"W.I.T.C.H. 3

W.I.T.C.H. Огонь дружбы (книга 4) ("The Fire of Friendship")

Пока только первая глава, но впечатление составить можно (честно взята с www.hyperionbooksforchildren.com). Кстати, она на инглише (скоро переведу и выложу русский вариант, хотя и так понятно ;) ).

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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.
Maybe it's the bad vibes among my friends that's got me out of whack, she thought. Or maybe it's the fear. After all, I'm in no hurry to go back to Metamoor, where all the buildings are like dank, medieval castles, and all the inhabitants have bright blue skin or look like iguanas wearing tights and tunics.
She shuddered. Talk about creepy.
Whatever Hay Lin's yucky feeling was, it only intensified as Irma fished Mrs. Rudolph's house key out from under a planter on the front porch and unlocked the front door. It got stronger still as the girls padded up the elegant staircase to Mrs. Rudolph's top floor, then climbed the rickety stepladder into the attic.
When Will stood in front of the far wall of the attic -- where the portal had opened before -- and stretched out her magical hands, Hay Lin had to restrain herself from running in the opposite direction! Instead, she simply cringed.
Will closed her eyes and turned her palms upward. From her right palm emerged a glowing spherical amulet -- a clear, glass orb in an asymmetrical silver clasp. This was it. The Heart of Candracar -- the unfathomable, mystical power that lived within Will's body.
The heart shimmered and pulsed with pink light. But . . . nothing happened! The wall remained just a wall. Hay Lin unclenched her skinny shoulders and stopped squinting. Then she watched in a daze as the girls glanced at each other worriedly.
"So?" Cornelia demanded sulkily.
Will sighed and lowered her hands.
"Nothing!" she said in surprise. "The portal won't open again."
She peered into the Heart of Candracar.
"The Seal of Phobos isn't giving any signs of life, either," she said with a frown.
The Seal of Phobos was a green-and-white, pointy-topped symbol of all that was bad in the world. Recently, the Seal had erupted in Cornelia's bedroom, threatening to trap all of the Guardians in suffocating, black gunk. The Heart of Candracar had saved them. In fact, it had kicked the Seal's butt, absorbing it right into its own crystal sphere.
The girls didn't know exactly what the Seal meant, but they did know that it played a role in opening the portals in the Veil. They were hoping it would lead them to Metamoor.
"I guess," Irma pointed out with a shrug, "the Seal helps us leave Metamoor. But entering it is another thing altogether!"
Will clasped her fist around the Heart.
"We can't leave Taranee!" she declared. "We'll find a portal that's still open, and we'll cross through there! Are you with me?"
She shot desperate looks at her companions. Cornelia nodded in sullen assent. Irma, on the other hand, was practically jumping with eagerness.
"No need to ask me!" she said. "I'm so there."
Then Irma turned to Hay Lin.
"Have you got the map of the portals?" she asked.
Hay Lin nodded slowly. Just the mention of the dusty, highly detailed map -- which was slowly revealing the sites of Heatherfield's portals -- made Hay Lin feel sad and heavy. After all, that map had been her grandmother's last gift to her before she had died. With it, she'd revealed to Hay Lin that she had once been a Guardian herself.
She had passed her legacy on to Hay Lin, and she had peacefully, happily returned to Candracar -- leaving Hay Lin to fight this battle with only her friends for help.
Hay Lin suddenly felt limp with fatigue. In fact, she felt . . . somehow . . . compelled to get out of the attic altogether! Hay Lin knew it was crucial that they find another portal on the magical map. After all, every minute they waited was another minute Taranee had to stay in some Metamoorian prison. But at that moment, none of that mattered. Hay Lin had to get out of there. So she reached into her book bag and pulled out the map. Its rough parchment felt dusty and dry in her hand. She gave the scroll to Will and said, "Here it is. But I'm leaving this one to you. I . . . I have to go."
As if in a trance, Hay Lin turned and crossed the wide attic floor. She was vaguely aware of her friends' curious stares boring into her back. Dimly, she heard Cornelia say, "What's up with her?"
"Dunno," Irma replied, "She's been acting a little weird ever since we got here."
The sound of Will's voice cut in. It was filled with awe.
"Look, you guys!" she cried. "The Heart of Candracar is showing us the way to the next portal. . ."
Hay Lin knew that the Heart must have risen out of Will's hand and drifted to a spot on the Heatherfield map. Now that spot would be glowing bright pink -- a sign that a portal could be found there.
Hay Lin also knew that she, too, should have been curious about the portal's location. She should have dashed back across the attic to check out the switch. But something was drawing her down the steps, and she was powerless to resist it.
She drifted down the attic's ladder and headed toward the main stairwell.
With each step, Hay Lin felt lighter -- more floaty. She was barely aware that she was walking at all. In fact, she wasn't!
My element is air, she thought, with her eyes closed. It's carrying me somewhere; telling me something. If Grandmother were here, I know just what she would say: "Be still, my little Hay Lin. Be still . . . and listen!"
So, when silvery magic began swooping around her, drawing her toward a little table in the front hall, Hay Lin didn't resist. She followed the silvery swirls. They began to flutter around an object on the table -- a gold-painted, ceramic urn of some sort. It was round and squat, with an ornate, domed lid.
Hay Lin picked the urn up. She saw a tiny windup key sticking out of its side. The top of the urn was attached to the body with little hinges.
"I know what this is," Hay Lin murmured softly. "It's a music box."
Eyes wide with curiosity, she tipped the lid. She was right. A little song began to chime. It was as ethereal as an angel's voice. The tune was utterly foreign to Hay Lin, yet it was spellbinding.
Even more fascinating than the music was the tiny, porcelain figure inside the box. It was a young girl in a ballerina's dress. She had feathery wings that looked remarkably like the Guardians', and a benevolent expression etched on her tiny face. Her arms were outstretched, and one leg was pointed behind her. She was a fairy, poised for flight.
How odd, Hay Lin thought dreamily as she watched the little figure twirl to the lilting music. I've never heard this song before, but it reminds me of something. . . .
. Suddenly, images flooded into Hay Lin's head: Ghostly beings. Frantic movement. Flight.
Hay Lin closed her eyes, and the picture grew clearer. In a wash of silver light, she made out two figures, both cloaked in hooded, brown robes.
One looked like . . . Mrs. Rudolph! The Metamoorian Mrs. Rudolph anyway, with her ropy dreadlocks, red horns dotting her thick neck, floppy ears, and squashy snout.
The other person looked more like a human female. She was thin and wiry, the skin on her face pulled taut with anguish. Her hair erupted from beneath her hood, flying around her head in frantic tendrils. She looked terrified.
Perhaps . . . Hay Lin thought hazily, she's scared of losing that bundle she holds so tightly. She's cradling it as if it's something sacred. It's . . . it's . . .
Hay Lin frowned as the fuzzy image of the bundle became clearer.
It's . . . Hay Lin realized suddenly -- it's a baby!
The baby was beautiful. She had fair skin and pouty lips. Her wide-set, pale-blue eyes seemed to look out at the world with a sad sense of some deeper knowledge.
In fact, the baby seemed even to regard Hay Lin -- who was gazing down into this daydream -- with calm recognition. And the eerie thing was, Hay Lin felt that she knew the infant, too! The familiarity hit her with a jolt.
In fact, it threw her off balance! As she stumbled forward, her eyes popped open, and the music box flew from her hands.
"Oh!" she squealed, as the pretty box fell to the floor with a crash. It broke into a dozen pieces. The golden dancer's arm broke off at the elbow. But its sweet, smiling face remained intact.
Hay Lin stared at the little figure for a moment. The pounding of her friends' feet on the stairs jolted her from her reverie.
"Hay Lin!" Will cried. "Is everything all right?"
As Hay Lin looked up at her friends, the fog in her head quickly dissipated. Her thoughts began rushing in faster and clearer now.
"I . . . I think it is! The song that came out of that music box . . ." Hay Lin began, pointing at the shards at her feet. "It made me remember something!"
"So?" Irma said gently. "A lot of songs remind us of things that have happened to us."
"Yeah, but this song -- I'd never heard it before," Hay Lin cried. "The memory -- it wasn't mine! I saw these creatures crossing through the portal in the attic. I could feel their fear! And I saw the face of a little girl -- a face I would know anywhere!"
"Hay Lin," Will said, grabbing Hay Lin's hand. "Maybe you've just discovered a new power!"
"Do you mean to say," Cornelia asked, planting her hands on her hips skeptically, "that she sees the memories of others by listening to their favorite music?"
"Right," Will said. "And that music box there belonged to Mrs. Rudolph!"
"Exactly," Irma said, stepping forward and nudging a piece of the box with her sneakered toe. "Mrs. Rudolph comes from Metamoor. Obviously, Hay Lin saw what happened the day she arrived here in Heatherfield."
Hay Lin sighed, feeling a big weight lift from her shoulders. She had a new power! And what's more, her friends understood her new power. They didn't balk in disbelief. They didn't fight against the magic, just because it was foreign and weird. After all they'd been through -- from having conversations with Will's talking appliances to visiting Metamoor -- they were taking this latest development in stride.
This can only help us in our fight against the Metamoorians, Hay Lin thought gleefully.
A moment later, she turned the phrase over in her head again: our fight against the Metamoorians. Then her joy evaporated as quickly as it had materialized.
If I've learned anything, Hay Lin thought wearily, it's that no security lasts for long when you're a Guardian of the Veil.
She looked at her friends with somber eyes.
"If what you're saying is true," she said to Irma, "that I've just recalled Mrs. Rudolph's arrival here on earth, then I wonder -- why was she so scared? And what was she escaping from? Because whatever it is, we're bound to face it, too!"

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