"HEY, ERIC!  YOU’RE HOLDING UP THE PARADE!"

Eric and Uni caught up with the rest of the group, following DungeonMaster down the path that led away from the Land of Blue Fire.

"So where are we going this time?" Diana asked.  She really tried to hide it, but Hank noticed—they all noticed—the resignation in her voice.  It was as if she was giving in to despair, believing that this effort too would be a failure even before it started, another portal that wouldn’t get them home.

Hank quickened his pace just a bit, came up behind Diana and put a hand on her shoulder.  She turned just enough to see him smile and nod his head.  That was all she needed: with no other word spoken, she understood.  She knew Hank was telling her not to give up.

If DungeonMaster saw them, he gave no sign.  Instead, he answered Diana’s question: "You must go to the far northern lands of the Realm, to protect those who cannot protect themselves.  In return for your protection, a portal to your world shall be opened for you at the heart of the Ice Mountain of Vendolor.  Remember: the ice in the flame shall keep you warm, and the fire in the ice shall lead you home."

"Oh come on!" Eric snapped.  "That one’s a stretch even for you, DungeonBuddy.  There’s ice in fire and fire in ice?  What is that—dragons in the freezer?"

A terrible shriek cut Eric off; a shriek they all knew too well.

"TIAMAT!  SCATTER!"

Hank didn’t have to say it twice.  The problem was, there were few places to hide. They were still walking along a stretch of open road through a barren plain; no rocks, no caves, no trees, no hiding places.

Sheila had no trouble; she simply pulled the cloak over her head and vanished.  (As, of course, had DungeonMaster.)  The others crowded around Eric, hoping that his shield would protect them again.  Hank had his bow at the ready, trained on the five-headed dragon as it sailed across the sky.

However, neither Tiamat nor her prey paid attention to the young people.  She was yet again in pursuit of Venger, trying to find her own vengeance against the wizard who had turned her into a mockery of her former self.  It was all Venger could do to keep away from the dragon.

As the kids huddled behind Eric’s shield, Presto was gesturing over his hat.

"Now is the minute, the day and the hour;
We need lots of help, so give us the power!"

The hat glowed, then started shooting off sparks.  All at once Venger vanished from the sky where he had been flying—and reappeared right next to Presto.

"YIKE!!" Presto shrieked.  Tiamat wheeled around, spotted them, and immediately dove down toward Venger.  The kids again scattered but, faced with the same problem, tried to get behind Eric’s shield again.

"Make up your minds!" Eric yelled.

"This is no good," Diana said.  "We can’t hide from Venger AND Tiamat."

"And we can’t fight them both, either," Presto added.

"This is all your fault anyway, Presto," Eric yelled.  "Why’d you bring Venger down here?"

"Well, you gotta admit he’s powerful…"  Presto didn’t have a chance to say anything else, as a series of fireballs from Tiamat burst around them.

They were answered by a series of fireballs from Venger, and a hail of fire arrows from Hank.  Finding herself overmatched for once, the dragon let out a defiant roar, then flew to the horizon.

Venger turned to look at Hank.

"Don’t even think about asking," Hank spoke up sternly, before Venger had a chance to speak.  "We were fighting the same enemy, but that doesn’t make us friends.  If you try to get our weapons…"

"I asked for nothing, Ranger, and expect you to give me nothing.  But you and your companions deserve some consideration for helping me against the dragon.  I grant you three days’ time.  During those three days, if you can locate a portal to your birth world, you may use it with no interference from me.  Do with your weapons as you see fit.  At this time three days from now, if we should meet, things will again be as they were."

Venger’s steed had vanished when Presto had cast his spell; it now reappeared beside Venger.  The horned wizard mounted the jet-black horse and rode into the sky without another word.

Sheila reappeared, removing her hood.  "I don’t know, Hank.  Bargaining with Venger may not be a smart thing to do."

"Well, at least it bought us some time.  Maybe we can get through this one after all."

"Sis, do you think three days is enough?"

"I hope so."

"Well," Hank turned to the north, "we’d better get going."  They all walked toward the mountains that lay in the north.

From high above them, Venger watched from his steed.  ShadowDemon was beside him.

"You will not chase them, Master?"

"There is no need.  I have let the fools think that I will not harm them, and indeed I shall not.  I will leave that to our … friend in Vendolor."

Venger’s mouth tightened in the cruel smile he had smiled so often when he contemplated vanquishing the children and taking their weapons.  ShadowDemon merely thought, Friends have failed you in the past, Master.

The wind was at their backs all day as they walked north, and they couldn’t feel the temperature dropping.  The landscape didn’t seem to be changing at all, in fact, until they came to a ridge between two valleys and—

 "ALRIGHT!" Bobby yelled.  "Check it out!"  Before telling anyone what he’d seen, he and Uni ran ahead down the other side of the divide.  The others raced to the ridge, and stopped in amazement.

The first words out of Sheila’s mouth were involuntary: "It’s Christmas!"  It was in fact the edge of the polar region of the Realm.  Snow covered everything before them.

"Bobby!  Come back!" Hank called, but he was too busy playing with Uni in the drifts.

"I’ll get him," Sheila said, making her way down the slope.

"Hank, is this where we’re supposed to be?  The ice mountain?"

"I think so, Diana, but first we’ve got to figure out what we’re gonna wear.  We’ll all be icicles by nightfall."

"Funny, it doesn’t seem that cold to me," Presto said.

"C’mon, Presto," Eric replied, "you’ve got those heavy old robes."

Diana smiled.  "If we were back home and this was the first snowfall, I’d be out in it wearing my dad’s old Army jacket."

"Hey, Eric," Presto piped up, "what do you wear in the winter?"

"That’s easy," Diana cut in; "cashmere coats and a chauffeur-driven car."

"Gimme a break.  I built snowmen when I was a kid."

"YOU played in the snow?!"

"Well, I told the gardener how to build them."

"Let’s keep going," Hank interrupted.  "There’s no one around here, and we still have to find those people who can’t help themselves."

"I don’t know about you guys," Diana said, "but this cold is starting to get to me."

"Me too," Eric added.  "Didn’t DungeonDweeb say something about keeping warm?"

"He said the ice in the fire would keep us warm," Sheila said, "but I don’t see any fire."

"I hope we find some soon."  Bobby was shivering now, the result of his playing in the snow.  Even Uni’s teeth were chattering.

"Then I’ll try to build one."  Hank drew his bow, and pulled back until the fiery string appeared.  He shot an arrow of energy into the ground at his feet, not really knowing what to expect.  The arrow hit the ground and exploded in a flash of light and a rush of steam.

"Don’t get too close!" Hank warned.  "The steam’ll burn you!"

The steam gushed up for another minute, then tapered off and died.  The arrow hadn’t started a fire; it merely left an indentation in the ice, and at the bottom of the indentations were dozens of small crystals.

"Diamonds!  Look at all the diamonds!" Eric shouted.  "We’re rich!!"

"Yeah, but we’re still cold," Presto said, shivering.

"So do something about it, like get that stupid hat to whip up some fur coats or something."

They’d been distracted by Eric and Presto arguing, and didn’t notice Uni nosing around the crystals until…

"Stop it, Uni!!"

Too late; Uni had licked up two or three of the crystals and was happily chomping them.

"Oh great!  We’re freezing and she has a million dollar snack!" Eric moaned.

But, as they watched, Uni’s shivering stopped.  A smile broke over her face.

"Hey, look!" Diana said.  "Uni’s not cold anymore."

Sheila picked up one of the crystals.  "You think this is the ice in the fire?"

Hank took one of the crystals.  "There’s one way to find out."  He popped it into his mouth and started chewing.  "Hey, has it gotten warmer?"

"No," Presto answered, "but I think you did."

"Okay," Hank said.  "Everybody eat one.  I don’t know how long they’ll last."  Sheila gathered up the remaining crystals and put them in a pouch tied to her belt.  Now more comfortable in their surroundings, they started looking around.

"Do you guys think we took a wrong turn?" Presto asked.  "This land has nothin’ but nothin’."

"Suits me fine," Eric said.  "All I want to find is that portal home."

"Forget it, Eric," Diana replied.  "First we have to help the ones who can’t help themselves."

"Come on; anybody dumb enough to move to this part of town doesn’t need our help."

"ER-RIC!"

That shout by the others set up an echo that reverberated around them from the ice and snow for a full minute.  As soon as the echo died down, another one started up—an unreal echo that sounded like a hundred flocks of geese.

"What the…" Eric started.

Hank waved him to silence, trying to find the source of the sound.  "I think it came from over there," he pointed to a gap between two mountains of ice.  "Come on."

"Hey, Presto," Eric said after a minute, "why not conjure up a sleigh?  We already have a horse."

"No you don’t," Bobby said, waving his club at Eric.

"AAHNEE OHHHN!"

"Just kidding; just kidding."

They walked until the suns began to dip below the tops of the tallest mountains.  Since one of these mountains was clear ice, the light diffracted into miniature rainbows that danced on the snow.  They stopped in their tracks, almost hypnotized by the lights and colors.

Sheila marveled at the display like the others.  "I’ve never seen anything like this."

"I have," Diana said, barely above a whisper.  Sheila was the only one who heard her.

"What’s wrong Diana?"

"Starfall.  When I was in the Temple of Light, this was how everything looked."

"You’re still thinking about Kosar?"  Diana nodded, not looking Sheila in the eye.  "Hey, it’ll be okay.  DungeonMaster said you’d see him again."

"But he never said when or where, and I don’t know what’s going to happen."

"He’s been right about everything so far; he’s right about Kosar too.  Just don’t worry."

After an hour the lights faded as the suns neared the horizon.  There was still no sign of what had made the noise.

"You think we maybe took a wrong turn?" Presto asked.

"We can’t be sure of anything until daylight.  Maybe we should make camp here."  Hank led them to a sheltering overhang of ice against a cliffside.  It formed a kind of icy lean-to that was wide enough for all of them, but still shielded them from the elements.

"Well," Eric said when they were all inside, "we may be warm, but I don’t remember passing by a pizza parlor."

"This time Eric’s right," Hank said; "we have to figure out what we’re going to do about food."

"Yeah," Presto said, "there’s nothing around here but snow cones—without the cones."

"And a magic hat," Sheila interrupted.  "Maybe you can help us get some food."

"C’mon, Presto, give it a try," Diana urged.

Presto looked doubtful, but pulled off his hat and began to gesture over the opening.

"By the moon’s awful cold and the sun’s awful heat;
Send me and my friends something special to eat!"

He reached in--and pulled out a bowl of jellied cranberry sauce, two bowls of corn on the cob (already hot and buttered), two gravy boats filled to the brim, a huge bowl of whipped potatoes, a roasted, stuffed turkey that weighed about 25 pounds, plates and utensils.

Everyone stared in disbelief at the spread Presto had laid out.  "Gee," Presto said nervously, "do you think this means it’s Christmas back home?"

"I don’t care what time it is; I’m digging in!"  The others shared Eric’s enthusiasm, and made short work of the turkey dinner.

After that, by the glow from Hank’s bow and then, later, the light of the three moons, they sang Christmas carols—Uni singing along as best she could, which wasn’t very well.  The others laughed, only because it was part of the fun.

One by one they drifted off to sleep.  Presto and Sheila were the last awake—Sheila to keep the first watch, and Presto because he was still trying to get all the leftovers and dirty dishes back into his hat.

"Presto, you really came through for us," Sheila said.  "How come your hat never worked like that before?"

"I dunno," he said, taking one last mouthful of cranberry sauce.  "Maybe there’s something around here that makes it act like that.  Or maybe when you said this place looked like Christmas, that just gave it the idea."

"Anyway, don’t ever listen to what Eric says about your hat.  I think we’re really lucky you’re here with us."

Presto blushed, like he had with Varla, but Sheila couldn’t see it in the moonlight.  Presto felt his cheeks burning, though, and actually turned away, just in case Sheila could see his face.  "That—that’s the nicest thing anyone’s said to me in a long time.  Thanks."

Sheila wasn’t looking at his face, though.  She was looking out at the three moons, wondering what was happening back on Earth.  Was time going forward without them?  Would it stand still and wait until they returned?  She didn’t know which was happening, or maybe something even stranger.  Like that story about Rip Van Winkle; maybe they’d get home and twenty years would have passed instead of two…

I have to put these thoughts out of my mind, she thought.  They’re gonna make me crazy for sure.  She settled in to watch the night.

Diana had the watch as the suns started to rise, but she didn’t have to wake anyone up.  Just a few minutes after the first sun came over the horizon the snowfields shook with a monstrous roar.

"What is that!" screamed Eric.

"Could be a dragon," Presto ventured.

"Could be a dinosaur!" Diana added.

Hank stood up.  "Well, whatever it is, we’d better check it out."

"I don’t mean anything personal by this, Hank, but ARE YOU NUTS?!"

"Look, Eric, DungeonMaster said the portal would be opened if we did something for somebody else.  And this is the first sign of life we’ve had since we got here."

The roaring stopped abruptly, but a series of thuds shook the ground.  Both the sound and the vibrations grew softer and softer until they died away completely.

"I think it was over that way," Hank said.  "Let’s go."

They had climbed many hills in the Realm, but the ice and snow slowed them up, so it took them twice as long to get anywhere.  So it was almost noon, with the suns high in the sky, when Diana, taking the lead, came through one pass, then stopped dead in her tracks.  "We found it," she said in a hushed voice.  The others raced to look past her.

The valley on the other side of the pass held what looked like a medieval castle, plus the village that would have lived around it.  There were houses and businesses, roads and sheds, all of it clearly built by people, for people.  The little outer dwellings were all focused around the castle in the center, a castle whose spires seemed almost as tall as the mountains.  But everything was made of ice.  The beauty of the scene was matched only by the silence; the city was utterly deserted.

Bobby ran ahead, stopping to look at one cottage’s walls.  Then he reared back his club.

"Bobby!  Stop!!"

Too late.  Bobby had already started swinging his club against the wall.  It hit; the cottage gave a rumble, but that was all.  For once, the club had no effect; Bobby hadn’t even cracked the wall.

"Wow!" Presto said. "You think it’s under a spell?"

"I don’t know," Hank answered.  "Maybe it’s just been frozen so long it’s harder than steel."

For about the thousandth time in the Realm, Sheila wished she had a camera to capture it all.  "This is so beautiful!"

"Yeah, and so quiet," Eric added.  "Hey, Hank, I thought you said we were looking for signs of life."

"No telling how long this place has been deserted," Hank said.  "Do you think anyone lives here now?"

"We do."

They all jumped at the voice that came from inside the house.  It was a strange voice, gravelly yet gentle.  Still, Hank held his bow at the ready as he said, "Okay, now show yourself."

"Are you in league with the giant?"

"A giant?!  Oh, great!"  Diana stopped Eric by elbowing him in the side.

"We were sent here by DungeonMaster," Hank said to the voice.

DungeonMaster’s name seemed to open doors all over the Realm, and this place was no exception.  The cottage door swung open, and out stepped—rather awkwardly—a penguin.

"Why not?" Eric rolled his eyes.  "We’ve already had the teddy-bears."  Diana tried to elbow him again; he blocked her with his shield.

"Are you in trouble?" Presto asked the bird, who stood about four feet tall and gazed at the humans almost emotionlessly.

"I and my clan," he replied.  "We travel at this time of year from one part of the frozen wastes to the other, but this year a frost giant blocks our path."

"Can’t you go around him?" Diana asked.

"You don’t understand.  He deliberately blocks our way.  He attacks us every time we try to leave this valley. It wasn’t this way in the past.  We used to be able to get from one part of the frozen waste to another.  We ate our fill before we set out, but we cannot go without food much longer."

"Well, if you just need a few sardines or something, maybe Presto can whip ‘em up for you," Eric said.  "How many you got here?"

Now the penguin actually looked sad.  "There are fewer of us now.  We are only about two thousand."

"Two thousand?!"

"Sorry, Eric, but that would definitely blow a fuse in my hat."

"Are you the leader?" Hank asked.

That made the bird think for a minute.  "We have no leader; we just all travel together.  You can call me PenPen."

"Why is the giant after you, PenPen?" Sheila asked.

"I don’t think he’s after us.  Our travels this time of year usually take us to the Ice Mountain of Vendolor.  Just beyond it is the Northern Ocean, where we fish for food."

"Hank, remember?" Diana said.  "DungeonMaster told us that the portal home was in the Ice Mountain of Vendolor."

 "We knew that the Ice Mountain of Vendolor held something," PenPen said, "but it was not of value to us.  The frost giant must want it for himself.  He attacks us whenever we try to make a move toward the mountain."

"Well, don’t worry, PenPen," Hank said.  "We’ll get you past the giant."

"And get ourselves a portal home!"

"Yeah, and we’ve even got two days left."

"You mean Venger, Bobby?" Sheila asked.  "Do you really think he’ll keep his word and leave us alone?"

"Well, we haven’t seen him yet…" Presto began.

"Don’t let that fool you," Eric interrupted.  "I wouldn’t trust ol’ Horn In The Head no matter what he says."

"I will tell the others that you will help us," PenPen said as he waddled into the middle of the road in front of the cottage.  He turned, flapped his stubby wings and let out a loud raucous squawk that sounded like a door buzzer.  This was answered by first a few calls, then dozens, then hundreds.  Finally all two thousand penguins emerged at once from the houses, the cottages, the castle itself.

They all crowded around the children and Uni as PenPen tried to talk to them.  The trouble was, all the penguins were talking at once.

"Can’t you tell them to cut it out!" Eric called to PenPen, his hands over his ears.  "No offense, but this sounds like rush hour!"

PenPen squawked out something, and the volume level went down.  It didn’t go away entirely—almost all the birds seemed to keep talking nonstop to one neighbor or another—but at least the others could be heard over the noise.  It seemed that all of the penguins could speak the children’s language as well as their own, so there was no shortage of questions and answers on both sides.

Eric, a bit hesitant to talk with what he whispered to Presto were "a bunch of birdbrains", still found himself cornered and questioned by several of the birds.  One of the younger penguins didn’t bother to talk, and kept trying to take a bite out of Eric’s cape.  This amused the other kids, and they lost track of time until…

"Wait!" PenPen said abruptly.  "The day will end shortly.  You must see this."  He led the children to a mountain pass.  "That is the Ice Mountain of Vendolor ahead of you," he gestured toward a mountain about half a mile away that formed a perfect triangle.  "Stay here and watch it.  I have to distract the frost giant."  Before anyone could say anything, PenPen fell forward, landed on his stomach and slid down the slope and off to the left.

"Watch it?" Presto asked  "What are we watching for?"

Before anyone else could speak, the bestial roar echoed over the snowfield, although none of them could see PenPen or anything chasing him.  "Do you think he’s alright?" Diana asked.

"I’m sure he’s safe, Diana," Hank said.  "He seems to know his way around."

Just then one of the setting suns cast a ray directly through a crystal at the summit of one of the ice mountains.  The crystal caught that ray, amplifying it and sending it like a beacon to the tip of Vendolor.  There it was reflected even further, and the tip of the mountain seemed to blaze like a comet.

"Wow!" Bobby said, as if he was watching fireworks on the Fourth of July.

"EHHHNN!"

"Hank," Sheila said, "there’s something funny about that mountain."

"Yeah," Eric muttered, "it’s a million laughs.  Where’s the portal?"

Sheila and Hank both gave Eric a look that shut him up at once.

"I see what you mean," Diana said; "look at that!"

As the beacon of light faded atop Vendolor, they could now all see the crack in the ice that ran straight down from the top of Vendolor to the base, cutting it in half.

"Like in geometry class," Presto said.

"But what does it mean?"

Before anyone could answer Sheila’s question, a roar went up over the icefield.  PenPen came scurrying—as quickly as his shape would allow—just steps ahead of the frost giant.

None of the kids had ever seen a frost giant before.  Its skin and hair, as well as its clothes and boots, were varying shades of blue.  But it shared several traits with other giants they’d met in the Realm: it was big, it was ugly, and it was mean.  It wielded a club as big as a city bus, and was trying to bring it down on PenPen.

Fortunately, Hank was quick.  He fired off a bolt of energy from his bow which swept down to the snowfield, scooped up PenPen and carried him back to them.

"Quickly!" PenPen said as soon as he was on the ground again.  "Back to the castle!"  He slid back down and the kids followed, just as a giant blue hand reached through the pass and swatted at the spot where the kids had just been standing.  As it is, the hand snagged a corner of Eric’s cape.

"HEEEEEEELP!!"

Hank shot off another arrow which hit the snow near the giant hand, exploding into a shower of sparks.  The giant jerked his hand back, letting go of Eric, who fell the rest of the way to the ice city.

"That is what we have had to endure," PenPen said ruefully as Eric wiped the snow from his face.  "The frost giant cannot get through that opening into the valley, but he will not let us leave either."

"Don’t worry," Bobby said, swinging his club back and forth, "we’ll take care of him for ya."

Hank put a hand on Bobby’s shoulder.  "It’ll have to wait ‘til tomorrow, pal.  Game called on account of darkness."  Darkness was growing as the last sun sank below the horizon.

"Let us go to the castle," PenPen suggested.  "Perhaps our elders know something that can help you."

That night, with the help of a flashlight from Presto’s hat, the children and Uni sat in the main hall of the ice palace, listening to the oldest of the penguins, a female named KaShana.

"Oh, none of us are old enough to remember when the giants built Vendolor," she began.

"Hold it!" Eric interrupted.  "Built the mountain?!"

The others shushed Eric; however, if KaShana was offended by the interruption, she gave no sign.  "Yes.  Did you see the crack, running from the top to the bottom?  The mountain was built in two pieces by the giants, who carried them here."

"But we’ve only seen one giant," Diana said.

"Yes, but the legends say that there used to be two giants.  In fact, they were brothers, working in the service of the humans who lived here.  This was many years ago, when this land was on the border of the snowfield.  The giants built Vendolor to protect this city and its people."

"Protect them from what?" Sheila asked.

"Lahmu, the white ice dragon."

"We’ve got dragons to worry about, too?!"  Eric moaned.

"Oh, not any more," KaShana nodded.  "Lahmu has not been seen for a long long time.  Some say that he has been reborn as one head of Tiamat the five-headed dragon.  And perhaps that is true."

"So the people and the giants got along?" Hank asked.

"Yes, at first.  However, something came between the two brothers, forcing one to drive the other from the snowfield.  Then the remaining giant used magic to bring the snow to this valley, driving the humans out to warmer lands.  The buildings all froze; when they crumbled away, the ice was left to save the shapes of the buildings."

"But why would the two brothers fight?" Presto asked.

"Yeah, I could see it if they were brother and sister…" Bobby grinned.

"Oh, you," Sheila knocked the helmet from Bobby’s head and playfully mussed up his hair.  The others watched them and smiled.  In spite of their crazy surroundings, sometimes they acted as if they were already back home.

"Nobody remembers, but the story goes that some other turned the two brothers to fighting."

"I’ll bet it was Venger," Eric muttered.  "Hey, how old is that creep, anyway?"

"Old enough to know better."  Diana couldn’t help smiling; that was one of her mother’s favorite criticisms if she or her brother did anything wrong.

Soon it was time for them to sleep, and they all nodded off somehow knowing that this would be the one, this would be the portal to take them home at last…

The roaring and crashing and pounding and shaking that woke them up was like an attack in an old Godzilla movie.  Only this time it was a blue Frost Giant.  And it wasn’t a Hollywood special effect.

The kids ran from the castle, as best they could, considering the floors were solid ice.  Once Uni slipped and fell right in front of Eric, causing him to slip and fall.  They were both trampled by several panicked penguins before they could get to their feet.

PenPen waddled up to Hank.  "What’s the matter?"

Hank motioned for PenPen to follow him.  Once outside the castle, Hank pointed with his bow.

The Frost Giant had changed tactics, or had simply grown tired of waiting.  He was hammering at the mountain pass with his club, trying to break a hole big enough to get into the ice village.  Hank fired off a couple of energy bolts that exploded near the giant’s head, driving him away from the opening.

"It’s up to us now, I guess.  Watch for your chance, then get your people out of here and on your way."

"I wish it was in our power to reward you…" PenPen began.

"Don’t worry about that.  I think this time we’ll all get where we’re going.  And that’s the best reward.  Come on!" Hank waved to the others to follow him.

"Come on where?" Eric shouted back.

"We have to get the giant out of the pass.  Get him over toward the ice mountain."

"I don’t think we can do this one," Presto said.  "He’s huge, even for a giant!"

"Then I’ll cut him down to size!" Diana said, taking off for the pass at a run.

"DIANA!!"  Sheila yelled.

Too late.  She was ready for a fight now.  She ran toward the pass as if an Olympic medal was at stake.

"Now what?" Bobby asked.

"Follow her lead, I guess," Hank replied.  "Let’s go!"  But as quickly as they ran after her, Diana managed to widen the gap.  As she ran, the giant spotted her and reached out his massive hand.

"LOOK OUT!" Hank yelled.

They could see Diana’s javelin lengthen until it was a vaulting-pole.  Just before the blue hand grabbed her, she planted the pole and sprang herself into the air, landing almost on the giant’s shoulder.  He started to swat at her, but she was always a little ahead, swinging from one handhold to another until she was at the giant’s collar.  Then she pushed his hat down over his eyes and jumped clear.

The others finally caught up with her.  Hank was almost totally winded.  "That was great work," he said between gasps for air, "but you should have waited for the rest of us."

"Sorry, guys, but I just couldn’t wait.  I had to stop him getting into the valley."

"Well, you did that all right.  Now he’s gonna come after us!"

"Relax, Eric," Bobby said.  "Guys with clubs are my department."  He ran on ahead right toward the Frost Giant.

"Come on, everybody!" Hank called, leading the rest to yet another fight with a monster of the Realm, yet another failed trip home, yet another betrayal by Venger...

Coming in June:
"The Castle of Clouds"

(NOTE: I usually don’t do crossovers, but certain folks will know exactly where the name PenPen comes from.)