Kendra Kandlestar and the Door to Unger Read Online Free PDF Page A

to Uncle Griffinskitch. “Old friend,” she said, “do me a favor and go to my study. You’ll find a book there called Spells of the Ancients . I would look at it.”
    Uncle Griffinskitch nodded and said, “Come, Kendra.”
    “No, let the child stay with me,” Winter said.
    “Humph,” Uncle Griffinskitch mumbled, which Kendra knew was his way of saying, “Very well.”
    “No one knows the nature of Greeve’s curse,” Winter told Kendra once the old man had left. “But I can tell you one thing, child: the curse was something that was of great interest to your mother.”
    “Really?” Kendra asked excitedly. “Why?”
    “She felt the Legend of Greeve was somehow important to Eens, here and now in the present,” Winter explained. “But her interest upset the Elders, even her brother—your Uncle Griffinskitch. The two argued about it endlessly. Your uncle called her interest in the legend an obsession.” The old sorceress paused for a moment. Then she said, “It’s my belief, Kendra, that your mother left Een to try and find the Greeven Wastes, all those years ago.”
    “Oroook said he knew my mother,” Kendra said.
    “Perhaps he did,” Winter said. “If the Ungers took your family, then Oroook certainly had the chance to meet her. I can tell you this, child: if you go in search of the Door to Unger, you may well be following in the footsteps of your family.”

     
    “Then I must go in search of it,” Kendra said. “Don’t you think, Elder Woodsong?”
    A faint smile played across Winter’s face again and she closed her eyes, as if deep in thought. For several minutes she said nothing, and Kendra sat in silent discomfort, wondering whether the old woman had fallen asleep. After what seemed like an eternity to Kendra, Winter raised one of her frail hands and pointed to a large panel of artwork that was carved into the stone wall right above her tiny bed. The carving looked very old. It had once been painted, but most of the color had chipped or faded away.
    “An interesting picture, isn’t it?” Winter asked, looking at Kendra. “Tell me, child, what do you see?”
    Kendra had no idea what the scene had to do with the Wizard Greeve, or with finding her mother. But that seemed Winter’s way, to always speak in riddles, so Kendra turned her attention to the stone carving. In it she could see tiny Een people (she could tell them by their braided hair) mixed in between giant monsters: there were Ungers, Goojuns, Izzards, Orrids, and Krakes. To Kendra, it looked like some of the figures were holding staffs, or maybe spears.
    “I see monsters and Eens,” Kendra replied after a moment. “It looks like there is a great battle between the two sides.”
    “Hmmm,” Winter murmured mysteriously. “It is a most curious picture. Of all the carvings to be found on the Elder Stone—inside or out—this one is the oldest.”
    Just then Uncle Griffinskitch reappeared. “I could not find your book,” the old wizard said. “Are you sure it was last in your study?”
    “Oh, dear,” Winter said, reaching beneath her pillow to reveal a small black book. “It would appear that I had it with me all along. Sorry to send you on such an errant mission, old friend. In any case, I suppose I don’t need to look at the book at all now.”
    “Humph,” Uncle Griffinskitch muttered and Kendra could not help to notice a mischievous twinkle in Winter’s clear blue eyes.
    “Kendra and I were just discussing the Door to Unger,” the old sorceress said. “It seems to me that you should leave as soon as possible if you hope to find it before the first summer moon.”
    “And who has decided we are going?” Uncle Griffinskitch asked hotly.
    “But we have to!” Kendra cried. “This could be our only chance to find our family, Uncle Griffinskitch.”
    “As far as we know, the Ungers could be trying to lure us into a trap,” the old wizard grumbled.
    “Anything is possible,” Winter said. “But I think it’s