The Magic Book series, book 1 Read Online Free PDF Page B

The Wicked One is close, run! Hold the tree,” the almost
musical voice urged, distinctive over the hostile roar of the
storm.
    Encouraged,
knowing that it must be the voice of the fairies, they pushed just
that bit harder against the wind. As they reached the tree, the
clouds burst and hail stones thudded through its branches, tearing
its leaves and bouncing on impact with the ground, then melting on
the still warm earth.
    The girls
reached out and hugged its rough trunk, bowing their heads from the
hail stones. They began to feel strangely giddy and looked up to
find that the tree was starting to spin, and them with it. As it
sped ever faster, their grip began to loosen and they started to
slip from its mighty girth.

    “Just hold on!”
came a small wispy voice above them again.
    The tree
gathered pace, turning impossibly fast, until everything was a blur
and it was only with immense effort that the girls were able to
stop their heads and bodies being pulled from the tree by the sheer
force of it. Then there was a loud CRACK! At that very moment they
finally lost their grip and were hurled to the ground.
    Sophie and
Felicity helped each other up. Both were shaking, scared and a
little winded, but otherwise unharmed. As they took their first
wary glances around them, they saw that everything had changed. The
tree was still there, but they were somewhere else entirely. No
school, no playground. Even the wind, hail and clouds had gone. It
was in fact a very peaceful place on first impressions, but not
quite Earth-like.
    “Where are we?”
breathed Felicity, slowly turning on the spot whilst absentmindedly
dusting herself off.
    “I’ll tell you
later, but first we must find a safer place to talk.” To the girls’
surprise, the voices they’d heard belonged to the two fairies they
had drawn at home.
    Fluttering
swiftly down from the tree, they took hold of one twin each.
Felicity stifled a shriek as they were flown back up with them,
nimbly dodging through the oak’s boughs.
    As Felicity
rose, she had a good view of this new land. The Great Oak they were
ascending took pride of place in the centre of a beautiful lush
green landscape. Red and yellow poppies bobbed their heads amongst
meadow flowers and lush green grasses, as a warm skittish breeze
played chase amongst them. The air was sweet with the soothing
aroma of lavender. In the middle distance was a lake, the sun
glistening off its surface, the sky reflecting back up from it like
a mirror.
    But right over
near the horizon, in stark contrast, it was dark. Not as if night
were descending, but ominously dark. The skies were so laden with
rain that the clouds were blotting out the sun. As she watched,
lightning lit the sky, tearing through them like a knife through
black velvet and forking to the ground. It briefly lit up a castle
that she hadn’t been able to pick out before - its tower seeming to
be engulfed by the atmosphere itself. It was like watching a
chilling, silent, black and white movie. She shivered involuntarily
and felt in the pit of her stomach that it was a bad place. Sophie
was looking that way too, horror etched on her pale face.

    “Nearly there.”
The voice of Felicity’s fairy cut through her thoughts.
    A second later
they were disappearing into a knot in the tree trunk. Then it
dawned on them, they were the same size as the fairies!
    Now walking,
they continued further within the tree itself and presently came to
a door. Felicity’s fairy stopped and knocked, then added,
    “Your Majesty
Queen Tara, it’s me, Bryony, with the girls.”
    The door sprang
open and they were hastily ushered into the large room in front of
them. At the centre stood a long wooden table, surrounded by chairs
occupied by other fairies, all of whom had turned to see the new
arrivals. The anxiety on the children’s faces was obvious, so they
all tried to smile to put the girls at ease.
    “Thank goodness
you came!” Sophie’s first doodle fairy gushed, rising from