The Sorcerer's Shadow
Page 2
“I’m sorry,” Dame Laurel said before leaving. “Sir Desdan is harsh, but it’s probably safer this way.”
Lucas threw his napkin onto the table. “This is so unfair.”
Clara rested her hand on the prince’s shoulder. “It is, but have we ever let anyone stop us before?”
Lucas looked at Clara thoughtfully. “You’re right. And we won’t let them stop us this time, either.”
Magical Mystery Tour
* * *
* * *
Lucas and Clara wandered the foggy streets of Trellis in search of strange things, while Ruskin refused to leave the castle. The dragon was disturbed by the unnatural weather.
“How are we going to find any clues in this?” Lucas asked, brushing away the mist as if it were cobwebs.
“Maybe the fog is one of our clues,” Clara said. “What in all of Wrenly could cause such strange weather?”
Lucas turned in a circle, listening for the sounds of the city.
“You know what else is odd?” he said. “I can’t hear any street noise. I don’t think there’s anybody out here today except us. Maybe Ruskin was smart to stay behind.”
No sooner had Lucas spoken those words than somebody bumped into Clara.
“Sorry,” said a boy’s voice.
Clara recognized the shadowy outline of shaggy hair. “Petros!” she cried.
Petros squinted through the fog. “My friends from yesterday!” he exclaimed. Then he looked down at his feet in shame. “Oh no. Now I’ve hurt even those who were nice to me.”
Lucas patted Petros on the back. “It’s not your fault. It’s this fog.”
Clara laughed. “Lucas is right. I can barely see my hand when I hold it out in front of me.”
Petros smiled, and as he did the fog began to lift. The storefronts and tree houses became visible again.
“How’s your mission going?” he asked.
Lucas frowned. “We had to stay here. The head knight thought it was too dangerous for children. Even Ruskin decided to stay at the castle.”
Petros nodded sympathetically. “If you are free, then shall I show you around Trellis?”
Lucas and Clara looked at each other and nodded.
“We’d love that!” the prince said.
Petros escorted Lucas and Clara to the playground first. Zip lines connected one tree to another. Slides zigzagged down and around the tree trunks, like the marble runways the prince built in his playroom. At the bottom of every chute there was a ladder to climb back to the top. The playground was full of kids now that the fog had cleared.
When the kids saw Petros, they started shouting taunts at him:
“Oh great, it’s Bad Luck Petros.”
“Get out of here, you clumsy oaf, before you break the whole playground!”
“Yeah, we’re trying to have a good time here.”
As Petros stepped forward, some of the children ran away.
He clenched his fists and his face turned a raging shade of red.
The sky above them grew dark again with clouds that swirled angrily. Lucas and Clara thought a mighty storm was about to crash down. But then the sky mysteriously cleared up.
Petros calmly turned to his new friends. “I am sorry. This is the way it is for me in Trellis. The kids all think I am awkward and that bad luck follows me like a black cat.”
“Well, that’s silly,” Clara declared. “You are not bad luck. You’ve been nothing but kind to us.”
Lucas put his arm around Petros’s shoulder. “And anyone can outgrow clumsiness. Even me.”
Petros smiled, and a ray of sun broke through the trees.
“Thanks,” he said.
The friends walked all through the city. Petros showed them the great cathedral, the Knotted Turret, and even the Sky Farm. Finally they reached the edge of the city.
“Hey, that’s the Witch of Bogburp’s house!” Lucas said, pointing.
Petros nodded. “Trellis sits right in between Bogburp and Hobsgrove.”
Lucas and Clara gave each other a meaningful look.
“Maybe that’s why there’s magic afoot in Trellis,” Lucas said.
Petros’s face darkened again. “Magic? What are you talking about?”
But before Lucas could answer, a horn sounded in the forest. “The knights are back! Sorry, Petros, but we have to go!”
Lucas and Clara raced back to the great oak tree lift.
“Wait!” Petros cried, stumbling after them. “I need to know why you’re so worried about magic!”
But they couldn’t hear him.
Trellis, Beware!
* * *
* * *
Lucas and Clara waited for the wooden doors to open. The townspeople had gathered there too. Petros watched from the edge of the crowd, his face creased with worry.
All at once the large doors swung open and the knights’ horses stampeded onto the street. Everyone scattered to make way for the horses, and a cry went up from the crowd.
The horses had no riders!
Then a dark, ghostly cloud swirled out from inside the great oak lift. The vapor formed into a shadow that roared an eerie warning.
Trellis be warned
on this dark day!
Beware to ALL
who cross my way!
If nature is what
you seek to save,
then you must watch
how you behave.
No hurtful words
or calling names.
No hateful playground
bully games.
The knights who tried
to do some good
have now been turned
to bark and wood.
Then the shadow vanished into the treetops like smoke in the air.
Lucas and Clara pushed into the tree and gasped in horror.
The knights had all been turned into statues of wood.
Dark Magic
* * *
* * *
“There is definitely dark magic at work here!” Lucas cried. “We’ll need the help of the wizards!”
Then the prince called for a scribe to send a message to the king.
“Wait!” Petros shouted out as he beckoned wildly. “Follow me! It’s important!”
As Lucas and Clara went to him, the crowd started booing and blaming Petros, saying things like “Evil boy, this is all your fault” and “You’ve infected Trellis with something wicked.”
When they were finally alone, Petros confessed, “I need your help! This whole thing is my fault!”
His body shook as if he had been out in the cold too long. Lucas extended a comforting hand.
“How could this possibly be your fault?” he said gently.
Clara stepped closer too. “This is sorcery, Petros. It has nothing to do with you.”
But Petros backed away. “You are wrong! This has everything to do with me.”
“What are you talking about?” Lucas asked.
Petros began to cry, and at the same time it began to rain.
“I am the sorcerer!” he declared. And the moment he said it, lightning flashed and thunder boomed.
A wave of fear washed over Lucas as the rain fell down in sheets. He thought of the shadow. He thought of the wooden knights. He thought of the kids on the playground. Then he thought of how kind Petros had been to Clara and him.
“Do not worry,” Lucas said as evenly as he could. “We can help.”
Clara followed Lucas’s lead. “Can you tell us more?”
Suddenly the rain stopped. Petros took a deep breath, then explained. “I was born with magical powers. But I didn’t know it until other kids began to make fun of me. The more upset I got, the more bad things would happen.”
“Like what?” Lucas asked.
Petros tightly clenched his hands. “Trellis began to have very strange weather. Animals fled from their homes. The birds stopped singing. The crickets stopped chirping.”
Thunder rumble
d overhead like a waterfall of boulders.
“But how, Petros?” Clara asked. “You’re a good person.”
Petros brushed his wet hair back, revealing his large ears. “Part of me is good. But a sorcerer’s magic has both a good side and an evil side. When I get angry, the evil side of my powers begins to grow. Now my evil side has grown into a powerful, menacing shadow. And who knows what it’ll do next!”
Ghoul Duel
* * *
* * *
“There’s only one thing to do!” Lucas said. “You have to control your anger, or your shadow will destroy Trellis—and possibly the entire kingdom of Wrenly!”
As soon as Lucas spoke, the shadow swooped from the clouds.
“And that is my plan!” the shadow shrieked. “I will destroy all those who have brought harm to Petros.”
Lucas grabbed Petros by the shoulders and looked him in the eye. “You are the only one who can stop your shadow! Call on the good magic within you. Choose to become a sorcerer for good!”
The shadow plunged between Petros and Lucas. “He’ll never destroy me!” it roared. “He’s too full of anger! He must get revenge!”
Then the shadow reached dark tendrils out that touched Lucas and Clara. Instantly the two of them were rooted in place. Lucas looked down. Their feet had turned to wood.
“NO!” Petros shouted. He picked up a stick and pointed it at the threatening shadow.
“You can do this, Petros!” Clara cried. “You have to replace your angry thoughts with good thoughts!”
Lucas gave Clara an admiring glance. “She’s right! Choose to be a sorcerer for good—the sorcerer you were meant to be! Tame the evil magic with positive feelings!”
Petros and the shadow circled each other.
“I don’t have bad feelings!” Petros began. “I only have good feelings.”
The shadow laughed mockingly. “You’re more foolish than I thought! You’re nothing but a sniveling outcast, and you know it! Nobody wants you here.”
Petros staggered at the insult.
“That’s not true!” Lucas shouted as the curse moved upward, turning his chest into wood. “You have the gift of magic! Use your power to help Trellis, not destroy it. You are good.”
Petros fought back harder this time. “I do have a gift! And my gift is goodness! My gift is forgiveness! My gift is understanding and love!”
The shadow cringed and faded at the declarations. Petros saw the effect his good thoughts were having. He fought even harder.
“I have the power to think and act rightly!” Petros shouted. “I am a force for good! You are nothing but anger and fear. Your dark thoughts are no part of me. Be gone!”
At this, the shadow turned into a thin film of smoke and was drawn into the stick Petros was holding.
“No-o-o-o-o-o!” it wailed pathetically. “You cannot destroy me! I am hatred! I am anger! I am real!”
But the shadow’s voice had grown weak and faint.
“I am stronger than you!” Petros roared. “My power is for good. You don’t scare me anymore.”
When the shadow had vanished into the stick, Petros held it high and snapped it in half. Sunshine erupted through the clouds.
“You did it!” Lucas and Clara cried. The curse was broken, and they could move again.
“I am a new person,” Petros said. “I feel happy and free.”
All through the forest the birds sang in the trees. Rabbits hopped into their holes. Bears toddled to their dens. Everything returned to normal.
“You are free!” Lucas said. “And so is Trellis! Now let’s check on the knights!”
The children made their way to the great oak lift. The knights were inside—alive and well. They rubbed their eyes as if waking from a sound sleep.
“What happened here?” asked Sir Desdan, scratching his head.
“The curse has been lifted,” Lucas said.
The bearded knight raised an eyebrow. “Defeated by the likes of you children?”
“Not us,” Lucas said. “The evil shadow was defeated by someone pure of heart and full of hope.”
Then, in front of the crowd of villagers, Lucas took Petros’s hand and lifted it up. “Today Trellis has found a hero. I give you Petros the Sorcerer, defender of all things good in the wood.”
And everyone in the crowd roared with approval.
About the Author
* * *
* * *
JORDAN QUINN grew up in a fairy-tale castle in England. It had a spiral stone staircase, a moat, and a dungeon. As a child she liked to play hide-and-go-seek and ride her beloved horse, Prince Charming. When she wasn’t riding, she wrote stories about fairies, trolls, dragons, and wizards. Today, Jordan lives on a ranch in California with her husband, son, and a golden retriever named Sir Toots-a-Lot.
ROBERT McPHILLIPS has been involved in a wide variety of projects over the years—from illustrating greeting cards to animation, though he especially loves illustrating children’s books. Robert makes his home in North Devon, England, with his wife, Sam.
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
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First Little Simon paperback edition September 2017
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