Cauldron Spells Read Online Free PDF Page B

moment a blur of blue-green came hurtling through the trees and Snotty was knocked flying by a vision of claws, wings and forked tail. 
    “Adolphus?” cried Max, hardly able to believe his eyes. But the next second two more figures had thrown themselves into the fray and were laying about Snotty’s men with energy and determination. Max saw one of the soldiers go flying, knocked over by an expert uppercut to the chin. The rather short figure that had delivered the killer punch looked extraordinarily like…
    “Olivia!” he yelled. “What are you doing here?”
    He scrambled to his feet, found his sword and went charging in to help. Unfortunately, the first thing he managed to make contact with was the top of Adolphus’s head. The small dragon went down like a stone.
    Sir Boris was fighting valiantly, and Olivia was managing to deliver a few useful blows alongside the tall stranger with the long knife, but now that Adolphus was out of the equation the five soldiers were gaining ground. Worse, Snotty, looking rather dazed but determined, was about to join the fight again. It looked like it was the end, but then Max heard a crashing sound, and a large knight dressed in black armour came charging down the road behind them waving his sword.
    “Tally ho!” he shouted. “Unhand these travellers, you villains!”
    The new knight was not only rather nifty with his sword; he was also extremely large and very fierce. It wasn’t long before Snotty and the soldiers decided the odds were no longer in their favour, and beat a rapid retreat, scattering down the road and out of the wood.
    There was a moment’s silence, while they all gathered their breath. Adolphus crawled out from under a bush, groaning and shaking his head feebly. The new knight took a step backwards as he saw the dragon.
    “Adolphus?” he said, from inside his helmet.
    Max and Olivia turned at the sound of his voice.
    “Father?” said Max.
    The knight pulled off his helmet and looked around. 
    “Well, I say. Found you all at last. Been riding all day looking for you. Just as well I caught up when I did, eh? What on earth’s been going on?”
    Luckily Sir Bertram’s saddlebags were absolutely full of cakes, ale and cold meat (“Never know when you might need a little snack!”) so their explanations took place over a rather sumptuous roadside picnic. Some bits of the story were left out and others glossed over. Olivia and Max had a huddled and private conversation that involved a lot of outrage on his part, and much apologising on hers, before two potion bottles changed hands. Sir Bertram gathered early on that as far as Caradoc was concerned, Olivia was a boy, and he decided not to reveal her secret. In fact, Sir Bertram was hatching a bit of a plan of his own.
    “Well now,” he said, as he happily devoured his fourth chicken leg. “It seems to me, we may as well all go on to Gore together. Not so far now, and after all, Morgana’s a distant relative of mine. May as well pay her a visit now I’m so close. And there’s damned fine hunting to be had in this corner of the kingdom, by all accounts.”
    He looked down at Olivia, and winked. “Besides, I think you could probably benefit from a bit of training, eh, young Oliv–er? If you’re going to be up to the Squires’ Challenge? All the squires at Gore are very well trained, I’ve heard…”
    Olivia’s eyes shone. “Yes! That’s just what I was hoping. Brilliant!”
    “That’s settled then,” said Sir Bertram, and took a deep pull on his bottle of ale. “I’ll send a swift to your mother, let her know.”
    Caradoc leant over to Olivia, looking confused.
    “I thought you told me your name was Ned?” he said.
    “I did,” said Olivia. “It is Ned. Short for Oliver.”
    ***
    Gore, when they finally got there, turned out to be surprisingly beautiful. The Great Grimpen Mire and the swampy lakes for which it was famous stretched out to the north, but there were glimpses of blue sea