Icespell Read Online Free

to… kiss you.” Which sent her off into another fit.
    Eventually, she lifted Max up on her finger and kissed the tip of one wing which he held out very gingerly.
    WHOOSH!
    There were stars, and Max landed with a thud on the ground, fully human again, while Adolphus bounced round joyfully, quite amazed to see him, and telling him what a shame it was that he’d missed the chance to meet a dragonfly that had the same name.
    At that moment Merlin came striding into the yard with Ferocious on his shoulder. He gave a shout of relief.
    “Max! Thank goodness! I thought I felt transformation magic taking place. Everything all right? Where did you go?”
    Max explained about being a dragonfly, and Merlin apologised for not getting to him sooner when he’d realised Max had started following the pike.
    “When I did get there, I was just about to whip you out of the way when you came up with that blast of magic. Gave me a bit of trouble,” said Merlin, gingerly feeling his nose. “Quite some power you’ve got there Max, once you learn to control it. I don’t suppose you managed to turn yourself back?”
    Max shook his head.
    “Never mind, never mind, early days… Where did you go, anyway? I lost track of you while I was trying to deal with almost having my nose broken.”
    Max told Merlin and the others about seeing Snotty and Jerome, but he had got so dizzy and disoriented as a dragonfly that he had no idea which chamber he’d been in. As Max described the white powder, Merlin frowned, and a strange, absent expression came over his face, like he was trying hard to detect a faint smell. After a few moments, he looked round at them all.
    “They’ve been planting a spell of some kind. I’ve tried to sense where, but I can’t. I rather suspect that the white powder contains some kind of shielding magic that’s hiding it from me. And if it’s good enough to stop me, then there’s really only one person in the kingdom who could have made it.”
    Merlin looked fierce, and Max shivered. Lady Morgana le Fay. So Snotty was up to something, and it did have something to do with Morgana. He told Merlinabout finding Snotty in the armoury that morning.
    “So. Maybe that was his first attempt, and now he’s managed to plant the spell somewhere else. We’ll have to see if we can find out where… But in the meantime, keep an eye out, all of you. We are almost certainly going to have some trouble from Morgana at the Festival of Chivalry, and we need to be ready.”

Icespell
    T he black knight stood motionless, foursquare on his huge black charger, his lance extended in front of him. Olivia took a deep breath, steadied her horse, and took a firm grip of her lance. She narrowed her eyes, sighting along the lance at the brooding knight, and then nudged the horse into a trot.
    “Go, Olivia!” shouted Max from the stands, and Adolphus, who was sitting beside him, waved hisforked tail and snorted a small spout of flame. Olivia frowned. It was bad enough being the only girl doing the training for the Squire’s Challenge, without having embarrassing family members cheering for you. But there was worse to come. As she headed at a canter towards the waiting knight, the unmistakable bellow of Sir Bertram Pendragon’s hearty voice rang out across the jousting ground.
    “Whack him one, Olivia! That’s my girl!”
    Olivia rolled her eyes, then grasped her lance firmly and focused on the knight in front of her. There were two dangers to avoid at all costs. One, being hit by the knight’s lance on any part of your body, and two, hitting him anywhere on his left-hand side. The ideal option was to get him straight between the eyes, and this Olivia fully intended to do.
    She avoided his lance in style, by leaning over in the saddle just a fraction to the left, and then she struck in her turn. Unfortunately, her lance wavered at the last second, and she caught the knight on his left shoulder. The flat iron figure spun round smartlyand his lance