W.i.t.c.h.: The Fire of Friendship

Book #4

Adapted by Elizabeth Lenhard
Published by Volo
April 2004; $4.99US/$6.99CAN; 0-7868-1731-3

The magic of friendship has transforming results!

Things are heating up for Will, Irma, Taranee, Cornelia, and Hay Lin. Though they have the ability to control energy, water, fire, earth, and air, their powers cannot solve all of their problems. As they face more dangers -- in both Heatherfield and Metamoor -- tempers rise and tension builds. When they confront the evil forces of Meridian, the strength of their friendship is put to the ultimate test.

Excerpt

The following is an excerpt from the book W.i.t.c.h.: The Fire of Friendship - Book #4

Adapted by Elizabeth Lenhard

Published by Volo; April 2004; $4.99US/$6.99CAN; 0-7868-1731-3

Copyright © 2004 Disney Enterprises, Inc.

One

Hay Lin clutched the bus pole so hard her knuckles went white. She looked from Cornelia to Will and back to Cornelia again. Cornelia's thin lips were pulled so taut they matched Hay Lin's knuckles. And Will's face -- pale with anger and worry -- fit into the color scheme, too.

Great, just great, Hay Lin thought. When we first learned that we had magical powers, I thought it was going to add some spice to our lives. Instead, it's drained us of all our color!

And if Hay Lin needed anything in her life, it was color -- in the paint she splashed on her art projects, the Magic Markers she used to scrawl impromptu ideas on her palm, and the kooky outfits she devised every morning to wear. Today, for instance, Hay Lin was a vision of purple -- purple leg warmers bunched around her ankles; lavender goggles cocked jauntily on top of her glossy, black hair; a swishy, eggplant miniskirt; and a bright fuchsia book bag.

And let's not forget the other color in Hay Lin's life -- the silvery swirls that burst from her palms every time she unleashed her magic. Hay Lin had power over the element of air -- which meant she had an ability to make even the heaviest objects fly about like a dandelion seed on a breeze.

Her friends controlled elements, too. Cornelia's viny green, magical wisps manipulated the earth, from its soil to its leaves to its trees. Irma's shimmery blue powers were all about water. And Taranee's searing orange rays controlled fire.

As for Will, she was the keeper of the Heart of Candracar -- a glass orb that shot rays of hot-pink light and transformed all five girls into superbeings. In those alternative forms, the friends were more knowing and more beautiful. They were decked out in the coolest clothes. They even had wings!

And why had Hay Lin and her four friends -- otherwise-ordinary schoolgirls at the Sheffield Institute -- suddenly been infused with this magic? As Hay Lin's grandmother had explained to them right before she'd passed away, an Oracle in an ethereal place called Candracar had anointed them as Guardians of the Veil. The Veil was a barrier that this mystical, all-powerful being had placed between earth and the evil world of Metamoor. In Metamoor a snakelike villain, his lumpish, blue henchmen, and a mysterious and definitely evil prince named Phobos reigned.

At the end of every millennium, the Veil underwent a nasty change. It thinned and weakened, and even suffered some damage -- tears in the supernatural fabric. Those tears had turned into a series of cosmic doorways: twelve portals. And those portals -- all located somewhere in the Guardians' seaside city of Heatherfield -- were direct routes to earth for the baddies of Metamoor.

That's where the Guardians came in. The Oracle had put them in charge of finding the portals and closing them with their newfound magic.

That alone is a megatask, Hay Lin thought. But now, closing the portals isn't even at the top of our priority list! Instead, we have to focus on rescuing Taranee from Elyon.

It seemed only yesterday that Elyon had been one of them -- a wispy, boy-crazy, sweet Sheffielder. But then she'd met a snaky Metamoorian who had been posing as a cute guy. The next thing the Guardians knew, Elyon had traveled through a portal to evil Metamoor and taken up residence there. Since then, she'd been doing everything she could to make sure the Guardians defected to the dark side. She'd even helped the Meridian army capture Taranee!

And that's why the remaining girls were bussing it to one of the portals to Metamoor -- a magical window that had opened in the attic of Mrs. Rudolph's house.

And who is Mrs. Rudolph? Hay Lin thought drily. Oh, she's just a big, potbellied, scaly, dreadlocked, Metamoorian creature who has been masquerading as our math teacher!

I mean, if anyone in our group is gonna get a kick out of creatures from another world, Hay Lin thought, it's me. I'm always up for a tall tale. But, c'mon! An algebra-teacher-turned-ogre?! That's outrageous. Of course, on another level, it makes perfect sense! I always thought math was a monstrous subject.

Hay Lin tried to force a grin. She even thought of telling Irma her little joke. Irma -- Hay Lin's constant partner in mischief -- could always be counted on for a good giggle. Except at this particular moment, when Cornelia was sniping at Will and Will was sobbing on Hay Lin's shoulder -- and they were all minutes away from going into Mrs. Rudolph's house, marching up to her attic, and traveling through the portal to rescue Taranee.

When the bus shuddered to a halt on Mrs. Rudolph's corner, the sulky, sniffly quartet got off in silence. They tromped toward Mrs. Rudolph's imposing pink house. As they walked, Hay Lin peeked at her friends. Will's tears had dried, and she was looking angrily determined. Cornelia was intense, as always, and Irma was wide-eyed.

But for some reason, Hay Lin was feeling fuzzy. Distracted. Not quite herself.

Copyright © 2004 Disney Enterprises, Inc.

For more information, please visit the W.i.t.c.h. Web site, www.clubwitch.com or www.writtenvoices.com.