Clash of the Sky Galleons by Paul Stewart & Chris Riddell

Author:Paul Stewart & Chris Riddell [Stewart, Paul & Riddell, Chris]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Ages 10 and up
ISBN: 9780307495044
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2007-01-01T07:00:00+00:00

‘Oh, Quint, what are they?’ she asked as they passed a bough full of tiny hovering birds of iridescent green.

‘Emerald mossbirds, I think,’ said Quint. ‘Though sky pirates call them skull-peckers.’

‘What a horrible name for such beautiful birds,’ said Maris, resuming her descent.

Quint smiled, and decided not to tell her about the unfortunate habit they had of pecking out the eyes of any creature foolish enough to venture onto their nesting branch.

‘What’s this?’ Maris asked a moment later, pointing at the long thin insect running across the branch by her hand. She giggled. ‘Look at all its little legs going!’

‘A hairy thousandfoot,’ Quint replied, adding matter-of-factly: ‘And they can strip the flesh off a finger in seconds …’

Maris gave a small yelp of alarm and quickly withdrew her hand as the orange and grey mottled creature disappeared into a crack in the blackwood bark.

As they got closer to the ground, the forest around them became darker and colder, with the low sun unable to penetrate the depths of the forest. Finally, they reached the base of the tree, where the great gnarled roots fanned out from the huge trunk and sloped down towards the shadowy forest floor below. There, they disappeared deep into the rich earth, anchoring the mighty blackwood tree securely enough to withstand all but the most ferocious Deepwoods storms.

Quint paused and peered down into the gloom. Anything could be down there, lurking in the shadows -packs of voracious wig-wigs with their fluffy bodies and knife-like teeth; poison-tentacled hoverworms or death-breathed halitoads …

He took a deep breath, grasped Maris’s arm and quietly slid down a long, snaking root towards the forest floor. Their feet hit the mossy ground with a soft ploff at exactly the same moment, and they tumbled forwards. Instantly, Quint sprang to his feet and grasped Maris’s arm once more, pulling her into the shadows beneath a cluster of huge toadstools. He glanced around furtively, then motioned to Maris to follow him.

‘Keep your eyes and ears open, and stay close!’ he instructed, before setting off at a brisk pace. ‘And try to touch as little as possible. Flowers can sting, thorns can poison, vines can scratch and snag …’

Maris hurried after Quint, her face taut with fear.

‘And as for the creatures,’ Quint continued, skirting round a clump of milkwort fronds, ‘they’re best avoided, however small and innocent-looking they may appear. Remember, Maris, out here in the Deepwoods, nothing is what it seems!’

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