. After a few minutes the door cleared his throat. “Got any words or are you just gonna circle like birds?”

Noople stopped walking. “What about nothing? That's at the end of time and space and at the end of life.”

The Wizard snorted. “Yes, well. The beginning, of the end, anyway - that’s the part, you know - that none of us get, really. I mean, what? What is at the beginning, uh, of the end? It’s not the middle, that’s for sure but it’s not nothing, either. At least I don’t think it is.”

Everyone resumed pacing. After a few minutes, the door smiled a little wider. “Feeling stuck in a puzzled muck?”

Noople stopped again. “What if we write it out? Sometimes that helps, to be able to see it.”

The Witch dug through her pockets and produced a wrinkled piece of paper and a pen. She handed it to Noople who wrote out the riddle. Everyone watched silently. When she was done, she gasped.

“I got it! I got it! I know the answer!” Noople yelled, breaking the silence.

Noople pointed at the piece of paper. “Don't you see it? It’s so obvious once you look at it. The end of time and space. Look at the words!”

The Witch sighed. “Time has always existed ever since there has been a universe. So has space. And they will continue to exist until the universe ends. How can we know what is after existence? It's impossible. No one has come back from not existing to tell us what they saw!”

“You’re making it too hard.” Noople giggled and shook her head. “Spell the word time.”

The Witch rolled her eyes. “T-I-M-E.”

“Now spell the word space.”

The Witch frowned. “Really? Space? It's written right there on the page, Noople. Is this really necessary?”

“Spell space. Please. Just spell it out loud. You'll see.”

The Witch took a deep breath. “Okay, Noople. I'm trusting this isn't one of your pranks. S-P-A-C-E.”

“So now do you get it? The end of time and space?” Noople made a circular gesture with her hands.

The Witch stared blankly.

“Okay, okay. What if I phrase it this way. What is AT the end of the words time and space?” Noople asked.

“Uh. The letter E?” The Witch said slowly.

Noople jumped up and down. “Yes! And what letter is at the beginning of the word end?”

“E.”

Noople spun around twice. “Yes and yes! And what letter is at the end of the word life?”

“E.”

The door giggled. “Final answer, riddle dancer?”

Noople nodded. “The letter E! Yes. It is at the end of time and space, at the beginning of the end and at the end of life!”

“Yes, you solved that mess. Now a riddle to me, you must address.” The door said.

Everyone turned to Noople. “You come up with one. Since you solved that riddle, you get to ask the next one.”

Noople looked at all of her friends in turn: Quill, the Witch, and the Wizard. Then she looked at the door. “A riddle, huh?” She walked back and forth across the room a few times.

The door watched her and smiled. “I might die of old age if you take too much longer, word sage.”

Noople waved her hand dismissively and kept pacing the floor. A few more minutes passed in silence.

“I can be inside a closet. I can be outside a closet. I can be both inside and outside a closet. I'm not something you wear. What am I?” Noople asked.

“A new puzzle through which I must muddle.” The door said.

“Well, do you know the answer?” Noople asked.

“Not yet but per our bet, I’ll do my best to pass this confounding test.” The door said and then fell silent.

Noople and Quill thumb wrestled while they waited for the door to answer. Quill won.

“Got an answer?” Noople asked.

“Still thinking but I’ve got an inkling.” The door replied.

Noople and Quill had a contest to see who could throw a rock the furthest. Quill won.

“Got an answer?” Noople asked.

“Be patient, girl. This one is a word whirl.” The door said, smiling.

Noople and Quill played tic tac toe in the dirt. No one won.

“Got an answer?” Noople asked.

“I must admit. This one is hard to get.” The door grinned. “But my guess, under duress, is pockets.”

Noople snorted. “No. Not even close. The answer is darkness. If it is daytime, and the closet is open, there is light inside and out. If the door is closed during the day, then there is light outside but not inside. If it is nighttime and the door is open or closed, there is darkness on both sides. If it is nighttime but you have a lamp on inside the closet with the door closed, it is light inside but dark outside.”

The door grinned and clicked open. “Light would have been right?”

Noople nodded. “I suppose, yes.”

“My riddling depends on you sending more friends!” The door said.

The wizard grumbled and cleared his throat. “Yeah but I don’t think… at least I don’t know how many people or friends of mine want to, you know, risk becoming a door just to answer some riddles.”

The door smiled. “As long as they don’t want to see the treasure, fun need be the only measure.”

The wizard’s face went blank. “What?”

Noople looked at the door and then at the wizard. “The door is saying that if you just play the riddle game for fun, if you don’t want into the dragon’s treasure room, then you don’t get turned into a door if you lose.”

The wizard nodded.

“But if you win, you don’t get in!” The door giggled.

Quill pulled the door open and the four adventurers walked through, into the dragon's treasure room. It was warm, and smelled vaguely of cooked lizard.

The dragon blew two tiny puffs of smoke through his nostrils. “Hello, again.” One giant eye popped open and scanned the group.

The wizard screamed and fell into a pile of gold.

The door slammed shut.

The witch shrieked and fell into a pile of diamonds.

The dragon’s other yellow eye popped open and he looked at Noople. He yawned and the smell of campfire mixed with the smell of cooked lizard. “Aren’t you going to scream?”

Noople shrugged. “Should I?”

The dragon laughed quietly. “I guess not.”

Quill tossed the bag of treasure on the floor. Gold coins spilled out and mixed with the uncountable mounds of other coins. “As I promised, I have returned your treasure, dragon.”

The dragon blew two more tiny puffs of smoke through his nose. “Thanks, friend.” He dug through a pile of treasure with his tail and hooked a necklace. “This is a magic amulet. If you ever need my help, you can summon me with that amulet.”

“How?” The wizard asked, picking himself out of the pile of gold.

“Good question!” The witch said, fumbling her way out of the mound of diamonds.

The dragon dropped the amulet at Quill’s feet. “Say ‘riddle dragon’ three times and I will appear.”

Quill bowed deeply and picked up the gift. “I can not thank you enough for your assistance.”

The dragon casually waved a clawed hand. “You did fine.”

Noople nodded. “We should get moving - go rescue Feather’s daughter.”

“Goodbye.” The dragon said and rolled deeply into a pile of treasure.

When everyone met back up, Poople was standing guard over Grok and the other captive lizardmen. Noople motioned to Poople. “Hey. Come over here, away from the captives. We gotta make plans.”

Poople walked over. Noople, Quill, and Percy waiting for her behind a tree.

“Can the lizardmen hear us?” Noople asked.

“Nah. We’re far enough away.” Poople said. “So what’s the plan?”

“Prisoner exchange.” Noople explained. “We give Stylus his people back and he gives us the girl.”

“You know that dork will try and trick us.” Poople said.

“Of course. That’s why you and Quill are going.” Noople said calmly. “Between the two of you, I know that you can defeat any trap.”

Poople and Noople gave each other a high five.

Quill smiled. “Let’s do this.”

Poople, Quill, and Feather’s daughter took two days to catch back up with the big group. Poople and Quill had to take turns carrying the little girl which was fun at first but then it got heavy and tiresome. Eventually, Quill had built a little sled that the girl could ride on and either Quill or Poople could pull - and then the trip became fun again.

When they got back to the camp, Feather and her daughter hugged and cried for a long time with happiness. They sat and told stories, about what they had been doing since they last saw each other and also stories about how nasty Uncle Stylus was. Poople shared the story of how Stylus had tried to exchange some random girl for Grok but Quill had been too clever to fall for the trick.

As Poople was finishing up the story, the Witch came jogging up. “Hey, we finally hacked our way into the necklace and we can hear what Stylus is doing, even when he hasn't activated his necklace.”

Feather and the girl sat still and kept telling stories. Quill and Poople ran over to where the Wizard was sitting. He was staring off into space, holding the necklace, and listening carefully. Once everyone quieted down, all they could hear were mumbling and bumps.

“He probably threw the thing in a box after he got rid of the girl. I mean, why would he need to wear it anymore? He's not going to use Feather to try and drop demons anymore.”

“Right. Did you hear Stylus is friends with Renald?” The Witch asked.

Poople’s face turned bright red. “That's insane! No wonder he wants the moon rock. He wants to make a portal to Zinkadur and bring Renald here to Clefton to help defeat us.”

The Witch raised a finger. “Or Renald wants to bring Stylus to Zinkadur to help him defeat Sun-hop.”

Poople put her face in her hands, slumped down to her knees, and moaned. “What the heck are we gonna do? This is too much.”

The Witch put her hand on Poople’s shoulder. “We got this. Don't sweat it. We've been through tougher challenges and even if we haven't, we've got more friends than ever before.”

“And more enemies.” Poople said. “We got Stylus and Renald and the frogmen and the lizardmen and Grok and they've burned down the anthill, the mining town, and the Empress’s castle. How can we possibly fight all of them?”

Quill stepped up next to Poople and gave her a hug. “The dangerous ones are Stylus and Renald. If we handle them, I don't think we have much else to deal with. The lizardmen and the frogmen believe Stylus but if we canconvince them that Stylus is a liar, I think they will see the truth.”

Poople sighed and stood back up. “Alright. We can do this as a team.”

“That's right. We got a dragon for an ally, remember?” Quill flashed the necklace.

“Where is Noople?” Poople asked.

“Noople and Doughnut went off to go give the Naga the moon rock.” The Witch said.