Lost Empire of Koomba by Tony Abbott

Author:Tony Abbott
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Published: 2016-08-24T04:00:00+00:00

No sooner had the kids entered the Forbidden Passages than fierce winds roared about, pelting the tuskadon’s iron hide with sand as hard as frozen rain.

“Nasty weather in here,” said Neal.

“I wonder if the passages lead somewhere,” said Julie. “Maybe out to the surface again?”

Gears groaned and spun and clacked. The tuskadon thundered down the paths as fast as its iron legs could take it.

“I hope it knows where to go,” said Keeah.

In fact, the machine seemed to want to go off the paths. The great iron tuskadon lurched constantly to the left, and sparks flew like fireworks as it scraped the sides of the tunnel.

The nightfox growled once — “Rrrr!” — then swatted a paw across the control panel. The machine righted itself, turned, and powered directly off into a side tunnel.

“Hmm,” said Hob. “Almost as if that was no accident —”

“Everyone,” said Keeah, “look up here.”

Julie’s heart hammered in her chest when she saw the crude drawings of birds scratched across the ceiling of the cabin. She recalled her earlier image of little Sparr drawing pictures of birds. And here they were!

“I think Sparr made those pictures!” she said.

The nightfox grumbled softly and hopped up next to Julie, looking out the porthole.

“Are you serious?” said Neal. “Sparr?”

“When he was young,” said Julie. “Don’t ask me how I know, but I think … this machine was a sort of toy for him —”

“Hob, slow down,” said Keeah. “There’s something blocking the passage.”

The tunnel ahead had caved in. Giant chunks of rock and dense mounds of sand were piled from floor to ceiling and wall to wall across the passage.

“Hob, please stop,” said Keeah.

“Hob can’t stop!” cried the imp. He yanked back on the lever, but the tuskadon kept pressing forward. It slammed into one block and pushed it aside. It struck another. “It wants to keep going! It’s out of control!”

The machine struck the tumbled stone and kept stepping forward like a toy with batteries that hits a wall over and over. The gears ground, the mechanical legs squealed, and the steam built up until the iron animal shook and quaked.

“It’s going to explode!” cried Hob. “Everyone out!”

The four friends and the nightfox jumped from the tuskadon just as its trunks blasted an enormous cloud of steam. The sand in the tunnel blew up into a storm that showered over the kids.

When the dust finally cleared, the tuskadon stood tilted and motionless. It had wedged itself firmly into the tunnel.

“Terrific,” said Neal. “Stuck in the Forbidden Passages with no ride.”

Coughing and gasping for air, Hob said, “That toy … is not a toy!”

“Look,” said Keeah.

The explosion had dislodged one of the giant blocks obstructing the passage, creating a slender gap in the rubble.

Julie peered into the gap. She saw a glimmer of light in the far distance.

“What can you see —” said Neal.

“Shhh,” she said, holding her hand up.

Everyone fell quiet. Closing her eyes and concentrating, Julie heard the sound of something hissing from somewhere beyond the collapsed wall.

“Uh-oh.” Julie backed away.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.