Prologue Tales Of The Neworld - Written By Stephanie Poppins

Tales of the New World by S.

D.

Hudson.

This audiobook is read by the author.

When I was younger and altogether more adventurous,

I would go out with my brother on regular missions.

These missions might involve any number of amazing discoveries,

Some of them we still talk about today.

But to tell you everything we discovered would take far too long.

So in this book I will tell you about the greatest discovery of them all.

It was a lazy Sunday afternoon,

The same kind of lazy Sunday afternoon that comes around every week.

And on every Sunday afternoon in our house there was this unspoken rule.

Children were to leave and not come back until it got dark under any circumstances.

Our parents had the right to be tired,

They told us,

And they needed time to be people again.

So on this particular Sunday my brothers and I decided to go further than we'd ever been before and visit the meadow at the top of Mother Bay Hill.

We'd spotted it from the upstairs window and we all agreed it was the most beautiful place we had ever seen.

And as my older brother said,

I saw a blue haze floating above it last night so why not?

He was right of course,

Everybody knows a blue haze means magic.

It took us ages to get there,

We were only kids,

But when we did we saw to our dismay the meadow was surrounded by a thickly wooded copse.

So what?

I hear you cry,

Force your way through.

So that's exactly what we did.

Nothing was going to stop us.

We thrashed and we thrashed,

But it turned out to be a lot harder work than we gave it credit for.

Like idiots we'd forgotten our swords and we were nothing without our swords.

So we returned home defeated and to my great disappointment both brothers fell fast asleep as soon as their heads touched the pillow.

That wasn't an option for me though,

My legs were aching as they always did.

So I transformed my bed into a vessel and travelled back alone to discover a place far beyond anything I could possibly have imagined.

And this place I call the new world.

A little bit about the new world.

Unlike the old world with its different countries and continents,

The new world has just two main parts,

The meadow and the far lands.

The meadow is the closest to Mother B Copse and is the most magical.

I was lucky to see it all those years ago as its bright blue energy field hides everything.

But it was nighttime so that helped.

In between the Copse and the meadow runs a deep river.

This is called the Crystal Waters because its waters are as clear as the finest quartz crystal.

The Sanaii wouldn't be able to live in them otherwise.

They're the tiny maniacs who protect the new world night and day.

Then once you've crossed the river and climbed the bank you're in the meadow.

That's where the giant lives.

He's not your usual kind of giant though.

He doesn't have shaggy hair or oversized feet.

No,

The new world giant is a tree more than five times as tall as an old world spruce.

He has colored veins that pump out a blue haze and two wooden doors that lead to the Grand Orb and the far land tunnels.

So what with a blue energy field protecting the new world from the sky and the Sanaii protecting the new world from the land,

It's not surprising only a few of us have ever seen the new world folk is it?

But that wasn't always the case.

Once upon a time the meadow folk lived with us in the old world.

They were sent by the wise one to teach us better ways but unfortunately for us their words fell on deaf ears and now the old world is more poisonous than ever.

The meadow pickers still come to Mother B.

Copse though.

They clean away all the old world stuff to protect their friends who still live there and as long as they return before dusk and wash away the poison they're safe.

So what do you think so far?

The new world's amazing isn't it?

But what goes up has to come down so they say.

So keep listening.

You are listening aren't you?

Good because there's something you need to know.

Not all new world folk are as nice as those who live in the meadow.

There I said it.

Some live in the far lands and that's where the trouble starts.

It's not like they haven't been told but those far land folk just can't help themselves.

They're always fighting and if they're not doing that they're trying to steal the meadow magic and if they're not doing that they're plotting and scheming and lying and skiving to get their clues on as much of our old world stuff as they can even though they've been told a thousand times it's poisonous.

Stuff stuff stuff.

It's like gold dust to them.

Like the most precious jewels or the biggest most fancy motor car.

They love it.

They dream about it and they'll do anything it takes to get their hands on it.

Anything.

But why do they want our stuff when they live in such a beautiful world and have everything they could possibly need?

Well that's the age-old mystery isn't it?

Some far land folk still believe our shiny bottle tops and glossy crisp packets will make them happy.

They crave our plastic pegs and metal rings because they can trade them for so much more.

The worst of them are the Feredor but they left the new world a long time ago.

You might have seen them about.

They're those greasy black bullies that strut around as if they own the place.

A bit like crows but bigger and even more clever.

They killed many of the meadow folk in the great battle.

Killed them.

Yes killed them.

The Feredor always were the toughest folk in the far lands but since coming to the old world they're tough as still.

Unlike the other farlanders they thrive on any poison they can get.

The more chemicals they find the better they like it.

They're nearly powerful enough to take over the old world now but they can't do this without a ready supply of elixir.

This they get by drinking the blood of the meadow folk.

If it wasn't for the meadow masters working day and night the new world would be doomed.

It's the masters job to stop the Feredor and any old world poison coming in.

That's why they hold the keys to the farland tunnels.

They don't want those farlanders sneaking through the meadow and crossing the crystal waters.

If the farlanders made it to motherly cops the poison they'd bring back would destroy everything.

So who are the meadow masters when they're at home?

Well there's the sharp-toothed bunyip.

His name's Jeremiah and he's the master at arms.

He looks a bit like an old world lion with tusks but he has bright blue eyes and wears leather armor to protect his sensitive skin.

His golden pocket watch lights up whenever things go wrong.

Then there's the cockatrice.

Her name is Fortenua.

She has long copper feathers and a very sharp beak.

She wears goggles sometimes because her eyes are so sensitive.

The smallest master is the Delilala.

Her name is Delilah.

She looks a little bit like an old world chihuahua with wings.

Her powerful ears hear everything for miles around.

And last but not least there's the trufflepock.

He's a master in training and looks like a bearded pig with wings.

Jasper is extremely good at smelling things and sometimes wears a patch over his lazy eye.

The meadow masters are called this because they have mastered the art of Bek-Chi.

This is the most powerful light energy in the new world.

Only those with acute senses can manifest it.

The Usama goose teaches them Bek-Chi.

The Usama what?

The Usama goose.

It's a funny name isn't it?

But then the Usama goose is rather funny.

Well I say funny.

He's funny as in odd.

Rather than funny as in funny.

Because he's only got one wing.

This he wraps around himself like a cloak.

But there's more power in that wing than in all the new world folk put together.

And because the Usama goose is the oldest in the new world that makes him the most special.

Well not just special.

Magical.

And that's what we're all here for isn't it?

Magic.