The Bell Between Worlds (The Mirror Chronicles) by Ian Johnstone

Author:Ian Johnstone
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2013-03-04T00:00:00+00:00

“There is more to the hills than meets the eye, for they hide in their inner folds a sanctuary that defies discovery, a place of improbable magic, a place called the Valley of Outs.”

FILIMAYA WAS ONCE AGAIN queen of the wave, standing tall and graceful in the rear of her boat while it leapt and pranced beneath her, her hand outstretched as her eyes scanned the river and shoreline ahead for any sign of the enemy. The great wall of water had subsided a little and it now rushed and tumbled at a less terrifying speed, conveying the seven remaining boats to safety.

Still there was no sign of the Ghor on the banks or in the river and Sylas noticed people gradually relaxing a little, no longer straining their eyes to check for dark figures moving stealthily along the riverbanks or for eel-like shapes gliding below the surface of the river. Instead they looked ahead, beyond the outlying buildings of the town, beyond the jetties and mills and cattleposts to the forested hills that now grew before them, offering the barely believable promise of sanctuary.

Sylas writhed from side to side trying to get comfortable in the back of the boat, fidgeting with the bags that he and Simia had propped behind them. In truth it was not the hard boards and the endless bucking of the vessel that made him restless, it was the adrenalin still coursing through his veins and the tension between him and his companions. No one had said a word since all that had happened at the bridge, and while Simia and Ash had caught Sylas’s eye more than once, they had quickly looked away.

Sylas was full of doubts. Had he really made those things happen? Had he really just saved his friends? After all, no one had seen anything on the surface – the Slithen and the Ghor in the water had just seemed to disappear. But then why had Filimaya turned and looked at him like that?

He tried to clear his mind, to think of something else, but instantly it filled with the terrible scenes he had just witnessed. What would become of the Suhl now? What would they suffer because of him? They had helped him, laid down their lives for him and in return he had led the Ghor to them, destroyed their beautiful hideaway, their wonderful gardens, their precious books.

He lowered his head into his hands, staring fixedly at the bottom of the boat.

“It’s not your fault, you know.”

Sylas looked up at Ash.

“No more than it’s our fault that we couldn’t help. This is just what it’s like. The Undoing.”

Sylas was silent for some moments, but then he lifted his eyes.

“What is the Undoing?”

Ash looked up at the hills and narrowed his eyes. “Hatred. Loathing. All wrapped up in a name.”

“That’s about right,” grunted Bayleon, lowering an oar to wipe his brow.

“It’s Thoth’s attempt to annihilate us,” continued Ash. “Him and his servants, like Scarpia. To remove us from his world,

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