Kendra Kandlestar and the Shard From Greeve by Lee Edward Födi Page A

wand and reached into her pouch. Using an edge of her cloak, she pulled out the shard and gazed upon its dark wonder. Just the sight of it brought back the thrilling sensation of using it. How easily the shard had yielded its power! It was so unlike her wand.
    If I could learn to harness the shard’s magic, nothing would stop me , Kendra told herself. I’d be a sorceress to reckon with.
    There was another voice in her mind, of course, one that said: This is a darker magic, Kendra. Do not fool with it! Give the shard to Oki, like you said you would.
    Kendra frowned at this thought. The second voice was right, of course. But the shard, with all its virulent power, was somehow just too enticing to ignore. I may need it to rescue Kiro, she finally told herself. That’s the only reason I’m keeping it.
    But, of course, this too was a lie—and so the battle inside her tiny Een heart continued to simmer.

     
    Six weeks after they had begun their journey, the Eens found themselves witnesses to the war that Effryn had spoken of. They broke through the last of the Fengir to find themselves on a high and rocky ridge; down below was a wide-open plain where two great armies of monsters had amassed, Izzards on one side, Orrids on the other.

     
    Even from such a distance, Kendra and her companions could feel the tension of impending combat. They could hear the booming war drums, smell the smoke of torches, and see the glint of swords and spears and other fierce weapons. In the late autumn light, it was like gazing upon a sea of claws and horns that murmured with snarls, grunts, and groans.
    “This will be a messy battle,” Jinx murmured. “And to think, Oki, all of this over the shattered remains of an ancient cauldron. If only those beasties knew you were carrying one of the fragments!”
    “EEK!” Oki cried. Even though there was no way that the monsters could spot him high up on the rocks, the little mouse quickly scampered to take cover behind Kendra’s cloak. “Don’t think of pickles! Don’t think of pickles!” he squeaked. “Oh, Kendra, do you think those monsters know the shard is so near?”
    “No,” Kendra replied. “We’re safe up here.”

     

    “All the same, we don’t need to linger,” Jinx declared. “We’ll stick to the ridge here and skirt the battlefield. Hopefully we’ll leave these Orrids and Izzards behind before the fighting starts.”
    They found a narrow path along the ridge and set off again, three tiny dots against the rocks. As Jinx had hoped, they had left the battlefield behind by sunset, and which side was to emerge victorious in the terrible clash of monsters, they never knew.
    The next morning, they trudged onward towards the sea. By noon they could taste the salt in the air, and they knew they were nearing the coast, for even though the three companions had never been to the sea themselves, they had all heard tales of it, mostly from Professor Bumblebean, who had studied about such things in his many books.
    By late afternoon the great sea came into view. Kendra had never imagined a body of water so wide and vast. It made her dizzy just to look at it.
    “We have to cross that? ” Oki asked. “It will take a thousand years!”
    In the distance they could see a narrow peninsula of rock that jutted out into the sea like a long and crooked fishing hook. Even though it was so far away, they could see that the peninsula was dotted with buildings and squat towers.
    “That must be Ireshook,” Kendra declared. “We’re not far at all now!”
    They set off at a more vigorous pace, hoping to reach the town before nightfall. But it seemed it was not meant to be, for only a few moments later, they turned a bend in the path and found themselves confronted by a thick wall of rock. On one side of their path was a sheer cliff, dropping down into a gorge; on the other was a mountain wall, shooting straight upward. They were stuck; it seemed their only option was to turn and go back the way