Read Online Stardust by Linda Chapman - Free Book Online

spell too.
    Rowena swept her hand in an arc. A stream of stars flew from her fingertips. ‘We will not be stopped! We have everything we need for the Ritual of the Royal Stars. We have Morwenna’s book – a book that holds the words and the power of the darkest spirit who ever lived.’ She held up a small black book. Its cover was so dark it seemed to suck light into it. Rowena swung round and pointed at Robyn. ‘We have the Last of the Summer Spirits! Power will be ours!’
    Lucy stared in shock. They thought Robyn was the Last of the Summer Spirits!
No
, she wanted to shout.
You’ve got it wrong!
But no words came out.
    Rowena stepped closer to Robyn, her glittering eyes boring into the girl’s terrified face. ‘Your power drew us here, summer spirit. We have been watching you this week and we have seen that your magic is greater than any of the other spirits your age. You may have defeated Daniel, but you will not escape from us. We are going to use the power in Morwenna’s book to draw stardust from the Royal Stars through you and into us!’
    For a moment, Lucy wondered what Rowena was talking about. How could they have got it wrong? Robyn might be powerful, but she was nowhere near asstrong as Lucy was. And then Lucy realized. If the dark spirits had been watching through animals’ eyes while Joanna had been blocking her magic then it would have looked as if Robyn was much better at magic than Lucy was.
    A rumble of thunder shook the air.
    â€˜Summer spirits gathered here, unite your power,’ Rowena commanded. ‘We must use our magic from Regulus and the magic in Morwenna’s book to draw down stardust from the other three Royal Stars – Antares, the scorpion; Fomalhaut – the water bearer and Aldebaran – the bull. Their power will meet in the skies, hit the Last of the Summer Spirits and flow into us. The stars have foretold it. It is written in the skies that a time will come when the Last of the Summer Spirits will giveup her power and great power will flow. That power will come to us.’
    Lucy felt sick. Dan had tried to perform a similar ritual on her. The magic would gather together and strike down like a bolt of lightning. It would hit Robyn. The dark spirits would then drain it away, destroying Robyn’s own stardust in the process. Without that, she would never be able to turn into a stardust spirit again.
I have to stop it
, Lucy thought.
    Rowena opened the book. ‘Let the spell begin!’ she declared. ‘We have the power of the lion and with it we command the scorpion, the water bearer and the bull to light up the skies.’
    The clouds seemed to grow darker and thicker. They swirled in the sky.
    â€˜Scorpion, water bearer, bull,’ the otherdark spirits chanted, beginning to circle around the tree. ‘We command you!’
    Two of the other dark spirits’ hoods fell back. Their faces looked unlined and young, but their eyes seemed to glitter with an ancient light.
    â€˜With the power of Regulus we command you!’ cried Rowena, throwing up her hands and holding the book up to the skies. Sparks of magic crackled over its pages. It seemed almost alive. The sky pulsed with powerful currents. They were gathering, coming together. Any minute now…
    Lightning bolts forked from three places in the sky and shot towards each other. As they exploded together, there was a huge crash and the whole sky was lit up by a glittering white light.
    Lucy felt as if she could see every leaf on every tree, every blade of grass, every stone, every pebble, every reed in the riverbank. Power surged up inside her, hot and swift. She gasped at its strength. Overhead the three lightning bolts had merged into one. As if in slow motion, she saw them form one glowing bolt of light and magic. There was more power in it than she had ever seen in her life. It shot towards the ground.
    Lucy felt the power of Regulus that had been