The Circle of Owls (The Grimalkin Book 3) Dani Swanson (best books for 8th graders .TXT) 📖

out.” Penelope was watching the large shadows amongst the haze stomp closer to where they were standing. “We need to find your cat.”

Thea had no other questions for her grandmother as she pushed through the brush calling for Fig.

Charles was stumbling through the forest while carrying the crystal - the whole while he was holding his head and fighting against the optical headache he was feeling from his new glowing eye.

“Fig! Fig! Where are you?!” Thea was going hoarse from calling for her cat.

Cricket and the Baba Yaga had knocked over most of the trees leading to the castle. Lightning bolts and fireballs were raging from their hands, taking out more of the Circle of Owls and the members of the kingdom than doing damage to each other. The sun was starting to rise off in the distance, reflecting off the haze of the fires. Screams of the combatants that were being stepped on or ignited by the two witches echoed throughout the land. Those who were left on either side of the fight had started to retreat when the wall of the kingdom crumbled under a stray blast of the Ether.

Amongst the chaos Thea, Penelope and Charles made it to where Fig was laying, weakly meowing back when his name was called. He was so weak he could barely lift his head. The tip of his tail was missing, and he had lost a lot of blood. He was laying across the top of his sister, shielding her from all the debris from the fallen trees. Thea dropped to her knees and placed her hands onto her sweet cat, but her healing powers were weaker than they had ever been before. Penelope joined her granddaughter on the ground and between the two of them, the energy of healing flowed through their fingertips and into the cats, taking away their injuries and healing their weakened bodies. Soon, the two witches were spewing the black bile and the cats were on their feet, ready to charge back into the fight.

“We need to get the stone between Cricket and the Baba Yaga. We’ll use the Ether and Charles is going to help boost our powers.” Penelope was talking over her shoulder as she started toward the battle. Charles followed on her heels. “You need to throw it into the stream and then grab each one of our hands. Do you understand?”

Charles nodded nervously as he turned the crystal in his hand to find the best place to grip it.

They crouched behind a fallen tree, waiting for there to be a space between the two.

“NOW!”

Penelope started to push the Ether out with the Baba Yaga, though the stream was weak, but still assisting against the push. Charles heaved the crystal as high as he could aiming for the exact point to where the Ether and the flames met. He stood between the two witches, connecting the two witches like a chain of paper dolls – Thea and Penelope each had their free hand raised, pushing into the crystal.

The shadows of souls within the crystal illuminated onto the trees, swirling as they tried to escape. Cricket pushed harder, the flame from her jaws came out hotter than before. Unbeknownst to her, Cricket was helping with Penelope’s plan.

Charles never had a feeling of that magnitude before today. He could feel the tickle of electricity go through his heart and out his hands as if he was the source of the power and Thea and Penelope were pulling it through his fingertips.

Penelope made eye contact with Fig and Tinker and nodded at them. The cats started to grow as they nuzzled each other’s heads, twirling around together, making one massive cat. The fire and ice mixed causing what Penelope referred to as Storm. The electricity that came off the cat was enough to light up the early morning sky. It charged Cricket, who stopped streaming the fire to the crystal to now protect herself from the cat that was charging her. She dropped down onto all four and morphed into the Grimalkin.

The massive cat charged at the Grimalkin, charging through the stream of fire, and tackled the Grimalkin. They rolled through the grass, burning everything, they touched. The Grimalkin was able to roll over the top of the cat and started to bite the jugular of Storm. The massive cat stopped fighting back and laid lifeless for a moment.

The witches pushed harder with the Ether. Thea had sweat dripping down her forehead her hair was matted to the back of her neck. She was shaking, scared. She started to panic as she could see the lump on the ground of their two cats. The tears started to flow.

Charles didn’t know what he was doing but was trying to follow directions being yelled by Penelope. The magic lit his witch’s eye, allowing him to see the auras pushing their way to the edges of the crystal.

“We need to push harder!” Penelope watched as Cricket gracefully made her way to her feet and calmly was making her way to the crystal.

“Think of the anger that you have brewing in the pit of your stomach! Your fear! Use that as your energy, Thea!” Her grandmother’s words floated in her head.

Thea had flashes of her father and mother being trapped in a cage. Of waking up on the bank of the lake with her memory wiped out. Being stalked by the Grimalkin. Being locked in the dungeon. Almost being killed – multiple times. All of this was filling her with anger and stewing in her stomach until she felt like she was going to explode. From her stomach through her veins and to the very tips of her fingers, where it was met by an equal force from Penelope’s hand. She opened her eyes to see the white light of the Ether going into the crystal. The crystal shattered with a sound like breaking glass – the souls and the magic from all of those trapped within soared out of