Author/Uploaded by Adrianna Cuevas
Contents Title Page Copyright Notice 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 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 2...
Contents Title Page Copyright Notice 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 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Author’s Note Acknowledgments Also by Adrianna Cuevas Praise Page About the Author Newsletter Sign-up Copyright Guide Cover Title Page Dedication Contents Chapter 1 Author’s Note Acknowledgments Copyright Pagebreaks of the print version Cover Page vii viii 1 2 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 32 33 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 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 291 292 293 294 295 296 vi ii iii iv v Begin Reading Table of Contents About the Author Copyright Page Thank you for buying this Farrar, Straus and Giroux ebook. To receive special offers, bonus content, and info on new releases and other great reads, sign up for our newsletters. Or visit us online at us.macmillan.com/newslettersignup For email updates on the author, click here. The author and publisher have provided this e-book to you for your personal use only. You may not make this e-book publicly available in any way. Copyright infringement is against the law. If you believe the copy of this e-book you are reading infringes on the author’s copyright, please notify the publisher at: us.macmillanusa.com/piracy. To Heather and Rob and the magic of Ghost Ranch CHAPTER 1 “YOU MEANDER DOWN an empty corridor, late afternoon light streaming through the large, smudged windows,” Beto whispers behind me and Yesi as we walk down the hall. “You slowly make your way to the large banquet hall, empty of revelers.” Beto, Yesi, and I stop at the doorway of our school cafeteria at Heron Glade Middle School. Beto gives me a confident smile, his braces glinting in the light. He puts one hand on my shoulder and one hand on Yesi’s shoulder. “Your clan has been granted one item from the banquet hall to aid them in their travels. What do you decide to take?” Yesi looks at Beto and winks. I swallow hard. “Are we really doing this?” I ask. My ears hurt from straining to listen for approaching teachers or custodians catching us in the act. Beto squeezes my shoulder as Yesi nods. “Oh yeah. Our clan elects to take the slushie machine,” she says. Beto smirks. “Excuse me, brave traveler. The what?” Yesi squints, thinking. “The … magic fountain of icy sweetness.” “Ah, the magic fountain.” Beto nods. “Excellent choice. Roll, please.” Yesi pulls a green twenty-sided die from her jeans pocket. We crouch on the ground, and she flips the die on the gray concrete floor. It tumbles with a clatter that echoes through the hall. Our game is based on Beto describing a situation, Yesi and I deciding what we want to do, and then someone rolling a die to see if we’ll be successful. The number that pops up will tell us whether our attempt to steal the slushie machine will work. The higher the number, the better. “Sixteen,” Yesi says. Beto winks at us. “I see success in your endeavor.” We creep into the cafeteria, our eyes on the gleaming metal prize in the corner of the room. Beto, Yesi, and I have been obsessed with the role-playing game The Forgotten Age since the beginning of third grade. Other players have come in and out of our game, since it doesn’t really work with only three people, but they always lose interest. We’re the only ones who’ve stuck with it for nearly four years. Last week, my dining room table was covered with our character charts, a Land of Eldervorn map, multicolored twenty-sided dice, and a thick players’ book for The Forgotten Age, brimming with sticky notes. That was when Beto came up with the Great Big Idea to take our characters on a real adventure, one that would make our regular tabletop journeys seem like two-dimensional snooze fests. Beto insisted it was the perfect opportunity to showcase our characters and skills. Yesi agreed immediately. She’s the rogue in our group and always pushes our team into dark dungeons