The Magic Rainbow Stone
By Candy J. Moon
Copyright Candy J. Moon 2014
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For Jordan
Contents
Chapter 1 Glowing In The Dark
Chapter 2 Quartz the Wizard
Chapter 3 The Quest Begins
Chapter 4 The Obsidian House
Chapter 5 The Red Pebble
Chapter 6 At the Beach
Chapter 7 Fun and Excitement
Chapter 8 The Stage
Chapter 9 A Big Surprise
Chapter 10 The Sunset Prince
Chapter 11 Race Against Time
Chapter 1
Glowing In The Dark
Zoe stared out the window, open-mouthed. Colourful lights were twinkling and dancing at the bottom of her garden. They swirled and whirled and fizzed and whizzed like sparkly fairy fireworks. She couldn’t quite believe her eyes.
Bubbling with excitement, Zoe crept downstairs, sneaked out into the misty moonlit garden and crunched across the gravel, her long black dreadlocks blowing in the breeze. Then she stopped under the apple tree and her big brown eyes grew wide in surprise. Lying there on the mossy soil was a stone. It was smooth like a pebble and as clear as glass with a beautiful sparkling rainbow inside!
She picked it up and held it in her hand. The lights stopped dancing and flickered out. Zoe gripped it tightly as she marched back into the house. She locked the door quietly and tiptoed back upstairs to her bedroom.
Zoe gasped as she held up the stone to the window. The beautiful colours glittered in the moonlight. In just two days, she would be nine. Perhaps this was a birthday present, but who could have sent it? Smiling in delight, she placed it by her pillow, snuggled down in her soft cosy bed and fell asleep. The moment she did so, the stone began to glow, projecting its rainbow onto the ceiling, as sparkling magic poured out and filled the room.
In her sleep, Zoe could see the image of the beautiful rainbow, but it had grown. It stood before her, shimmering and glorious, forming an arch as high as her head.
“Step into the rainbow,” a mysterious voice whispered and she couldn’t resist. She took a deep breath and squinted as she stepped into the dazzling rainbow rays. Giddy whorls of colour spun around her, then a spectacular sight appeared.
Zoe looked around in amazement as she found herself on a clearing of shimmering grass. All around stood lovely trees with golden bark and shiny green leaves, on which hung sparkling jewels in every colour imaginable. Colourful flowers were everywhere and they shone like glass. A rushing stream glittered in the sunlight as it wound its way beside a golden railway track and disappeared between two glistening silvery mountains.
Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed someone dashing towards her. Zoe turned around and jumped in surprise. There, in front of her, stood a pretty little girl who looked as though she had been carved out of shiny purple stone, yet she moved like any other child. She wore a blue and purple dress and had long black hair braided into two glossy plaits.
“Hi,” said the girl sweetly.
“You’re p-purple,” Zoe stuttered.
“Of course I am,” replied the girl. “I’m Amethyst. Pleased to meet you.”
She held out her dainty purple hand and Zoe shook it. It felt smooth and glassy, but just as warm as any human hand.
“I’m Zoe. Where on Earth is this place?”
Amethyst giggled. “You’re not on Earth - you’re in The Crystal World. The rainbow stone brought you here.”
Zoe’s mouth fell open in shock. Then she turned towards the little white bridge and blinked in disbelief. Hurrying over it was a green crystal boy. He had a funny little pointy nose and brown spiky hair.
“Thank goodness you’re here,” he said. “We were beginning to think you weren’t coming. Why did it take you so long to find the stone?”
Amethyst looked embarrassed. “You haven’t introduced yourself,” she said.
“Oh, I’m Emerald,” he said without apologizing. Then he looked Zoe up and down and remarked, “You’re not as strange looking as the others.”
“Others?” asked Zoe. “What others?”
“The nasty pair of nincompoops,” replied Emerald.
“We need your help,” explained Amethyst, a sparkly silver tear rolling down her cheek. “Just two weeks ago, our world was a happy place. That all changed when a couple named Sid and Hilda arrived from your planet Earth.”
“They’re so stupid!” said a furious Emerald. “They haven’t got half a brain between them and they are treating us all very badly. They moved themselves into the beautiful turquoise palace, which had stood empty for a hundred years. Now they are making us do everything for them, from sewing and mending, to sweeping and polishing.”
Zoe’s mind whirled in confusion. “They are stupid?” she said in disbelief. “Sounds more like you are all stupid if they’ve got you doing everything for them.”
“You don’t understand!” cried Emerald, stamping his foot. “Our people are under a very powerful spell!”
“Yes,” added Amethyst. “The horrid couple found a stone, just like you did, but this was an evil stone. It found its way to them because they are not nice people.”
“We were lucky,” Emerald said. “We escaped the spell.”
“Yes,” Amethyst told her. “We were swimming in the Aquamarine Pool with our friends Citrine and Sapphire when the spell struck our world. The magical water protected us.”
“You’ve got to help us,” said Emerald desperately. “At two o’clock tomorrow, they are being crowned king and queen of The Crystal World. After that, there’ll be very little we can do to save our people.”
“That’s terrible,” said Zoe in dismay. “But I don’t see how I can help you.”
Emerald turned around and began walking. “Follow us!” he said.
“We’re going to see Quartz the wizard,” Amethyst said with a smile. “He sent the rainbow stone to you. He’ll tell us what we must do.”
Chapter 2
Quartz the Wizard
Zoe followed her new friends through the shiny world past glistening houses, giant crystal clusters, and shimmering fields.
Along the way, she noticed beautiful animals happily roaming free. She saw sparkling birds, deer, sheep and rabbits. All were just like the ones on Earth, but came in every colour she could imagine. Each one looked like they had been carved from stone, but they were breathing, living creatures.
The children walked through an arch of sparkly trees and then a small ice blue mountain came into view.
“That’s where Quartz lives!” Emerald exclaimed, bouncing up and down in excitement.
They hurried through the sunny field of yellow flowers which surrounded Quartz’s beautiful mountain home.
“Where’s the door?” asked Emerald.
“Must be round the back,” said Amethyst.
He hurried around the back of the mountain and let out a huge scream.
Zoe and Amethyst ran after him and found him lying on the floor clutching his chest. A young blue crystal boy stood over him.
“He almost collided with me!” Emerald said dramatically.
Zoe smiled at the blue boy. He had a sweet round face and short black knotty dreadlocks. His big dark eyes sho
ne as he smiled back at her.
“I’m Sapphire,” he said, springing forwards and shaking her hand energetically. “I’ve been really looking forward to meeting you Zoe.”
Emerald rose to his feet, picked up a thick golden tree branch from the ground, and hurled it at the little mountain in frustration.
“WHO’S THERE?” a big voice boomed from above.
Zoe almost jumped out of her skin. The crystal people almost shattered!
“It’s us,” Sapphire gasped. “It’s Amethyst, Emerald and Sapphire. We’ve brought Zoe.”
A big door magically appeared and slid open.
“ENTER!” the voice roared.
The children stepped inside and the door closed behind them. They walked along a dark, narrow passageway into a dimly lit room lined with brown stone walls and shelves of books. In the centre was a chair and a chunky wooden table on which stood a burning candle, a black book of spells, and a purple satin box.
A door between the bookshelves slid open revealing a strange light and swirling mist. Out of the light a shadowy figure emerged, walking grandly towards them.
“That’s Quartz!” whispered Amethyst excitedly.
The door slid shut and Quartz, an old milky-white wizard with a silky beard, stood there in his purple star speckled robes and matching pointed hat. His mysterious bright blue eyes looked at Zoe through half-moon spectacles.
“Thank you for coming,” he said. “Please take a seat.”
He waved his silver wand and five more wooden chairs appeared around the table. The children each took a seat which left one chair vacant.
“Where’s Citrine?” Quartz asked, peering around the table.
“She’s on her way,” Amethyst replied.
“We can’t start without her,” Quartz said firmly. “I’ll have to hurry the girl up.”
He waved his silver wand and shouted “By the moon and the stars bring her here!”
Immediately, a little yellow crystal girl appeared in the chair. She wore a white dress with a yellow flower pattern and had shiny red hair swept back into a glossy ponytail. Her startled eyes were wide as saucers as she looked around the room, frightened and confused.
“Sorry to do that to you Citrine,” said Quartz kindly. “But, as you can see, Zoe has arrived. We must get cracking.”
Suddenly, the door between the bookshelves opened again. Out of the strange light and swirling mist a crystal ball floated into the room.
“Wonderful!” said Quartz, smiling brightly. “The ball is back from her travels.”
The clear crystal ball floated towards the table and rested on the black book of spells. Quartz placed his milk-white hands around the ball and stared into it.
“The pictures in the ball are becoming clearer,” he said. “I’m getting information on the terrible situation we find ourselves in. I can see the longer our people are under the spell, the less the likelihood of it ever being broken. It’s only a matter of time before the spell is so deep set into our people that they will stay in that terrible state forever. Sid and Hilda will be crowned king and queen and will rule our world until they die.”
Then a look of terror swept over his face. “Oh no, it can’t be. The stone that brought them here is … Oh, how can I even bring myself to say it?” He closed his eyes and drew a deep breath and then said slowly, “I’m afraid the stone that brought them here is a bloodstone!”
Shrieks of horror filled the room. Zoe’s heart skipped a beat. She had never heard of a bloodstone, but it was clear it must be something very bad indeed.
There was a zigzag flash within the ball and a picture of the bloodstone appeared briefly. Zoe and her friends could all see it. The long, narrow stone was deep green with red blood-like spots dotted all over its shiny surface.
Then there was another flash and a picture of Sid and Hilda appeared. Skinny Hilda was much taller than Sid. She had long, dark, scruffy hair and a very ugly pasty face. She had one straight eyebrow just above her right eye and a great sweeping slanting one on the other side, which was half way up her forehead. She had very long feet and smiled like a proper idiot.
Her husband Sid wore an obvious wig which was brown and curly. He had big staring eyes and a funny little mouth which was all puckered up like the end of a sausage.
Their picture faded and the ball then showed a giant turquoise palace surrounded by shimmering green lawns and sparkling red roses.
“This is their luxury home,” Quartz said sadly, reaching for the purple satin box with quivering hands. He opened it and brought out five black velvet pouches. “Here,” he said giving one to each young person. “These gifts are vital in our quest. You must not lose them or we will stand no chance of succeeding.”
Chapter 3
The Quest Begins
Excitedly, they opened the pouches and each contained a little silver necklace with a charm on the end.
Emerald’s charm was shaped like a key.
Amethyst’s charm looked like a pair of tweezers.
Citrine’s charm was a little digging spade.
Sapphire’s charm was a gleaming coin.
Zoe’s charm was shaped like a bottle.
“Each charm has a purpose,” Quartz said. Then he looked into the crystal ball again and declared “More information is coming through.”
He pulled out a handkerchief from his sleeve and anxiously mopped his brow. “There are five powerful magic stones we need to find in order to break the spell and send the vile couple back to Earth. The stones will be found on magical points in various places. We must place them in a large cauldron which is now standing in Carnelian Wood close to the waterfall.”
These are the magic stones Quartz told them they must find:
The carnelian – a lovely orange stone.
The rose quartz – a pretty pink stone.
The tigers eye – a stripy brown and gold stone.
The sodalite – a mottled blue stone.
And last, but most certainly not least, a diamond.
“Now,” Quartz said. “The first stone you must find is the orange carnelian. The crystal ball has indicated that, funnily enough, your search must begin in Carnelian Wood.”
Emerald frowned. “But Carnelian Wood is huge! They’ll be crowned rulers of our world before we’ve even found the first stone!”
Quartz looked sad. “I’m afraid that’s all I can tell you. We are lucky to have this much information. Listen carefully now – the stones have symbols painted on them. Each symbol holds the clue to the whereabouts of the next stone. Your charm necklaces will also help guide you in your search. They will glow when one of the magic stones is close by.”
“I know the wood well,” Sapphire said, fastening his charm’s chain around his neck with a smile. “The sooner we get started the better.”
“That’s the spirit boy!” Quartz exclaimed, patting him on the back. “You can do it. You can all do it.”
The children said goodbye to the wizard and set off back through the field of yellow flowers to Carnelian Wood.
Zoe gasped when she saw all the trees and paths zigzagging down the hilly wood.
“Where do we begin?” she asked.
“At the beginning of course!” Sapphire said with a glint in his eye. “Follow me!”
They walked on through the tall glistening trees looking for a sign. They came to a point where the path split in two ahead of them. They had a choice – left or right.
“Let’s go right,” Amethyst suggested. “It’s sunnier that way.”
They all agreed. Soon they reached a twisty old tree with red jewels hanging from its branches and Zoe noticed Citrine’s charm was glowing.
“It must be here somewhere,” Zoe said.
Citrine touched the tree and her necklace made a tinkling sound.
“Citrine’s charm is shaped like a spade, so that must mean the carnelian is in the ground somewhere here!” Amethyst said, her face glowing with excitement. “Try moving it around the root
s of the tree.”
Citrine moved the little spade around the knotty roots and the tinkling sound went louder, then quieter, then louder, then quieter. When it suddenly sounded an ear busting ‘Beeeeep!’ she knew she had located something. She scraped away at the soil with the little spade which, although tiny, was somehow magically shovelling the earth away at great speed. Very soon, she revealed something silvery.
She levered the object out of the ground. It was a little silver box about the size of a deck of cards. Citrine opened it up and found a folded piece of paper inside. She unfolded the paper. Written on it were the numbers seven, four, nine and three.
Everyone sighed in disappointment. They had expected to find a magic stone in the box.
Emerald looked furious. “What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked, looking at the paper in disgust. “A silly bit of paper is no good to us!”
All of a sudden, another silver box rose up from the ground beneath the tree. Everyone jumped backwards in shock.
Zoe looked at the box. It was quite a bit larger than the last one. Then she spotted numbered buttons on the front.
Her heart leapt in excitement. “Look!” she said. “It’s a safe. The numbers on the paper must be the code to open it!”
“Of course!” cried Citrine. She looked at the paper again and pressed the numbered buttons seven, four, nine, and three, and the door popped open. She reached inside and squealed in delight as she plucked out the glossy orange carnelian and waved it about in the air.
“I did it!” Citrine said proudly. “I found the first magic stone!”
Everyone took a closer look. It had the image of a snowflake painted onto it.
“Brilliant!” said Sapphire, punching the air in jubilation. “Let’s go!”
They hurried back through the wood and found the large black steaming cauldron close to a tumbling waterfall.
Citrine threw the magic stone into it. Immediately, the steam in the cauldron turned orange like a beautiful sunset as it rose and swirled into the air.
“It’s working!” cried Amethyst in delight.