5 The Gift of Magic

CHAPTER Five The Gift of Magic Thwang! Thwang! Arrows whizzed past the kids as they dashed across the snowy courtyard. The arrows plinked and clanked against the frosted stones. "Head for the rows of market stalls!" Keeah said, pointing ahead. "We can hide there!" Max skittered on the stones behind Keeah. "Oh, if only my master, Galen, were here!" They darted into the thick of the marketplace. The tents were crusted with snow and ice. Men and women stood by

their tables. But they weren't moving. They were completely frozen. "This is so sad," said Julie, out of breath. "I know them," Keeah added. Clomp! Crash! The Ninns burst through the first row of stalls searching for the kids. They tore down the tents and overturned the tables. "Oh, dear!" Max chittered. "Terrible brutes!" "I agree!" said Eric, hurrying past a stall filled with barrels of sugar and flour. Clomp! Ninns were storming around from behind. Soon they would see the kids. "Ninn sandwich!" Neal said. "We're trapped!" "I've got an idea!" Eric whispered. Then he grabbed Neal and pushed his face into one of the sugar barrels. "Hey!" Neal yelped, pulling himself back up, his face covered with white sugar. "What are you doing? I mean—mmm. That's good sugar." "Shhh!" Eric gasped. "Pretend you're frozen!" "Huh?" Then Neal's eyes went wide. "Oh, I get it! The sugar looks like frost!" He went stiff. Julie and Keeah got the idea, too. They stuck their faces in the sugar barrel, then popped back up. They stood as still as statues. Eric did the same. So did Max.

Their faces were completely frosted in sugar. They held their breaths. Clomp! Clank! Two red Ninns in black armor stomped between the stalls to the children. "Child?" growled one. He poked one of his six claws at Neal's nose. He waved the other in front of Eric's face. Both boys stared straight ahead. They didn't move. They didn't breathe.

"Frozen?" the Ninn said.

The other Ninn peered at Keeah. Then he pushed his big red face down close to Julie's. His dark, beady eyes stared into hers. "Frozen," he grunted to his fellow Ninn. They wandered away noisily between the stalls. Finally they headed back to the palace. Eric let out a long breath. "That was close!" "Real close," Neal said, brushing the sugar from his cheeks. "I never knew food could save your life!" "Let's get out of here," said Julie. "Before that big lug decides to breathe on me again—" "Shhh!" Keeah said. "I hear something." The kids stood still and listened. Eric looked up. "It sounds like… wings!" "It's Queen Relna!" Max exclaimed. "Look!" Down through the swirling snow came a white falcon. She fluttered slowly above them. "Mother!" the princess said softly. "Keeah, my child," the falcon said. "How I can speak to you, I do not know. But Keeah… only you have the power to save our city." "My magic failed!" Keeah replied. "I couldn't help Galen. I tried to, but Sparr froze him!" "And it's all my fault," Eric muttered.

The bird spoke again. "Sometimes bad things happen for a reason. We need to be tested, so that we grow stronger. Keeah, remember who you are. And know this: True magic comes from a magic heart." Then the bird hovered over the barrel of sugar. From her eyes came a spiral of blue light. The light fell on the sugar. The sugar began to sparkle. "Hurry!" said the queen. "You have but a little time left before what is frozen remains frozen!" Then, with a rapid flutter of wings, Keeah's mother was gone. "Wow, is that magic dust?" Julie asked. Eric remembered how Keeah had once sprinkled shiny powder on his sprained ankle, curing him. The princess tossed a handful of the sparkling crystals in the air and watched them fall. "I think it is magic," she said. "Then let's get to the palace right away and try the dust on Galen," Eric said. "Excuse me," Neal said, raising his hand. "But Sparr is in there, with a million nasty Ninns." "Neal's right," Keeah said. She filled a velvet pouch on her belt with the powder. "We'll need some help first." "Good thinking!" Neal said. He dipped his finger in the barrel of sugar and licked it. "Mmm. It's magic, but it still tastes good."