Keeper of the Crystals: Eve and the Griffin's Gold by Jess Black and Celeste Hulme

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For all of my readers. Thank you.

First published in Australia 2017

by New Frontier Publishing Pty Ltd ABN 67 126 171 757 48 Ross Street, Glebe NSW 2037, Australia www.newfrontier.com.au Text copyright Š 2017 Jess Black Illustrations copyright Š 2017 New Frontier Publishing Illustrations by Celeste Hulme This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted by the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. Enquiries should be addressed to the publishers.

All rights reserved.

A Cataloging-in-Publication entry for this book is available from the National Library of Australia.

ISBN: 978-1-925059-83-0 Cover illustration and design by Celeste Hulme Printed in China 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Jess Black

Illustrated by Celeste Hulme

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E

ve was not good at waiting.

She stood with her nose pressed

against the cold glass while balancing

on tiptoe on the arm of the couch. From this height she could see all the way to the corner of Stewart Street. Eve knew that this was the way her grandmother, Sylvie, would walk from the bus stop when she arrived. ‘Hurry up,’ Eve muttered urgently and her 1

breath misted up the window. She teetered and nearly lost her balance. A firm nudge from Ingvar’s snout pushed her upright.

‘Thanks Ing.’ Eve leaned her weight against the scaly purple skin of the dragon and placed the palm of her hand on the dragon’s neck.

There was energy in the air that made Eve’s hair stand on end. Eve shared a connection with Ingvar that was very strong and they both felt it. Ingvar did not speak out loud but she and Eve understood each other.

‘They’re late!’ Eve sighed.

Ingvar was Eve’s kindred animal, a dragon from the world of Xeria. Ingvar had come home with Eve to watch over and protect her. The two had become firm friends.

Ingvar went everywhere with Eve: to school, to swimming practice, even out to dinner.

But what was most exciting and at times 2

hilarious was that nobody else could see Ingvar – except for Sylvie and Eve’s friend Oscar.

At the thought of Oscar and Sylvie Eve felt her stomach flutter with excitement.

She hadn’t seen them since they had all returned from Xeria and Eve had so many stories to share about her life with Ingvar.

Eve’s parents had to go away for a work conference so Sylvie was coming to stay, and they had agreed to Oscar coming too. It was school holidays and he had never been to the city before. Eve couldn’t wait to show him her favourite places.

‘Where are they?’ Eve asked Ingvar. The dragon cocked her head and looked, then let out a deep purr. Around the corner came a slightly stooped, grey-haired woman wearing a yellow jacket, and a boy with unmissable dark curly locks. Oscar 3

was carrying his large backpack and Sylvie pulled a neat suitcase behind her. What Eve and Ingvar could see – but nobody else could – was that alongside the pair stalked a fierce and beautiful snow leopard.

This was Flot. She was Sylvie’s kindred animal and had been with her for many years. She even slept on the end of Sylvie’s bed. The pair had travelled to many worlds and had many adventures.

‘Mum!’ Eve yelled as she jumped down from the couch. ‘They’re here!’

‘Just wait until they buzz, Eve, and you can let them up.’ Her mother’s voice sounded muffled from her bedroom. She was still frantically packing so she could meet Eve’s dad at the airport on time.

‘No, I’ll run down,’ Eve called back. She grabbed the keys and slipped out of the apartment door before her mother could 4

argue. She couldn’t stay inside a minute longer!

One of Eve and Ingvar’s favourite games was to race each other down the five flights of stairs to the foyer. Eve would sprint as fast as she could and Ingvar would do a combination of flying and leaping. The race always ended with Eve out of breath and in fits of giggles, and Ingvar letting out little puffs of smoke to show her amusement.

Eve and her dragon friend sped down the stairs in record time. They both exploded out of the stairwell door into the foyer. It was a large and usually empty area that people passed through, only pausing to check their mailboxes. As Eve and Ingvar raced across the carpeted area the lift doors opened, and Eve nearly collided with a woman in a hooded cloak striding towards the lift.

‘Sorry!’ Eve panted.

As the woman turned towards them from 5

the lift, Eve felt a cold shiver run down her back.

‘You two should be more careful.’ The woman’s voice sounded like broken glass underfoot.

You two? thought Eve. Could she see Ingvar? But that was impossible, unless …

Eve felt her throat tighten. This was a woman who wanted to rule her world at any cost – even if it meant wiping out all the dragons forever. This was a woman Eve had never thought she would see again.

It was Althea from the world of Xeria.

Eve rushed towards the lift doors. She needed to stop Althea!

But she was a fraction too late. The doors closed. The last thing Eve saw was Althea’s smile beneath her hood. And the smile was not a friendly one.

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