Balance Keepers #1: The Fires of Calderon (8 page)

As the fire grew warmer, Albert very nearly fell asleep. The strange birds overhead had begun to sing a slow song, which reminded him of a soft summer day. His eyelids were just about to slip closed when the room around him erupted into noise. Ten chimes, so loud they rumbled his bones.

“Lights out, boys!” Stan yelled. He had a crooked tooth and a strange, deep voice.

“Finally.” Leroy yawned as everyone headed for their tents. “I’m going to pass out the second my head hits the pillow.”

Albert nodded as they slipped through the flap of their tent. He turned, ready to tie the flaps together with the leather cords that dangled from each side.

Across the trees, he could see Hoyt and his two pals looking in his direction, but Albert still felt a huge smile spread across his face. He had a friend, maybe more than one, for the first time in his life, and a magical dog that was waiting for him to crawl into bed. He was someplace miles under the surface of the earth, and down here, his dad was a really cool, powerful dude.

He couldn’t wait to see what else the Core had in store for him.

W
hen he awoke the next morning, Albert didn’t hear any honking cars or the blaring of the TV. There was no little sister batting his face with her stuffed unicorn; no Mom telling him to get busy with homework or chores. Instead Albert heard the sound of birds in the trees, and watched as whatever light source Cedarfell was lit by grew brighter against the ceiling of the cloth tent.

“Man, I thought you’d never wake up,” Leroy said, poking his head through the entry of the tent. Farnsworth followed him in, a big rib bone dangling from his tiny mouth.

Leroy had a plate so full of food it reminded Albert of the piles of mail in the dead letter office.

“How big is your stomach?” Albert asked, seeing the mounds of pancakes covered in powdered sugar, scrambled eggs, and some delicious-looking sausage that was making Albert’s mouth water.

“Enormous, I guess.” Leroy shrugged. “This is my second plate.” He folded a whole pancake in half and shoved it into his mouth.

Albert laughed and slipped outside the tent, where he found a long wooden table completely covered in piles of food. He rushed forward, filled a plate
almost
as full as Leroy’s, and stuffed his face like he was a homeless dog that hadn’t eaten in days.

By the time all the boys had eaten, the table was only half-empty. Hoyt and his cronies stood by their tent, looking surly and secretive as ever. When Hoyt noticed Albert watching, he pointed at his blue shirt.

“Ready for the Competitions today, Flynn? You and your team are up against mine. I hope you’re prepared for pain!”

Albert’s heart sank.

“No worries,” Leroy said, slapping Albert on the back. “We got this. And besides, we have Birdie on our team. Her confidence sort of scares me.”

There was still powdered sugar caked on Leroy’s face, so it was a little hard to take him seriously as he added: “I bet your Tile gives you superstrength or something. You’ll see.”

Overhead, the chimes started to sound. Six times, loud enough to shake the floor beneath Albert’s feet. An acorn plummeted from a nearby tree and broke open beside Leroy. He scooped it up and chugged down the sweet liquid pouring out.

“You ready, Hydra?” Jack asked, motioning for Albert and Leroy to follow. “First day’s always the hardest, but you’ll get the hang of it. You’ll go to the Simulator every day. The classroom hours are only a few times a week, but don’t worry, they’re not as boring as they sound.”

They left Cedarfell behind and set out into the halls of the Core. It seemed as if the tunnels they took were twisting different directions than they had the previous night, and before Leroy and Albert knew what had happened, all the other boys had scattered down different tunnels. Albert reached into his pocket and pulled out his Core Compass.

“Main Chamber of the Core,” Albert said.

The arrow inside the compass spun on his palm, pointing ahead.

“We don’t need that thing for this,” Leroy said. “I got this place wired.”

And it was true; Leroy had memorized how they’d gotten to Cedarfell. Even Albert’s Core Compass couldn’t compete with Leroy’s mad mental skills.

“Guys! Over here!” Birdie waved from the center of one of the bridges as Albert and Leroy arrived in the Main Chamber. Farnsworth barked and ran for her, his little tail wagging like a propeller.

“Treefare is
sooo
amazing,” Birdie said when Albert and Leroy joined her. “It’s like being inside of a magic forest. There’s this fog on the ground that makes it warm for our feet, and big tents and great food and—”

Trey’s miniature blue dragon, Alfin, came soaring across the Lobby, and Birdie stopped short. Alfin landed on Albert’s shoulder, as weightless as a feather.

“Hey, little guy,” Albert said, nervous it might bite him in the ear. “How’s it going?”

The dragon leaned forward and spoke in a papery, soft voice. Albert jumped at the sound.
You gotta be kidding me. This thing talks?

“Follow me, Albert-human,” it said. “Alfin is a
girl
, not a boy. I must deliver the Albert-package and friends to Trey-master.”

Alfin took flight, doing a somersault in midair before zipping off into the nearest tunnel.

Albert, Birdie, and Leroy took chase, struggling to keep up as they followed Alfin down the tunnel. Instead of twisting and curving in every direction, the tunnel led them straight down, deeper and deeper into the Core. The air grew cooler. Goose bumps rose on Albert’s arms.

“Do you think Alfin is taking us to our first training day?” Birdie asked. Her pink-and-blond ponytail swayed across the tops of her shoulders. “Venzee, one of the girls in Cedarfell, said the simulations are intense.”

“That’s what we heard, too,” Leroy said. “Just look out for Hoyt. The guy’s got a target on Albert’s back.”

When they’d run so far down the tunnel that Albert was starting to wonder if it would ever end, they came upon Trey. Alfin sat on his shoulder, looking very proud of herself for delivering the Albert-package.

“Ah, I see you three found your uniforms,” Trey said, smiling at them as Albert, Leroy, and Birdie stopped before him. They were standing before a copper-colored door set in the stone wall. “Did you enjoy your new quarters?”

“Cedarfell is excellent,” Leroy said. “Especially the food.”

“Treefare is even better,” Birdie added.

“You’ve never even
been
to Cedarfell,” Leroy protested.

“Yeah, but I’ve been to Treefare, and I’m telling you, it’s better!” Birdie crossed her arms and stuck out her hip. Albert, realizing these two were probably going to be bickering like this a lot, got in the middle of them.

“They’re both really cool, okay, guys?”

Birdie huffed, and Leroy’s face reddened, just a bit. He straightened his glasses.

Trey smiled and nodded at Albert.

“Training starts at once. This way, quickly, quickly.”

He turned and pulled a lever embedded in the stone wall. Steam began to pour out around the edges of the copper door.

When the door opened and they’d passed through, Albert’s eyes went as wide as the moon. Standing before them was a cave larger than
any
he’d seen so far. It went up, up, up, into the ceiling, past where the light from Farnsworth’s eyes could reach. Waterfalls cascaded down from several openings in the rocky walls, glittering like the water was full of falling stars.

There was a winding stone bridge that sloped back and forth from one side of the cave to the other, crisscrossing until it stopped high in the air over Albert’s head. At the end of the path was a floating orange platform, casting off a faint glow.

Leroy gulped. “That bridge doesn’t have any railings.”

“I must warn you to tread carefully,” Trey said, nodding. “Let’s carry on, shall we?”

“I want to go first!” Birdie said. “Farnsworth, lead the way!”

Farnsworth yipped and ran onto the path, his blue beams cutting through steam that poured out from different places. They walked higher and higher. Every so often, Albert stopped and looked down. Heights didn’t scare him at all. Instead, they made him feel alive, like he was king of the world, looking down into darkness. The path led them through the middle of two waterfalls, one on each side, parted like curtains. Birdie ran her fingers through the water.

By the time they made it to the orange platform at the very top, Albert was very nearly out of breath—they all were—but he smiled as he looked over the edge. The path looked like a tangled spiderweb from above.

“Oh man, that was a rush,” Albert said.

“It’s
beautiful
up here.” Birdie sighed. “I just adore this place.”

“I’ll never understand you two.” Leroy came up behind Albert. His face was as green as fresh broccoli. He leaned his head against the cool cave wall. “I counted three thousand seven hundred eighty-nine ways to fall and die back there. Why couldn’t my Tile have given me flying powers? This mental situation is giving me an anxiety attack.”

Just then, the platform began to move, floating upward so fast that the sweat Albert had worked up in the climb quickly evaporated even before the platform had stopped at another copper-colored entry. It couldn’t be called a door, not really. It was more like a porthole cover, complete with a spinning wheel in the center.

“Are you ready?” Trey asked, turning to the trio. He had a look of wonder on his face, like even though he’d been through the entrance a thousand times, he still couldn’t wait to go back inside and see what was behind it.

“Let’s do this,” Albert said.

Trey spun the wheel and then pushed the copper porthole cover open.

“Welcome to the Pit.” Trey beamed, moving aside so Albert, Leroy, and Birdie could look down.

The Pit was exactly like its name: a colossal circular space that sank far into the ground. Around the top there was a ring of seats where a small scattering of people sat, waiting for the action to start.

It occurred to Albert that what stood before him was a lot like the video games he’d played all his life—except that this time he wasn’t going to be hiding behind a controller. He was going to
be
the character in the game. The thought made his heart beat fast.

The Pit was a chasm as deep as the one they’d just come from, but instead of waterfalls, there were vine-like cables hanging from the ceiling, and instead of a winding pathway, there were rings of blue fire floating every few feet. There were also a few of the familiar orange platforms, and a black bubble that bounced off the walls like a giant balloon, knocking a boy off course as he tried to swing from cable to cable. It was Hoyt, Albert realized, and his teammates were down there with him. One of the guys, Slink, climbed up a cable with effortless grace, then swung from it, flipped through a ring of blue fire, and grabbed on to another cable. The third boy, Mo, was busy trying to kick the black bubble away from Hoyt.

“Professor Flynn already told you you’ll be training for Calderon this term,” Trey began. “What you see before you is a simulation of some of the things you might encounter if the Calderon Realm goes out of Balance.” Trey pointed down below. “The cables represent vines. The bubble represents a King Firefly, but here we call it the Melatrix. And the fire is self-explanatory.”

Leroy readjusted his baseball cap on his head. “How much fire is in the Calderon Realm?”

“I bet you there’s lava, too! I bet I could probably swim in it!” Birdie said.

Leroy whined, and Albert patted him on the back.

“Well, usually, there isn’t much fire,” Trey said. “But there are many Calderon creatures that breathe fire, and we’ve seen that get out of hand on various occasions, depending on what’s causing the Imbalance in the Realm.”

“Great,” Leroy said, rolling his eyes. “Just great.”

“And are the King Fireflies always big bullies like that?” Birdie asked, a look of concern on her face. “The fireflies back in Oregon can be a little annoying, but that Melatrix just about took off that boy’s head.”

“Professor Flynn will get to that in a moment,” Trey replied.

“When do we start?” Albert asked. He wanted to begin now, dive in and finally do something dangerous. More importantly, he wanted to test out his Tile.

“In a few minutes. Professor Flynn and the Calderon First Unit should be arriving any moment to show you how everything works.”

“My
dad
is going to teach us how to navigate this thing?” Albert asked. “No way.”

Just then, Professor Flynn walked down a steep flight of stairs from the viewing area. He was wearing his usual green professor’s coat, the fabric sparkling like polished emeralds, and there were three people behind him. When he arrived next to Albert and the rest, he didn’t waste any time on formalities.

“You are the Hydra training unit, who will train for the Calderon Realm this term,” Professor Flynn began. He moved aside and introduced the three people standing behind him. “This is the Calderon First Unit: Grey, Aria, and Terran. Grey here is the Core’s best weapons handler, Aria is a talented Wind Tamer, and Terran is Professor Asante’s granddaughter. Terran and I share the same power. These three earned their spot as Calderon First Unit after successfully completing training for all three Realms. And if I remember correctly, they earned more points in these simulations than any training unit had earned in decades. Am I right?”

“Yes, sir,” the three teammates said together.

More than any other team in decades? Geez,
Albert thought.
No pressure or anything . . .

Professor Flynn continued. “Normally, since you’re the First Term Calderon training unit, you would get some attention from these three. Unfortunately, we’ve had some recent . . . abnormalities in the Calderon Realm that Grey, Aria, and Terran have been investigating, specifically that the King Fireflies have been acting uncharacteristically antagonistic. Their strange behavior could be a sign of a greater Imbalance in the Realm, and if that’s the case, the world above might be in danger. So the First Unit might be busy while you train, but I did want you to meet them.”

Grey stepped forward, pushing back a mop of black hair on his head. He had obviously been named for his eyes, for they were the brightest shade of gray Albert had ever seen. He looked positively wolfish.

“Don’t let the Pit scare you,” Grey said. “You’re going to get banged up; that’s normal. Just stay focused; don’t let your attention drift. The best competitors are those who stay alert and miss nothing. Above all, give it everything you’ve got. The Pit will make you pay if you’re lazy.”

“Don’t let
Grey
scare you,” Aria said, nudging him on the shoulder with a rueful smile. She had fiery red hair and stood almost as tall as Leroy. “We’re just happy to have a training unit to impart our wisdom to. You three will do well; I’m sure of it.”

“And don’t forget,” Terran added, tightening her dark ponytail in a very Birdie-like way, “you’ve got an entire world of secrets to uncover down here. Have some fun, Hydra!”

They all watched as the First Unit left the same way Albert and his friends had just come. Albert was excited to have met them, even if it had been too brief. They all walked with their heads held high, and just knowing that the three of them had actually been
inside
of a Realm made Albert want to be just like them. One day, maybe he, too, would be walking past a team in training, heading into a Realm to save the world. His dad’s voice broke him out of his daydreaming.