PART ONE

James was lying down in the sand with a big cut on his leg. His brother was trying to put a leaf over his cut to stop him from losing blood.

James yelled, “Stop it, Max!”

Max said, “I was only trying to help.”

Then, his brother said, “It’s your fault that we’re stranded in the first place.”

James remembered when he begged and begged his dad to let him go find spices and gold for his family, but when he set sail, a storm sank his boat, and he and his brother swam to the nearest island. The island was the size of a small building and was covered with huge poisonous spiders. It was very hot on the island. They had to spend most of their time in the water so that they didn’t get bitten. James went into the water, and he felt something stinging his leg. Then, he looked down and saw that the water was filled with millions and millions of jellyfish. He saw something huge and black that was approaching the island. It was magnificent. He ran out of the water to go tell his brother.

Then, he said, “Max! Max! We’re finally going to be rescued!”

Then, Max said, “That’s a pirate ship.”

The pirate ship stopped close to the island, and James ran through the jellyfish water and snuck onto the pirate ship. Max followed him.

Max said, “This is a bad idea, James.”

Then, James said, “The pirates are sailing to the end of the world. The treasure at the end of the world is the only way to fix our boat and go back home.”

James and Max went into the cargo compartment of the ship, and Max said, “You stay here. I’ll go search the captain’s quarters.”

James waited for hours for his brother to return. But he never did. James decided to go searching in the captain’s quarters. He didn’t see Max. He only saw a huge, mysterious metal box. The pirates started sailing, and James couldn’t get back on the island. A huge pirate with two hooks and two peg legs walked through the cargo compartment and took a paper scroll that looks like a map out of a wooden box. James found a place to sleep in the cargo compartment and still waited for his brother to come back. From the captain’s quarters, he heard a loud noise yelling for help out of the huge mysterious metal box. He woke up and realized he was dreaming. There was no one calling for help. He was alone in the cargo compartment. He couldn’t go back to sleep. He lay awake all night. He searched every corner of the ship, but his brother was nowhere to be seen. The huge pirate with two hook and two peg legs spotted him in the captain’s quarters.

The pirate yelled, “What are you doing in here?!”

James ran back into the cargo compartment and hid in a barrel.

James heard a voice say, “Over here.”

A ghost came out of the barrel, and James screamed and ran behind some wooden boxes. “I know where the map is,” said the ghost.

“What map?” asked James.

“The maps of the end of the world,” said the ghost. “I’ll help you get the treasure at the end of the world if you can get the map from the Captain Hank.”

“Who’s Captain Hank?” asked James.

“Captain Hank is the captain with two peg legs and two hooks,” said the ghost. “You’ll need to train first.

James learned sword play, but the ghost was better at it. James had several more wounds by morning. He was bruised on his knee, his arm, and his forehead.

A storm came. The boat rocked back and forth. A huge green sea serpent came out the water. It was as long as the Eiffel Tower. James drew his sword. Cannons fired, but nothing could penetrate the serpent’s skin. James was about to enter the battle when he saw a huge flash of green light, and the sea serpent disappeared. Captain Hank took the huge, mysterious metal box back into the captain’s quarters.

“What was that?” James asked.

“No one knows,” said the ghost.

James wondered all day about where his brother may have been and about the mysterious metal box. They finally reached the gates of the end of the world. There was a huge island behind the gates. The huge island was the size of Texas. There was a giant stone that had writing on it. The stone was as big as a ferris wheel. The writing said that you must sacrifice something valuable before entering the end of the world. Captain Hank threw one of his hooks into the water. The gates flew open. James jumped off the boat onto the island. He grabbed every key in the treasure chest, wondering which one would open the mysterious metal box. He climbed back onto the ship just as the pirates walked onto the island.

They grabbed the chest to get onto the boat. James ran into the captain’s quarters and grabbed the mysterious metal box and stuck every key that he had into the keyhole. He was finally down to the last key: a black rusty key with a green circle at the top of it. He stuck it into the mysterious metal box, and it opened. His brother Max came out of it, but so did a huge sea serpent. It was a huge green sea serpent that was as large as a the Eiffel Tower. The sea serpent destroyed the ship, and the two brothers grabbed the treasure of the end of the world and jumped off the boat. Max and James swam all the way to the island the size of a small building, and they built a boat and sailed back home. Their family was happy to see them, and they were happy to see their family.

PART TWO

James and his family were moving from their island to England. When James was packing his suitcase, he saw a letter in his mailbox. It was from the ghost. The letter said:

MCDLXVI (aka Roman Numerals for 1466)

Dear James,

I need your help. The sea serpent that you let out of the mysterious metal box last year is attacking sailors and sea creatures in the ocean. You need to stop it.

Sincerely,

Ghost

James asked his family if he could go back to sea. “It’s absolutely out of the question!” Max said.

“You know what happened the last time you went to sea.”

No one agreed with him. His father burned the boat that Max and James built the past year. James watched it burn until it was as black as night. The fire was out, and the boat had turned to ash. When everyone was asleep, James went into his parent’s room and grabbed a huge leather pouch of gold. It was as heavy as a bucket of water because it held all the gold his family owned.

Early that morning, James asked, “Can I walk by the dock?”

His father said, “Sure.”

James ran out the door. He looked at all the boats, but there was one that caught his eye. It was as big as three elephants. It had a huge gold mast. A short man was standing by it.

He said, “You can buy my boat with 100,000 gold.”

James handed him the huge leather pouch of gold even though it didn’t have 100,000 gold in it. “You sure you got the money?” said the short man.

“Yes,” James said.

The short man counted the money. While he was counting the money, James ran on the boat that was as big as three elephants and sailed it away from the dock.

“This isn’t 100,000 gold,” said the short man.

But James was gone. The ghost flew onto the boat the size of three elephants.

The ghost said, “If you destroy the sea serpent, I’ll give you 100,000 gold.”

So then James went right to work. He only had his sword and his spy glass with him. He saw something huge, black, and magnificent approaching the ship. He knew that it was the pirates. And Captain Hank. James heard cannons fire when the huge, black, magnificent pirate ship was capsized by a huge green sea serpent the size of the Eiffel Tower. James felt relieved that the pirate ship was capsized but worried about the sea serpent. He went to sleep for a couple of hours, and then the ship started to rock. The huge green sea serpent the size of the Eiffel Tower wrapped itself around the ship. James grabbed a piece of wood and struck his sword against a rock to make a spark. That spark started a small fire on the piece of wood. James threw the piece of wood into the sea serpent’s mouth. The sea serpent spit it out and swam away. James dove into the water. He didn’t see the pirate. All he saw was the mysterious metal box. He picked up the mysterious metal box and put it on the ship. He couldn’t believe that Captain Hank and the pirates were inside the mysterious metal box. He knew that he had to destroy the mysterious metal box before it could cause any more trouble. He found a match in his cabin, lit it with his sword and the rock, and put it through the keyhole of the mysterious metal box. He didn’t know if that would finish off the pirates, but in case not, he stopped at an island the size of a small building covered in huge poisonous spiders. He buried the mysterious metal box there. He still had to find the sea serpent.

The ghost flew over to James. It said, “The only thing that could destroy me is the sea serpent’s fangs.”

James said, “Then you have to stay away from the sea serpent.”

James realized that he had a problem. His boat was stuck in the sand, and huge poisonous spiders were crawling onto his boat the size of three elephants. James went back onto the boat and took out a lifeboat and jumped off. He left his spyglass on the boat, but he didn’t think he’d need it.

The ghost told James to sail to Spain, so he could read a book about the sea serpent and how to destroy it. The ghost showed him how to navigate the stars, so he could get to Spain. When he finally arrived at the bookshop where the book was, he broke into the bookshop and stole the book. Attached to the book there was a small box that had writing that said, Unbearable temptation lies within. James read the book about sea serpents and found out that the only thing powerful enough to destroy it were the gates at the end of the world. James navigated the stars to get to the end of the world, and he made a roaring fire to melt down the gates. With some of the metal from the gates, he made a small dagger, so he could fight the sea serpent. He saw something huge, green, and about the size of the Eiffel Tower approaching his boat. He knew it was the sea serpent. He grabbed the dagger and jumped off the boat onto the sea serpent. The sea serpent’s skin was as rough and as hard as rock. He stabbed the dagger into the sea serpent, and it turned to ash. The only thing that did not turn to ash was the teeth. He opened the box that said, Unbearable temptation lies within. The box was made of gold. He couldn’t stop himself. The second he opened it, millions of evil spirits came out of the box and surrounded the place.

The ghost yelled at James. He said, “You got all the evil spirits out, James!”

James was so angry with the ghost that he dove into the water and grabbed a sea serpent’s tooth. It was as blue as the sky. When he came up for air, he threw the tooth at the ghost, and the ghost faded away. James felt terrible. He could not believe that he destroyed the ghost and let all the evil spirits out. Out of the gold box, where unbearable temptation lied. The evil spirits flew away. He sailed to London, and his family was there. He knew evil was everywhere. He confessed to his family that he ran away, stole all their gold, destroyed his friend, and let all the evil spirits out. But there was still hope.

PART THREE

James was in the middle of the ocean. There was a horrible storm. Waves the size of Mount Everest. Thunderclouds as big as France. A small green evil spirit that looked sort of like a dragon approached him. It was a scaly evil spirit of death. It knocked him off his ship. The waves tossed him around like a ball. The small green evil spirit of death came towards him. James screamed.

“Wake up!” yelled Max.

James realized he was not in the middle of the ocean. He was lying in bed. He realized that it must have been a dream… or a warning.

James got out of bed and ate breakfast. He was about to leave the table when a small green dragon-like spirit approached their house. It breathed on the house, and Max disappeared. James’ mom and dad turned into zombie-like creatures. Their skin turned green, and their hair turned white. And they attacked James. James ran out the door and grabbed a sword. He jumped into the lifeboat from his past journey. He sailed away as fast as a cheetah. The small green dragon-like evil spirit of death howled in anger.

James wondered where his brother was. He wished that he did not destroy the ghost. The ghost would know what to do in this situation. James saw something at the bottom of the ocean that caught his eye. It was a blue stone. It was shiney as a sapphire. James wondered what it was. James dove off the boat to grab it. As soon as his hand touched it, he passed out. He woke up, but the blue stone that was shiny as a sapphire was gone. He was lying in the sand underwater. He seemed to be breathing. He snapped his fingers, and the water put him back in the boat, and he was perfectly dry. James felt extremely confused. Was he dead? Was he in the afterlife? James pinched himself and realized he was very much alive. James sailed to an island about the size of a small building covered in huge, poisonous spiders. He used his hands to dig up the mysterious metal box. He wondered if it was strong enough to hold all of the evil spirits. It was worth a shot. He put the mysterious metal box on his boat and sailed away with it.

James had the black rusty key with a green circle at the top of it in the boat. He knew that he couldn’t open the box until it was time to catch the evil spirits. He was sure that the evil spirits were going to the end of the world so he was going to wait for them there.

James sailed to the end of the world and navigated the stars like a map to get there. The island was the size of Texas. The gates were gone. He looked over the huge, empty land. He got off his boat, pulled out his sword, and searched the island. He found a prison made of lightning. It was the size of a small room. Inside there was a ghost who looked like his brother. James ran to the cell.

“Max!” he yelled. James was filled with excitement. His brother was not dead. “How did you turn into a ghost?” James asked. “The letter that the ghost wrote you turned me into a ghost.” James could’ve talked for hours to his brother.

But a small green dragon-like evil spirit of death approached him. James drew his sword. He ran to his boat, grabbed the mysterious metal box, put the key in the key hole, and unlocked the mysterious metal box. A pirate crew came out.

A huge pirate with two hooks and two peg legs pointed at the small green dragon-like evil spirit of death and yelled, “Attack!”

The small green dragon-like evil spirit of death turned all the pirates into zombies. James realized that all the other evil spirits were just temptation. If he could destroy the small green dragon-like evil spirit of death, he could destroy the temptation too. He opened the mysterious metal box and sucked the small green dragon-like evil spirit of death into the mysterious metal box. Then, a figure as golden as a wedding ring came down to the end of the world. James realized who it was immediately. It was the King of the World. James bowed.

“You have saved the world” said the King of the World. “I will give you one wish. It can be anything.”

James thanked the King of the World and wished he had not destroyed the ghost. And just like that, the ghost was right next to him. And the King of the World was gone.The ghost freed Max, and they sailed to England. And James was relieved that his adventures were over… or were they?

END OF BOOK ONE