The Mask of Power: Cynder Confronts the Weather Wizard #5 (Skylanders Universe) - Softcover

Beakman, Onk

4.24

45 ratings by Goodreads

9780448487182: The Mask of Power: Cynder Confronts the Weather Wizard #5 (Skylanders Universe)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0448487187 ISBN 13: 9780448487182

Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap, 2015

View all copies of this ISBN edition:

The Skylanders are back!

Cynder Confronts the Weather Wizard is the fifth book in the ongoing Mask of Power series of original novels set in the Skylanders universe. In this book, Cynder travels to the Isle of the Undead to find out why storm clouds are gathering over the Cloudless Desert.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

About the Author:

Onk Beakman has devoted his life to chronicling the greatest adventures of the Skylanders. Though he was hatched on the icy wastes of Skylands’s Frozen Desert, this book-loving penguin now lives in a shack on the beautiful sands of Blistering Beach with his two pet cucumbers.

Onk Beakman knew he wanted to be a world-famous author from the moment he was hatched. In fact, the book-loving penguin was so excited that he wrote his first novel while still inside his egg (to this day, nobody is entirely sure where he got the tiny pencil and notebook from).

Growing up on the icy wastes of Skylands’ Frozen Desert was difficult for a penguin who hated the cold. While his brothers plunged into the freezing waters, Onk could be found with his beak buried in a book and a pen clutched in his flippers.

Yet his life changed forever when a giant floating head appeared in the skies above the tundra. It was Kaos, attempting to melt the icecaps so he could get his grubby little hands on an ancient weapon buried beneath the snow.

Onk watched open-beaked as Spyro swept in and sent the evil Portal Master packing. From that day, Onk knew that he must chronicle the Skylanders’ greatest adventures. He traveled the length and breadth of Skylands, collecting every tale he could find about Master Eon’s brave champions.

Today, Onk writes from a shack on the beautiful sands of Blistering Beach with his two pet sea cucumbers.

Chapter One

“Oh yeah,” said Zook, reaching for another coconut drink. “This is the life, right, Cynder?”

Beside the Bambazooker, the dark purple dragon shifted uncomfortably beneath the shade of a large umbrella.

“Speak for yourself, Bamboo Boy,” she said with a sigh. “Remind me again why we’re lying on a beach?”

“To soak up the sun, why else?” The green-barked Life Skylander slurped the creamy coconut milk noisily. “This is the Cloudless Desert, the sunniest spot in all of Skylands. Just kick back and relax, that’s all.”

“And you don’t feel guilty that we’re wasting our time when we should be out looking for the next segment of the Mask of Power?” Cynder snapped, her scaly brow furrowing. She glanced around, taking in the countless Mabu out enjoying a day in the sun. Didn’t they realize the danger they were all in? Kaos was trying to reassemble the fabled Mask of Power. If he managed it . . .

“Hey, hey, hey, just chill,” insisted Zook, settling back in his deck chair. “If Master Eon needs us, he knows where to find us.”

The buzz of the happy vacationers was broken by a sharp crack that sounded like the universe being pulled in two. Cynder was immediately on her feet. She knew that sound. It was a Portal!

She spun around to see a column of light blaze into existence. A figure materialized at its heart. It was tall, regal, and more than a little spooky.

Cynder grinned. Zook wanted to chill and you couldn’t get more chilling than this new arrival: Hex!

The elven sorceress swept from the Portal, her piercing gaze passing over the beach.

All around, there were gasps and even a few whimpers. Like Cynder, Hex was an Undead Skylander—a mistress of dark magic and feared by many. Hex’s ghost-white eyes shimmered as she watched the vacationers frantically pack up their towels and beach chairs, deciding that there was something else they’d rather be doing. Like getting trapped in a spider-infested cave or fed to a pack of zombies.

“What’s up, Hexy?” called Zook in greeting. “You here to catch the rays?” The Bambazooker peeked over his pair of ridiculously large sunglasses. “You do look like you could use a tan.”

Hex’s narrow mouth turned down at the corners. She wasn’t known for her sense of humor. She was known for striking fear into everyone’s hearts, which was quite different.

“Master Eon needs you,” she replied, her voice like wind whistling through a graveyard. “You’ll have to ‘catch the rays’ another time.” Her disgust at the very concept was obvious. Hex was more at home in moonlight than in the warmth of the sun.

“Is it the mask?” Cynder said eagerly, feeling an electric thrill run through her wings. “Has Eon located the next segment?”

But Hex didn’t answer. Instead she peered into the sky, a puzzled look on her ashen face.

“I thought this place was known as the Cloudless Desert?” she commented, floating up from the blisteringly hot sands.

“Yeah, that’s right,” Zook confirmed contentedly. “Not a cloud in the sky.”

“Except that one,” Hex muttered, cocking her head to the side in curiosity.

Cynder followed the witch’s gaze. She was right. A tiny cloud had appeared in the expanse of brilliant blue. A cloud that was growing, and growing fast. A shadow fell over the sands as the three Skylanders gazed up in amazement. In a matter of seconds the cloud had smothered the sky, becoming darker with every passing minute.

“Hey, who turned off the sun?” complained Zook, throwing aside his shades and snatching up his bazooka. Fun-loving and carefree he may have been, but Zook recognized a threat when he saw one.

So did Cynder. Her expression was darkening as quickly as the sky. This was no natural storm.

“It is the power of Darkness,” cried Hex. She threw her arms out wide, and crackling phantom orbs appeared in her upturned palms. “The forces of nature have turned against us.”

Cynder felt a drop of rain on her nose, followed by another. A moment later, the heavens opened, and water lashed down from those strange storm clouds.

“It could just be a quick shower,” joked Zook, ever the eternal optimist. “I mean, who ever got hurt by a few drops of rain?”

There was a scream from their left. The Skylanders turned to see a Mabu sinking into the soggy sand. He was already up to his waist in the quagmire. All around, fleeing vacationers were getting stuck, before getting dragged beneath the dunes.

Cynder could feel the grip of the wet ground pulling her claws down into a clammy embrace.

“We need to do something,” she yelled, flapping her leathery wings to pull herself free with a wet squelch. “The dunes are turning into quicksand. Everyone is going to be sucked underground!”

Chapter Two

Cynder soared through the air, snatching a sun-worshipping Mabu from the cloying quicksand and flying him to safety. The rain beat down on her wings the whole time, making it difficult to fly. She wouldn’t be able to rescue them all.

“Zook!” she cried out, spotting another Mabu—who was wearing a flowery sunhat—almost vanishing beneath the surface. “Behind you!”

The Bambazooker turned, his eyes growing wide when he spotted the stricken Mabu. “Hang on, little buddy,” he shouted out as he splashed through the quagmire.

“T-to what?” stammered the horrified tourist.

“To these!” Zook clapped his hands together and bamboo shoots erupted around the sinking Mabu from beneath the sand. Usually, Zook used his foliage barriers for protection—today they would be a lifeline.

“Great idea, Zook,” Cynder called down. “Can you summon them all over the beach?”

“No problem,” the Bambazooker yelled back, spinning in a circle. “Let’s Zook it up!”

Bamboo shoots popped up here, there, and everywhere.

“Grab hold of the bamboo,” Cynder yelled to the Mabu who were still floundering in the mud. “And hang on to them until I can get to you.”

“The rain is getting worse,” Zook pointed out. “I’m not sure how long the bamboo will last.”

“Long enough,” murmured Hex, rising up into the air, sinister wreaths of emerald smoke swirling around her hands.

“For what?” Zook asked.

“For the Darkness to fall!” Hex cried out, reaching her hands up to the heavens. Smoke bloomed from her open palms, shooting into the clouds above as the elven witch recited a spell in a language not spoken for thousands upon thousands of years. There was a loud CRACK, and the sky flashed a brilliant green. Even Cynder had to look away from the sudden unnatural flare.

When the dragon looked again the clouds were scuttling away like giant, fluffy spiders.

“Hey, hows about that?” Zook laughed. “Instant summer. Heh-heh!”

Sure enough, beams of sunlight were poking through the retreating clouds, the rain clearing away to nothing.

Not that heros had time to bask in the sun. “Quick, everyone,” Cynder snapped, snatching a Mabu out of the drying dunes. “Get clear of the sand before it gets baked hard by the heat. You don’t want to get stuck.”

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.