A Tale of Witchcraft (A Tale of Magic2) by Chris Colfer (z-lib.org)

that tells them the truth—use all your show business skills to make it as
compelling, as captivating, and as entertaining as possible—it needs to grab
everyone’s attention! Once you’re done, I want you and the witches to make
as many copies as possible and drop them over Chariot Hills—don’t stop
until every street is covered.”

“Aye, aye, captain!” Lucy said with a salute.
Brystal was practically cheerful as she gave the instructions. The fairies
stared at her like she was a different person.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Nothing—that’s what’s wrong,” Emerelda said. “You’re acting normal
again.”
“It’s good to have you back,” Xanthous said.
“It’s good to be back,” she said.
Even though they had a solid plan in place now, none of the fairies or
witches leaped into action. All they could think about was the battle they
had barely escaped from. They gazed at the border with fearful eyes,
knowing they would cross paths with the Brotherhood sooner rather than
later.
“I’m really scared,” Skylene said. “Is it okay to admit that?”
“Me too,” Tangerina said. “We’ve never faced anything like this before.”
“I’m not going to lie to you,” Brystal told them. “We’re up against some
pretty scary and unprecedented times. The world isn’t as safe as it used to
be, and it may seem like we’ve lost something, but sometimes you have to
lose to learn the most important lessons. And if there’s one thing I’ve
learned through all this, it’s that no one is ever as alone or powerless as they
feel. We can always find someone or something to help us if we’re willing
to change our perspective.
“The Brotherhood may seem unbeatable, and they may seem
frightening, but their greatest weapon isn’t their soldiers or their bloodstone
—their greatest weapon is fear. They want us to believe they’re impossible
to beat, they want us to think we aren’t strong enough to face them, but as
long as we don’t confuse our fears with the facts, we can and we will defeat
them. The truth is, we also have a secret weapon, and it’s more powerful
than the Brotherhood will ever be. But first, I had to lose it to realize just
how valuable it is.”
“What is it?” Lucy asked.

Brystal smiled at her friends. “Hope,” she said. “And I don’t know about
you, but I’m tired of letting people use my emotions to control me. So from
now on, we’re going to starve whatever misery they try to cause us. We’re
going to fight sadness with laughter, we’re going to fight loneliness with
friendship, we’re going to fight anger with gratitude, and we’re going to
fight fear with hope. Because as long as we keep fighting, and as long as we
keep our hope alive—the Brotherhood won’t stand a chance.”

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I’d like to thank Rob Weisbach, Derek Kroeger, Alla Plotkin, Rachel
Karten, and Heather Manzutto for being part of my team.

Everyone at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, especially Alvina
Ling, Megan Tingley, Ruqayyah Daud, Nikki Garcia, Siena Koncsol,
Stefanie Hoffman, Shawn Foster, Danielle Cantarella, Jackie Engel, Emilie
Polster, Marisa Russell, Janelle DeLuise, Hannah Koerner, Jen Graham,
Sasha Illingworth, Angelie Yap, Virginia Lawther, and Chandra Wohleber.
A special thank-you to Jerry Maybrook for helping me with the audiobook.

And, of course, to all my friends, family, and readers who aren’t afraid
to be a little witchy every now and then.

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers began publishing books in
1926.
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ALSO BY CHRIS COLFER

A Tale of Magic…

The Land of Stories series:

The Wishing Spell
The Enchantress Returns

A Grimm Warning
Beyond the Kingdoms
An Author’s Odyssey

Worlds Collide

The Ultimate Book Hugger’s Guide
A Treasury of Classic Fairy Tales

The Mother Goose Diaries
Queen Red Riding Hood’s Guide to Royalty

The Curvy Tree

Trollbella Throws a Party