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had no wall and his land merged with the slopes of Morven itself. Neil and Clara barely heard the conversation between Hughie and Ian Ferguson, so absorbed were they in the view. Clara peered upwards at the mountain; towering high and mysterious over the charming little cottage that nestled snuggly in its gentle hollow. Her eyes sparkled. The cottage, like the mountain, was magic. She was sure of that. Her eyes met those of Neil and Lewis and she knew they felt the same. There was magic here.

6. Malfior’s Mischief
    Prince Kalman stopped at the head of the glen and surveyed it critically. It was a bleak, inhospitable place, he thought disdainfully as he picked his way along a deer path that ran along the side of its barren mountain slopes. Well named, too, he thought sourly — Hell’s Glen, the home of the Cri’achan; the stone giants of the north. He shrugged. As far as he was concerned, they were more than welcome to it.
    Although the glen was isolated and there was no one to see him, he had nevertheless been wary. The strange attack on the witches’ palace had made him careful and since then he had trusted no one; which was why he had merged with a fine stag earlier that morning. The beast was uneasy, though. Although he controlled its mind and its movements, he had immediately sensed that it was fearful and unwilling to enter the glen. It was only when he rounded a jutting spur of rock, however, that he realized why — for walking with great lumbering steps beside the dark stream that ran along the bottom of the valley, were two stone giants. The stag froze in its tracks as a dreadful fear gripped it.
    Kalman held the stag firmly in check as it started to panic whilst staring at the massive, rocky figures in utter disbelief, quite unable to believe his eyes. In the world of magic, this was absolutely unheard of! For as long as he couldemember, the stone giants had been forbidden to move out of the mountains. It didn’t matter that the glen was uninhabited; the spell that Firestar held over them kept them firmly imprisoned. Even he, with the power of the Sultan’s Crown behind him, had only half managed to release his friend, Cri’achan Mòr, the King of the Stone Giants, from the mountainside the previous year when he’d asked him to chase Neil and Clara. He frowned as he thought of the two children. Had they not been riding flying horses at the time, they’d never have escaped.
    But now this! Stone giants walking through Hell’s Glen! It just wasn’t possible! For the hundredth time since the assault on the Snow Queen’s palace, he wondered what on earth was going on in the world of magic. He had hoped that Cri’achan Mòr would be able to tell him and, he thought agitatedly , with stone giants wandering the glen, it certainly looked as though he might.
    â€œAre you
sure
it’s Prince Kalman inside the beast?” Cri’achan Mòr demanded.
    Lord Jezail winced at the roaring growl that was the giant’s voice. He nodded, turning the eye of the crystal to watch the stag as it picked its way unwillingly into the glen. “I’ve been tracking him for some time,” he said, hiding his irritation. “It’s Kalman all right — and I think he’s just seen your giants,” he remarked with a sour smile.
    â€œHa!” roared the King of the Giants loudly, waving a massive arm, “that will have given him something to think about!” His rocky face twisted in an evil grin. “Just wait till he arrives! The firstof the Lords of the North to feel my fury! I’m going to enjoy this!”
    The magician turned to the other occupant of the rocky chamber and raised his eyebrows. He knew perfectly well that his aide, Count Vassili, didn’t approve of this, his latest venture, but surely he could see that despite the drastic start, when they’d all been struck down by the force of the satellite hitting Firestar,