Silverwing by Kenneth Oppel

Author:Kenneth Oppel [Oppel, Kenneth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-4434-1129-5
Publisher: HarperCollins Canada
Published: 2010-04-05T16:00:00+00:00

Then, with a sigh, he spread his pale wings, as if they would somehow help him trap sound.

Shade’s heart leaped, but Zephyr’s voice was far from joyous as he continued.

“—but others are searching for it too, powerful forces, and I can’t see who will reach it first, or whether what they bring is good or bad … And your father, Cassiel …”

“What?” Shade exclaimed. “What about him?”

The albino bat hesitated a moment before saying: “He’s alive.”

Zephyr stopped and his head reappeared. He quickly folded his wings back. “I can’t hear any more. The echoes are so faint and confused.”

“But couldn’t you see where—”

The albino bat shook his head regretfully. “Only that he’s far away.”

“Alive,” Shade muttered in amazement. Deep in his heart he’d always hoped it was true. His mother and Frieda were wrong. Cassiel had just disappeared, but where? He looked restlessly into the sky.

“So, good-bye,” Zephyr said. “And good luck.”

“Thank you,” Shade said. He lit from the spire, circling with Marina. “And thanks for fixing my wing too. And everything else.”

“Good-bye,” called Marina over her wing.

They flew high, eager to get clear of the rooftops, and the pigeons that roosted there. Marina suggested they split up the sky between them, to make sure they didn’t miss anything. Shade tried to calm his mind. His father, alive … Impossible as it was, he knew he had to concentrate. He forced all his senses together as one. He sniffed, he listened, he scanned the night for any sign of birds.

When they were far above the highest towers, and the whole glorious, gleaming city was spread before them, they leveled off. Shade found his guiding star and pointed his nose toward it.

“Did you see the underside of Zephyr’s wings?” he asked hesitantly.

“I was wondering if it was just a thing with the light,” Marina said eagerly.

“Me too.”

“But—”

“I don’t think it was, was it?” he asked.

There was a silence.

“You saw it too, didn’t you?” Marina asked.

Shade nodded. “His wings got dark underneath.”

“Yes,” she said. “They were black as night—and they were filled with stars.”

Goth looked down over the glittering lights. He’d been circling with Throbb for over an hour now, gradually spiraling out toward the city’s edges, searching for bats. They’d seen none. Did bats even exist this far north? It was a sickening thought. What if they didn’t? How would he find a guide? How would he get home?

He’d had a dream just before sunset. He was back in the jungle, glorying in the heat, and suddenly, all around him were hundreds of bats, not his own kind, but small bats, the smallest he’d ever seen, flying joyful circles around him, chanting his name. What are they doing here, he wondered, but he was overcome with a feeling of triumph. Until the giant trees and vines and ferns of the jungle suddenly toppled over, and all around were walls, Human walls, and behind one of them stood the Man, smiling at him.

Goth shook his head. It was rare for him to dream, and he’d learned that it was always important, a way for Zotz to speak to him.

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