Chapter 10

Chapter ten, Lyra tumbled through the air surrounded by the roar of the water, but all of a sudden the noise faded. She blinked as she realised she wasn't falling but floating. Floating! A shimmering wall curved all around her. Misty's bubble magic! Lyra leapt to her feet and gazed through the bubble that was carrying her safely down the waterfall. Relief rushed through her as she saw that her friends were also in giant bubbles. They landed at the bottom and the bubbles bounced them lightly over the surface of the raging river, coming to rest on the banks. Sparkle, Sunshine and Flame came galloping down the steep path at the side of the waterfall. Misty followed far more slowly, her sides heaving.

Lyra scrambled to her feet. Her legs felt wobbly but she ran up the steep path beside the waterfall, desperate to reach Misty, who was stumbling with exhaustion. "Misty! You saved us all! I'm so sorry that I didn't listen to you. Are you OK?" "Yes. Just… just tired," Misty panted. "That took a lot of magic." "I've got some sky berries," said Lyra, pulling some out of her rucksack that was still on her back. "Here." She fed them to Misty, stroking her all the while. Misty started to look better. "Sky berries were just what I needed. You always think of everything," she said. "Except danger," said Lyra ruefully. "Oh, Misty, I'm so sorry. I promise I'll listen to you more in the future and I'll try not to get us into

such dangerous situations." Misty nuzzled her. "But getting into dangerous situations isn't all bad. If you'd listened to me yesterday and we hadn't come into these caves, I might never have found my magic. And actually, now I know you're all safe, I have kind of enjoyed this adventure." They hugged until Ivy's yell broke them up. "Lyra, look at your hair!" She was pointing at them from further down the path. "You've bonded!" Misty picked up a strand of Lyra's long hair with her muzzle. It had turned the same purple and spring green as her mane. "We really have!" she said, nuzzling Lyra. "It's official. We're best friends forever!" "And partners in adventure?" Lyra said hopefully. "And partners in adventure!" Misty echoed happily. Everyone hurried up the path to join them and gathered round, congratulating them. Beside them the waterfall fell in a thundering sheet of sparkling water and spray. "I guess we're going to have to walk home," said Sienna, looking at the wrecked raft floating away down the river. "And we didn't find the map," said Ivy sadly. "The glittering wall must be further down the river," said Evie. "Unless…" Lyra pointed to the waterfall. "A glittering wall! Don't you see? That's what the waterfall is. Could the map be hidden behind it?" They all stared at the sheet of water cascading down. It did look like a wall. From where they were standing, they could just make out a space behind it and a narrow rocky ledge.

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"Do you think the map fragment might be somewhere along that ledge?" Evie asked. "Yes!" cried Sienna, who had gone closer to the waterfall. She motioned towards a boulder at the edge of the path. "There's a carving of Daybreak here and an arrow pointing towards it." "I bet it's there," said Lyra. "I'm going to look." She glanced at Misty, wondering if she would try to stop her, but Misty just nodded. "I'll protect you if you slip," she said. Lyra felt a warm glow. She trusted Misty completely. "I'll come too," said Sienna quickly. "And me!" said both Ivy and Evie. Misty shook her head. "No, please don't. I'm too tired to save all of you if anything goes wrong." "I'll be fine. Let me go alone," said Lyra. Her friends didn't look happy but reluctantly gave in. "OK, but be careful," Sienna said. "I will," promised Lyra. Dropping to her hands and knees, she edged out on to the ledge. The water thundered down in front of her, the spray soaking her all over again. The ledge was wet and slippery and Lyra's heart raced as she inched along it. It grew even narrower but she could see a small cave just ahead; she was sure that was where she needed to go. She gritted her teeth and kept going until she reached the entrance and crawled inside. Getting to her feet, she stood up. Her legs were shaky and she was breathing hard. With her back to the cascading water, she shone her torch around the cave. There was nothing there except for a pile of boulders heaped up at the back. Lyra went over to examine them. A perfectly round boulder was balanced on the top. It had an egg-shaped hole in the middle. Lyra poked a finger inside and heard the crackle of paper. Yes! Her heart turned somersaults as she teased the paper out and carefully unrolled it. It was the second piece of the map! There was a picture of Daybreak, the crying unicorn, in the top right corner, the rest of the school in the top left, some more of the maze in the bottom left corner, and in the bottom right corner were drawings of some strange stones. Turning it over, Lyra saw a new riddle to solve.

She rolled the paper up and tucked it inside her hoodie. They could work it out later. Right now she needed to get back to safety. Lyra crawled carefully back along the ledge. "I found it!" she gasped as she reached the path, and her friends pulled her to safety. "We've got the second piece!" Misty's eyes shone as everyone whooped and cheered. Evie looked thoughtful. "The treasure must be really valuable for someone to go to such lengths to hide the map." "We can't tell anyone else," said Sienna. Lyra nodded. "Let's all promise to keep it our secret." "I promise!" everyone chorused. "Should we take the new piece of map back to our dorm and look at it properly there?" suggested Lyra. "We don't want it to get wet or fall into the river." "Agreed," said Sienna as she vaulted on to Sparkle. "Come on!" Lyra was too excited to mind as Sienna and Sparkle took the lead again. She couldn't wait to examine the map properly and work out the next clue. They got back in the stable yard just as Sam, Nawaz, Archie and Reuben arrived to get their unicorns ready for the treasure hunt. Sam was carrying two huge bags of warm pastries. He stared at the girls intently. "You're up even earlier than us. Did you skip breakfast to get a head start on the treasure hunt?" Lyra shook her head. "We just wanted to take our unicorns for a walk– the gardens are so beautiful." She met Sam's eye, hoping that he'd believe her. Reuben grinned. "I didn't realise you girls were into nature. I love going for early-morning walks on my grandparents' farm." Sam held out one of the bags of pastries. "We got these from the kitchen for our breakfast but there's plenty to go round," he said gruffly. "Go on, you can have some, seeing as we're dorm neighbours. You must be hungry after your early start." The other boys nodded. "Wow! Thanks," the girls said in unison. Lyra's eyes met Sam's and he smiled. She smiled back, thinking that