The palace of light crumbles behind them. The golden stairs turn into grey dust. The four friends run down the cloud mountain. They do not look back. They feel the cold breath of the Dragon on their necks.
The ground changes one last time. It is no longer clouds or silver sand. It is soft, green grass. The air smells like a lawnmower and summer rain. They stand in a valley that looks exactly like their own backyard in Willow Creek.
In the center of the valley stands a wooden table. On the table lies a simple spiral notebook with a cat on the cover.
"The Code!" Clara shouts. She reaches for the book.
This is the Code of Chivalria. It is the last gift. It contains all the rules they write in their game. In this world, those rules are the law of the land.
The Gathering of the Gifts
The four friends stand in a circle around the table. They place their treasures together.
"We have everything," Robbie whispers. He holds the Blue Ball. The marble glows with every color of the rainbow.
Suddenly, the sky turns black. It is not the darkness of night. It is the darkness of a void. A giant shadow lands in the middle of the yard. The wooden fence shatters.
The Dragon Egomania stands before them. He is a mountain of dark scales and purple fire. He has no eyes. He has only mirrors on his face. He looks at the children and sees only his own power.
"The marble is mine!" the Dragon roars. "The world is mine! You are just children! Your rules are just ink on paper!"
The Dragon breathes a cloud of smoke. The smoke smells like doubt. It makes the kids feel small. It makes the yard feel cold.
"Wait," Everett says. He looks at the Code. He looks at his friends. "The rules are not just ink. They are our promises to each other."
He picks up the Red Sword. Clara picks up the Mirror. Robbie holds the Crown over the Blue Ball. Audacia opens the notebook to the very last page.
"Rule Number Eighteen!" Audacia yells. Her voice is like a bell.
"What is the rule?" Robbie asks.
"We do not have a Rule Eighteen yet!" Clara says. she grabs a pencil from her pocket. "We write it now!"
The Dragon lunges. His claws are like jagged glass. He reaches for the Blue Ball.
"Rule Number Eighteen!" Everett commands. "The light of many is stronger than the shadow of one!"
Clara writes the words. The notebook explodes with white light. The Sword, the Mirror, and the Crown all pulse at the same time. The light hits the Blue Ball.
A massive beam of rainbow fire shoots from the marble. It hits Egomania right in his mirror-chest.
The Dragon screams. The sound is like a thousand windows breaking. His scales fall off. His purple fire goes out. The shadow shrinks. He is no longer a mountain. He becomes a small, dark bird. The bird flies away into the dark sky and disappears.
The black sky turns into a bright, blue morning. The yard is green again.
Everett, Audacia, Clara, and Robbie stand in the grass. They are tired. They are dirty. But they are the champions of Chivalria.
"We do it," Robbie says. He looks at the marble. It is quiet now. It is just a beautiful marble again.
The world begins to shimmer. The silver swings and the cloud mountains fade away.
"Is the game over?" Audacia asks.
"The adventure is never over," Everett says.
The light swallows them.