The Battle for Urth by Lee Bacon

Author:Lee Bacon
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2016-11-08T05:00:00+00:00

Until today, I didn’t know what a “play-ground” was. And now one is trying to kill us.

The support beams rip loose from the padded ground, tearing out chunks of gravel. The play-ground transforms into an enormous lumbering monster.

It stomps toward us on a dozen stiff metal legs. Red and yellow bars gnash together like teeth. The slide flops up and down like a slobbering tongue. A tail of climbing chains rattles behind it. The play-ground is a heartbeat away from landing on top of me with all its weight when Kara screams—

“Get outta there!”

She rams me with her shoulder. The two of us tumble to the padded ground just as a bright red support beam pummels the exact spot where I’d just been standing.

There’s no time to thank Kara. She’s scrambling to her feet. And so am I. We begin running, but instantly stagger to a halt when the play-ground slumps into our path.

The groan of twisting metal and plastic echoes across the clearing. Before I can make another move, the slide stretches forward—an enormous, disgusting red tongue that wraps around my ankle.

“Aggghh!” I kick and squirm, but it’s no use. The slide only tightens around my leg. I look up at Kara. “Get out of here while you still have a chance!”

“I’m not leaving you!” Kara yells. “Just stay calm!”

How in the seven moons am I supposed to “stay calm” when a monster play-ground is about to devour me? The thing slouches forward, its multicolored bars clamping together like the jaws of a hungry predator.

“Grab hold!”

Kara takes my hand and pulls. With my free foot, I kick the slide again and again and again.

“Let!” SMACK! “Go!” WHAP! “Of!” CLONK! “Me!”

The final kick loosens the slide’s hold enough for me to wrench my leg loose. Kara helps me to my feet and we stumble away.

“Watch out for the monkey bars!” Kara screams.

“What are monkey ba—oof!”

A row of horizontal metal bars slams me in the shoulder. I have a feeling they are monkey bars. On my feet again, I stagger forward until we’ve managed to put some distance between ourselves and the monster play-ground. With the sounds of wrenching plastic and metal trailing us, Kara and I race toward the edge of the clearing. We’re nearly there when a yellow-and-gray blur appears at the edge of my vision.

Beside me, Kara yelps. “Oh, crud! It’s the swing set!”

On ordinary occasions, I imagine the “swing set” might be quite a lot of fun. But at this moment, it looks deadly. It lumbers toward us, a riot of clinking and squeaking and clanking. Chains twist and slither like snakes.

“Come on!” I yell. “We must keep moving!”

“No need to tell me twice!”

We bolt to the edge of the clearing. Past the tree line and onto the path, we don’t slow down until the sounds of the monster play-ground have faded.

Kara leans against a vine-covered tree to catch her breath. “I’m never coming back to this park again.”

“But it’s not just the park,” I remind her. “Soon your entire village will be infected with the Sorceress’s evil enchantment.

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