04 Above the Veil by Nix Garth

Author:Nix, Garth [Garth, Nix,]
Format: epub
Published: 2010-04-10T21:25:32.012000+00:00

But the push had seemed accidental.

"Oh, sorry," said Crow. Tal retreated a few steps down as Crow pulled a ring of keys out of his sleeve pocket and selected one to put in the lock. Then he inserted a strip of thin metal as well, and turned both of them.

The lock turned easily, and the door swung open.

The light from the Sunstones in the chamber spilled out, but was swallowed by the darkness beyond. A freezing wind blew in, rattling the door and sweeping back the two boys' hair, stinging their faces and eyes.

Crow seemed paralyzed. He stood there, his keys in his hand, staring out into the eternal night beyond the narrow walkway.

"Welcome to the Dark World," said Tal.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

The Perawl shrieked again and took off, its prey in its huge claws. Unfortunately Odris had made herself quite solid in order to hold on to Milla, so the huge, leathery flying creature could easily grip her shadowflesh.

"Ow!" cried Odris. "Ow! Ow! Ow!"

The Perawl couldn't really damage her, but its great talons were ripping her body, and it hurt.

"Drop me!" shouted Milla. "Drop me now!"

They were still above the road, but the Perawl could swing away at any time, out into open space.

Odris obeyed, but a fraction too late. Milla saw the gap in the road below her, the deep crevasse she had jumped across before. She made a frantic grab and just managed to grip on to the little finger of Odris's left hand.

The finger stretched and stretched into a long rope of darkness as Milla swung below her Spiritshadow. The Perawl beat its mighty wings, taking Odris higher.

Milla focused on her Sunstone, brightening it as fast as she could, and at the same time she screamed, high-pitched and loud. Perawls couldn't stand very bright light, or very loud, high noises. They didn't see or hear like any normal creature.

The Perawl gave a surprised squawk and tried to let go. But its talons were actually embedded in Odris, and the Spiritshadow couldn't make herself more insubstantial without making her finger the same.

Milla fell. The Spiritshadow's finger got thinner and thinner, until it was burning through Milla's gloves, and she had to take one last swing and let go.

Immediately Odris thinned herself, slipping off the Perawl's talons like water. But she was already high above Milla. All she could see was a falling light, which was all too soon extinguished.

With the absence of light, Odris immediately grew weaker. She fell from the talons, but did not have the strength to fly. Instead, she plummeted straight down, a blot of formless shadow, indistinguishable in the darkness.

Milla missed the gap in the road by a few stretches, but the impact was hard. She tried to get up straightaway, but the wind had been knocked out of her, so she could only rise to a crouch. She could hear the Perawl squawking in the distance, but there was no sign of Odris nearby.

She could feel her Spiritshadow, though. The connection between them was strong.

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