Ozland by Wendy Spinale

Author:Wendy Spinale [Spinale, Wendy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Published: 2018-06-15T04:00:00+00:00

Morning sunlight casts a haunting glow on the grim village below as I pity them from the balcony of my bedroom. Peddlers sell their meager wares in the town center. Coal, grains, and other goods hardly fill their small, rickety wagons. With coins no longer holding value other than for the metal they’re made of, bartering has become the new way of life for this small village.

They, too, suffer from the effects of the virus. The only difference between here and Umberland is that some adults still live. With the detonation of the biological weapons lab in London, over seven hundred kilometers from Lohr and separated by the North Sea, the impact of the virus has been gradual on the townsfolk. Still, the adults show evidence of infection, including lesions and respiratory difficulties, but they don’t know why. All they know is that they suffer and there is not a thing their queen can do about it.

Had I just held out a few more days, been a little slower with my trigger finger, I would have known that the cure was mere meters from my hideout in Evergreen. Not only would I be well on my way to health, but I’d have enough to have wagered the favor of everyone. With time, I would’ve had the respect of the entire world. And now I’m back to making bargains and threats to get what I want.

The thought of how close I was boils my blood.

If I hope to live long enough to reign, I’ll need that cure from Doc. Sovereignty only arises when there are those who depend on a ruler. What is a queen who has no one to rule over? And until I have something to offer them, they’ll never accept me as their monarch.

A young woman with an infant in her arms points to the sky. “The Haploraffen have returned!” she yells.

Appearing on the western horizon, the leader of the Bloodred Queen’s army returns, escorted by a court of his own. There aren’t nearly enough of them to terrorize the community, but their fear is not unwarranted.

It’s only been a few days, and I’m surprised to see them so soon. The only reason they’d return early is that there is news to be told. I straighten the Haploraffen Halo on my head as they descend on the village.

The villagers quickly gather their belongings. A grin creeps to my lips as they race like ants, scurrying to find shelter. While the peasants have never witnessed the extent of these machines’ capabilities, they’ve experienced enough to know better than to challenge them. One cross look from an indignant commoner promises pieces of their burnt corpse scattered throughout Lohr.

The four escorts perch on the tower peaks above my balcony as the leader, Kommandt, hovers at the window. Its metal wings send a light breeze through the room.

“Status report,” I say.

Kommandt bows its head. Its gears grind as the machine speaks. “We have not found the king.”

A flicker of anger erupts within me, but I stay calm.

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.