Book of Magic (Diadem Series) - Softcover

Peel, John

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0738706159 ISBN 13: 9780738706153

Publisher: Llewellyn Publications, 2004

Synopsis

In the third book, the young magic-users travel to Dondar, a beautiful land of purple skies and blue grass. It is also home to Garonath, the unfriendly wizard of forms. With help from their unicorn friends, they fight his magical monsters, but they soon fall into the hands of Sarman, the evil magician who wants to rule the Diadem . . . and needs their souls to accomplish his despicable mission! But the ultimate battle lies ahead when they must face the Triad and discover what the mysterious Diadem rulers have been planning all along.

About this title

About the Author

John Peel was born in 1954 in Nottingham, England. He attended Nottingham University and began his writing career as the editorial assistant for England's Apparel Production and Marketing. He later worked as a comic-strip writer for Marvel Comics in London, and was until recently the overseas television critic for England's Starburst magazine. Since immigrating to the U.S.A. in 1981, John Peel has worked as a contributing writer and editor for numerous media-based magazines. He now writes novels full-time from his home on Long Island, where he resides with his wife, Nan, their wirehair fox terrier, Dashiell, their orange, spotted tabby, Amika, and their miniature pinschers, Loki (aptly named after the Norse god of mischief and destruction), Bartleby, Shadow, Reggie, Tievel, Rocky, Anubis Princess and Lady Penelope.

He has just sold his first film script, Haunting Adrian, which is expected to commence shooting in the near future.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

p r o l o g u e

Sarman sat upon
his throne, brooding.
Carved from a single immense diamond,
the throne sparkled in the lights
of the huge room. In front of the throne
was a large, polished mirror, upon which
flickered images that Sarman was only
half watching. Around the room, the
Shadows writhed and shifted, waiting
for orders from their Master.
"They may be getting too good,"
Sarman mused, stroking his dark beard.
He shook his head. "They are only
children, though, and still new to magic. How good
could they possibly be?"
"They will be no match for you, sire," the closest
Shadow whispered. "No one is, not even the Three
Who Rule."
"The Three Who Ruled," corrected Sarman. "I am
the One Who Rules now. Don’t ever forget that." The
Shadow whimpered and retreated, realizing it had made
a potentially fatal mistake. Luckily for it, Sarman had
other things to concentrate on.
In the mirror, he could see forms of the three people
he was studying. "Score, Pixel, and Helaine," he
said softly. A street rat from Earth, a computer nerd
from Calomir, and a girl warrior from Ordin who had
begun by masquerading as a boy. Hardly the sort of
people one would expect to become great magicians.
And yet, these three were doing just that. They had
defeated and killed that idiot magician Aranak. They
had fought trolls and goblins, and then made friends
with the same goblins and a handful of centaurs. That
was unheard of in all the worlds!
Yes, these three were far more dangerous than he
had anticipated. But they were also absolutely necessary
to his plans. Sarman had seized power, but it was
taking too much out of him to maintain it right now.
He was a prisoner in his own fortress, chained to his
own throne. There was just one way to free himself,
and to roam the Diadem at large―his now by right of
conquest!
He needed these three brats here, where he could
kill them and absorb their power.
Right now, they had crossed over to Dondar, and
that was a short journey away from the center of the
Diadem, where he waited for them. He had to make
absolutely certain that they came to him.
"Shadows!" he cried. "To me!"
There was a hissing, a bubbling, and then, as swiftly
as they could, the Shadows seethed across the room
to hear his commands. He hated having to rely on
them, because none of them was overly bright, but
they were all he could use right now. For all of his
power, Sarman was reduced to catching glimpses of
the children in his mirror and having his dark agents
spy on them and nudge them in the right direction.
"Go to Dondar," he ordered the Shadows. "Watch
the three children. Make certain they head for the
Portal here. Don’t interfere unless you have to, but
they must come here! I need them." He lowered his
voice and stared about the room at the Shadows. "If
they don’t get here, for any reason, then I am going to
personally rip each and every one of you into tiny
shreds. And then I’ll kill you. I’m sure you all understand
me. Now, go! To work and make certain those
brats are here soon!"
The Shadows hissed their understanding of his
orders, and then writhed away toward the Portal to
Dondar. They would all do their best to see that his
orders were carried out. Soon, hopefully very soon, the
three children would be in his power.
And then he could drain them and kill them, and
he would be free once more.
Not very long now . . .
1
"Now, this is something
else," said
Score, awed at the scenery before him.
He and his companions had just stepped
through the Portal from Rawn and
emerged here on this new world, Dondar.
Rawn had been very pretty, but,
apart from its odd-colored trees, had
looked very much like Earth. It had
been almost easy to forget at times
that they were on an alien world.
But Dondar was very different.
The sky was a faint purple, touched here and there
by cotton-candy clouds. The grass was a rich blue
color. The trees that he could see were all tall and thin
and bent into strange shapes. Their leaves varied in
shades of blue, purple, and orange in a kaleidoscope of
color. There was no way that he could think, even for
a second, that this was Earth.
"I could almost get used to this," Pixel said, looking
around admiringly. "It’s really pleasant."
"And probably very dangerous," Helaine finished.
"Everywhere we’ve gone so far has been. We’d better
be prepared for trouble." Her eyes were scanning the
horizon already.
"Lighten up a little," Score told her. "We’ve only
just arrived. I’d say we have a good ten minutes before
we’re due to be attacked." He grinned to show he was
joking. "Anyway, it’s time to take stock, don’t you
think? We have to figure out what we’re doing."
"We’re following somebody else’s plan, as usual,"
Helaine growled. "I know we chose to do it, but I don’t
feel comfortable with it. I’d sooner be in charge." That
was true enough, Score knew. She was a warrior from
a world where women were supposed to do as they
were told. She’d pretended to be a boy named Renald
until recently so that she could get away with her
behavior.
The problem was that they needed more information.
All they knew for certain at the moment was
that they were being drawn somewhere by some
unknown enemy who controlled the Shadows. That
person didn’t want to kill them―at least not yet,
because the Shadows actually saved their lives once.
And there was someone else involved, trying to help
them, who was sending them cryptic messages and
pages of clues that they kept picking up―and that still
made very little sense.
And then there were the Three Who Rule. They
were the tyrants who controlled all of the worlds of the
Diadem from their central world that only magicians
could enter. But who were they? Right now, Score,
Helaine, and Pixel were on Dondar, one of the Inner
Circuit worlds and just a jump away from the Three’s
home base.
Helaine frowned. "If Shanara is correct," she said,
"then we’re being trained as weapons to fight the
Three, because we have tremendously strong magical
powers ourselves. And Oracle said that we will have to
face the Three before our journey is over."
"If we can believe a word he says," Score added. "I
still don’t trust him."
"Neither do I," agreed Helaine. "But it is possible
that he’s trying to help us, as he claims. Even if he does
talk in riddles and rhymes."
I do what I must; I do what’s allowed.
At least you’ll admit, I stand out in a crowd.
Score spun around, and saw that Oracle had simply
appeared, as he always did, without warning. He was
dressed completely in black, as usual, with a slightly
mocking smile on his face. They still didn’t know
much about him, except that he claimed he wasn’t
really real, and that he was trying to help them. On
the other hand, Shanara had believed he worked for
the Three Who Rule, which could make him an
enemy agent. And he’d also cheerfully betrayed each
of them at least once, while claiming it was for their
own good. He claimed that he was forced by the spell
that had created him to speak in rhymes all the time,
and that he couldn’t help giving them obscure comments
instead of direct help.
Oddly enough, that made some sort of sense to
Score. Though magic was everywhere in the Diadem,
it was strongest closer to the center and weakest at the
edges―where Earth was. Something had corrupted
the magic, though, and from time to time it wouldn’t
work properly. They’d almost been killed several times
when their magic had backfired without warning. If
Oracle had been created by magic, then he was probably
affected by this corruption, and unable to do what
he was supposed to do.
"Now what do you want?" Score grumbled. Every
time Oracle showed up, it usually meant trouble.
Your decision was wise to continue your quest
For you have reached the ultimate test.
More pages are here, more pages abound
And you shall not rest until they are found.
"Well," Helaine commented, "that’s a change.
Good news for once." She turned to Pixel. "That’s
your job, I imagine. You have the ruby."
They had discovered that their magical abilities were
intensified if they focused their minds through different
gemstones. Each one had a different property, and the
ruby enabled Pixel to locate the position of anything he
might want. Thanks to the goblins on their last world,
each of them now had four different gems. And Helaine
had the Book of Magic that explained how each jewel
could be used.
Oracle held up a hand.
Your quest continues as you meet with a stranger;
But first there will be, as always, a danger . . .
And he vanished, like a TV being turned off.
Score groaned. "That we needed to hear?" He
looked around, but everything seemed to be absolutely
peaceful. "Do you think he was kidding, just to get
a rise out of us?"
"If we assume that, we’ll be in big trouble," Helaine
replied. She now held her sword at the ready, and was
scanning the woods. "But I can’t see any trouble at
all."
"That’s because you’re looking in the wrong direction,"
Pixel said in a very nervous voice. "Something’s
casting a very large shadow, and I don’t think it’s a
cloud."
Looking upward, Score almost screamed at what he
saw. It was huge, something like forty feet long, with
two huge wings beating slowly.
A dragon.
Its body was thick, with spines down its back like
on a stegosaurus. Its long tail, held out straight as it
flew, ended in a couple of long, nasty-looking spikes.
Its long legs had large claws, and its elongated snout
had a mouth packed with teeth. And it was swooping
down toward them.
"Head for cover!" Helaine cried, sprinting toward
the closest trees.
Score followed as fast as he could. Even Helaine
wasn’t crazy enough to suggest that they fight a beast
like this! Her sword would barely scratch it, because
the dragon’s skin looked as if it were armor-plated.
It would be a close race, Score realized, as he concentrated
on running. But if they could make it to the
trees, the dragon wouldn’t be able to get at them so
easily. It was too large to be able to follow them in, and
some of the trees looked to be too tough for even a
dragon to uproot.
Twin trails of fire screamed down from the sky
ahead of them, setting the strange grass alight and
shutting off their retreat.
Just what they didn’t need . . . a fire-breathing dragon.
Score skidded to a halt. They couldn’t go on, or
they’d be cooked. But, right now, they were out in the
open with no protection at all. And the dragon would
be on them in seconds.
Which meant it was time to use magic again. He
fished in his pocket for his emerald. This enabled him
to transmute one thing into another. He’d used it to
dig pits in front of charging goblins by turning soil into
air. Maybe it was a good time to reverse that concept.
Trying to forget his fear and panic as the dragon drew
closer, Score concentrated his mind on changing the
air into something more solid.
And a shield of rock sprang up out of the ground
between them and the dragon.
"Nice one," gasped Pixel beside him, panting with
the effort of their run. "That should―"
The dragon, screaming in fury, slammed into the
rock wall. Under the tremendous impact, the shield
simply broke apart, scattering rocks in all directions.
"―do nothing at all," Pixel finished, sounding really
worried. "Time for plan B―if we have one."
Colliding with the wall had luckily slowed the dragon
down. Huge eyes glaring down at them, it beat its
wings and gave a couple of short bursts of fire from its
mouth as it fought to stay aloft.
Pixel’s eyes opened wide. "Of course! It’s aerodynamically
unstable!"
"What are you talking about?" snapped Helaine, her
sword back in her hand again. Even if it was useless,
she was going to go down fighting.
"The dragon," Pixel said excitedly. "It shouldn’t be
able to fly. It’s heavier than air, and those wings aren’t
big enough to lift it. Besides, it only beats them very
slowly."
Score didn’t want an analysis of why a dragon
shouldn’t be able to fly when it obviously could. "It’s
magic, then," he yelled. "Who cares?"
"No," Pixel insisted. "It’s a hot-air balloon! It’s staying
aloft because of its fire. I’ve seen balloons do that.
They puff out a little fire to rise in the air."
Score nodded. "You may be right," he agreed. "But
how does it help us?" He gestured at the dragon, which
had now regained its balance and was starting to
attack again. "And preferably help us fast?"
"We can start fires with our magic," Pixel pointed
out. "Maybe we can snuff one out magically, too."
"It’s worth a try," agreed Helaine. "Maybe if we all
concentrate . . . ?"
Score wasn’t sure he could focus on anything other
than the huge creature hurtling down at them, teeth
and talons ready to rip them all to shreds, but it
might be their only chance. Feverishly, he pictured a
fire in the belly of the dragon, burning brightly; that
was what was keeping the dragon aloft. Then he pictured
the fire dwindling down to nothing, and finally
vanishing in a puff of smoke. He concentrated
hard on this image as the shadow of the dragon grew
larger and larger. The spell for creating fire was
Shriker Kula prior, and he could only hope that saying
it backward would put one out. "Roirp aluk rekirhs!"
he howled, with only seconds to go before they were
torn to pieces.
"Move!" screamed Helaine, pushing both Score and
Pixel. They both stumbled and then ran, Helaine
keeping pace with them. Score glanced up at the dragon,
now almost on top of them.
It looked startled and suddenly very scared. It tried
coughing fire, but nothing happened except a small
amount of smoke issuing from its throat. It had worked!
They’d put out its fire!
But it was still going to hit where they had been
standing. In panic, they ran as fast as they could from
the spot, to avoid being crushed in the impact.
And then the ground shook as the dragon slammed
into the earth at full speed, unable to stop itself. It was
like being caught in a minor earthquake, and Score
was thrown from his feet. He hit the ground, and his
left side was a mass of pain.
But he was alive.
He looked up, and saw the vast bulk of the dragon
only about twenty feet away. One of its legs looked as
if it were broken, and the monster was definitely out
cold. It was still breathing, though, its chest heaving
and falling in long, slow gasps. They hadn’t killed it,
but it was certainly out of action for now.
Score sat up and gave a long sigh that turned into a
yelp of pain. He must have bruised his ribs when he
fell. It was a small price to pay, since he was still alive.
"Wow," he exclaimed, "that was genius, Pixel. It really
worked."
The other boy grinned. "Sometimes I even amaze
myself," he said. Score could hear the relief in his
voice.
"You did well," Helaine commented, clambering to
her feet. "But we’d best be on our way before it wakes
up ag...

About this edition

• Publisher: Llewellyn Publications
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0738706159
• ISBN 13: 9780738706153
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 208