Unicorn Academy: Zara and Moonbeam E-Book

Julie Sykes

• Herausgeber: Nosy Crow
• Kategorie: Für Kinder und Jugendliche
• Serie: Unicorn Academy
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2020

Seitenzahl: 62

Beschreibung

When your best friend is a unicorn, magical adventures are guaranteed! Imagine a school where you meet your own unicorn and have amazing adventures together! That's what happens for the girls at Unicorn Academy on beautiful Unicorn Island. Zara loves solving mysteries and having adventures with her dreamy unicorn, Moonbeam. She can't wait for Moonbeam to discover her magic power so that they can become the perfect partners! Moonbeam is having strange visions, but Zara is sure they're just daydreams. When Zara's attempt to stop a terrible heatwave leads her into trouble, can Moonbeam discover her magic in time to rescue her? With a glittery cover and beautifully illustrated throughout by Lucy Truman, Unicorn Academy is the perfect series for 7+ readers who love magic and adventure. Check out the other titles in this series: Sophia and Rainbow, Scarlett and Blaze, Isabel and Cloud and many more!

Leseprobe

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Moonbeam closed her eyes and started to sway. “The earth is shaking,” she said dreamily. “Rocks are falling from the sky. Zara!” Moonbeam’s eyes snapped open. Her nostrils flared and she was trembling. “I saw you in danger,” she breathed.

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HAVE YOU READ?

Sophia and Rainbow

Scarlett and Blaze

Ava and Star

Isabel and Cloud

Layla and Dancer

Olivia and Snowflake

Rosa and Crystal

Ariana and Whisper

Matilda and Pearl

Freya and Honey

Violet and Twinkle

Isla and Buttercup

Lily and Feather

Phoebe and Shimmer

LOOK OUT FOR:

Aisha and Silver

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For Khadijah and her magical mum, Rumena Aktar

1

CHAPTER ONE

“We won!” Zara punched the air as her unicorn, Moonbeam, galloped across the dry grass and plunged into Sparkle Lake.

“Yay!” Moonbeam kicked up her hooves, showering them both with the glittering water.

Zara pushed her straight brown hair away from her face. “Hurry up, slowcoaches!” she called to her friends. “It’s lovely and cool!”

With whoops of delight, Phoebe, Lily and Aisha galloped into the lake on their unicorns Shimmer, Feather and Silver.

“It was so hot and stuffy this morning in class, 2I honestly thought I was going to die. I think we should ask Ms Rosemary if we can have afternoon lessons in the lake,” said Phoebe, pushing her long blonde plaits over her shoulders. “It would be awesome!”

Zara laughed. “Yep, cos she’ll definitely agree to that!”

It was the middle of the summer and Unicorn Island was suffering from a heatwave. At first, Zara and her friends in Amethyst dormitory had loved the long hot days and nights. But after several weeks of soaring temperatures the heat was becoming unbearable. The grass had dried to a yellow crisp and the flowers and plants had all wilted. The fountain was reduced to half its height and the lake had shrunk, leaving a rim of cracked dried mud around the edge.

The unicorns splashed around, kicking water at each other with their hooves.3

Lily leaned forward and whispered in Feather’s ear. Suddenly the lake began to ripple. Zara smelled the sweet sugary scent of magic and saw sparkles bubbling up through the water from Feather’s hooves. The ripples grew stronger until the water rose in a tall, glittering wave. It arched high over Zara, Phoebe and Aisha. Zara held her breath, expecting a soaking.

CRACK! More magical sparkles fizzed in the air and the wave exploded, raining shimmering droplets down on everyone.

Zara laughed, enjoying the cool mist falling on her face and hair.

Lily, Phoebe and Aisha clapped and cheered. “Go, Feather and Shimmer!”

Zara clapped too but she couldn’t help feeling a little bit envious. She knew Lily’s unicorn, Feather, had created the wave with her special moving magic and Phoebe’s unicorn, Shimmer, had broken it with his energy magic. When would Moonbeam discover her magic? The unicorns usually found their special magical powers during their first year at the academy. Those who didn’t had to stay on for a second year with their partners.4

5“He’s coming back,” Moonbeam whispered.

Zara leaned over her neck. “Who’s coming back?” she asked, wondering what Moonbeam was talking about.

“He is,” said Moonbeam dreamily.

“But who?” said Zara. “Who are you talking about?” She felt a prickle of frustration. Moonbeam often went off into daydreams. “What do you mean, Moonbeam?”

Moonbeam started in surprise as if she was waking up. “Oh, sorry! I’m not sure what I was saying.”

“Hurry up, you two!” Lily called from the bank. “Lunchtime’s nearly over and we need to dry off 6before afternoon classes start.”

“OK,” Zara called. “We’re coming!”

But Moonbeam didn’t move. “Zara, wait, I feel strange, like there’s magic all around me. My skin’s tingling.”

Zara shrugged. “Shimmer and Feather were just doing magic. That must be what you can sense.”

“This is different,” Moonbeam insisted. “For a moment back there I … I felt like I’d found my own magic.”

Zara frowned. “But you didn’t do anything magical, Moonbeam.”

“No, but I had a feeling,” said Moonbeam.

Zara sighed. Moonbeam was always going on about feelings and how important they were. “Moonbeam, you know I want you to find your magic just as much as you do but imagining it’s happening isn’t going to help. Come on, let’s go 7and dry off. We’ve got Care of Unicorns after lunch and Ms Rosemary hates it when people are late.”

For a moment, she thought Moonbeam was going to argue but then, to her relief, she splashed out of the lake. As they reached the bank, Zara slid from Moonbeam’s back and ran over to join her friends, who were sunbathing.

“That was a fun water fight!” she said, flopping down on the grass next to Phoebe.

Aisha giggled and tightened her high ponytail. “I thought Feather was going to cover us with that wave!”

Phoebe grinned. “It wasn’t half as scary as the enormous tidal wave that almost hit us when we camped on the cliff though.”

Lily nodded. “I will never ever forget that. It was terrifying! We were so lucky that Shimmer was able to save us using his energy magic.”8

Back in the spring, a huge tidal wave had nearly destroyed a stretch of coastline that the girls had been camping on. They’d only escaped thanks to Shimmer’s magic powers. He had used his ability to throw balls of magic energy to break up the wave before it could do any real damage.

That wasn’t the only environmental disaster the girls had experienced this year. Just after they had started at Unicorn Academy, purple tornadoes had devastated the island. One had almost destroyed the academy, but Feather had used her moving magic to force it safely out to sea.

Zara suddenly had a worrying thought. “What if this heatwave is being caused by the same person who caused the tornadoes and the tidal wave?”

Phoebe sat up. “You mean it could be part of someone’s evil plan?”

“It’s a possibility,” said Zara.9

“If it is part of someone’s plan, we need to be on our guard,” said Lily.

Phoebe waved her hands dramatically. “We could be attacked at any moment!”

“Don’t exaggerate, Phoebs,” Zara said with a grin. She really liked Phoebe but she did turn every small thing into a huge drama.

“But what if this evil person is planning to use this heatwave to hurt us – and our unicorns?” Phoebe exclaimed.

“We need to find out who’s causing these things before it gets worse,” said Zara. “We know it’s a man because we heard a man’s voice in the tornado and tidal wave saying he wouldn’t be stopped. And before the tsunami struck, we heard that a cloaked man had been hanging around the outskirts of the village where the wave was heading.”

“None of those things tells us who the person is 10though,” Lily pointed out. “Or why he’s trying to harm the island.”

“True.” A look of determination crossed Zara’s eyes. “I vote we try to find him and stop him for good.” She glanced round at her three friends. “Who’s with me? Who wants to solve this mystery?”

“Me!” cried Phoebe, Lily and Aisha, as their unicorns whinnied and stamped their hooves.

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CHAPTER TWO