Against the Tide by Noël Browne

Author:Noël Browne [Browne, Noël]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780717155491
Publisher: Gill & Macmillan

ROLLAN REMEMBERED STANDING IN THE FOG WITH HIS ARM around Meilin. He remembered being tired all the way through his toes. He remembered waiting in silence; he remembered staring helplessly into the dark, which was resolutely empty of giant pandas.

He did not remember how he’d gotten here, to the outskirts of a circle of white trees. The fog was gone; the sun shone thinly from behind pale morning clouds.

This couldn’t be Nightshade Island. Plants were growing here, and small animals rustled in the undergrowth. Everything smelled clean and fresh.

Everything, that is, except for the horrifyingly enormous silverback gorilla, taller than the walls around Concorba, looming in the center of the clearing.

He smelled pretty awful.

The gorilla squinted in Rollan’s direction, as if he’d heard that thought.

Rollan flinched. He might not have had tutors and years of studying, but he certainly knew who the only giant gorilla in the world was.

This had to be Kovo, the Great Ape, who had been aligned with the Devourer in the war.

He was quite definitely on the bad guy list.

But shouldn’t he be in prison? Rollan wondered. How and when did he get out? And where are Tarik and Meilin?

If the gorilla saw Rollan, he ignored him. Instead Kovo turned back to the far side of the trees, where a boy stood, warily watching the gorilla.

The boy, who looked barely older than Rollan, wore a short travel cloak of fine, deep red velvet, and on his head was a crown. Despite his age, he held himself like a king — a nervous king, facing such a menacing Great Beast, but a king nonetheless. Opals set into the gold crown glinted in the sunshine. His eyes were hard and brown, and he had an arrogant way of holding his head. Something about him was vaguely familiar.

The boy king drew his cloak closer around him. “You . . . you propose we go to war with our neighbors?”

Rollan realized he’d arrived mid-conversation. Oh. I’m dreaming. This had to be a dream — but it felt awfully real.

“War is inevitable in your species, I’m afraid,” said Kovo in a dark, rumbling voice that seemed to echo both inside and outside Rollan’s head. “The question is whether your people will go to war with you — for you — or against you. Now, do not look so crestfallen. There is plenty of time to turn things around.”

“My father spoke of war as a great evil.”

“Your father lived in simpler times. That’s not really fair either, if you think about it. He left all of Stetriol’s problems to you. But I come to you now with solutions. Take the land you deserve. Arm your people with iron and steel . . . and this.” Kovo held out his hand, revealing a small glass vial.

“Go on,” he said. Rollan could feel the weight of the power behind those words. Who could say no to Kovo? Who would dare?

The king hesitated only a moment, then stepped forward and accepted the vial. He clutched it to his chest and took three steps quickly back.

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