Maggie Blue and the White Crow by Anna Goodall

Author:Anna Goodall
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Guppy Publishing Ltd
Published: 2023-01-30T10:19:26+00:00

18

Rescue Mission

After the chaotic battle at the portal, those that were still able flew to Sun City. Roda had not been seriously hurt, he only had a few scratches, but he was deeply humiliated . . . If anything, he seemed to be in a greater sort of pain than the injured shifters that were sprawled all around them in the great square.

They had lost Maggie Blue; that was the long and short of it. Shifters loyal to the Fathers had ambushed them, and they had lost the girl. Ulrich, once he’d recovered a little from the pain of the burns on his body from the orbs’ attack, could only sit and wonder how they had been so naïve, so utterly stupid. But no answer readily presented itself. He even allowed himself to wonder at his master’s mistake . . .

Much later, after the moon witches had attended to his wounds and dark-time had fallen, Ulrich was well enough to accompany Roda up to the top of one of the towers of the half-ruined fortress. It was a clear night and they could see across the dark velvety land by a waxing moon. All was still and quiet, and the desperate battle they had fought by the portal seemed like a bad dream. Neither of them spoke.

Zede appeared suddenly and without any sound: a tiny form in flowing black robes whose long white hair trailed far behind him on the ground. His purple eyes gleamed at them in the darkness. They were not allies exactly, but they had formed an uneasy truce in order to fight together against the Fathers, and to pass useful information to one another.

Without a glance at Ulrich, the ancient moon witch walked up to the great heron and faced him squarely. ‘Why did you not tell us of the fortress being built in the Magic Mountains?’ He spat greenish liquid onto the stones between them. ‘Now we see why we are winning this war so easily. I thought we were united against the Fathers, at least.’

Roda bowed his long grey head respectfully. ‘Because we still do not know if it really exists. We sent one of our best warriors to find out, but she never returned.’

Ulrich felt a pang of grief at the mention of the little wren. He had given up hope of ever seeing her again.

‘And now I hear you have lost the girl? Of course, we want her dead. Perhaps someone else has taken care of it for us.’

Ulrich sensed the anger pulsing through his master, but Roda showed no outward sign of it and responded in a calm flat voice. ‘The Great O wants her alive. And we were ambushed, yes. The girl was taken.’

‘And the Great O with her?’

‘She was not taken,’ Roda retorted. ‘But she will not be parted from the girl.’

Zede nodded. ‘Yes, so I understand. And you will still not tell us in what form the Great O has returned?’

Roda bowed his head. ‘I am forbidden from doing so.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.