Island of Magical Creatures Read online

  CONTENTS

  TITLE PAGE

  THE WORLD OF ETHERIA

  ADORA

  SHE-RA

  THE HORDE

  THE REBELLION

  CHAPTER 1: INTO THE WOODS

  CHAPTER 2: THE PRINCESS COUNCIL

  CHAPTER 3: AN ANCIENT MURAL

  CHAPTER 4: EYES IN THE DARKNESS

  CHAPTER 5: ACROSS THE ICE BRIDGE

  CHAPTER 6: BATTLE ON THE GORGE

  CHAPTER 7: ARCANA ISLAND

  CHAPTER 8: TWINKLES THE MIGHTY

  CHAPTER 9: FOLLOWING TREELEAF

  CHAPTER 10: CATRA’S BACK!

  CHAPTER 11: DECISIONS

  CHAPTER 12: A BOND AT LAST?

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  TEASER

  COPYRIGHT

  On the planet Etheria, the kingdom of Bright Moon is recovering from a big battle.

  It began when the Horde drained the power from the runestones that lend magical protection to the rebel kingdoms and their princesses. Bright Moon was the last to fall. Led by She-Ra, the princesses joined forces in Bright Moon and learned that when they are together, their powers are stronger. They restored power to the Moonstone protecting the kingdom and defeated the Horde troops.

  Even though they are victorious, there is no time for the princesses to celebrate. Their kingdoms are in ruins. Horde robots still roam the Whispering Woods, attacking anyone who crosses their path. And Adora knows that her old friend Catra will not rest until the Horde rules Etheria. Their next attack could happen at any time.

  Now Adora and the princesses must figure out their next move, while Adora must find her place in the world of the princesses. Will she ever learn why she was destined to become She-Ra? Will she be able to help Catra see the light? And when will she stop saying the wrong thing to Swift Wind, her magical flying horse?

  As her story unfolds, meet her and some of the characters who will help determine her fate …

  Raised by the Horde, Adora believed she was doing good. But when she finds a mythical sword that unlocks her power as She-Ra, Adora is driven to fight for Etheria as a leader of the Rebellion.

  ABILITIES: Adora is a clever problem solver, a fast and athletic soldier, and a brave fighter.

  When Adora raises her sword and pledges to fight “for the honor of Grayskull,” she is transformed into the mythical warrior princess She-Ra. Adora retains her personality and sense of self, but she’s taller and stronger—and has much better hair.

  POWERS: Super-strength, shape-shifting sword, limited healing powers, connection to the ancient First Ones of Etheria

  Catra and Adora were both orphans and were close growing up in the Horde; they thought of themselves as sisters. Catra is a prankster with a villainous streak that she is forced to explore once Adora discovers the sword.

  ABILITIES: She’s cunning and fast, with catlike reflexes.

  A Force Captain in the Horde, Scorpia is Catra’s new best friend (or, at least, Scorpia thinks she is). She is technically a princess of the fallen Scorpion Kingdom, which Hordak took over years ago.

  POWERS: Poisonous scorpion tail and above-average strength

  The evil leader of the Horde is bent on world domination. The Horde recruits rarely see him, as he prefers to plot from the depths of his lab.

  ABILITY: He has a brilliant technological mind.

  The princess of Bright Moon is driven to find her own path and is an enthusiastic leader of the Rebellion. She has inherited magical powers from her mother, but her magic is limited, which can make her feel insecure at times.

  POWERS: Teleportation, energy blasts, sparkle powers

  Glimmer’s best friend is a good guy who values loyalty and honor above everything else. He will do anything for his friends—and even complete strangers.

  ABILITIES: He’s an expert archer and a whiz with technology.

  She is Glimmer’s mother and the immortal queen of Bright Moon. After the tragic death of her husband at the hands of the Horde, she is overprotective of her daughter.

  POWER: Flight

  He was an ordinary horse until Adora accidentally transformed him with She-Ra’s sword. He quickly became a valuable asset to the Rebellion.

  POWERS: Flight, speed, and he can talk!

  She is the peace-loving ruler of the kingdom of Plumeria. While she is happiest when things are in perfect harmony, she is strong and not afraid to fight for what is right.

  POWERS: She controls and grows plants and flowers.

  Although she’s not quick to show her real feelings to others, Mermista has a soft side when it comes to her friends. And if you want to know the truth about something, Mermista will tell you without sugarcoating it.

  POWERS: She controls water, and her legs can transform into a fishlike tail.

  Because she’s the youngest of the princesses, Frosta sometimes puts on a tough exterior to earn the respect of her subjects in the Kingdom of Snows. She’s got awesome powers and is not afraid to use them.

  POWERS: She controls ice and snow.

  She’s dependable and always shows up with Spinnerella when the Rebellion needs help. She gets defensive when her powers are questioned, because she knows that her nets can take down almost any opponent.

  POWERS: She conjures up energy nets that can trap objects of all sizes.

  She’s kind and sweet, but just like the wind, she can go from breezy to stormy in a heartbeat. Like Netossa, she has always been loyal to the Rebellion.

  POWERS: She controls the wind, creating cyclones that blow her enemies away.

  “Swift Wind, circle back!” She-Ra yelled.

  “Why are we going back?” the flying horse asked. “There’s nothing there!”

  “I thought I spotted something moving,” She-Ra replied. The princess clung to his orange mane with one hand and held her sword in the other. Her long, blonde hair streamed behind her.

  Swift Wind snorted and then quickly changed course, his rainbow-colored wings pushing against the air currents. Then he soared across the Whispering Woods, the thick forest surrounding the kingdom of Bright Moon.

  She-Ra scanned the trees, searching for signs of a Horde robot. Just a few days ago, the Horde had attacked Bright Moon and had almost won. But the princesses of Etheria had banded together and defeated the Horde army. The army had retreated, but some of the Horde robots were still roaming the woods.

  “Down there!” She-Ra cried. “Can we get closer?”

  “Does a duck quack?” Swift Wind asked, and he dove down toward the treetops.

  “I don’t know, does it?” She-Ra asked. “A duck is a furry—no, it’s a bird, right? The kind that swims on ponds? Is quacking like swimming?”

  Swift Wind snorted. “Didn’t they teach you anything in the Fright Zone?”

  She-Ra wanted to point out that it wasn’t her fault that there were no cute animals in the Fright Zone and that she was doing her best to learn about them. But there was no time for that. Now she could clearly see the robot they’d been pursuing.

  Horde robots had always reminded her of giant, four-legged spiders. The robot’s brain and weapons center was a metal globe perched on top of the legs. This one crashed through the underbrush, the red eye on the globe moving back and forth, searching for humans.

  “We need to get closer,” She-Ra said.

  “I’ve got to stay above the trees,” Swift Wind countered.

  “Why?” She-Ra asked.

  “I need room to flap my wings,” he reminded her. “That helps with the whole flying thing.”

  “Fine, we’ll flush it out,” She-Ra said.

  She aimed her sword at the bot. Blue energy shot down and zapped it. Its eye swirled up and saw She-Ra.

  “F
ly ahead, to the clearing!” She-Ra instructed Swift Wind.

  The horse obeyed, speeding over the woods, and the robot followed in pursuit below. They reached the clearing at roughly the same time, and the bot began barraging She-Ra and Swift Wind with red laser blasts.

  “Hey, watch the tail!” Swift Wind complained, flying up to dodge the blast. “She-Ra, can you do something about this guy?”

  She-Ra aimed her sword at the robot again, and this time she had a clear shot. She aimed right for the robot’s prime target: its laser eye.

  Zap! The blue blast from her sword hit its mark, sending sparks shooting from the robot. One of its legs collapsed.

  “Finish it!” Swift Wind cried, swooping down over the robot. She-Ra reached down and sank her sword into the top of the dome. As she pulled it out, more sparks flew.

  “Nice!” the horse said.

  Sparking and smoking, the Horde robot collapsed. The laser eye dimmed and went out.

  “Yes!” She-Ra cheered.

  Swift Wind gracefully landed in the clearing, and She-Ra climbed off his back. She transformed into Adora, her usual form. While She-Ra was an eight-foot-tall legendary princess with superhuman powers and epic hair, Adora was an average-sized young woman with sharpened battle skills and hair pulled back in a sensible ponytail.

  “Back to Adora already?” Swift Wind asked. “There could be more robots out there.”

  “We can go robot hunting later,” she replied. “There’s a meeting of the Princess Council in a few minutes, and I need to be there.”

  “She-Ra is a princess,” Swift Wind said.

  “Yeah, but I fit in the chair much better than she does,” Adora said. She began walking toward Queen Angella’s palace, and Swift Wind followed.

  “Can I come to the meeting, too?” he asked.

  “I don’t think so,” she replied. “I think it’s a princess-only thing, and you’re, you know, a flying horse.”

  “Bow isn’t a princess, and he gets to go,” Swift Wind pointed out. “Also, I’m part of the Rebellion! And if I can’t hang out with the princesses, who can I hang out with?”

  Adora shrugged. “What about other horses?”

  Swift Wind snorted. “In case you haven’t noticed, I am not like other horses. I am the only magical, flying, talking horse in Bright Moon! Regular horses just don’t get me. I’ve been trying to start a revolutionary movement to convince them to leave their masters and be free. But they’re content to eat hay in their warm, cozy stables.” He shook his head.

  They had crossed into the village and were passing a barn with a fenced-in field. A brown horse stood by the fence, munching on a hay bale.

  Swift Wind stopped in front of her.

  “Hear me, sister! Break free of the chains of servitude that bind you and join me in the glorious freedom of revolution!”

  Neeeeeeeigh, the horse whinnied in reply.

  “What did she say?” Adora asked.

  “She said it’s Alfalfa Tuesday at the farm, and she’s been looking forward to it all week,” Swift Wind said. “Such a shame. She is a puppet of her overlords!”

  He flapped his wings. “I’ll see you at the castle, Adora!” he said, and then he flew off.

  “Hey! Can’t I get a lift?” she called after him, but he didn’t turn back.

  Adora sighed and continued her walk. She looked around, marveling at how happy and peaceful the kingdom looked. During the battle of Bright Moon, it had been plunged into darkness. The Horde had found a way to attack the Moonstone, the magical runestone that protected the kingdom and gave Queen Angella and Princess Glimmer their powers. For one scary moment, Adora had been sure that Bright Moon would be lost forever.

  Catra had been sure of it, too. Catra had been her best friend when they were growing up in the Fright Zone together, trained to become soldiers of the Horde. Then Adora had found the Sword of Protection and transformed into She-Ra. She’d met Glimmer and Bow and realized that everything she’d learned in the Fright Zone was a lie. So Adora had joined the princesses, and Catra had become a force captain in the Horde—and her sworn enemy.

  Adora reached up to touch her cheek. The mark was gone, but she could still feel where Catra had scratched her with her sharp claws during the battle. She could still hear Catra’s cruel taunts inside her head.

  It won’t be over until your friends find out that you’ve failed—that you were too weak to save them.

  Catra hadn’t counted on the power of the princesses, and how strong they could be. Adora still got chills, thinking about all the powerful energy she had felt when the princesses had banded together. It had filled her with more hope than she’d ever known—a feeling that no matter what the princesses faced, they could overcome it.

  That powerful energy had been too much for Catra. She and the Horde army had retreated, but Adora knew that Catra wouldn’t stop until she’d defeated the princesses for good.

  Part of her still hoped she could get through to Catra and bring her over to the princesses’ side.

  That will never happen, she argued with herself. She is too filled with hate. Too loyal to the Horde.

  And then a thought chilled her. What if she had never found the sword? She would have been the one leading the charge against Bright Moon, with Catra by her side. There would have been no She-Ra to defend the kingdom. In that scenario, the Horde would have won, and Bright Moon would have been lost …

  “Adora!”

  Glimmer appeared in front of her in a shower of pink sparkles. The sparkles settled into her pink-and-purple hair.

  “You’re late for the meeting!” Glimmer said.

  “I know, but there was this robot, and then Swift Wind …” Adora began.

  “No time!” Glimmer said. She hugged Adora, and poof! They transported in a glittery cloud.

  Adora and Glimmer appeared in the Princess Council’s meeting room in a shower of sparkles. The other princesses were already there.

  Perfuma had her eyes closed with her palms pressed together in front of her face. Dark pink flowers were scattered in her long, pale hair.

  Mermista was twirling a strand of her aqua blue hair around one finger, yawning.

  Frosta, the youngest princess, was impatiently drumming her fingers on top of the big, round meeting table.

  Netossa and Spinnerella had their heads together, whispering.

  Besides the princesses, there was Bow, Glimmer’s best friend. And sitting tall and looking over them all was Queen Angella. Her pale pink wings fascinated Adora. They were so pretty, but also so powerful. Adora had seen the queen fly with the speed of an eagle during the battle of Bright Moon.

  “I found her!” Glimmer announced to the group.

  “Sorry I’m late,” Adora said. “I was taking down a Horde robot in the woods.”

  At that moment, Swift Wind walked into the room. “You mean we took down a Horde robot,” he corrected her.

  “That’s what I meant,” Adora said. “But you weren’t in the room—never mind.”

  “Will you be staying for the meeting, Swift Wind?” Queen Angella asked him.

  “Of course I am. I’m a member of the Rebellion, aren’t I?” the horse replied.

  Queen Angella raised an eyebrow, but didn’t argue. She turned to Adora.

  “What is your report from the Whispering Woods?” she asked.

  “There are still more robots wandering the woods—at least a dozen,” Adora replied.

  “I don’t understand. I thought the Horde army retreated,” Spinnerella said.

  Adora nodded. “They did, but it was a hasty retreat, and they didn’t have time to gather all of their bots.”

  “That’s right! We sent them running!” Frosta cheered. “I was all, like, pow! And then Glimmer was, like, zap! And then Spinnerella came in with a whoosh! It was awesome.”

  “We definitely won the battle, but I know the Horde,” Adora reminded them. “They are not going to let this one defeat stop them. They’ll be back for anothe
r round. And this time, they’ll have a different plan.”

  “And we’ll be ready for them,” Glimmer said confidently.

  “We need to make sure that we are,” Adora replied. “The Horde has even more troops and more robots than they brought to the battle. If they hit us with everything they’ve got, we could be in trouble.”

  “Even with Princess Power?” Frosta asked.

  Adora nodded. “Even with Princess Power. So I thought today we could brainstorm. What can we do to increase our strength? Or improve our strategy?”

  Perfuma’s eyes fluttered open. “Did the meeting start?”

  “Yes, Adora’s been saying, like, a whole bunch of stuff,” Mermista said. “Weren’t you listening?”

  “I was grounding and centering to prepare for the meeting,” Perfuma answered with a smile. She looked at Adora. “What was the question again?”

  “What can we do to make the Rebellion stronger?” Adora asked.

  Netossa spoke up. “They’ve got soldiers. Maybe we need soldiers.”

  “I love that idea,” Spinnerella said. “We could travel to the villages around Etheria and recruit people.”

  “That’s not a bad idea,” Adora said, “but Horde soldiers go through years of conditioning. We’d have to set up some kind of training camp.”

  “Only Adora and myself have the necessary background to train soldiers,” Queen Angella reminded everyone.

  “Hey, I’m self-taught,” Glimmer said. “I could do it. And don’t forget Bow. He’s a master with a bow and arrow.”

  Bow nodded. “We could mass-produce my trick arrows.”

  “My Snow Guards could help, too,” Frosta chimed in.

  “And Netossa could teach our soldiers how to toss nets,” Spinnerella said. “They wouldn’t be magical nets, like hers, but nets can still be useful.”