The Sapphire Quest Read Online Free PDF Page B

searching all Tulay for him,’ Tia gabbled. ‘I’ve looked in Drangur, Kulafoss and Stoplar – that’s probably why I got confused with this thief. I reached Iserborg a few days ago and saw Master Zeno with your beautiful statue.’
    Tia snapped the locket shut and rushed on with her explanation of why she’d spoken to the sculptor, hoping that Skadi would lose interest in the locket if she chattered enough.
    â€˜Enough!’ Skadi held up her hand. ‘I don’t believe this story of a lost father.’ To Tia’s relief she waved away the locket. ‘You are Nadya the jewel thief, and you will tell me where they are.’
    â€˜I’m not so I can’t!’ Tia twisted free and shot away from the witch. She swerved around a guard and ran up the hall. Suddenly Skadi appeared in front of her. Tia skidded to a halt, her heart jumping into her throat. She backed away and bumped into a column. Skadi sneered. Tia swung round the column only to find herself face to face with the witch again. Skadi threw back her head and laughed. Tia ran down the hall and up the stairs with the witch’s laughterechoing at her back. And then the mocking laughter was in front of her as Skadi appeared out of nowhere.
    Though it was hopeless, Tia still ran. She sidestepped and sprinted this way and that but Skadi was always ahead of her, always laughing. When Tia had no breath left for running, she knew she had lost. Her legs folded and she slumped at the witch’s feet.
    Skadi reached down and touched Tia’s arm. Instantly they were in the middle of a field of geysers, gushing out steam and squirting boiling water high in the air.

Chapter Eight

Geysers and volcanoes
    Skadi had taken Tia to the edge of an isolated plain. They stood on top of a high boulder in the middle of a tumble of rocks sloping down towards the geysers. All around them the geysers steamed, spraying out a vile smell, or threw spouts of boiling white water with a tremendous whooshing into the night sky.
    Tia was dizzy and sick. Being ‘taken’ felt horrible. To make things worse, the ground suddenly shook and Tia almost lost her footing. An eerie red glow lit up the darkness.
    Skadi laughed. ‘This is the edge of my land of Iserborg and behind you lies Askarlend and its volcanoes. No-one, not even my sister, Hyldi, whorules there, knows when they will erupt.’ The witch sounded amused that her sister lived in constant danger. She spun Tia around. ‘And there is her castle, the one you will never reach now that you are in my power.’
    Tia couldn’t help gasping in amazement. Hyldi’s castle rose up on the other side of the empty land lying between Iserborg and Askarlend, and it was enormous. But what astonished Tia more than its size were the lights that covered it, flashing in every colour imaginable.
    â€˜You’ll have plenty of time to stare at my sister’s ugly castle.’ Skadi shuddered with distaste, though Tia thought her castle was just as horrible as Hyldi’s. ‘And don’t imagine you can escape or you’ll end up caught by the geysers like those poor fools.’ Skadi sneered down at moonlit white bones scattered on the ground.
    Tia bit her lip to stop herself from crying out. She wasn’t going to show fear in front of her cruel aunt.
    â€˜I’ll be back in two days,’ Skadi said. ‘By then I’m sure you’ll have remembered where you’ve hidden the three jewels.’
    â€˜I told you, I don’t know...’ Tia protested but found herself talking to thin air. Skadi had transported herself back to Iserborg.
    Tia passed the rest of the night on top of the rock. She sat hugging her knees, her chin propped on top of them and tried to think of a way around her problem. Finn and Loki couldn’t help; they didn’t know she’d been taken. Nor did it help that she had witch powers, except for being able to make fire to