5 The Guardians of Droon

CHAPTER Five The Guardians of Droon In the center of the room were two seven-foot-tall lizards with large heads. They stood upright, swishing their heavy tails across the tiled floor. Their short upper arms ended in six-inch-long clawed fingers. Their teeth were even longer. But the strangest part was that they were dressed in shiny green robes. "Let's… um… sneak back out," Eric said. "Before they see us…" Julie added. But Keeah walked slowly up to the creatures.

"Ah!" said one of the dinosaurs. "Princess Keeah and her friends from the Upper World!" "Welcome to the city of Ro," the other said. Eric blinked. "Are you… dinosaurs?" "Theropods, actually," one said. "I'm Bodo." "And I'm Vasa," said the other. "We're the Guardians!"

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Bodo pulled a pair of spectacles from his robe and slipped them on. He stepped over to Neal. "You must be Neal, the boy with the problem." Neal blinked. "How did you know my name?" The creature smiled. "I was reading in the Tower this morning. I knew you were coming." "Then you know that Sparr is here, too?" Keeah said. "And his Ninns are everywhere." Vasa hissed between his teeth. "Sparr has come for the diamonds. He wants to harness their power for his own evil ends." "Then we must hurry," Bodo said. Vasa put a claw to his chin and walked around Neal. "Hmm. Yes, I see. We must find out exactly what happened the instant you became a bug. You must read what Quill has written about it in the Tower of Memory." "Who is Quill?" Eric asked. "Our magic feather," Vasa said. "All of Droon's history—all that has ever happened—Quill writes in the ancient language. He writes everything on the stones of the Tower." "And sometimes," Bodo said with a chuckle, "Quill writes so fast, he gets ahead of himself." Keeah frowned. "What do you mean?" It was Vasa's turn to laugh. "He means that Quill writes what hasn't happened yet!"

"You mean… the future?" Eric asked. "Oh, yes," Bodo replied. "But what we need now is from the past." He scribbled on a small square of paper and handed it to Neal. On the paper was a strange drawing. "What's this?" Neal asked. "Your name, in the ancient language," Bodo replied. "And here are the rest of your names." The children took the papers from Bodo. He also gave them small writing tools that looked like pencils. Vasa stepped over to Keeah. "But you, Princess, you are here for something else?" She nodded. "My father and I were coming to see what you could tell us about where my mother is. We know she is alive… somewhere."

Vasa nodded slowly. "Queen Relna was—is—a great ruler, as is your father, King Zello." Keeah breathed deeply and continued. "She fought Lord Sparr at the forbidden city of Plud. She was never seen again." "Princess, you must look for this symbol." "Your mother's name. Relna. Also this one." "Who is that?" Julie asked. "Lord Sparr," Eric said, though he wasn't sure why. "Am I right?" Bodo and Vasa shared a look at each other, then nodded. "Indeed, you are correct, Eric." Clang! Boom! Blam! Bodo raised his claw. "Sparr has entered the palace! Go to the Tower quickly. Take these symbols. Read the characters next to them and bring back what you have found out. All your questions will be answered." "But what about you?" Keeah asked. "Sparr will not harm us today," Vasa said.