Icespell Read Online Free Page B

startingto get longer and it was nearly time to head back, when Olivia had challenged Max to a sword fight. He hadn’t fenced with her for a few months, and he was taken aback by just how much better she’d become. Her manoeuvre might have been a bit unorthodox, but she’d disarmed him very effectively, and Max was smarting less from the injury than from the shame of being beaten by his younger sister.
    Which meant that he was in no mood to deal with the mocking laughter that was now coming from the trees just a few yards away.
    “So, Pendragon. You really are a bit of a loser, aren’t you? Disarmed by your baby sister!”
    The tall, thin figure of Snotty Hogsbottom emerged from behind the stone hut, followed as usual by Jerome Stodmarsh. Before Max could react, Snotty had bent down and picked up his sword from where it was lying. He balanced it in his hand, then looked over to the deep water in the middle of the pool.
    “Give it back!” said Max hotly. “That’s my sword!”
    Snotty raised his eyebrows.
    “Well you’re not taking very good care of it, are you? Leaving it lying around where anyone could pick it up. But don’t worry, I’ll give it back. When I feel like it.”
    Max took a step towards Snotty, but Jerome moved forward, looking particularly meaty, and Max hesitated. Snotty laughed, and leaned back against a tree, waving the sword idly around in front of him.
    “So, how are the magic lessons going? Learned to tell the difference between a cauldron and a kettle yet?”
    Max ground his teeth. He was utterly fed up with Snotty’s taunts, particularly coming on top of being humiliated by Olivia. He was not going to let Snotty lord it over him about magic.
    “Actually, I don’t really bother with cauldrons or kettles any more. That’s for babies,” he said, loftily. “I’ve been doing magic without potions.”
    Snotty narrowed his eyes. “Really?” he said. “I’d like to see you try.”
    Olivia looked anxiously from one to the other.She could tell Max was furious, and Snotty was sounding dangerously calm. Jerome was considerably bigger than either her or Max if it came to a fight, and Adolphus, as usual, was never there when you needed him. He’d gone upriver a while ago looking for fish to catch and there was no telling when he’d decide to come back.
    “I tell you what,” drawled Snotty, looking down his long nose at Max. “You do some magic ‘without potions’ and I’ll give you your sword back. How’s that?”
    Max nodded grimly. Olivia drew in her breath. Max had told her about turning himself into a dragonfly without any kind of potion, but it didn’t sound to her like he’d been entirely in control of the process, and goodness knows what Snotty would get him to do. She was pretty sure Merlin would not be happy about him trying this kind of magic on his own, so far from the castle.
    Snotty smiled lazily, and held out a large piece of grey flint he’d been concealing in his hand.
    “All right then,” he said. “Do an icespell on this bit of rock.” And he tossed it over to Max.
    Max caught the stone and looked at it carefully. There was something familiar about the colour, and the jagged edges reminded him of… what? He couldn’t think.
    He turned it over in his hands, getting the feel of it. An icespell would encase the stone in a solid lump of ice. It was quite a straightforward spell – if you had brewed it up in a cauldron and then dried it to a purplish powder. Then all you had to do was sprinkle a few grains on the rock and say the right words. Max thought about the ingredients – bats’ wingbeats, the itch of rosehip powder, slugs’ eyeball slime – and the essence of each of them as they mixed together in the spell.
    Olivia held her breath. Snotty looked on with an odd expression. Jerome cleaned his fingernails with his hunting knife.
    Max made a decision. He held the stone in front of him and felt for the magic he knew was there, inside him, the magic