Jack Shian and the Mapa Mundi by Andrew Symon Read Free Book Online Page B

approach, he charged forward.
    “Come on, Grandpa.” Jack gripped his grandfather’s cloak and urged him on.
    The five ran forward. The cracks had continued, but they were slower now.
    And suddenly they saw her: Tamlina, lying in a pool of blood. Propped up against a withered oak tree, she still held her sceptre up. But standing over her was a tall dark-haired woman in a flowing black cloak, cackling evilly. Next to the woman were two creatures: an emaciated old man with a long cap, which he was dipping into the blood; and a tiny demon, like the ones Jack had witnessed at Dunvik. Tamlina’s sceptre crackled feebly, but her power was gone. The tall woman stooped down and removed the ring from Tamlina’s finger.
    “Tamlina!” shouted Ossian. He darted forward and was met full on by the victorious enchantress. A bolt shot from her sceptre and hit Ossian square in the chest. He fell backwards, without a sound.
    “No!” Grandpa Sandy fired a hex at the enchantress, but it was like a fly bouncing off a windowpane. She seemed indestructible.
    “You dare to fire at me?” she growled, her voice both terrible and exciting. She brandished her own sceptre and fired a swift volley of hexes at Grandpa Sandy.
    It was an uneven contest. The hexes flew in too fast for him to respond. The first one hit him on the left shoulder. He spun round, a look of surprise on his face, and his sceptre flew out of his hand. The second (or was it the third?) glanced off his back, and another caught his leg as he fell.
    Jack’s eyes flashed. In a second he had darted down and scooped up his grandfather’s sceptre. Crouching low, he aimed it up at the tall woman.
    “ Gosol! ”
    A bolt shot from the sceptre, crackling as it flew. A look of amazement spread over the face of the tall enchantress. Jack kept the sceptre steady, although his arms ached; it was as if the bolts weighed a ton. Finally, with a loud crack! the woman disappeared. The tiny demon vanished too, but the thin old man was left. He sank to his knees, his hands outstretched as if pleading for mercy. Jack got uncertainly to his feet. The bolts had stopped flying, but it still took all his strength to hold the sceptre.
    Shivering, Jack advanced on the old man, who cowered as he approached. Then Jack made his mistake. He glanced round to see if Rana and Lizzie were all right, and in that instant the old man took his bloodstained cap and hurled it at the girls. With a shriek, he vanished.
    His screech was echoed by a loud scream from Lizzie as the gory cap narrowly missed her face. Spinning round, Jack could see that the old man had now disappeared, but was uncertain of where he might be hiding. He crouched low, until the sound of his grandfather moaning came to him. Satisfying himself that the creatures were indeed gone, he ran over to where Grandpa Sandy lay. Rana knelt down too and stroked her grandfather’s arm anxiously.
    “What do we do?” she asked plaintively.
    Looking round, Jack saw Tamlina slumped by the oak tree. He ran over to her.
    “Tamlina! Can you help Grandpa?”
    A thin smile spread across Tamlina’s face. Her lips moved, but for a moment there was no sound. Then a hoarse whisper emerged.
    “Give him these. On his forehead.” Clearly in pain, she indicated a small pouch beside her. Jack looked quickly inside and found three small pebbles. Extracting them, he ran back and carefully placed them on his grandfather’s brow.
    Lizzie and Rana watched apprehensively. With relief, they saw Grandpa Sandy’s eyes open. He blinked, turned to face Jack and mumbled inaudibly. Then, taking the stones from his brow, he levered himself painfully into a sitting position. His left shoulder was steaming gently, and his right leg gave off a bitter burning smell.
    “Where’s Ossian?” His voice was cracked.
    Ossian had not moved since being hit. Sprawling on the ground, his neck was twisted. Grandpa dragged himself over to where Ossian lay. Then, looking over to where Tamlina