Spellbinders: Break the Game - Hardcover

Buch 2 von 3: Spellbinders

Auseon, Andrew

 
9780593482759: Spellbinders: Break the Game
Hardcover
ISBN 10: 0593482751 ISBN 13: 9780593482759
Verlag: Labyrinth Road, 2024

Inhaltsangabe

It takes more than magic to make a hero, in the next installment of this hilarious and epic illustrated series. One not-so-chosen champion and his mystical friends must cross the multiverse and harness a dangerous power to defeat a mysterious new enemy.

"My favorite new fantasy series.”
—Max Brallier, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Last Kids on Earth series

After leveling up from basement roleplaying games to saving an entire magical realm, 12-year-old Ben isn’t happy returning to his ordinary life of homework and chores. So when his very un-magical LARP session is crashed by monstrous frog-men from another dimension, he can't wait to get back into hero mode.

Someone is after all the Spellbinder’s books, which grant the users — including Ben — epic reality-shifting powers. Ben, Niara, Merv, Drake, and their new friend Agnes must embark on an epic quest to save the books and their owners. But while hopping across different realms may be Ben’s idea of a totally awesome spring break, it’s tough to be an ordinary kid among extraordinary heroes. Especially when fighting for the fate of the universe seems to consist mostly of finding fun new ways to get them all killed, from zombie rats to pool noodle squids, to a mysterious Big Bad controlling everything from behind the scenes. How do you win the game when someone else is rolling the dice?

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Andrew Auseon is the author of several books for children and young adults, and he is the writer of numerous bestselling and award-winning video games. A transplant from the Midwest, he lives in Washington, D.C. with his family and two very naughty cats. He loves breakfast cereal, the sound of the ocean, and the feeling of a brand-new book in his hands.

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

1


Playdate


“Butternut squash!”

Behind a rotted old tree stump, Ben Whitlock, Spellbinder Level 2 and tenor in the middle school glee club, prepared to meet his doom. His death would be fast, and it would most certainly be messy, but that didn’t mean he’d go down without a fight.

“I’m too cute to die!” Ben’s friend Merv squealed, hunching against the trunk of a tree as two blasts of magic whipped overhead. “Where’s Agnes? She said she’d cover our attack.”

“Agnes had to go put on more sunblock,” Ben said.

“Why does she need sunblock? It’s raining.”

“She has very sensitive skin.”

“Couldn’t she have waited for, like, two minutes? What did she say?”

“Something about SPF.”

“What’s SPF?”

“I DON’T KNOW! I’VE NEVER KNOWN!”

More spells flashed by overhead, crashing into the nearby trees and bushes. It sounded like the whole forest was falling down around them. Hidden in the safety of the drizzling mist, their enemies, a band of ruthless mercenaries called the Circle of Souls, smacked the blades of their swords together, filling the air with the terrifying drumbeat of war.

Taking a deep breath, Ben summoned his bravery. He’d faced bigger threats before and survived with all his bits and pieces intact. What was one more band of raiders? In one hand he held a small, curved war hammer, and in the other he held his phone, which for all its cool apps and great screen resolution turned out to be pretty useless in battle.

“We need a new plan,” he said.

“I like our current plan,” Merv said.

“Hiding behind a stump is not a plan.”

“What if we hide behind a rock? Or a ridge? Or a log?”

“Stop listing things to hide behind!”

“Can’t we just give up and go home?” Merv asked, ducking behind cover as arrows whistled past.

Ben shook his head. “Never. We’ll fight to the very end.”

“I liked you better when you ran away from a fight,” Merv grumbled.

Gradually, the volley of arrows ended with a few final shots that plonked off what was left of the wet stump. Then, silence. A cool breeze swept through the trees and shook the branches.

Ben lifted a finger. “Wait! Listen! They’re planning something.”

“Are they planning to hide behind a stump, like us?”

Ben growled. “I should just use you as a human shield.”

“Too bad I’m not human,” Merv said with a wink.



BEN WHITLOCK


Always eager to rush into battle, even when he probably shouldn’t, this courageous Earthling has a head for lore and a loyal heart. Formerly the Chosen One of Lux, he is now known as “Mr. Whitlock” by teachers and “Hey, You!” by other kids at school.

• CLASS: Spellbinder

• FACTION: The Four Squires (placeholder)

• ALIGNMENT: Merciful Neutral

• ABILITIES: Spellcasting, Allowance +2, Game Mastery

• SPECIAL MOVES: Double Thumbs-Up, Advanced Uncomfortable Silence



It was true; Merv wasn’t human. They were a creature called a mimir from another world, and they could change their physical appearance at will . . . and they could also get on Ben’s nerves like nobody else. They snored, sang all the wrong lyrics to pop songs (“for stew, I’d eat a cheesy fry,” instead of “from you, I need a squeeze goodbye”), and, worst of all, they always borrowed his gym shorts and stretched out the elastic waistbands so they fell down whenever he put them on.

Despite how much of a pain they could be, Ben adored Merv, and he was proud to call them his best friend, roommate, and companion in all sorts of everyday adventures, from raking the yard to running from mercenaries who worshipped a cosmic spider named Aracnus.

A shout erupted from the brush. “Dagash, monanthus, treyar!” It was followed by a chorus of other voices: “DAGASH! MONANTHUS! TREYAR!” Soon the words became a chant that filled the rainy forest.

Ben rolled his eyes. “Great! Now they’re starting a creepy chant. Who knows what it’s going to do?”

“Don’t blame me,” Merv said. “I tried to convince you to stay home. I wanted to binge-watch Total Housewives, but no, you had to fight an epic battle.”

“Where’s Agnes?” Ben grumbled.

“Who cares?” Merv said. “Agnes isn’t helpful in a fight. Remember last time? First, she morphed your head into a wiener dog, and then she healed all the members of the enemy party by accident. We got slaughtered!”

Ben bit back his reply. Merv was right, of course. Agnes had proven herself to be about as useless as a box of expired batteries. Not for lack of trying. He’d never met anybody so eager and willing to help out, but so surprisingly bad at it.

“We need to flank them,” he said, stealing a glimpse over the gnarled roots of the stump. The enemy flitted among the trees, chanting prayers to their twisted bug god. “What if you changed?”

Merv pouted. “What do you mean? I like who I am. It’s taken a long time for me to feel comfortable with myself and--”

“No, you goober,” Ben snapped. “What if you changed your appearance so you looked like one of them, in Circle of Souls armor? Then maybe you can get around behind their battle line, and, surprise, you get the drop on them.”

“Here’s an idea,” Merv said. “We admit to ourselves that we’re outmatched and leave battles like this to the real heroes. Then it’s twenty-four-seven pj’s and pizza!”

“Disgraceful,” Ben grumbled. “And you call yourself a magical creature from another dimension. After everything we’ve done to get this far, you just want to walk away and let those jerks win?”

Merv shrugged. “I hate to be the one to tell you this, buddy, but we’re not heroes. And your Quest Master days are over.”

Their words stung because they were true.

All his life, Ben had wanted to be a great warrior who went on dangerous quests and fought the forces of evil, hoping to earn his place as a hero of myth and legend. Unfortunately, he lived in the suburbs, and opportunities to go on epic adventures didn’t come along very often. All that had changed last year, when he stumbled into the magical realm of Lux, where he’d been mistaken for its Chosen One, a long-awaited figure who was meant to bring about a new era of peace and enlightenment. Instead, he’d done a lot of property damage and undermined Lux’s biggest religion. His journey through Lux had been the most exciting time of his life, but after every­thing was said and done, he’d come back home again. To school. To laundry. To pop-up ads and pollution. These days, he dreamed of escape more than ever.

A husky voice rose from the tangle of shrubs high on the hillside. “Your resistance is futile. Surrender now, and we shall show you mercy! We will allow your bodies to host the larvae of roach pups!”

“See, that doesn’t sound so bad,” Merv said. “Roach pups! Cute!”

“Your souls, however, are a different matter. They will be sacrificed to our dark lady, the undead Aracnus, queen of the spiderlings and High...

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Verlag
Labyrinth Road
Erscheinungsdatum
2024
Sprache
Englisch
ISBN 10 
0593482751
ISBN 13 
9780593482759
Einband
Gebundene Ausgabe
Anzahl der Seiten
400
Kontakt zum Hersteller
Nicht verfügbar
Verantwortliche Person
Nicht verfügbar

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