Read Online Aenir by Garth Nix, Steve Rawlings - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Garth Nix, Steve Rawlings
Tags: Juvenile Fiction, Fantasy & Magic
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lead bird leaped at her. Its sharp beak stabbed empty air a hairbreadth under her feet.
Odris grunted again and stopped rising.
"Up! Up!" shouted Milla. She wished she'd kept one hand free now, to fight back. But it was too late. Odris had her in a grip that could not be broken.
"I'm trying!" shouted Odris.
The bird jumped up at Milla again and this time its beak slashed across the sole of her boot. It didn't get through, but Milla felt it. Its beak was sharp.
"You're too heavy!" said Odris, though she did rise up a little.
"Let go of my left arm," ordered Milla quickly. There were three birds below her now, all jumping up to attack. A slightly smarter one was backing up the hill to take a running leap.
Odris let go of her arm, and Milla quickly pulled one of the dead birds out of her belt. She swung it around and around and then let it fly off into the distance.
As she'd hoped, two of the big birds chased after it, including the one who'd backed up the hill.
She repeated the process with all the dead birds, and all were chased. But there were so many more huge Nanuch arriving that it didn't make much difference.
It did lighten the load a bit, so Odris was able to go higher. She also started to glide away, with the birds following underneath. Their beak-clacking was so loud that it sounded like a hailstorm.
Milla would have preferred that. She knew how to survive a hailstorm.
"I'm not sure how long I can keep you up!" puffed Odris after they had traveled a few hundred stretches, with the birds still trailing along underneath.
"Keep going!" Milla encouraged the Storm Shepherd. She could see some of the big birds turning back, obviously to go after the single file of the lesser birds. Their children, she thought. Or maybe their parents. Who knew on this strange world?
"I really can't keep going," Odris panted. "I need water."
"Just a bit farther," urged Milla. The crowd of birds chasing them was thinning out. "Can't you hit a few with your lightning?"
"Not unless you want to get hit, too," panted Odris. She dropped a stretch and several birds leaped up, beaks flashing in the sun. They only missed Milla because she swung herself violently up, her feet striking Odris under her armpit.
"Whoa!" exclaimed the Storm Shepherd. She shot up several stretches, well out of the bird's reach.
Milla didn't reply, though she noted that Odris had greater strength than she was admitting to. That was an enemy's trick, not one you expected from an ally.
"Ah, look there!" exclaimed Odris. She swung her arm forward to point, forgetting that Milla was attached, and they both went into a spin that took them dangerously close to the birds again.
For a moment all Milla saw were red beaks and blue feathers, then Odris managed to right herself and the Icecarl saw what the Storm Shepherd had been pointing at.
There was a building ahead. A strange building.
It was a tower that had been carved out of the stump of a truly mighty tree, a vast block of gray and green, with stunted branches cut clean close to the trunk. The stump was at least as tall as the mast of the Far Raiders' iceship, and forty stretches in diameter. it had many narrow windows, but there was no sign of a door or gate on the side Milla could see.
But better than that, it had a flat walkway around its crown. If Odris could get high enough, she could land Milla there.
"The top!" shouted Milla. "Take me to the top!" "I can't!" shrieked Odris. "I'm falling!"
Below them, the Nanuch jumped, clacking their beaks even louder as it looked like their enemy might escape.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
It turned out that Adras didn't really know anything about Hazror, except that it wasn't the name of a place, but of a creature. A very bad and truly terrible creature.
Like the grassland before it, the desert of blue crystal trees ended suddenly. The border was once again an exact straight line. On the other side, there was soft yellow sand, piling up into dunes as
Odris grunted again and stopped rising.
"Up! Up!" shouted Milla. She wished she'd kept one hand free now, to fight back. But it was too late. Odris had her in a grip that could not be broken.
"I'm trying!" shouted Odris.
The bird jumped up at Milla again and this time its beak slashed across the sole of her boot. It didn't get through, but Milla felt it. Its beak was sharp.
"You're too heavy!" said Odris, though she did rise up a little.
"Let go of my left arm," ordered Milla quickly. There were three birds below her now, all jumping up to attack. A slightly smarter one was backing up the hill to take a running leap.
Odris let go of her arm, and Milla quickly pulled one of the dead birds out of her belt. She swung it around and around and then let it fly off into the distance.
As she'd hoped, two of the big birds chased after it, including the one who'd backed up the hill.
She repeated the process with all the dead birds, and all were chased. But there were so many more huge Nanuch arriving that it didn't make much difference.
It did lighten the load a bit, so Odris was able to go higher. She also started to glide away, with the birds following underneath. Their beak-clacking was so loud that it sounded like a hailstorm.
Milla would have preferred that. She knew how to survive a hailstorm.
"I'm not sure how long I can keep you up!" puffed Odris after they had traveled a few hundred stretches, with the birds still trailing along underneath.
"Keep going!" Milla encouraged the Storm Shepherd. She could see some of the big birds turning back, obviously to go after the single file of the lesser birds. Their children, she thought. Or maybe their parents. Who knew on this strange world?
"I really can't keep going," Odris panted. "I need water."
"Just a bit farther," urged Milla. The crowd of birds chasing them was thinning out. "Can't you hit a few with your lightning?"
"Not unless you want to get hit, too," panted Odris. She dropped a stretch and several birds leaped up, beaks flashing in the sun. They only missed Milla because she swung herself violently up, her feet striking Odris under her armpit.
"Whoa!" exclaimed the Storm Shepherd. She shot up several stretches, well out of the bird's reach.
Milla didn't reply, though she noted that Odris had greater strength than she was admitting to. That was an enemy's trick, not one you expected from an ally.
"Ah, look there!" exclaimed Odris. She swung her arm forward to point, forgetting that Milla was attached, and they both went into a spin that took them dangerously close to the birds again.
For a moment all Milla saw were red beaks and blue feathers, then Odris managed to right herself and the Icecarl saw what the Storm Shepherd had been pointing at.
There was a building ahead. A strange building.
It was a tower that had been carved out of the stump of a truly mighty tree, a vast block of gray and green, with stunted branches cut clean close to the trunk. The stump was at least as tall as the mast of the Far Raiders' iceship, and forty stretches in diameter. it had many narrow windows, but there was no sign of a door or gate on the side Milla could see.
But better than that, it had a flat walkway around its crown. If Odris could get high enough, she could land Milla there.
"The top!" shouted Milla. "Take me to the top!" "I can't!" shrieked Odris. "I'm falling!"
Below them, the Nanuch jumped, clacking their beaks even louder as it looked like their enemy might escape.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
It turned out that Adras didn't really know anything about Hazror, except that it wasn't the name of a place, but of a creature. A very bad and truly terrible creature.
Like the grassland before it, the desert of blue crystal trees ended suddenly. The border was once again an exact straight line. On the other side, there was soft yellow sand, piling up into dunes as
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