Swordbird by Nancy Yi Fan; Mark Zug

Author:Nancy Yi Fan; Mark Zug
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Children's writings, Animals, Action & Adventure, Nature, Fantasy fiction, Juvenile Fiction, Cardinals (Birds), Fantasy & Magic, Fiction, Blue jay, Fantasy, War, Birds & Birdwatching, Military & Wars, Historical, Imaginary wars and battles, General, Birds
ISBN: 9780061131011
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2008-01-22T08:24:20+00:00

Slime-beak and his battered troops finally arrived at the gate of Fortress Glooming. It wasn’t a pretty sight, half the soldiers hopping, walking, or running and the other half flying. The captain knew he would be in deep trouble. When he had set out to battle, he’d had about fifty soldiers in all. When he retreated, there was only a sad number of thirty or so.

Normally Slime-beak would fly over the tall gate, but because his wings were sticky with bean soup, he had to call the guards at the other side of the gate. “You, in there! Open up!” Slime-beak called. No response. “Guards! No sleeping. You hear?”

Sensing that something was wrong, the captain sent a raven to check on the guards. Moments later, the raven croaked, “The guards are tied up and unconscious.”

“They—slavebirds!” The words caught in the captain’s throat. He dashed away to check the slave compound.

Slime-beak rushed into the musty, reeking place and tripped over something soft near the entrance. It was the body of the compound guard. Horrified, he stood up and looked around. There seemed to be lumps and bird-shaped shadows, but something was not quite right. It was quiet. Too quiet.

“Come on, sleepyheads! Get up and follow me!” There were no replies, only echoes. Slime-beak tore the sheet from a slavebird’s bed, uncovering a reed-made dummy. He howled with rage. Bug-eye, the slave driver, was nowhere around.

“Soldiers!” Slime-beak ordered. “Use your skills now, and find those slavebirds! If you don’t catch them, I’ll use your hides to make shoes! Come on! Look! You miserable bunch of featherballs!”

The soldiers rushed out in different directions, investigating shadows and listening for noises.

Slime-beak quickly scrubbed and dried his wings. Then he led a squad and flew some distance before landing and investigating. One of his crows squinted at some moving shapes not far off. “What are those?” another soldier asked, holding a lantern in his claw.

Seeing the shapes moving rapidly away, Slime-beak charged at them. “Quick! Get the escaping slavebirds!”

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