The Star Squad

By Heather Powell

This book is aimed at children aged 8-12, and is about a team of sprites who are determined to find a way to fly so that they can live equally alongside pixies. Fantasy and adventure seep from every page of this fast-paced and creative book, making it great fun to read. Delve into this fairy world bursting with imagination.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Apr 11, 2011
• ISBN: 9781447633099

Book preview

coincidental.

Part One

Beginner’s Luck

Prologue

One year ago...

Five figures sprinted as fast as their knobbly green legs would carry them, fleetingly flicking their heads behind them. The roar of engines resounded in the star-sprinkled sky and the shouts of outraged pixies echoed after them. Garish white lights burnt the back of their heads, necks and shoulders; they knew they should stop, give in, turn around and resign to their fate, but not one of them did.

The figure furthest ahead, the Leader, yelled back to the others. Who’s got it? Please tell me someone grabbed the Levilocket!

I thought… you… had it, panted Leo, straining his head backwards to check the clenched fists of the other three sprites. He screwed up his eyes, but the dazzling lights shone too brightly and he was forced to face forward again.

Stop!!! the first sprite suddenly shrieked, skidding to an abrupt halt. They had reached a long ditch running the length of the field, and it was far too wide to even attempt to jump. However the ditch was not deep, so the Leader lightly dropped down into it and scrambled across to the other side, beckoning to the others. They closely followed suit.

As the group began to draw away from the ditch, the shrieks of engines and pixies receded. There was time… for now, at least. The sprites continued to run, all of them too exhausted to speak, but none of them knowing exactly where they were heading. Then as if from the night air itself, a stone wall emerged, looming more than fully-grownhuman height above the two foot tall sprites. The five members of the Star Squad, for that is who they were, gazed up in dismay at the barrier, thinking that everything they had strived for would give them absolutely nothing in return. That was until the Leader piped up again, swooping in and seizing control of this seemingly impossible situation.

Leo, climb on my shoulders. And you, climb on his so they can get over. They acted immediately, clambering up on top of one another to form a standing, if not extremely wobbly, tower. But it worked, and so before long two of the sprites had scaled up the other three, jumped down the other side of the wall and scurried away, disappearing into the night. The tiniest sprite on top of the teetering tower had now hoisted herself on to the wall and was dangling over, reaching down for Leo. But he and the other remaining sprite – the Leader – hesitated, realizing the inevitable: one of them would not be able to get over the wall. And now the sound of revving engines greeted their pointed ears.

The Patrol have made it across the ditch, they’ll be here any minute!

Go, I’ll be alright, offered the Leader, who had originally devised the escape plan. Keep the Levilocket safe, and…

What? I don’t have the Levilocket. And nor did any of the others.

No… they must! Don’t tell me this was all for nothing! The Leader took several deep breaths. Okay, go now. Just go! Leo sensed the desperate, panic-stricken, formidable tone of voice, but also heard the indisputable power and leadership which he so greatly admired. So without another word, he stepped up into his Leader’s cupped hands and back on to her shoulders, in order for the little sprite perched on the wall to haul him over. Then together they hopped off the wall and scuttled out of site, fleeing into the thick forest that lay beyond.

The remaining sprite furled up against the base of the stone wall, utterly exhausted. This was it now; doomed to a life of misery and insignificance. Without the Levilocket there wasn’t a sliver of a chance of ever being able to fly, but that was all the Star Squad had ever wanted.

With aching head collapsed in her bony green arms, the Leader felt the brilliant lights of the Pixie Patrol’s vehicles glaring fiercely and heard their engines shudder and stop. Two hands grabbed her roughly by the upper arm, dragging her into the back of a vehicle. The sprite who had not so long ago been an honourable Leader now sat in silence, sandwiched between two burly pixie officers as they drove away.

Chapter One

Pixie Boots and Vines

The Magical Museum of Mystery

00:00

Leo was a sprite. And the one thing sprites have always wanted is to fly, like pixies. He had a pair of scrawny legs and arms, and two great mischievous eyes which seemed to dominate his slightly shrivelled head. His whole body was a very similar colour to lime jelly, and almost just as wobbly, supported only by two knobbly little feet. When he stood at his full height, Leo’s wispy green hair could barely reach the thigh of an adult human. At the moment he wore a completely black outfit, with a tight black hat hiding his pointed ears, and furry leather, jade green pixie boots.

As Leo crept round the side of the building, dodging the searchlights, he was trying to be as fast and as quiet as he could, swiftly but gently placing one foot after the next. His ‘borrowed’ shoes were excellent for this; they were very light, as they were usually worn by hovering pixies, and had built-in suspension and utmost comfort for easy manoeuvrability. They also, currently unknown to the young sprite, had special Pixie Power, which adapted to the wearer’s individual requirements.

A beam of light swept across the long grass behind Leo, destroying the inky patch of darkness between them with every passing second as it continued its completely random search pattern. Slowly, slowly the gap got less and less, until the blinding light was almost upon him. In the nick of time, his head flashed round, saw the light, and automatically Leo leapt sideways. The beam passed within millimetres of his trembling toes as he lay sprawled on the ground, his breaths harsh and shallow, before scrambling to his feet again as another beam began creeping towards him.

Five frantic minutes later, after Leo had encountered a series of similar close shaves, he finally made it to the back of the building. It was actually the Magical Museum of Mystery, and contained some of the most valuable and desired objects in the world. The museum was a large building even by human standards, decorated spectacularly inside and out with elegant stone carvings, ornate golden patterns set into the walls, and perched on the roof was the Fairy Flag, fluttering gently in the night breeze. Its pointed silver pole with the deadly sharp tip glinted silently, the moonlight reflecting into Leo’s sparkling eyes. Inside the museum a soft, violet carpet lined the floors, which always stayed in perfect condition despite being trodden on by thousands of visiting fairies for hours every day.

However, the back wall of the museum showed no sign of glamour or detail at all. It simply was a massive slab of grey – no windows, balconies or decoration of any kind – and no security searchlights, because what fairy would even attempt to climb this seemingly impenetrable barrier?

Leo gingerly approached the base of this tremendous wave of rock, suddenly afraid, the bricks towering ominously above his head, the moon poking out cheekily from behind an invisible cloud in an immense hovering cloak of glittering specks. He silently reassured himself that everything would go as he had planned, thinking of the glorious outcome: flying. And all he had to do was get the Levilocket; then possibilities for the sprite would be endless. Well at least they should be if it worked.

Growing all around the building were tassels of vines, hacked down to prevent every inch of exterior wall soon becoming invisible behind layers of the climbing plant. This would have been ideal for Leo and other sprites to scale, however the owners of the Magical Museum of Mystery thought that vines crawling over the building would detract from the beautiful architecture. Anyway, it meant non-flyers couldn’t climb up, and of course flying folk wouldn’t, because as is known to every fairy on the planet, they are born oblivious to such things as stealing, lying, or cheating. They never fight or vandalise in any shape or form, or even mildly insult another winged being. In other words, flying folk were perfect; a Mary Poppins population.

Leo, wingless like all sprites, but perhaps only one of few guilty of all the mentioned crimes, crouched nervously amongst the matted plant, snatching up green fistfuls of the vines. Then, with all the mesmerizing skill of any professional, he began to tightly knot the ends of them together, to form a long, thin but durable rope. As planned, the vines were due to be cut, so each one was at the largest it was ever allowed to grow: slightly taller than Leo himself. Hundreds of thorns spiked out along each length of vine, almost daringly, trying to intimidate someone enough to reach out and feel how sharp they really are. But all this was wasted on a sprite; their tough, nearly reptile-like skin would act as a thick, rubbery shield if they should ever succumb to the thorns’ allure.

It took Leo no more than five minutes to complete the rope of vines, despite the darkness; thousands of stars perched in a black sky provide surprisingly little light. He then hunted in the upturned roots of the vines, until his bony green hand closed round a large pebble. The sprite lifted it up, with some difficulty, and attached it to the end of the newly made rope with yet another secure knot. Finally, it was ready.

∗∗∗

Leo began to drag the thorny rope away from the back wall of the museum. For an undeveloped sprite like himself, it felt quite heavy, but Leo was relying on a sprite’s uncanny ability to be able to throw far and accurately, however heavy the object. This was why sprites always seemed to do especially well in javelin, discus and shot at the Fairolympics, to the amazement of every spectator and competitor, except, of course, the sprites who were all too aware of their gift.

He heaved the pebble into his apparently weedy arms, and fixed his gaze upon the edge of the rooftop, faintly illuminated like the white froth at the lip of a wave, the pointed tip of a crow’s nest peaking up behind it. Leo levered the pebble back over his shoulder, aimed his other arm directly at the target, and sent the pebble soaring through the starstreaked sky. He watched the rope of vines follow obediently behind it, like the flame billowing behind a blasted rocket.

It worked perfectly: the pebble flew straight towards the flagpole, the vines tangled round it, and the rest of the trailing rope flopped against the wall, the end dangling just above the ground. The elated sprite sprinted back to the mass of bricks, congratulating himself for his miraculous success, too overwhelmed by self pride to even notice the clang; the almighty clang which reverberated up and down the silver spike, up and down, like someone bouncing on a trampoline with another one hovering above their head. The razor-sharp tip rebounded moonlight in every direction as the pole trembled fiercely.

Leo wrapped his first hand around the highest part of vine he could reach, ignoring the jagged thorns. He tugged firmly on the makeshift rope a few times, feeling it tighten its grip around the flagpole high above him. Once satisfied, he gratefully exhaled, placing a foot quivering in excitement against the heap of sombre grey stone.

To Leo’s utmost astonishment, the pixie boot stuck to the wall as though the sole was thickly coated in superglue. He panicked, and desperately tried to yank his foot away, promptly collapsing onto the ground behind him as the shoe parted effortlessly with the wall, like nothing had ever happened. He clambered back to his feet, utterly bewildered (and a little agitated) by this extraordinary phenomenon.

Of course, it was the Pixie Power in the boot causing this to happen. It had the ability to sense the wearer’s needs, and if possible, help in any way it can. Pixies often use this in all manner of objects, and these particular boots which Leo had snatched was one of them. Evidently, he was completely unaware that any such thing existed.

He grabbed