Summer's Cauldron Read Online Free Page A

knotted around themselves, forming two thick legs, thrusting the tree creature out of the earth and sending it lumbering toward the pond, its path leading directly toward Alex and his friends on the raft.
    “Seriously?” Ben whined. “A tree that can run?”
    “That’s not fair,” Nina moaned. “Not fair at all.”
    “What kind of tree is that?” Alex said in exasperation as he watched it run toward the pond.
    “I think it’s an old Colossus Tree,” Daphne said.
    Alex watched as the burning Colossus Tree jumped into the pond. It sank as swiftly, silently, and completely as the rock and the fish they had seen earlier. The only difference was the steam rising from the water as it quenched the flames tormenting the Colossus Tree’s branches.
    “Lucky,” Ben said. “That was close.”
    “How deep to do you think that pond is?” Alex asked aloud as he looked at the once again stone-still pond. He didn’t have time to ponder the question.
    “Look out,” Victoria shouted from behind him. Alex and the others on the raft turned as it slammed into the shoreline, sending them sprawling forward. They all managed to catch themselves without falling into the water and quickly jumped from the raft. Alex looked up to see Rafael struggling into his clothes.
    “Thanks, Rafa,” Alex said to his friend as they all walked briskly away from the edge of the pond and back toward the wall of dead trees surrounding the clearing.
    “Thanks for the idea,” Rafael said. “I don’t know why I never thought of changing into a dragon before.”
    “Yes, that was some very clever thinking,” Victoria said, patting both Alex and Rafael on the backs.
    “Well, so much for finding the Rune Tree,” Clark said.
    “Now what do we do?” Daphne said. “I suppose we’ll have to find that gorping useless beagle and start all over again.”
    “Beowulf was very brave chasing after that Dead Forest-tumbleweed-crab-spider thing that wanted to kill us,” Nina said.
    “You know we’re having fun when we can say two deadly creatures have tried to kill us in one afternoon,” Rafael said.
    “Maybe we should head back to the Guild House and regroup,” Victoria said. “We could dig up some other ancient book that has a hint about where the Rune Tree might be. Or, maybe I can talk to Daddy and see if there might be a way to create a Rune Tree detector. That’s exactly the sort of thing he’d love to invent.”
    “Maybe,” Alex said, looking over his shoulder and frowning. “But before that, I think we should run again.”
    “What?” Victoria asked, turning to see what had caught Alex’s attention.
    They all turned to look back at the pond and stopped in their tracks. Charred black branches, dripping slimy water, rose up from the pond and moved toward the outer shore. Moment by moment, more of the massive Colossus Tree emerged from the water until it was standing on land, its root-legs propelling it forward with long strides even as it shook the water from its branches. The creature opened its mouth, emitting a deafening roar, sounding like the simultaneous felling of a thousand trees.
    “Again!” Ben yelped. “I take back what I said about screaming and running.”
    “Mmm, you do the screaming, I’ll do the running,” Clark said, hefting Ben into his arms.
    “Ladies,” Victoria said to Nina and Daphne as they ran and she helped them scamper up her hind flanks. Alex and Rafael fell into a run beside her.
    “How far do think that thing can chase us?” Victoria asked, glancing behind as the Colossus Tree roared again. “It looks very hungry.”
    “And mad,” Daphne added.
    “And mean,” Nina said.
    “If we’re lucky, it’ll get tired before we reach the forest edge,” Alex said, sprinting to keep pace with Clark and Victoria.
    “If we’re lucky, it will follow us home and we can keep it for a pet,” Rafael said.
    “I was not thinking that,” Alex said, grinning at Rafael.
    “I know you too well to believe