The Ruby Quest by Gill Vickery Read Free Book Online

good things?
    No! Ondine was still a High Witch. She’d find a way somehow to use the pearl to her own wicked advantage.

    Many miles away, Ondine looked from her palace window over the lands of Holmurholt. Its rivers glittered in the sun and the stately buildingsrising from its dozens of small islands looked as beautiful as ever. Encircling the far-off hills sparkled the spell that defended Holmurholt from dragon attacks. Now there was another threat to Ondine’s homeland: a thief who was stealing the jewels of power from the High Witches. At least four had been taken and possibly, by now, a fifth.
    As each jewel had been stolen so the spell of protection had grown weaker. It was still powerful but perhaps not powerful enough.
    The pearl that hung from a diadem around Ondine’s head began to glow as she concentrated. She closed her eyes. Ah yes! The pearl showed her a fragile place in the spell. The gem glowed steadily brighter and the damaged spell began to mend. Soon it was as strong as when it was first made.
    Satisfied, Ondine opened her eyes and turned back into her room. The sheen on the pearl dimmed. Now she had mended the dragon spell, she needed to conjure up a completely new one.
    Ondine pressed her lips together in a tight, grim line. No little Trader thief was going to take her pearl. It was the dearest thing in the world to her. She picked up one of her books of magic and turned the pages. Ah, there it was: A Spell to Catch a Thief.

Can Tia and her friends meet the challenge of
the final adventure? Find out in
The Pearl Quest
    published by Bloomsbury
July 2014

This electronic edition published in March 2014 by Bloomsbury Publishing
    Copyright © 2014 A & C Black
Text copyright © 2014 Gill Vickery
Illustrations copyright © 2014 Mike Love
    First published March 2014 by A & C Black
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
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London, WC1B 3DP
    www.bloomsbury.com
    The right of Gill Vickery and Mike Love to be identified as the author and illustrator of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyrights, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
    All rights reserved
You may not copy, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (including without limitation electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, printing, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
    eISBN: 978-1-4729-0434-8
    A CIP catalogue for this book is available from the British Library.
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