Darkstalker by Tui T. Sutherland

Author:Tui T. Sutherland
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Published: 2016-08-22T04:00:00+00:00

“This is such a terrible idea,” Clearsight whispered, tipping her wings to catch the wind. Below them, the school was dark and still, as if all the light and noise had been sucked into the party at the palace next door. Darkstalker was there tonight, again, but that was for the best, since it meant he couldn’t stop her from doing this, or even notice she was doing it.

“It’s not a terrible idea,” Listener shot back, “or you wouldn’t be letting me do it, because you’d have seen it go wrong and you’d know we were going to be caught. Ipso facto, clearly we’ll be fine, because you’re just grumbling and not actually trying to stop me.”

“Maybe I see that you’ll learn a valuable lesson from your criminal mistakes,” Clearsight said airily. “Maybe you need to be caught in order for that to happen.”

Listener shot her a suspicious look. “You wouldn’t do that to me.”

“Maybe this is the only way to save you from spiraling into a life of crime and infamy.” Clearsight put on her most pious face.

“Quit freaking me out!” Listener whacked Clearsight with her tail and Clearsight started giggling so hard she nearly lost the air current holding her up.

“Besides,” Listener said, angling toward the school’s upper entrance, “we’re not criminals, we’re heroes! We’re liberating the oppressed! Righting all wrongs! Saving the day!”

“Somehow I don’t think that’s how the teachers are going to see it,” Clearsight pointed out. They landed and stepped carefully into the dark spiraling hall that led down to the classrooms. Student projects and artwork lined the walls, sharpening into focus as her night vision adjusted. Here was one student’s research study on RainWing camouflage; over there was a diagram comparing MudWing and SeaWing physiognomy.

A little farther down was the portrait of her that Darkstalker had painted, with what looked like a spiderweb of fireworks behind her. Only the two of them knew that was supposed to represent the intersecting timelines of the future. Unfortunately his skill at painting was nowhere close to Whiteout’s, and Clearsight looked a bit more like a horse with a hippo butt than she would have liked. She had politely refrained from telling him that.

Listener sighed. “I tried to do this through official channels, you know. I talked to Truthfinder — I mean, if I can feel what the scavengers are feeling, surely she can, too. But she totally didn’t care! She said it made them fascinating subjects for study, but that we shouldn’t overidentify with them, because ‘they’re not dragons, after all.’ No matter how sad or scared or lonely they get, they’re still just animals, according to her. ‘Big, hairless squirrels who can do a few more tricks than your average monkey.’ Isn’t that crazy?”

“Darkstalker agrees with you,” Clearsight offered. She didn’t add that he thought Listener’s scavenger obsession was a little kooky. “He says the new one they got for his class is severely depressed. He is all in favor of Operation Scavenger Rescue.”

“Did you tell him we’re doing this tonight?” Listener asked, stopping abruptly so Clearsight bumped into her.

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