Pearls of Wisdom , livre ebook

Pete and Koral were precariously poised on the Edge of the Ledge, a thin sliver of rock face that jutted out over the raging seas below. ‘Till death do us part!’ thundered the Ancient One and pushed the teen wizards over the edge, into the eye of a raging whirlpool…
The Pearls of Wisdom bestow great powers on the ruler of the water world. But they have been snitched! The dreaded Black Magi have stolen them from right under top-notch Secret Service vampire agent Count Drunkula’s nose. The Count now faces execution for treason, and the only one who can save him and restore order in the water world is his daughter Koral.
Deep in the Sea of Secrets Koral is up against creatures from an underwater nightmare—Va Suki the thousand-headed serpent; Kraus Kraken, the turncoat Commander of the water world’s army; and the deadliest of them all—a new Black Magi leader on the hunt for virgin souls…Will Koral be able to return with the Pearls, or will she lose something more precious than her life?
PRAISE FOR THE POTION OF ETERNITY
‘Wizadry goes WOW— The Financial Express
‘Potion of fun’— Femina
‘Desi Rowling is here’— The Times of India
Cover illustration by Harshvardhan Kadam
PUFFIN BOOKS PEARLS OF WISDOM
Sonja was born in Mumbai, then raised in Zambia and Muscat on a diet of constant travelling, till she found herself plonked in a boarding school in Pune and forced to knuckle down and study. While the rest of her classmates studied diligently, Sonja masterminded feasts and spooky story-telling sessions that always ended up in gales of laughter.
Sonja currently resides in Pune with three boisterous children and a golf-crazy husband, always hoping to travel the world through her stories. She truly believes that a sense of humour makes life sparkle … and that a bit of dreaming can make magic happen!
Do drop by her website www.sonjachandrachud.com for the latest buzz on her work.
A LSO BY S ONJA C HANDRACHUD
The Potion of Eternity
pearls of wisdom
a hilarious hauntings adventure
Sonja Chandrachud
Illustrations by Harshvardhan Kadam
PUFFIN BOOKS
Published by the Penguin Group
Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd, 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi 110 017, India
Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA
Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario, M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.)
Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
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Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd)
Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, North Shore 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd)
Penguin Group (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa
Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
First published in Puffin by Penguin Books India 2010
Text copyright © Sonja Chandrachud 2010
Illustrations copyright © Harshvardhan Kadam 2010
All rights reserved
ISBN: 978-01-4333-055-4
This digital edition published in 2011.
e-ISBN: 978-81-8475-266-3
This e-book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior written consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser and without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above-mentioned publisher of this e-book.
To the Von D’eths in my life … till death do us part
Contents
Copyright
Blame It On … (Acknowledgements)
Truly Fishy Business
King of the Seas
It’s The Time To Disco
Travelling Transatlantic
Main Hoon Don
The City That Never Lets You Sleep
Bon Voyage
Revenge of the Living Dead
Under the Currents
Poseidon Ahoy!
Mutiny on the High Seas
Going Ga Ga over the Gala
Missing a Mate
Counting on a Count
Knocking Out a King
What a Wipeout!
Dead Man Walking
The Dark Side of the Moon
An Eye Spies
Poking Your Nose Around
Back to Square One
No Reason for Treason
The Law of this Land
The Ominous Oracle
Mirror, Mirror on that Wall
A Treacherous Traitor
A Touch of Talisman
The Mark of the Serpent
Fire Works
On the Edge of the Ledge
Unmasking the Evil
2000 Leagues Below
Snakes Alive!
To Hook a Crook
Deal of a Lifetime
Secrets of the Seas
A Psyched-out Pyschic
The Pitiless Pit
Medusa Mayhem
Friends in Deed
Gone With the Waves
Hysteria Over Mysteria
Duel of Death
Epilogue Epitaph
The Ghastly Glossary
Blame It On …
(Acknowledgements)
My wonderful young and not-so-young readers who have wholeheartedly embraced the Von D’eths and their crazy escapades and keep hounding me for more adventures … I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
My publisher Puffin India, and my tireless editor Sudeshna, who enthusiastically took the plunge with me when I began penning the first Hilarious Hauntings Adventure and never left my hand.
And last but not the least, my incredible family and friends without whom I would never find the magical ingredients to brew such amazing adventures.
Enjoy!
Signs of the terrible troubles brewing in the Sorcery World hit the news-stands minutes before midnight… By dawn, the news had spread like wildfire.
From the shores of America to the remotest Polynesian island, it snaked its way into sorcerers’ homes, sending a frisson of fear down their spines.
And found its way to the Tomb of the Pharaohs …

NEW YORK-TOKYO-MUMBAI-RIO-LONDON-PARIS
VILLAIN IN OUR WATERS
Forget about the Black Magi, there’s deeper, darker trouble in our waters!
The new nuisance in the Sorcery World is none other than King ‘Tubby’ Neptune, king of the water world and guardian of the magical Pearls of Wisdom. Neptune seems intent on blatantly defying his sacred vows as king and protector of the Pearls, which in turn grant him absolute power over the seas and oceans. That he must rule with courage, honesty and loyalty when he wears the mystical crown seems to have completely escaped this Regent of the Seas. Rumours are afloat that the Slimy Agency of Poachers, SAP, has zeroed in on his weakness for living it up, and have struck a dubious deal which allows them to poach in our sea beds to their hearts’ content! It has been reported that as a result, the Pearls of Wisdom are losing their magical powers that help protect Poseidon, the capital of the water world.
But like all rumours, pinning down these very serious charges isn’t so easy.
What has the famous Wizard Organization Worldwide or WOW, as we fondly call them, done to straighten out their King of the Seas? Are the Pearls of Wisdom really safe and sound? Could the King of the Seas be one of them ? But when grilled by our correspondent, the Ancient One disdainfully dismissed these as ‘trivial concerns’.
‘King Neptune is nothing but an overfed spoilt regent who overdoses on prawns and power. As for being one of the Black Magi…’ Nostra just laughed in our faces. ‘Neptune is too lazy to move a muscle and morph into anything! Besides, the Black Magi have no use for the Pearls of Wisdom,’ the Ancient One insisted.
‘But is this really the truth? Or is this yet another conspiracy to throw the paparazzi off the tracks till the Exalted Council of WOW figure things out? The Pearls of Wisdom in the wrong hands could spell serious deep sea trouble for all of us. If this realm should fall into the hands of the Black Magi there will be no stopping them from invading the other realms of the Sorcery World!’ Mark Skully of the Phantom News Broadcasting Corporation, PNBC, said on his show last night, spooking the living daylights out of his viewers.
Is the Sorcery World really safe?
Or should we be looking over our shoulders for the Black Magi to strike again?
GHOSTLY PRESS AGENCY (GPA) Press Release
~1~ Truly fishy business

Inside the Tombs of the Pharaohs, the Druid stood in the half-light, bone weary and dead tired. He flung the ratty tabloid into the fire.
‘These guys should be sued!’
The past few months had taken their toll on the 317-year-old sorcerer. The stern, gaunt face that once inspired fear with a single look somehow seemed sadder and a little lost. He had just finished the arduous task of re-bottling Ali Ghul, the sneaky Sandstorm Genie who had managed to squeeze himself out through a teeny, tiny hairline crack in his old bottle. Within an hour of his escape fresh air and freedom went straight to the Djinn’s head. He went completely berserk whipping up sandstorms left, right and centre, till the Ancient One finally managed to lure him into a corner and knock him out with a powerful sleeping spell.
‘That is nothing. I’m afraid I have worse news.’ A hoarse voice cut through the silence, startling the Ancient One out of his reverie. ‘Salaam Aleikum, dear friend,’ an imposing silhouette stepped out of the darkness of the Tombs. ‘One of my afrits stumbled upon this while sunbathing in Hawaii.’ Al Khemi, the formidable Djinn Master, thrust out a gnarled hand and Nostra found himself staring at a torn and tattered missive. ‘That infidel Neptune is a traitor! He promised he would stop those poachers!’ snarled Al Khemi, rage flickering dangerously in his hooded eyes. ‘And he calls us terrorists just because we burst into flames when we lose it!’
This was getting worse by the minute; Nostra took a deep breath and slowly, deliberately, began to read every