Jen Calonita - The Rise of Flynn Rider

Text copyright 2021 by Disney Enterprises, Inc.

All rights reserved. Published by Disney Hyperion, an imprint of Buena Vista Books, Inc. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher. For information address Disney Hyperion, 77 West 66th Street, New York, New York 10023.

First Edition, September 2021

Designed by Phil T. Buchanan

Cover design by Phil Buchanan

Cover art by Erwin Madrid

ISBN 9781368050852 (ebook)

Visit www.DisneyBooks.com

For Chris Sonnenburg, who braved the Long Island Rail Road and Uber during rush hour to talk all things Eugene Fitzherbert with me

K ing Edmund was not a rash man.

Thats why hed spent the last nine months hatching the perfect plan. The idea began to grow like a persistent itch the moment his wife announced she was pregnant. It didnt matter if he was sitting in a council meeting, reading former kings writings in the library, or quietly walking the castle hallsthe king had become a man obsessed. The servants noticed. So did his wife.

Edmund? she whispered, shaking him awake late one night.

What? Edmund sat up with a start, his heart pounding.

You were yelling in your sleep again.

He grabbed a handkerchief and wiped the perspiration from his forehead. It took him a moment to realize where he was, but when he looked over and saw the terrified look in his wifes beautiful brown eyes, he attempted a calm smile. Oh, darling, Im sorry I woke you. Im fine.

Are you sure? she asked worriedly. You were tossing and turning and mumbling something.

Moonlight was seeping through the window. Edmund prayed his wife wouldnt be able to read his expression. Oh? What was it?

Destroy the stone, she said, her voice higher than normal. The two of them looked at one another for a moment. Edmund, you arent

Its nothing for you to worry about. He patted her hand reassuringly. It was just a nightmare. Go back to sleep.

But it wasnt a nightmare. Destroying the Moonstone Opal had become King Edmunds mission. For centuries before him, kings in the Dark Kingdom had been tasked with protecting the powerful stone created when a single drop of moonlight fell to the earth. Now that duty had fallen to Edmund. He refused to allow his unborn child to someday suffer the same fate.

Being protector of the Moonstone Opal had never felt like the gift his own father made it out to be. The job was a curse. The kings before him had watched over the stone out of duty, not pride. How did you protect something that was continually trying to destroy the very air you breathed? That was slowly destroying the world around you with unbreakable black rocks that twisted and curved through every surface they touched? The Opals defenses had only grown over time, creating thickets of vines and rocks that blocked out the rest of the world and eventually formed the very stone on which the Dark Kingdom now stood. This was the reason the gem was kept hidden in a vault below the castles surface.

Sometimes Edmund swore he felt the Opal pulsing as if it were plotting its next move. Edmund knew the stories, passed down from father to son and king to king, about the death and destruction one tiny drop of moonlight had caused when it was left exposed, but he refused to be held prisoner by it anymore. He wanted the Moonstone Opal destroyed, even if it took him along with it.

Edmund didnt tell his wife he was thinking any of this, however.

That was his first mistake.

Maybe if he had confessed, she would have helped him see reason. Then, on the night their child was born, when he was holding his son in his arms and his wife had asked, What are you thinking about? Edmund could have said, Im thinking about destroying the Moonstone so our sons destiny will be different from my own.

He didnt, but his wife somehow knew the truth, as wives usually do. His beautiful wife, with her charming smile and biting wit, had always been much smarter than he was. (Forgetting that had been his second mistake.)

Two weeks after the birth of their son, she secretly followed him down to the underground vault where the Moonstone was kept. He didnt notice her crossing the long bridge behind him that led to the cage where they kept the Opal hostage. And he didnt see her hiding behind a pillar on the bridge, watching as he made his third mistakeopening the cage and exposing the Opal to the world.

As he had practiced in his head so many times before, Edmund lifted the poison-laced hatchet above his head and prepared to smash the Opal with it. May this place and the cursed power that lies within it be forever wiped from existence! he shouted.

Instead of breaking the Opal, the hatchet froze millimeters above it. Angered, the Moonstone began to glow and pulse. Before Edmund could react, the hatchet shattered into a million pieces.

Several pieces pierced Edmunds shoulder, and he fell to the ground as the chamber began to quake. Spiky black rocks broke through the walls, rumbling so fiercely they sounded like voices. You fool! they seemed to shout. You think a dagger could destroy us?You will pay dearly, King!

And pay dearly Edmund did, as a black spike shot straight through the floor and pierced his right arm. Edmund cried out as he yanked his arm free and forced himself to rise.

I must warn the others! Edmund thought as he staggered back toward the bridge. I must save my family! He could picture his son sleeping peacefully alongside his wife in their chambers high above the vault. He had to reach them!

Edmund!

He turned around, and immediately his heart gave a lurch. His wife was standing in the center of the bridge in her nightdress, her brown hair spilling around her shoulders as the walls started to come down around her. Fear was written all over her beautiful face.

Edmund staggered toward the bridge to reach her. Im sorry! I was a fool, he wanted to shout. Forgive me. But the bridge gave way before he had the chance.

Edmund watched in horror as his beloved wife plummeted into the dark recesses of the cavern below. In shock, he collapsed against the wall next to him. Let death come, he thought, as the walls continued to shake. But then he remembered.

The baby.

He had to get to him! Invigorated, Edmund frantically looked around for an escape. The bridge was gone and he was trapped on the same side of the vault as the angered Moonstone. But then the wall behind him began to crumble, making an opening to what appeared to be the sewers. Could they lead to a way out?

Edmund had to try. Step by step, he dragged himself toward the tunnel, climbing through the hole and following a stream of water until he spotted stairs. Relieved, he climbed them and pushed his way through a rusty trapdoor.

But his relief only lasted a second. He realized the situation in the castle was as bleak as it had been below. Black rocks had pushed their way into the fortress, taking down walls and frightening his subjects, who were running in every direction, looking for a way out of the madness. Maeve, his wifes most trusted handmaiden, spotted him climbing out of the ground.