The Nexus Ring Read Online Free Page A

gestured at the troll. “He wants your ring.”
    “Why?” Maddy asked ­softly.
    “He uses it to travel, to steal gold. You mustn’t give it to him!”
    “But what should we do? Mommy and Daddy have left without us.”
    “I can help,” Aleena answered. “I can take you to a place the troll can’t go, and I can get you back to your parents.”
    “We’re not supposed to go anywhere with strangers,” Maddy ­said.
    “Parents aren’t supposed to drive off without their kids, either,” I muttered. What should we do? Dad would say, “Use your head.” But my head didn’t know whether it was worse to leave with a stranger, or to stay with a troll. Mom would say, “Listen to your intuition, Josh.” I tried, but all I heard was a voice screaming, “I don’t know what to do!”
    I had to pick something, and the troll was giving me the creeps. I took a deep breath. “Maddy, if you won’t give your ring to the troll, I think we need to leave with Aleena.”
    “I guess…” Maddy said. She pushed her hand deep into her ­pocket.
    As we turned away, the troll began to shake and stomp and roar. He screamed at us, “It’s my ring. You stole it and i want it back!!!”
    Aleena ignored him. Maddy and I kept glancing back as we followed her to the far path into the ­forest.
    “We can’t go in there,” I said. “The troll will follow us.”
    “Don’t worry. We won’t be here long.”
    We hurried to the top of the boardwalk, then Aleena stepped off the wooden path onto the forest ­floor.
    “We’re not supposed to go off the path,” Maddy ­said.
    “It’s okay. You won’t hurt anything. Just be careful not to touch these,” she said, pointing to ­plate-­sized leaves near the path. “That’s Devil’s Club. Its prickles can give you a nasty wound.”
    Maddy and I glanced at each other, then behind us, wondering where the troll was. Maddy’s eyes were huge and dark. She looked terrified. I reached out to take her hand, then, together, we stepped off the boardwalk, eased past the Devil’s Club, and followed Aleena into the ­forest.
    We wound our way through the trees, stopping at a pair of huge cedars growing an ­arm’s-­length ­apart.
    “Let me touch the ring,” Aleena ­said.
    Maddy held out her hand. Aleena’s fist clenched as she reached for the ring, then slowly she opened her hand and touched the ring with one finger. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, then gently blew out. As she exhaled, mist filled the space between the cedar trees. It deepened into a white glow, then a hole opened in the centre of the whiteness, a doorway in the ­mist.
    Maddy and I watched with open mouths, then backed ­away.
    Aleena stepped into the doorway, then held out a hand for Maddy. Maddy turned to me with wild eyes. I reached out to stop her, then heard pounding up the steps in the forest behind ­us.
    We could hear the troll roaring, “stop! That’s my ring!”
    Fear surged through me. I pushed Maddy into the doorway and jumped in behind her. I was immediately surrounded by a blanket of fog. I couldn’t see anything behind me. In front, I could just make out Maddy, and the back of Aleena’s head. The only sound was a strange whirring. I glanced at my watch; the hands were spinning ­wildly.
    Aleena’s head moved forward, out of the fog into dappled sunshine. I grabbed Maddy’s shoulder, and followed her through the fog. It thinned, then cleared as we stepped out from between two cedar ­trees.
    The forest was just like the one we’d left, except I couldn’t hear the troll. As I looked around, I noticed other differences. The trees seemed more vibrant here, in richer greens, and there was more birdsong. I could hear other sounds more clearly too: water tumbling in the creek, wind in the branches, ferns rustling. When I walked on the spongy forest floor, the scent of moss and decaying cedar drifted up on the cool ­breeze.
    The misty doorway was still open between the cedar trees. Aleena said