The Farthest-Away Mountain by Lynne Reid Banks

Author:Lynne Reid Banks [Banks, Lynne Reid]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fantasy, Young Adult
ISBN: 0380713039
Publisher: Avon Camelot
Published: 1992-02-01T05:00:00+00:00

13

∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

The Blue Bead

The fall was horrible but short. She landed on a hard stone floor. For a moment she lay still, stunned, but only by fright: the magic of the Lithy Pool had protected her from every other hurt but that.

“I really must try to be a bit braver,” thought Dakin shakily as she sat up, “especially now. I must trust the Lithy Pool water.”

She stood up. It was still perfectly dark. She could sense that she was in a huge, very high cave; she knew this by the way every little sound she made echoed. Also, she could still hear Graw, his wings making their uncanny whistling sound and his beak clacking, high, high above her.

And now she heard another sound. Actually, she felt it first, in the stone under her feet: the trembling of the mountain as Drackamag walked. She fumbled in her pocket and found the troll’s little blue bead, or sweet, or whatever it was, and popped it into her mouth. It had a strong, rather disgusting but healthy sort of taste, like disinfectant. Now she could see that the cave was growing lighter. A flick ering light spread across the great rocky rough-cutwalls. Thud, thud, thud—and with each footfall the light of the giant candle drew nearer and lit up more of the cave, as the ogre came along a vast passage toward her.

“I don’t suppose,” thought Dakin, trying not to quake, “that the magic water could protect me if Drackamag actually stood on me, so I’d better run and stand against a wall, not here in the middle of the floor!” She quickly did this, but Graw, hovering above in the eerie blackness, saw her run and, thinking she was trying to escape, swooped down on her with a harsh cry. She ducked into a crevice of the rock, and the tip of his black wing just brushed her face as it wheeled by with a swish of air like a sword stroke.

“Ugh!” Dakin exclaimed. Its wing had a horrid smell, like something dead. Dakin put up her hand to wipe away the cold, cold touch from her face—and got the shock of her life.

Her hand was transparent.

Even as she stared at it, it faded altogether and disappeared.

For a second Dakin thought—well, it would be hard to describe her thoughts. Had she gone blind? But no, the walls of the great cave were still clear before her, clearer and clearer, in fact, as the ogre’s candle approached. How then could she not be able to see her hand right before her face?

She looked down at herself. But there was no herself. She was there—she could breathe, she could feel the cold floor under her bare feet, she could touch her face and hair and feel them warm and real—yet she was not there, for she could not see any part of her body or clothes.

Suddenly she understood. The troll’s blue sweet, which he had told her would protect her from Drackamag, had made her invisible.

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.