Unlocking the Spell Read Online Free PDF Page A

darted closer. “Maybe we can get someone else to do it for us.”
    The rustle of leaves and snap of a twig announced someone’s approach through the underbrush. Tiny lights twinkled as the fairies flew toward the lake. Annie watched them go, then turned back when Liam said, “I found a better camping spot. It’s far enough from the water that—”
    Something too big to be a fish splashed in the lake. Liam was already pulling his sword from its scabbard when Annie spotted the kelpie’s head cutting through the water. As it reached the shallows and waded to the shore, Annie could see the beast more clearly. It was too dark to be sure, but it appeared to be the same one that had carried Liam into the lake to drown him.
    The beast nickered when fairies zipped around it, turning its head toward Annie. When the kelpie left the water, it looked so much like a normal horse that Annie could see how Liam had been deceived. With its eyes fixed on Annie, the kelpie slowed and lowered its head, its ears twitching in her direction. It wasn’t until the beast drew close enough to smell her that it pinned back its ears and snarled.
    â€œGet away from her!” Liam shouted, charging the kelpie with his sword in his hand. Annie backed away when the kelpie reared and lashed out with its hooves. Liam’s sword sliced the air as he darted toward the kelpie, ducking out of the way of the striking animal. The beast veered after him, twisting its neck in a snakelike move and clashing its teeth only inches from Liam’s back. Fairies cheered until Liam dropped to the ground and rolled, bringing around his sword to nick one of the striking legs. The kelpie screamed even as Liam turned and, with his sword whistling through the air, drove the kelpie into the lake.
    Fairy lights darted out over the water as the little creatures tried to urge the kelpie back into battle. The kelpie’s nostrils flared, its sides heaving as it faced Liam from the shallows. The prince was standing with his legs braced, his sword held high, when Beldegard burst from the underbrush, chuffing. Reaching the edge of the water, the bear prince rose to his hind legs and bellowed. Fairies scattered, fleeing into the woods, while the kelpie danced back, spun on one hind hoof, and plunged into the deeper water, disappearing beneath the surface so that only ripples betrayed where it had been.
    Beldegard was chuckling as he dropped to all fours and turned toward Annie. “See, I told you the kelpie would be afraid of me.”
    â€œActually, I think Liam was doing a very good jobbefore you got here,” Annie told him. Liam glanced up from wiping his sword with a handful of leaves, and grinned at her.
    â€œHunh,” the bear prince snorted.
    â€œIt looked as if the fairies were afraid of you, too, just like the last time we were here,” Annie said to Beldegard. “Why do you suppose that is?”
    â€œI can’t imagine,” he said, sitting down on his haunches and using a claw to pick his teeth.
    â€œYou didn’t eat one, did you?” said Annie, appalled.
    Beldegard shrugged. “Sometimes bears get distracted by pesky little nuisances and eat things that aren’t actually berries.”
    A small scream made Annie jump as a single fairy light streaked away. “I guess you upset their spy.” She turned back to the bear prince, looking thoughtful. “If the fairies are afraid of you, maybe they won’t pester me when we’re together. Suddenly this trip has become much more bearable.”
    â€œHa-ha,” said Beldegard without a trace of humor.
    â€œSo, Liam, do you still want to move to a different camping site?” Annie asked.
    Liam shook his head. “No need,” he said, and patted the sword at his hip. “If that monster shows up again, I can take care of it.”

Chapter 4
    It took most of the next morning to search the perimeter of the lake for signs of the