Aliana Krystel Buendia Deveza published her first series: The Snake Prince of Montreal: The Witch's Vengeance at the age of 11. After publishing her first book, she started writing the second series, The Quest for the Magic Stone. Her story's inspiration was her immigrant experience. Now, 12 years old, Aliana came to the United States from Philippines when she was 4 ½ years old. Being away from her parents for 2 long years, she believed that she was on a journey of her own to get the magic stone, for her, that was her visa to come over to United States to be reunited with her parents. Aliana also loves to swim, play soccer, volleyball, basketball, and enjoys her free time with her family, friends and Dindy, her dog. An author at a very young age and an honor roll student, she believed that reading creates a better world of imagination. Aliana is currently working on her third and last book of The Snake Prince of Montreal Series, The Prince's Valor.

 About the Illustrator:

Rodrigo Robles-Gonzalez is 13 years old.   He was born in Mexico.  He moved with his family to Hong Kong when he was 5 and  has lived in the USA since 2004.   Besides drawing, he enjoys playing basketball and soccer, listening to music, reading and playing video games as well.   He plans to continue developing his skills and become an artist in the future.

Chapter 2

Secrets of the Dark Forest

             Prince Krystopher looked up at the dazzling night sky. He thought to himself, I just wish I could touch that one star and give it to my dear Arianna. As he rode forward on Rigor’s back, he reached another forest unknown to him. It looked different than the forest of Arycilla. It was very dim, so black, in fact, that Prince Krystopher could barely see what was ahead of him. He was very eager to explore the forest, yet he felt frightened. Prince Krystopher felt that at any moment a monster or something dangerous might jump on him. He did not want to go in, but there was no other way. He knew the dark forest was the only way to reach Mount Zerca.

 He paused, then sensed something pulling him in. He did not know what it was. Rigor neighed, ran forward, and stopped abruptly. The next thing he knew, Prince Krystopher stood on something bumpy at the entrance of the forest. When Krystopher turned around, he saw something move behind the bushes. He knew there was no turning back. The Prince sighed and took a deep breath.

Prince Krystopher began to feel nauseous. He whispered to Rigor to start to look for a way out of the forest. Dmitri covered his eyes with his wings. As Rigor began to move, Krystopher heard small running footsteps and squeaks behind him, but when he turned around, he saw nothing but black, dead rustling leaves. He took out the magic stick that the white elf had given him and began to look out. The forest looked so dead and scary. The trees looked like giant monsters looking down at him. He thought that no one could ever live in this dark forest and survive. The Prince began to shiver throughout his whole body and decided not to blink so his eyes could watch the road. It was quiet, he thought, a little too quiet.

Then, unexpectedly, something behind him jumped on his left shoulder. But before the little creature got his hands on Prince Krystopher, he pointed the light on the creature’s hand, grabbed it and threw it aside. The creature wailed and moaned, falling to the ground. Having seen this, the other creatures began to chase Prince Krystopher and his friends.

Rigor tried to run as fast as he could, but the creatures were just as fast as Rigor. When Krystopher and Rigor turned around to see if there were any more, one of the trees put its root in Rigor’s path, causing him to topple over.