Category: Young Adult/Teen Publisher: Transaltar Publishing
ISBN-10: 0615206786
Type: Fiction
Pages: 136
Copyright: May 3, 2008
ISBN-13: 9780615206783
Book 2 in the Princess Carrina series for Young Readers takes us on a new adventure into the depths of the source lake, to save a child from captivity by an evil queen.
While on vacation at the source lake, Prince Flame discovers a child's diary in Grimelda's book collection. The origin of the diary is a mystery, but even more troublesome are the drawings of scary men and an evil witch that adorn the worn pages.
Princess Carrina and her friends set out to find the owner of the diary, but their journey takes them into the depths of the source lake, and into a kingdom that is ruled in darkness.
Can they save the child from captivity? And who is the true author of the diary?
Excerpt
Finally they reached the tree line, and they dropped their sacks at the base of a golden leafed tree and sat down to rest. The hot sun streaked through gaps in the foliage, but the tree provided sufficient cover to shade the four as they breathed heavily from their walk. Flame continued to shake some sand from his hair as the ladies brushed off their dresses. No one seemed to want to talk about what had happened to them on the lake, yet all four of them were wondering what sort of magic could have pulled them through the whirlpool and deposited them onto this barren plain.
“We need to find a village. As soon as we find someone we can ask them where we are and how to get back to the castle. The sooner we find more permanent shelter the better off we will be.” Carrina had suddenly become much more practical. Perhaps she was realizing that this adventure was a lot more complicated and it would require her to take charge and lead the group.
No sooner had Carrina stood up and picked up a travel bag than a voice called out from a nearby tree. “Who are you?”
Flame and the sisters jumped to their feet and looked wildly around trying to locate the source of the voice. Carrina was the first one to spot the young boy who was several metres up in the air sitting on a large tree branch. “We are travellers from the castle. Would you mind coming down here and telling us how to get back to the main road? We seem to be lost.”
The boy stared at the princess for a moment without saying anything and then began to make his way down the side of the tree. He jumped onto the ground in front of Carrina and smiled up at her with a huge grin. “You’re not from Brazenwood castle. If you were then you would have your black arm bands on. Are you playing a trick on me?”
The four travellers looked at each other with puzzled expressions. Brazenwood? Arm bands? Where in the world had that whirlpool taken them? Gorgonza decided to play along with the boy to see if she could find out where they were. “You are right little man. We are playing a trick on you. Actually we are from the castle, but we do not want anyone to know so we left our arm bands there. Sometimes it is fun to walk around the kingdom without anyone knowing who you are. I am sure you understand, since you like to hide up in trees and spy on people. Can you promise not to tell?” Gorgonza was really good at telling stories.
“A secret trip! That sounds like fun. I won’t tell anyone, I promise! Can I join you for a while? I’m bored up in that tree. The only thing interesting, except for you folks, are the dragons that keep landing on the sand mountain then taking off again. I’ve never seen them do that before.” At the sound of the boy talking about dragons, Carrina jumped back in fear directly into Flame’s arms.
Grimelda moved around her sister and up closer to the boy. “Dragons? Did you say there are dragons here?”
“Well of course there are dragons here. But I don’t understand why they keep landing on the field. Maybe they are practicing flying or something. I can see all of them from up in the tree. See, here comes another one now!” The young boy rushed back to the tree, scrambling up the side and back onto the large branch he had previously occupied.
The four travellers turned around, their eyes scanning across the plain. They heard it before they saw it - a thunderous flapping sound of massive wings echoed across the field. It sounded like a hundred gongs being struck at the same time as a beast that looked as large as a castle flew across the sky darkening the ground beneath it. Blasts of flame shot from its nostrils as it spiralled down to the ground finally slamming its talons into the hard earth.
“But…but that is not possible!” Carrina stammered. “We do not have dragons in Underbrook.”
Ezra's a closeted medium. She's a novelist who writes stories about seeing dead people and claims they're fiction. Her life with Grant was peaceful until a rebel ghost named Jenna entered her life who doesn't like Grant. Allie, the resident ghost, li
