Read Online Stardust by Linda Chapman - Free Book Online Page B

book tingled and felt hot under Lucy’s fingers. From below, the dark spirits shot balls of fire at her. Magicseemed to be creeping out of the cover of the book. The darkest book of magic, written by the darkest spirit of all. Lucy could feel the magic winding over her fingers. She felt giddy and faint.
    â€˜Let the others go!’ she yelled to Rowena, ducking and dodging and fighting against the dizziness. ‘Or I’ll burn the book!’
    â€˜Give it back to me!’ Rowena cried.
    â€˜I won’t!’ shouted Lucy.
    â€˜Then your friends will suffer!’
    Rowena’s eyes flashed with cruelty and she raised her hands.
    â€˜No!’ Lucy yelled desperately. She opened the book and went to rip out a page to stop Rowena, but the second her fingers touched the handwritten words inside there was a blinding flash.
    Lucy’s hand was glued to the page. She tried to pull it back but couldn’t. She could sense dark magic pulsing in the pages of the book, feel her own bright magic fighting back. Waves of giddiness threatened to overwhelm her.
    No!
she thought, thinking of her friends trapped in the sky.
    Morwenna’s dark magic seemed to be snaking round her fingers, over her wrists, up her arm…Lucy fought

    against the blackness that was sweeping across her mind.
    You’re not going to win!
she thought. Gritting her teeth, she drew on every drop of power that was inside her. An image of Allegra, Robyn and Joanna filled her mind. The tendrils of dark magic seemed to pause.
    Regulus be with me
, Lucy cried in her mind.
    There was a huge bang. Streams of powerful energy suddenly exploded out of the book. They flew in all directions with Lucy at the centre.
    My magic!
    The thought came into Lucy’s mind, crystal clear. She didn’t know how she knew, but she just knew that the energy streaming across the sky was her magicand it was good. It shot towards the dark spirits – burning arrows lighting up the sky. The dark spirits shrieked and flew up into the air.
    â€˜You have ruined the spell!’ Rowena cried as the other dark spirits scattered from Lucy’s magic in terror. ‘You will not get away with this!’ she hissed at Lucy, who was still clutching the book. ‘We will be back!’
    One of the streaming arrows of light shot towards Rowena’s heart. With a cry of alarm, she raced off after the others into the night.
    There was another bang and then Lucy knew nothing.
    When she woke up, she was lying on the ground with her head resting onXanthe’s lap. Adam, a winter spirit, was kneeling beside her, his fingers gently holding Lucy’s head.
    Lucy blinked her eyes open. ‘What happened? Where am I?’ As she sat up, she saw that Joanna, Ella, Faye and Robyn were kneeling next to Xanthe. Allegra was holding her hand. Standing a little further off were the other stardust spirits. Relief washed over everyone’s faces. Looking round, Lucy realized she was in the main stardust clearing.
    â€˜What happened?’ she repeated, bewildered. ‘Where’s Rowena and all the other dark spirits?’
    â€˜Don’t worry. You’re safe,’ Xanthe said. ‘They have all gone, thanks to you. They are very powerful.’ Her eyes flicked to Joanna’s. ‘But you defeated them.’
    â€˜But I didn’t do anything. I just opened the book,’ Lucy said.
    â€˜And so your magic met Morwenna’s,’ Xanthe said. ‘The lightest of all light magic against the darkest of all dark magic. You won. Your magic conquered hers. It exploded from the book and the dark spirits fled from it. If dark magic had won and shot through the clearing…’ She broke off and her eyes flicked to Allegra, Joanna and Robyn. ‘Everyone could have been killed.’
    Allegra squeezed Lucy’s fingers. ‘I’m glad you won, Lucy,’ she said shakily.
    â€˜But I didn’t really win. The dark spirits got