The Fire Chronicle by John Stephens

Author:John Stephens [Stephens, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, azw3
Tags: Ages 8 & Up
ISBN: 9780375899560
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2012-01-01T08:00:00+00:00

They had not moved from atop the tower, and as the man spoke, Michael glanced now and then at Emma. Part of him kept expecting her to start laughing and announce that she had been playing a practical joke and wasn’t frozen at all.

But she stayed just as she was.

Don’t worry, he promised silently. I won’t leave you like this.

“Four thousand years ago,” the man began, “when the world was a very different place than today—much dustier, for starters—there was a council of big-brain wizards in the city of Rhakotis on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.”

To Michael’s great annoyance, the man seemed unable to tell the story without indulging in any number of digressions, on topics as diverse as the varieties of edible fruits, the intelligence of camels, the stupidity of birds, and his own astonishing amiability. Along with all this, he made repeated offers for Michael and Gabriel to share his supply of beetles, offers that Michael and Gabriel always declined while pressing him to get to the point.…

“And these big-brain wizards decided it would be a wonderful idea to write down their greatest, most terrible, most secret secrets, the ones that concerned the very making of the world. In the end, they created three books.” The man held up two fingers. “One dealt with time. One with life. And one with death. And they were locked away in separate vaults below the city—which really was a lovely city.”

There followed a disquisition on the many charms of Rhakotis, till a growl from Gabriel prompted him to continue.

“Then the big-brains in their braininess created an Order of Guardians who were sworn to protect the Books with their lives. There were only ten Guardians at any one time, but they were versed in both magical and nonmagical combat and were supported by the power of the wizards.” He scratched his beard. “Time passed. The big brains grew soft and were perhaps not quite so big as they once had been. This is where Bert enters the story. He was a young Guardian. Bright-eyed. Zealous. Amiable, oh my—”

“Skip that part,” Michael said.

“And then everything changed.” The man leapt up and began pacing back and forth, waving his arms about violently. Michael and Gabriel moved in front of Emma so the man didn’t strike her by accident. “It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining, Bert was atop the watchtower—out of nowhere, a thousand ships materialized off the coast. Fire filled the sky. Dragons appeared in the east of the city. Sand trolls attacked from the south. It was Alexander, the boy conqueror, and the big brains were doomed. Alexander was too strong. Had too many dark wizards in his army. It was up to Bert and his brothers to get the Books out of the city. But by the time they reached the vaults, only the Chronicle remained. The other two books were already gone.”

The man’s mind seemed to drift off. He stood, stroking his beard and murmuring, “Not Bert’s fault, did his best, can’t fault old Bert…,” until Michael called him back.

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