Comprehension Questions- Deltora Quest #5 Dread Mountain

Dread Mountain

by Emily Rodda

Grades 3-5; Genre - Fantasy; GRL T; AR pts: 4.0

Lief, Barda and Jasmine are on to their next quest in restoring the Belt of Deltora.  So far, they have recovered the topaz, ruby, opal and the lapis lazuli.  Luckily, they meet some friends that help them on their journey to Dread Mountain to retrieve the fifth gem, the emerald.

Comprehension Questions

Chapter 1

  1. Why were the companions nervous to drink the water from the spring they found?  They didn’t know if the water safe to drink    p. 4
  2. What happened to the companions when they drank the water from the spring?  Nothing, refreshed them   p. 5
  3. Why was it strange for Kree to sleep on the ground with Jasmine?  He usually sleeps in the trees   p. 6

Chapter 2

  1. What did Lief dream of the first night at the spring?  Of home, it was abandoned with a Shadow Lord symbol on the gate   p. 9
  2. What strange creature did Lief see at the spring that morning before everyone else awoke?  A young Kin   p. 11
  3. What game did Lief play with the Kin, Prin?  Hide and seek   p. 13
  4. Who interrupted their game of hide and seek and took Prin prisoner?  Two grey guards/ Carn 4 & 5  p. 14

Chapter 3

  1. What happened to the Guards when they drank water from the spring?  They became trees   p. 18
  2. Why do the Kin live near the spring?  Their home on Dread Mountain isn’t safe for them   p. 20
  3. How are the Kin able to see their home in their dreams?  The water from the spring is magical and they dream what’s real/ it’s the Dreaming Spring   p. 21

Chapter 4

  1. Why did Lief want to return to Del?  His dream told him his father and mother are either prisoners or dead   p. 25
  2. How many Kin agreed to fly Barda, Lief and Jasmine to Dread Mountain?  Three   p.26
  3. How did Prin react when the Kin told her she couldn’t go to the mountain?  Upset/wailing  p. 27

Chapter 5

  1. What happened to Lief’s father?  Put in prison   p. 30
  2. Why did Fallow put him in prison?  The guards found The Belt of Deltora book in his house   p. 32
  3. At the last part of his dream of his father, why was Lief so encouraged?  Because his father knew he was alive and was fighting his fight just like Lief was fighting his flight    p. 36

Chapter 6

  1. Who else dreamed of Jarred in the dungeon?  Barda   p. 38
  2. How did the Kin carry the companions to the mountain?  In their pouches   p. 40

Chapter 7

  1. How many days did it take for the Kin to fly the companions to Dread Mountain?  Two   p. 46
  2. The companions met Doom in the Shifting Sands story.  Why were they upset to see his name engraved on a gravestone in the cave?  They thought maybe the man who said he was Doom worked for the Shadow Lord/ they don’t know who the Doom they met really is   p. 48

Chapter 8

  1. How did the Kin fly to make it hard for the gnomes to hit them with their arrows?  Swooping, wheeling, zooming up and down   p. 52
  2. When the Kin landed on Dread Mountain among the boolong trees, why were they and the companions safe from the gnomes?  The gnomes don’t like the thorns   p. 54
  3. What did the three Kin take back to their friends at the Dreaming Spring?  Cones    p. 55
  4. Who followed the companions and Kin to Dread Mountain?  Prin   p. 58

Chapter 9

  1. How did the companions help Prin when she got hit by an arrow and fell from the sky?  Put the last of the nectar on her wound   p. 59
  2. Why can’t Prin go home?  The other Kin left and she’d never find her way   p. 62
  3. What’s a Vraal?  Scaly creature, he’s dull green striped and yellow, has a tail, bigger than a man, claws that curved at the end, cloven hoofs, eyes on the sides of his head, killing machine.   p. 63

Chapter 10

  1. How did Prin defeat the Vraal?  Put moss on his eyes   p. 71
  2. What color moss did Prin put on Lief to help heal his arm?  Green    p. 71
  3. What were the three things the person wrote in their blood on a stone in the cave?  I know I’m a man, I know where I’ve been, I know what I must do   p. 74

Chapter 11

  1. How do the Kin know Prin is safe?  They have probably dreamed about her   p. 77
  2. What did Barda make out of the wood from the roof of the gnome hut?  Shields   p. 81

Chapter 12

  1. Tell me about the gnomes?  Small people, tricky, clever, love traps   p. 85
  2. What did Barda use to unlock the door to the gnome stronghold?  An arrow   p. 87
  3. As the companions were deciding if they should go into the stronghold, what gave Lief the clue that they were headed into a trap?  He was able to read the line IF YOU WISH TO DIE   p. 89

Chapter 13

  1. How did the gnomes trap the companions?  Lured them into an tunnel using a mirror and shut a metal door behind them   p. 93
  2. How did the mirror lure them?  The companions thought their mirror images were gnomes and went to fight them   p. 93
  3. What did Lief see when he dreamt with the dreaming water?  A large cavern and toadlike beast  p. 96

Chapter 14

  1. Why did the gnomes collect Gellick’s slime or oily drops of sweat?  It was the poison the gnomes put on their arrows   p. 97
  2. What food did the gnomes feed Gellick?  Flies   p. 98
  3. How did Gellick kill the gnomes he was unhappy with?  Spat at them   p. 98
  4. Where were the gnomes watching the companions as they were trapped in the cave?  The mirror was a two-way mirror   p. 103

Chapter 15

  1. How did Jasmine get better from the poison arrow the gnomes hit her with?  She held the ruby, it’s an antidote to venom   p. 107
  2. Why do the gnomes serve Gellick?  He protects them from the Grey Guards and the Shadow Lord  p. 110
  3. What convinced the gnomes that they should make a deal with the companions to help them defeat Gellick?  They think the companions have magic that will help them defeat Gellick  p. 112

Chapter 16

  1. Why did Ri-Nan wake up Gellick and betray the companions? So Fa-Glin would die and Ri-Nan would become the gnome leader   p. 118
  2. Whom does Gellick serve?  The Shadow Lord   p. 118
  3. How did Lief defeat Gellick?  Threw the pouch of Dreaming Spring water into his mouth   p. 122

Chapter 17

  1. Why was it important for the gnomes to think the companions could perform wonders?  So they would respect the companions and listen to them   p. 124
  2. How do the Kin help the gnomes?  Help keep the boolong trees from overgrowing so they can get to their huts and pathways   p. 124
  3. What were the gnomes and Kin going to fill the poison jars with to fool the Shadow Lord?  Stream water and boolong sap   p. 126