Streaks of Purple Saga/Spectrum Force by Heather Ray (classic books for 13 year olds .TXT) 📖

in the company of Trini, Jason, Billy and Zack, Amanda found herself completely charmed by them.

"Any word from Kimberly or Tommy?" she wondered aloud.

Trini politely swallowed the tortilla chip before replying. "They went to pick up the pictures from the Halloween Ball. They should get here any minute now."
Chapter Three

The North Pole

The Denebian princess watched the steam curl in the chilled air as all warmth escaped the blood. It had congealed completely, filling in the intricate grooves she'd carved into the solid stone floor. She felt the thrill of pride as the blood activated the magic embedded in the pattern. The dark red began to flash with electricity, reacting to the surge of life energy that had been expended.

Then, the wind began to gather, lifting energy from the magical engraving and carrying it into the air. Scarlet sparks swirled in a vivid storm, completely focused over the engraving.

Smirking in triumph, Celea lifted a leather scroll and began chanting the incantation that would make manifest the portal.

Chapter Four

Langstrum Alps

A sleek spaceship orbited high in the stratosphere, its passenger watching over the planet in her care with a vigilant eye.

It had been over a month since Spectra left Lumina City, the sanctuary for the Warriors of Light, in order to protect the planet Earth from the empress Phaedra. She was sent on a crucial and dangerous mission: to beat Phaedra's armies to this vulnerable planet and prevent it from falling into the hands of the Denebian Empire.

If the Empire laid claim to Earth, it would have a foothold in the Outskirts of the galaxy, giving them the opportunity to attack the forces of Light on two fronts. It would be a devastating loss to Spectra's comrades; their already meager forces would be further strained as the enemy closed in from all sides.

Spectra came to Earth alone, armed with her skill, cunning, and the White Stone, a magical crystal that can harness the power of Light. That Stone would enable human beings, fragile as they are, to participate in the salvation of their home.

The Stone had been split, and distributed to six humans with the dedication, creativity, and inner strength needed to properly wield the power of Light. Those six became the Spectrum Force.

The six still had much to learn about warfare. They were brave, intelligent, and eager to prevent their world from falling prey to the oppressive Empire. They trained every morning with little complaint, recognizing the urgency of developing their skills. Still, so far they'd been supremely lucky: the last battle fought, on the distant planet Edenia, left Phaedra marooned thousands of light-years from Earth, giving the Force a much-needed lull in battle to continue their development.

The main computer terminal flashed brightly, which in turn fed the alarms throughout the ship, alerting Spectra to danger. Her pale pink eyes narrow, she watched a globe of Earth appear on her main viewing screen.

Spectra released a slow breath. "Phaedra has recovered herself."

Closing her eyes, she sent out the summons to alert the Spectrum Force of this most recent threat.

Chapter Five

Breathe in, breathe out…

The young brunette in the back row repeated the mantra over and over again, her hazel eyes staring at the stack of neatly typed note cards in her hands. In the front of the classroom, a fellow student stood at the podium, his eyes on the audience as his hands gestured to the diagram of a Bronze Age Egyptian temple he used as part of his presentation.

Jocelyn Armand didn't hear a word of it.

I can do this… there's only twenty people in this class.

Twenty pairs of eyes watching her. What if she tripped on her way to the podium? Would her voice crack when she tried to speak? Would her voice even project loud enough?

She was soft-spoken and reserved by nature. Her whole life, she'd steered as far away from pubic speaking as possible. She'd never considered a school play, debate team, or anything else that would require it. Whenever she had to give an oral report, she struggled through it as best she could.

Still, the brief reports that peppered her high school course of study hardly compared to a twenty-minute presentation on royal ideology and state administration in Pharaoh's Egypt.

Why exactly did I take History of the Ancient World again? Did I really think studying obsolete cultures would be fun

?

The essay had been easy to write. The pop quiz on the Egyptian pantheon of gods was a breeze. But the oral report...

This will definitely

drag my grade down to a C. I can feel it…

She leaned back in her chair, closing her eyes again and willing her heart to slow down to a reasonable pace. She inhaled slowly, and released her tension in a deliberate exhale. And instead of reliving the agony of her other oral reports, she tried to reflect on the bright side

I can do this. If I can confront an army of evil alien drones, facing my classmates should be a cinch.

Why it wasn't, she couldn't explain.

A sudden flash of orange light caught her eye, and her anxiety levels rose to new heights.

She was being summoned… in the middle of class, no less.

Oh no, not now!

She pulled her sleeve over her hand, careful to keep the luminous ring from drawing attention from her classmates.

A heartbeat later, the rest of the class broke in polite applause.

"Thank you, David," Dr. Philip Keenan spoke, standing up from his desk, "that was fine presentation. Take your seat."

David quickly gathered his notes, and sat down near the middle of the class.

"Now, who'd like to be next?"

Jocelyn's hand flew up immediately.

"Okay, Jocelyn, what's the topic of your report?"

"Uh… actually I was hoping I could be excused."

Dr. Keenan frowned, and suddenly, it felt like all twenty pairs of eyes were focused on her anyway.

She swallowed a lump that had clogged her throat. "I'm not feeling well."

After a few moments of deliberation, he nodded. "All right, Jocelyn, you can go. We won't be able to get through all the presentations today, anyway. But, I expect to hear your report in Friday's class."

She released a tremulous breath as she stuffed her notebook and presentation cards into her backpack. "Thanks, Dr. Keenan."

Her head bowed, she left the classroom as quickly as she could without running.

Chapter Six

In a bright flash of orange light, the final member of the Spectrum Force arrived at their mobile headquarters.

"Jocie, what took you?"

She grimaced at Matt, setting down her backpack with a heavy sigh. "History of the Ancient World seminar, remember?"

The copper-haired freshman winced. "Did you at least give your report before you left?"

"Nope, but I have to give it on Friday, no excuses."

"Relax, Jocie," Keith urged with a grin. "This time we're not going on an interplanetary field trip. We'll be back in plenty of time."

Jocelyn turned to Spectra, who sat patiently before the computer screen. "What's going on?"

Spectra pressed a button, which summoned a picture of the globe. "There's a powerful magic focused near the North Pole. It erupted about ten minutes ago, and it's like nothing I've ever seen before."

"The North Pole?" Craig repeated, frowning. "Why there? There's nothing up there but ice and penguins."

"It's also dark this time of year," Rachel stated. "Maybe the Denebians want to make sure to avoid sunlight?"

Tamara folded her arms. "Looks like Phaedra doesn't want to be interrupted."

"We must go and stop whatever spell she's conducting," Spectra determined, standing up. "Spectrum Sync, and then we will depart."

The six humans stood in a row, lifting their right hands into the air. Each Spectrum Stone, set in a silver band on their fingers, released the rich fog-like aura that swirled around the hero's body to form a tight energy cocoon. Then, in a flash of energy, it shattered, revealing the Spectrum Force.

A white aura of power wrapped Spectra, levitating her off the ground. "You can fly faster than I can. Go ahead, and I will join you."

The Force nodded in agreement, and together Earth's defenders streaked due north at the speed of light.