“Alright Alex?”
Alex turned to see a boy with brown eyes and red hair! He walked towards Alex.
“Yep.” Alex replied quickly.
“I’m Michel Mambo.”
Alex looked at Michel. Michel went away. Alex got on Sparkle [Which was what he had named the unicorn] and rode away.
He went through the door. Miss Potions went by, looking very white. Almost pale! TACKY hooted at Alex. She had a letter!
Dear Alex,
I do not think that anyone else but you should go anywhere near the forest. Five people have gone. They all came from the forest. Be careful.
Professor Zipplezack.
P.S Please do be careful when going near the smoky forest.
Alex studied the letter. Ben looked at him.
“Smoky forest, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Well at our house you said something.”
“Oh yeah… Salusa!”
Both boys’ were in horror. It must have been Salusa!
“Bu… But he’s banned from the grounds!”
“That must have been why mum was so worried.”
Alex rode Sparkle to breakfast. He saw a sign over every classroom door. ’No Lessons today.’ How strange! He trotted Sparkle over to the common room and dismounted. Ben, Sophia and Kate came to him.
“No lessons today. Strange isn’t it?” Asked Sophia.
“Yeah, ‘five people have gone. They all came from the forest. Be careful.’ It’s all too strange.”
“They came from the forest? What does that mean?”
Alex knew the answer.
“‘Five people have gone.’. That means five people have died.’ They all came from the forest.’ means that they were in the forest when they died but the bodies have been recovered.”
“You are so smart, Alex!”
“Thanks.”
Alex went to see professor Zipplezack. He climbed a smart, white, marble staircase. At last, he came to a solid, white, marble door. He knocked twice. “Enter!” Boomed a great voice.
Alex went into a small round room. It had a many creatures walking around. A tiger, a lion and a crocodile. All the walls were made out of bookshelves. A small table was in the middle of the room, bearing a small cage in which three rats were in. One was a baby white one. The other two were black and big. A big, throne like, golden chair sat next to the table. Professor Zipplezack was sitting in it.
“Sit down, Alex.” Called professor Zipplezack. Alex sat down on a chair.
“Now, Alex. You know where Salusa is, don’t you? Go there in two weeks’ time, at nightfall, and fight Salusa. I shall train you as hard as I can so you will be prepared. I shall train you every evening a 5 O clock.”
Alex was astonished. He walked out. At five O' clock, he was walking up the marble steps, opening the door and walking in. Professor Zipplezack was sitting in the golden chair.
“Ready Alex?”
“I guess so.”
Alex spent the next few hours learning complicated stick attacks blocks and spells. At last professor Zipplezack said
“Time to go, Alex. If you ever see Salusa in your mind again, listen.”
Alex, for the next two weeks, had nothing on his mind except the fight. Teachers had been told to leave him alone so he was all alone in his thoughts. However, at nightfall on that day, he was frightened.
He went down to the smoky forest, alone. Alex stumbled down a narrow, lonely forest path. Suddenly there was a crack of light!
“Massssstttteeerrrr!”
“Yes, I know bat ears.”
A stick flashed into the light. It was a white stick and Alex’s stick smacked against it. Crack! Smack! A blinding light smashed around the trees.
Alex fell back. He splashed into a stream. Alex suddenly felt an outlandish feeling. He felt energy. He felt power! He unexpectedly shot out of the river!
Alex smacked Salusa over the head with his stick. Salusa turned into a black cloud! Lizards covered him. Bat ears turned into a bat with colossal ears and flew away. Salusa disappeared under all the lizards.
Alex walked along the path next to the river. As he came out of the forest, he saw the whole school waiting for him. Ben was shouting as soon as he came out.
“Hey what were you thinking?”
“I…”
“Yeah whatever but you look awful!”
Ben was right. Alex was a mess. There was blood all over his torn clothes and huge cuts all over his body. Professor Zipplezack took him to the hospital ward.
Miss. Lofark [The Nurse] was amazed.
“Mister Mason! It i…i…is m…my honour to be of such a…. a service!”
She bandaged him up and made him drink lots of medicine. Some medicine was sweet and some was sour. Alex drank up every single one.
His body was healing and soon, with only a day left at school, he was up and walking with Ben, Kate and Sophia.
“So that’s what a term feels like.” thought Alex. Aloud he said “A whole term came and gone.”
“Yeah but we did have some fun, didn’t we?” asked Ben.
“Sure we did!” Kate shouted. “What with annoying Patrick and enchanting suitcases when it’s against every single school rule!”
Alex slept happily and in the morning packed everything into his big leather suitcase. He then went to the hall.
“First years let me tell you that you will be teleported to your homes in ten…”
“Bye Alex.”
“Bye Kate.”
“Nine…”
“Bye Alex.”
“Bye Sophia.”
“Eight…”
“Bye Alex.”
“Bye Ben.”
“Seven…”
Alex checked himself to make sure he had not forgotten anything. His books were in his bag along with his cauldron and potion ingredients.
“Six, five, four, and three…”
Goodbye Cross Swords He thought.
“Two, one!”
In a flash Alex was home. It had a good feeling and a bad. He stepped in. ‘The end of that year’ he thought. ‘But there is still next year’.
By Kate Leonard and Jessica Teixeira.
A special note:
We would like to say thank you to everyone who helped us with this book. We are very grateful to them.
Alex Mason and the Smoky forest Page 5