Book Of Reality – John Peel (1)

But there’s not a lot of us.” “Yet you do not like it here, surely?” Helaine asked. “What difference does that make?” the woman growled. “There’s nowhere else to go. So we make the best of things here—we run what we can, and collect our tribute. It makes our miserable lives a little less bleak.” Helaine stood up and glared with contempt at the woman. “Is that all you desire?” she asked scornfully. “To prey upon those who cannot resist you?” The woman was about six inches taller than she, and Helaine was tall for a girl.

“What else is there?” the woman demanded. “Escape,” Helaine said firmly. “Fight back. Take from the Overseers.” The woman laughed. “You must be insane. There’s no way to do that.” “No,” agreed Helaine. “There isn’t—f that is what you believe, then you are already too much a slave to ever become free.” She deliberately turned her back on the woman.

Ce! A hand on her shoulder spun her around. “Don’t sound so contemptuous,” she snapped. “You’re like me, or you wouldn’t be here.” ‘T’m not like you at all,” Helaine spat back. “I fight!” “Well,” the woman said slowly, “if you want to fight .. .” She swung a punch at Helaine. This was more like it! Helaine laughed, and moved aside, so that the blow failed to connect. Her own fist slammed into her attacker’s stomach, sending the breath whistling from the woman. “That is not fight- ing,” she said scornfully.

The woman gasped for breath, her face red. Then, furious, she threw herself into Helaine, and they both went crashing to the floor. Helaine could have won the fight any time she chose, because the woman was not a good fighter. But winning this was not her aim; instead, she was hoping for a different outcome. So in- stead she simply punched and blocked, letting the woman land a couple of blows that didn’t really hurt, and provoking her into keeping going by a carefully placed punch or two of her own.

Finally, the woman did what Helaine had been hop- ing for—she reached out and grabbed a couple of handfuls of Helaine’s hair. Then she started tugging at it. Helaine screamed, mostly for show, and shook her head, trying to get free of the grip—apparently. Even the restraint could sense that. But, as she struggled, the attachments that held the restraint in place started to come loose. . . And since Helaine wasn’t trying to remove the re- straint, the overwhelming pain never began .

Helaine fought on, deliberately badly, allowing the woman to wrench at her hair. Finally, thankfully, the restraint was completely free, and the woman snatched it from Helaine’s head in triumph. “Mine now,” she crowed, and moved to place it on her own head.

John Peel is the author of numerous best-selling novels for young adults, including installments in Star Trek, Are You Afraid of the Dark? and Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? series. He is also the author of many acclaimed novels of science fic- tion, horror, and suspense. Mr. Peel currently lives on the outer rim of the Diadem, on a planet popularly known as Earth.

John Peel Llewellyn Publications Woodbury, Minnesota Book of Reality © 2006 by John Peel. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever, including Internet usage, without written permission from Llewellyn Publications except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and re- views. First Edition First printing, 2006 Cover design by Gavin Dayton Duffy Cover illustration © 2005 by Bleu Turrell / Artworks Project management and editing by Rhiannon Ross Llewellyn is a registered trademark of Llewellyn Worldwide, Ltd.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Peel, John, 1954— Book of Reality / John Peel. p. cm.—(Diadem, worlds of magic ; #9) Summary: When Pixel, Jenna, Score, and Helaine journey back to Calomir, Pixel’s home planet of virtual reality to meet his parents, the four magic users find treachery, slavery, and deceit instead of the happy homecoming they were expecting. ISBN-13: 978-0-7387-0843-0 ISBN-10: 0-7387-0843-7 {1. Virtual reality—Fiction. 2. Magic—Fiction. 3. Adventures and adventures—Fiction. 4. Fantasy.] I. Title. PZ7.P348Bot 2006 [Ficl—de22 2005044756 Llewellyn Worldwide does not participate in, endorse, or have any au- thority or responsibility concerning private business transactions be- tween our authors and the public.

All mail addressed to the author is forwarded but the publisher can- not, unless specifically instructed by the author, give out an address or phone number. Llewellyn Publications A Division of Llewellyn Worldwide, Ltd. 2143 Wooddale Drive, Dept. 0-7387-0843-7 Woodbury, Minnesota 55125-2989, U.S.A. www.llewellyn.com Printed in the United States of America Other Diadem Books by John Peel #1 Book of Names #2 Book of Signs #3 Book of Magic #4 Book of Thunder #5 Book of Earth #6 Book of Nightmares #7 Book of War #8 Book of Oceans PROLOGUE: ONE YEAR AGO “y can’t explain it,” Section Supervisor Nine reported, “but a young man is missing.”

He stood before the blank wall, his head bowed in respect. “Missing?” The voice was soft and gentle, neither male nor female, but with a hint of the underlying strength.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

• Unique ID: 1b2165a13c32ade6
• File Extension: .pdf
• File Size: 7,161,567 bytes (6.83 MB)
• Title: –
• Author: Unknown
• ISBN: 9780738708430, 0738708437
• Pages: 221
• Language: English (en)

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• Estimated Reading Time: 193.5 minutes
• Total Words: 38,701
• Total Characters: 219,300
• Average Words per Page: 175.12
• Average Characters per Page: 992.31

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