Gift of the Unmage by Alma Alexander

Author:Alma Alexander [Alexander, Alma]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Children's Books, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Fantasy & Magic, Literature & Fiction, Fantasy, Contemporary, Children's eBooks, Science Fiction; Fantasy & Scary Stories, Paranormal & Urban
Amazon: B00CVH3YTO
Publisher: Sky Warrior Book Publishing, LLC
Published: 2013-05-17T16:00:00+00:00

MOON OF THE GREEN CORN

1.

IT HAD BEEN COLD dark February when Thea and her father had boarded the airplane to New Mexico, bound for Cheveyo’s country, but the air was scented with late summer as the Alphiri Portal deposited Thea near her home and winked out of existence behind her. Dark green leaves of the big-leaf maple trees and the fernlike fronds of cedars nodded in the slight breeze as she made her way from the woods. A squirrel chittered at her from a cedar branch, and something unseen, a bird or a small animal, rustled in the underbrush before falling silent.

A raven, sitting on a log sprouting a thicket of new growth, stayed put for a long time as Thea approached, keeping its beady eyes on her. Then it cawed loudly in a manner Thea could swear had been dripping with resentment, as though the bird had something against her personally, and took flight.

Thea suddenly remembered the raven that had escaped the Alphiri lying in wait for her in the woods, the ones into whose clutches she had sent Corey the Trickster, and followed the raven with her eyes until it disappeared into the trees. She felt uncomfortable, awkward, could not seem to shake the unpleasant sensation of being watched—could not wipe the image of the fury on the face of the thwarted Alphiri. She knew that she had played by the rules, that the bargain had been closed, perfectly concluded with every nuance of the contract fulfilled. That didn’t help. She saw glowing Alphiri eyes peering greedily at her from every shadow.

Her family was out in the backyard. Thea could hear the gabble of voices as she approached, and a whiff of barbecue smoke drifted toward her. They were too busy at first to notice her as she rounded the corner of the house, and she stood for a moment observing them, realizing with a sudden pang just how much she had missed them all.

It was full summer, and all Thea’s brothers were at home at the same time. Anthony, the oldest and the one most conscious of his dignity, was lounging back in a green plastic Adirondack chair with his long legs stretched out in front of him and crossed at the ankles. He looked on with benign indifference at Doug and Eddie sitting cross-legged on the grass, devouring hot dogs and baked potatoes dripping with butter. Ben was reading by himself in a corner, as usual, his round glasses perched on the end of his nose. And Charlie was poking fun at Frankie, who appeared to be trying to turn a pinecone into a lizard. He had only partly succeeded, because the pinecone had four legs and a long swishing tail but no head (and hence no eyes) and was therefore capable of escaping Frankie’s clutches but not of seeing where it was going. The lizard-cone was skittering all over the lawn, bouncing off people’s feet and lawn furniture, with Frankie chasing after it in hot pursuit.

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