The Forbidden Stone
RICK RIORDAN meets DAN BROWN in this epic historical adventure series packed full of puzzles, clues and edge-of-your-seat excitement!Legend has it that Copernicus found twelve powerful relics that could harness the cosmos and transport people through time when assembled in the shape of an astrolabe. Recognising the astrolabe’s terrible power, Copernicus hid the relics in far-flung corners of the globe and assigned loyal Guardians to pass down the duty of protecting the relics across the ages.In the wrong hands, the astrolabe could control the world. That’s exactly what Galina Krauss and her powerful Teutonic Order plan to do once she collects all the pieces and reassembles them. She’s already infiltrated the Guardians and broken down their defences. Humankind won’t know what’s happened until it’s too late.What Galina doesn’t know is that a letter, the Guardians’ last cry for help, has fallen into the hands of four young friends – Wade, Lily, Darrel and Becca. Four young friends who are about to find themselves caught up in a centuries-old battle to save fate itself…
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âThe Copernicus Legacy takes you on a fantastical journey that is as eye-opening as it is page-turning. With mysteries hiding behind secrets coded in riddle, this book is like a Dan Brown thriller for young readers. The further you get, the more you must read!â
âAngie Sage, New York Times bestselling author of the Septimus Heap series
âFull of mystery and intrigue, this book had me completely transfixed.â
âRidley Pearson, New York Times bestselling author of the Kingdom Keepers series.
To my family, adventurers all
Table of Contents
Austin, Texas
March 8th
11:47 p.m.
How and whyâand precisely whenâWade Kaplan dreamed that his priceless star chart had burst into flame he didnât know, but the instant its swirls of silver ink and richly painted constellations caught fire, he bolted awake.
âNo!â
The room was pitch-black. There was no fire.
Knowing the door between his room and his stepbrother Darrellâs was open, he tilted his head toward it. Slow, rhythmic breathing. Okay, good. Their first official day of school vacation had hardly been restful, rushing around doing last-minute chores before his stepmom, Sara, flew off on a business trip to South America. Her flight would leave early in the morning, and despite the hectic day, he and Darrell had promised to be up at the crack of dawn to see her off.
And yet â¦
Wade pushed the sheets aside, walked to the window, and quietly raised the shade.
It was a nearly moonless night, and stars were sprinkled thickly across the velvety black. His house in the hills some miles from the Austin city lights usually meant a vivid night sky, and tonight was no exception.
Turning to his desk, he opened the top drawer and drew out a leather satchel the size of a large paperback. Not only had it not burned, but it was cool to the touch, and he realized it had been weeks since heâd last handled it. He undid its straps and removed a thick sheet of folded parchment. His skin tingled when he opened it. The map was a gift for his seventh birthday from a dear friend of his fatherâs, a man heâd come to know as Uncle Henry. Engraved and hand-painted in the early sixteenth century, the map was a work of science, art, and history combined, and he cherished it.
Why, then, had he just dreamed of its destruction?
Wade turned the star map around until it matched the arrangement of constellations outside his window. Then, as if it had waited for him simply to look up, a meteor slid slowly across the dark, sparking as it passed. âDarrell, look!â he said instinctively, waiting for a second streak of light, knowing that one never comes when you expect it. A slow minute went by. No. That was all. He traced his finger across the map. âRight through Draco and Cygnus.â
âThe bad kids from Harry Potter?â
Wade spun around. âDarrell! Did you see it?â
His stepbrother staggered over, rubbing his eyes. âThe sky? Yeah. I saw it yesterday too. What time is it? Is the world ending? Answer the second question first.â
Wade laughed. âAbout midnight. I just saw a meteor. Theyâre actually much more common than people think.â
âAnd yet here we stand, staring out your window. Momâs trip comes in, like, an hour, doesnât it?â
âI know. Sorry.â
Wade had known since he was a toddler that stars were energy-producing balls of fiery gas burning at incredible heat hundreds of millions of miles away. Since his very first years in school, science had been his thing, his strength. But spread out over the Texas skiesâor anywhere, reallyâstars were also something else. Not merely randomly positioned specks blinking in the darkness.
âDarrell, look,â Wade said, pointing to the chart then the sky. âThatâs Cepheus. See, itâs a kind of box with a pointed hat on top. And thereâs one of Pegasusâs legs. Stars are like, I donât know, messages from way out there to us down here. If only we could read the code, you know?â
Darrell squinted. âI donât really see them, but I believe you, which is part of the stepbrother code. I also believe I need to sleep or Iâll die.â He started back to his room.
