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Troubador Publishing Ltd - Alison Gardiner

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100 pages

English

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Fourteen year-old Alex Weston has marooned himself and his sassy hamster, Skoodle, onto the magical island of Eridor while seeking his vanished parents. Yet Alex has no magic; he must rely on bravery, quick thinking and a few ounces of rodent as he fights to survive. Alex, Skoodle and Tariq, a bear, attempt to rescue a wizard boy, Luke, who is trapped on a remote mountainside by merciless, disgusting goblins. Risking his life, Tariq is transformed into a marble statue and held ransom by a vicious gargoyle; the price for his life is for a friend to turn traitor. Their wizard friend, Zorrin, has his mind corroded by an enchanted sapphire as he attempts to return it to a mountain with a living brain; once loyal, he is now a powerful mortal enemy.Determined to save Tariq, Alex seeks help from sleeping stone lions, discovering that solving an ancient armadillo alchemist's puzzle might give them a chance of saving Eridor from destruction by Zorrin. Yet Zorrin outwits them. Betrayed, he's furious beyond reason; mighty beyond measure. With no spells, no weapons, Alex must somehow save his dying friends in the few minutes remaining before Zorrin murders them all.Alchemy is a fast-paced fantasy novel, threaded with humour, which will appeal to children aged 9-11.

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Publié par	Troubador Publishing Ltd
Date de parution	28 février 2017
Nombre de lectures	19
EAN13	9781785898204
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	3 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0000€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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Alchemy

Alison Gardiner
Copyright © 2017 Alison Gardiner

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the publishers.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Matador
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ISBN 9781785898204

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Matador is an imprint of Troubador Publishing Ltd
To Famalam – my joy and inspiration
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 1
Sitting astride a winged silver crocodile, Alex Weston loosened his grip on the wizard in front of him and twisted round to view the ground more clearly. The jungle far below had a dreamlike quality, an explosion of brilliant colours on a shifting green background. Alex leaned to almost falling point, but still couldn’t see the waterfall.
‘You okay?’ asked Zorrin.
‘Yeah,’ lied Alex, shifting to a slightly less painful position. ‘I’ve got hard scales grating my legs through my jeans, freezing wind smacking into my face and numb ears, but things could be worse. Probably.’
‘Definitely. We might not find the waterfall.’ Zorrin was sitting cross-legged on the exact mid-point of the animal’s back, clamped on with a spell. He looked like a flying pirate: strong young face alert, blue eyes bright with adrenaline, curly black locks streaming out behind him.
‘Can avoid that cloud ahead?’ Alex called forwards. ‘The last one was like a freezing shower.’
‘Not easily.’
Alex groaned as seconds later he found himself wrapped in cold fog. Visibility plummeted; the ground vanished.
Zorrin turned to glance backwards, grinning at the drenched figure. ‘We’ll dry out soon on the far side.’
‘Oh, terrific,’ said Skoodle from the bottom of Alex’s shirt pocket. ‘Being dry shortly doesn’t make me a teeny bit less drowned now. We hamsters don’t do wet, not like fourteen-year-old humans. Bet you’re loving this water-soaky experience.’
‘You’re wrong; I’m hating it,’ replied Alex, shivering.
‘Funny that,’ said Skoodle, clawing up to poke his cream face into the thinning mist. ‘You liked water in cold, damp England. Now you’re on a hot jungle island, you don’t.’
‘Not up here in a freezing wind. It feels like my bones have iced over. For once I wish I was like you.’
‘Brilliant, handsome, brave?’
‘No, something realistic: furry.’
‘You’re definitely not handsome now. Your hair’s not spiky anymore, it’s drooping like a depressed blond hedgehog,’ said Skoodle. ‘It’s a shame you don’t have any magic. Zorrin looks completley dry.’
‘I am, totally,’ replied Zorrin. ‘Give me a sec.’
Alex felt a warm wind blowing up his body as if he was standing over a hairdryer. Although it felt great on his body, his ears began to get painful as the numbness went.
‘Better,’ said Skoodle. ‘Why didn’t you go round the cloud, Zorrin? Crocodile control gone?’
‘Steerage fine, but these fluffy monsters are enormous.’ Zorrin remained calmly facing forwards, his loose black shirt and trousers looking totally dry. ‘Too much of a detour.’
‘Crisis!’ shrieked Skoodle. ‘Look left.’
Alex’s head snapped round. Wings outspread, two weird gnome-like creatures were hurtling towards them through the cloud, wizened old faces screwed up into a grimace. Skin hung from their chest and arms in deep wrinkles, like elephant hide. Thick fur covered them from the waist down, goat-shaped legs giving way to eagle-like clawed feet.
Fear snapped Alex’s reflexes into overdrive; in a second he had one hand cupped over his pocket to protect Skoodle; at the same time he bent forward with Zorrin flattening himself onto the crocodile. The two attackers rocketed past, inches above their heads, screeching as they vanished into the mist.
Mind a mix of fear and anger, Alex sat up, keeping Skoodle clamped against his chest. ‘What were they?’
‘Gargoyles. Vicious, evil things. They’ll attack again,’ replied Zorrin.
‘Why are we losing height so fast?’ asked Skoodle, peering over the top of Alex’s fingers.
‘ We’re dropping out of the cloud for better vis. If you get knocked off and fall out of my sightline, I can’t save you,’ said Zorrin.
Alex was momentarily aware of the sound of flapping wings then, with a deep grunt, a gargoyle dive-bombed into his back, skull first. White-hot agony shot up Alex’s spine as he was blasted sideways, unlatching his hold. He grabbed at Zorrin’s shirt, but already his body was unbalanced, falling. The shirt ripped and gave. Alex plummeted earthwards clutching Skoodle, engulfed by cloud.
Fear deleted everything from Alex’s mind except that they were going to die; freefall, then finished. ‘Can you see us Zorrin?’ he shouted.
‘Death by splattage,’ Skoodle yelled, ramming his claws into Alex’s chest.
The pain focussed Alex’s mind. He began to think. He’d never survive a fall from this height, but if he landed upright he might save Skoodle. Freezing, nauseated, body battered by the rushing wind, he wrestled round to drop feet first. As he swung to vertical, the stream of air whizzing past them shut off.
‘You’re safe now,’ said Zorrin from immediately above them.
‘You sure?’ shrieked Skoodle. ‘Answer quickly in case you’re wrong. We may only have seconds.’
Zorrin dropped level with them. ‘It’s fine. Trust me, I’m a wizard.’
‘Wish I was,’ said Alex. Although the air rush had ceased, he could still hear a thunderous whoosh as blood banged through his system. ‘Or had any magic at all. That was horrendous. What did you do?’
‘Jumped so I didn’t lose sight of you; encased us in an air bubble.’ As Zorrin spoke, they shot through the bottom of the cloud.
‘Look, there’s the waterfall,’ said Alex. ‘It’s huge; looks like a skyscraper crossed with two football pitches.’
‘I don’t care,’ shrieked Skoodle, clamping two tiny cream paws over his eyes. ‘Not with the ground rocketing towards us.’
‘Chill,’ said Zorrin, sitting down on the air with his legs crossed. ‘This bubble is enchanted to take us to the nearest point of safety.’
Skoodle dropped his paws to glare at Zorrin. ‘And that would be… ?’
‘No idea,’ said Zorrin.
‘Forget safety,’ yelled Alex as they were wrenched through a right-angled bend. ‘We’re about to crash!’ His entire field of vision seemed to be taken up by a waterfall, which lay directly in their flight path, vast, menacing.
‘Do something!’ screamed Skoodle. ‘Hitting it at this speed will be like slamming into concrete.’
‘I can’t,’ said Zorrin, swinging to face it. ‘All safety spells are fixed once they start, whatever happens.’
‘So we’ll be dead, but on target,’ yelled Skoodle. ‘Terminal velocity.’
Alex rammed Skoodle down into his pocket, curling around him. He braced his arms against the invisible walls, pulling knees to chest. His whole body shuddered as the air ball slammed into the wall of water.
They exploded through the back of the waterfall, dropping from max velocity to zero in two seconds. Alex was blasted against the front of the bubble, which was bruisingly solid for air. As they landed on the floor of a cave, Alex wrenched Skoodle from his pocket, terrified that he might have crushed the tiny figure.
Skoodle had both furry fists rammed into his eye sockets, body quivering.
‘You okay?’ asked Alex.
‘We dead yet?’ asked Skoodle, curling into a tight ball.
‘Don’t be stupid. We’re fine.’
Skoodle dropped his paws, then opened one eye. The second popped open. ‘What a ride!’ he whooped, punching the air with a tiny fist.
‘You’re brave now it’s finished.’ Alex grabbed the small body, acting as if to throw him back through the water. ‘Want another go?’
Skoodle clung to Alex’s thumb. ‘Negative. My courage clicks on and off like a light switch. On now; off if we do it again. Threaten me, you’ll end up with a handful of hamster poo. Bad plan.’
‘How can a human not even intimidate his own rodent?’ asked Alex trying to shake Skoodle onto the floor of the bubble.
‘Superiority of intelligence,’ replied Skoodle, hanging on harder.
Alex stopped shaking as Skoodle’s claws dug in. ‘I don’t think so, pea-brain.’
‘You don’t think at all, vacuum-head.’
‘Do you ever agree on anything?’ asked Zorrin.
‘No,’ replied Alex and Skoodle together.
Splitting the bubble, Zorrin pushed the roof away as if they were hatching from an invisible egg. They climbed out onto the smooth stone floor.
The huge cave was lit by rows of glowing balls hanging near the ceiling. Squashy cream