Tara Duncan and the Spellbinders Read Online Free PDF Page A

vanished.
    But a fifth shape was stealthily moving closer.
    Isabella couldn’t see the figure behind her back. He was dressed in dark gray, his face hidden behind a mirror mask. He yelled: “By Rigidifus hold the spellbinder fast, then Carbonus fire its deadly blast.”
    Tara screamed when the ray hit her grandmother. Unable to defend herself, Isabella crumpled as the ray changed color, turning blood red. But the shock shattered Tara’s amnesia spell, and she suddenly remembered everything! She acted in a flash. In a desperate attempt to divert the red fire, she grabbed the ray and bent it back toward the attacker, hitting him full in the face.
    Screaming with rage and pain, the man staggered backward, then blindly retreated to the waiting limousine. The long black car spun around in a screech of tires and roared off.
    Tara rushed to her grandmother, but she felt as cold and hard as stone. It was like touching a statue. Tara moaned, not knowing what to do. Just then Deria came running, alerted by the cries.
    Keeping her cool, the young woman rushed over to Isabella and carefully palpated her body, then did the same to the two servants. Looking Tara right in the eye, she said, “Tara! Stop crying and listen to me. I’m going to need your help.”
    â€œDeria, what happened? What in the world happened?”
    Tara had no idea what to do, but she remembered it all: the conversation, the Pocus, her grandmother’s betrayal, the amnesia spell—and the fact that her mother was alive.
    â€œI’m such a fool,” Deria answered bitterly. “I was tired and I fell asleep. I failed as a protector. I came running when I heard the screams, but was too late. You’ll have to tell me what happened.”
    â€œA protector?”
    â€œYes, I’m a kind of bodyguard. Your grandmother had me look after you. And I’ve been very efficient, as you see. I’ve done a wonderful job protecting you from bees, mosquitoes, and snakes, but apparently that’s all I’m able to do.”
    Deria’s remorse seemed so profound that Tara affectionately patted her on the shoulder.
    â€œThat’s okay,” she said. “You can’t be on guard 24/7. These humpy things with claws attacked Tachil and Mangus, and then Grandma came out and she zapped the monsters, but a man in gray with his face hidden, he hit her with this ray, so I grabbed it and turned it, and it hit him right in the face. And he screamed and ran away.”
    Deria was breathing noisily.
    â€œYou grabbed the ray and turned it on him? Good heavens, I’ve never heard of such a thing!”
    â€œBut what did they do to Grandma? What turned her into a statue? And what about Tachil and Mangus? Are they—?”
    â€œDead? No, just unconscious. Monsters usually like their prey to be alive when they . . . well, let’s say that without you they would’ve been in for a very rough time. You saved them. The attacker didn’t want to use his powers against two ordinary spellbinders. He was saving that for your grandmother. Hmm . . . let me think . . . he must’ve used wizard fire. Did you see what color it was? I know it’s hard for an inexperienced spellbinder to tell, but it’s important that you try to remember.”
    â€œWhite first and then red,” Tara answered promptly. “The ray was red.”
    Deria gave her a sharp look.
    â€œRed, eh? All right. It would be a new kind of petrifying carbonizer, of course. Makes sense. When you bent his ray aside, it had time to petrify your grandmother, which prevented her from casting a counterspell. He would have carbonized and killed her then, but you redirected the ray back into his face. You’ll have no trouble recognizing him from now on. It’s a wound that never fully heals. His face will burn until the end of his days, unless you cancel the spell, or you die.”
    Tara said nothing, but she felt a kind of savage