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The castle was built at the edge of the sea. In- between tasseled stalks.
tense green grass sloping down toward cliffs that I ran. Where were the others? I was losing
crumbled into junk piles of rock. No escape there. them.
No boat, no harbor, just the churning gray sea. "David! Jalil! Christopher!"
The other way there was a handful of small "Right here!" Jalil yelled.
houses, simple but snug-looking one-story things Right where? His voice was from my right. I
made of mud and wood with thatched roofs.' pushed out of my row into the next one. Looked'
Beyond the village were fields ripe with wheat up and down. No one. Pushed through into the
and com swaying in the late-morning breeze. next row. Nothing.
And beyond the fields, the dark wall of the forest.
I was panting, gasping for humid air thick with
the smell of organic decay. My skinned knee
ordered our death once before, and now, now I
stung. There were small cuts on my hands and
was left to outrun a beast that outweighed me five
arms from the leaves. Bruises on my elbows and
to one.
forearms.
So tired. Run! No, think. Think! No time! Idiot,
I wanted to cry. "Jalil? Jalil? Christopher?
just run.
David?"
The troll wasn't fast but he wasn't tired, either.
No answer. The sound of feet and running, but
And where there was one there would be others.
all the way back the other direction. Then, move-
Where was David? And what would he do with
ment much closer. I pushed into the next row of
his stupid carving knife against a troll? Huge foot-
com.
steps trampled the ground, plodding, barely run-
Troll.
ning, but keeping up with me. Had to lose him.
I saw its back. Like one of the great building
Confuse him, trolls aren't smart, April, they're stupid.
stones of the castle had grown crude arms and
Confuse him.
legs. From behind, you couldn't even see the
Change rows. Run left. Change rows. Run right.
slung-forward rhino head. It looked like a head-
Suddenly, the com was gone. No more rows! I
less thing.
was at the edge of a field of tall brown grass,
I tried to stop breathing. But my lungs were
maybe wheat, how would I know? It was almost
screaming for air. Willed my heart to slow, but...
as tall as me, but not taller. Not tall enough to
It turned.
hide me.
Long blunt snout sniffed. Little pig eyes
Backpack. What did I have in my backpack?
searched. Focused. It let loose a grunt and came
Most of our pathetic worldly possessions. Keys.
for me.
Was that it? Did the troll hear them jangling?
I ran, stumbled through the row back toward
I stopped. Gasped, sucked air in a sob. Fumbled
the other sounds I'd heard but no, no way, I was
with the clasp. Keys. I snatched them in my fist
feeble compared to the monster. I pushed the
and threw them.
com rows apart, the troll simply flattened them.
Follow the sound, you stupid thing. Chase the
Loki's trolls, I thought. Oh, God, Loki had the
sound.
castle surrounded. He didn't intend to lose. He'd
divine intercession to the same jittering sen-
Then I saw the watch. Jalil's watch. The band
tences.
had been crushed and twisted. The crystal was
A wisp of smoke.
chipped and loose, but basically intact.
Blow. Not too hard. Blow.
Ridiculous. It would never work.
The trolls gathered around me, all so high
No time, April, don't be an idiot, what are you,
above me, and stared down at me with their
a Girl Scout?
blank, stupid eyes. Stared at the girl who was too
The com wouldn't bum. Would the wheat?
dim to run away.
I grabbed a handful of the dried grass and
Suddenly, flame. More grass. More blowing.
yanked hard with the strength of terror. I squat-
Absurd. The trolls could put it out with a
ted, Shaking, had to keep my hand steady. The
breath, with a foot, with a hard look, but they
sun beat down. Beat down on the crystal.
didn't.
"Bring it to a point," I muttered, fighting hys-
The flame grew. The trolls gaped. Stared, and
teria. I moved the crystal, up, down, in millime-
no longer at me. They stared at the fire, trans-
ter increments. The tiny pinpoint of light grew
fixed.
narrower. I held it on a strand of grass.
Nothing. All at once I had a torch, a handful of burning
The troll erupted from the com, twenty feet grass. I swept the flaming grass around me in a
semicircle. More grass caught fire. The trolls
away. He swung his huge head toward me. A
stepped back.
sword was in his three-fingered hand. Then I saw
the second troll. A third. I stood up, quivering in every muscle. "That's
I dropped the crystal from numb fingers. No. right, I have fire. Want some?"
No. They had me. I couldn't get away. The breeze picked up just then and by luck, by [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]