Mountain of Whispers (Island of Fog Book 3) by Keith Robinson

Author:Keith Robinson [Robinson, Keith]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Unearthly Tales
Published: 2010-07-22T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

The Journey Home

Hunger descended with a vengeance and Hal’s patience began to slip. He’d had enough of long dark tunnels and choking clouds of fungal spores, and was growing weary of transforming over and over. Now he just wanted to eat, and yet here they were, in some deserted stone quarry in the middle of nowhere, arguing over what to do next.

Fenton was adamant. “I’m not leaving her! She needs to be released. This is her home, right here—or nearby, anyway. We have to get her out!”

“And we will,” Abigail argued, “but it’s not like we can just lift her out.”

Blacknail was studying the enormous wooden wheel lying on its side, half buried in sand. Hal still thought it looked like a waterwheel of some kind, but Abigail jokingly pointed out that it was for a giant hamster to run around on.

Surprisingly, Blacknail nodded. “That ain’t far from the truth. It’s a treadmill crane. A big one, too. It’s lying on its side, in pieces. See, there’s part of the boom.” He kicked away some sand, revealing a sturdy beam. “The wheel should have a long spindle sticking out, like an axle on a cart. Look—see that thick pole over there? That’ll be the spindle. A centaur runs around the inside of the wheel, and rope winds around the spindle. A simple but powerful winch. Slow, but capable of huge loads, more than enough for stone blocks, and maybe enough for a giant lizard as long as the ropes or chains don’t break.”

“Can we stand it up?” Fenton said, excited. “Can we get it working?” He looked pleadingly at Blacknail.

The goblin laughed. “You’re off your rocker if you think we can stand that thing upright. Look at the size of it.”

Hal tried to imagine the Shadow Demon being lowered down the shaft. It must have gone head or tail first, dangling on ropes or chains. “They must have drugged her,” he murmured.

“Robbie’s strong enough to fix it,” Fenton insisted.

Robbie raised an eyebrow. “I thought I was just a skinny moron?”

“We’d need ten ogres to drag that thing out of the ground and put it together,” Blacknail said, shaking his head. “No, we’ll just have to—”

Then he stopped, and a strange expression came over his face. He stared into the distance, at the range of mountains.

“Blacknail?” Hal prompted, his stomach growling.

The goblin turned and gave a twisted sneer that Hal assumed was a grin. “Ogres. That’s the answer. Ogres roam these parts. I need to get my bearings, but I don’t think we’re a million miles from ogre country. Robbie can go fetch ’em. With enough hands, we can put this contraption back together. Then Fenton can sweet-talk his new mama so’s we can hoist her out without being eaten.”

There was a long silence.

“I guess that could work,” Robbie said, looking doubtful.

“It will work,” Fenton said, stomping over and thumping Robbie hard on the back. “You go off and grab some buddies, and I’ll stay here and wait. When you get back, we’ll fix things up and rescue her.

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