The Enchanted Bridge

Contents Cover Other Titles Title Page Copyright Contents Dedication Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Acknowledgments Landmarks Cover Cover Title Page Contents Start Copyright Print Page List ii iii iv v vi 1 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 33 32 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 229 228 231 232 233 
 
 
 
 
 ALSO BY ZETTA ELLIOTT
 Dragons in a Bag
 The Dragon Thief
 The Witch’s Apprentice
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
 Text copyright © 2023 by Zetta Elliott
 Cover art copyright © 2023 by Bea Jackson
 Interior illustrations copyright © 2023 by Cherise Harris
 All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Random House Children’s Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.
 Random House and the colophon are registered trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC.
 Visit us on the Web! rhcbooks.com
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 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
 Names: Elliott, Zetta, author. | Harris, Cherise, illustrator.
 Title: The Enchanted Bridge / Zetta Elliott, Cherise Harris.
 Description: First edition. | New York: Random House, [2023] | Series: Dragons in a bag; Book 4 | Summary: “Jaxon and his friends are back in the magical realm, Palmara, trying to convince Guardian Sis that magical creatures should exist in both worlds, but things might be even more complicated than Jax and his friends realize”—Provided by publisher.
 Identifiers: LCCN 2022004679 (print) | LCCN 2022004680 (ebook) | ISBN 978-0-593-42774-3 (trade) | ISBN 978-0-593-42775-0 (lib. bdg.) | ISBN 978-0-593-42776-7 (ebook)
 Subjects: CYAC: Magic—Fiction. | Dragons—Fiction. | Witches—Fiction. | Apprentices—Fiction. | African Americans—Fiction. | LCGFT: Novels.
 Classification: LCC PZ7.E45819 En 2023 (print) | LCC PZ7.E45819 (ebook) | DDC [Fic]—dc23
 Ebook ISBN 9780593427767
 Random House Children’s Books supports the First Amendment and celebrates the right to read.
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 ep_prh_6.0_142242128_c0_r0
 
 
 
 Contents
 
 Cover
 Also by Zetta Elliott
 Title Page
 Copyright
 Dedication
 
 
 Chapter 1
 
 
 Chapter 2
 
 
 Chapter 3
 
 
 Chapter 4
 
 
 Chapter 5
 
 
 Chapter 6
 
 
 Chapter 7
 
 
 Chapter 8
 
 
 Chapter 9
 
 
 Chapter 10
 
 
 Chapter 11
 
 
 Chapter 12
 
 
 Chapter 13
 
 
 Chapter 14
 
 
 Acknowledgments
 
 
 _142242128_
 
 
 
 For
 those who live
 between worlds,
 linking one
 to another
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1
 
 
 With fire, there is light.
 With fire, there is heat.
 The fire within us is ancient.
 It has burned for thousands of years.
 Our flames can unmake what was formed from hate.
 Our ashes allow life to triumph over death.
 Those who covet our power will try to seize it for themselves.
 Our power must be protected, for our power will save this world.
 
 
 
 
 2
 
 Everything happens all at once. I am falling. I am flailing. I am mired in a pool of tar. I am soaring among the stars.
 When time is linear, one thing happens after another. When it’s not, things get messy!
 I brought us here. I wanted to be a leader and my friends followed me to Cloud Gate in downtown Chicago. I have been given an important mission by the Supreme Council. I used to have another job, but now I am the ambassador who will convince the Guardian of Palmara to open the portals linking her realm to ours. I am going to free the magical creatures being held against their will. I failed as a witch’s apprentice, but I won’t fail again. Will I?
 These thoughts swirl in my mind like a tempest—who I was, who I am, who I will become. I hear the fear and panic in my friends’ voices as the mirrored surface of the bean-shaped sculpture presses us to the ground. We are being flattened against the pavement. We are being sucked into a sticky blackness that stifles our screams. We are floating weightless in a