Read Online Deltora Quest #2: The Lake of Tears by Emily Rodda - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Emily Rodda
Ads: Link
and despair in the house, shook his head and pointed to a small mark scratched on the wall beside the window. It was the same mark he had made in the dust when he first saw them in the clearing.
He trusted them enough, now, to tell them what the mark meant. It was the Ralad sign both for a bird and for freedom. But it had spread far beyond Raladin, and had taken on a special meaning throughout Deltora. Carefully, Manus explained what the meaning was:
The freedom mark had become a secret signal used between those who had sworn to resist the tyranny ofthe Shadow Lord. By it they recognized one another — and told enemies from friends.
Before the owners of this deserted house had died or fled, they had left the mark for any future traveler of their kind to find. It was the only way they had of showing their defiance in defeat, and their hope for the future. It made Lief understand that they would have been glad to give anything they had to help the cause.
It was indeed fortunate that we found Manus, he thought. It is almost as if fate has brought us together for a purpose. As if our steps are being guided by an unseen hand.
He was half ashamed of the thought. Like his friends in Del, he had always jeered at such talk. But his journey had taught him that there were many things of which his friends in Del knew nothing, and many mysteries he was still to understand.
They moved on the next morning, and now that they knew what to look for they saw the freedom mark everywhere. It was chalked on crumbling walls and fences, marked out with pebbles on the ground, scratched into the trunks of trees.
Every time he saw it, hope rose in Lief. The sign was evidence that, however things were in the city of Del, in the countryside there were still people who were as willing as he was to defy the Shadow Lord.
Manus himself, however, was growing more and more serious and worried. The sight of the deserted countryside, the ruined houses, made his fears for his own village grow stronger with every step he took.
He had first left home, it seemed, when his people heard that the Shadow Lord wanted more slaves, and that his eyes were fixed on Raladin. The Shadow Lord had heard that the Ralads were hard workers of great strength and builders beyond compare.
Manus was to seek help from the resistance groups that the Ralads thought must exist in Del. They did not know that resistance in the city had been crushed long ago, and that their hopes of help were in vain.
Manus had been away over five years — years in which Thaegan had laid the land further to waste. He had no idea what he might find in Raladin.
But doggedly he moved on, hurrying despite his exhaustion. By the end of the third day it was all they could do to persuade him to rest for the night.
Lief would long remember what happened the next morning.
They rose as dawn broke and left the cottage where they had taken shelter. Almost running, Manus led them across an open field and plunged into a patch of scrubby bushes beyond.
There was a small, deep pool there, fed by a little stream that bubbled down from some gentle hills. Manus moved up the stream, sometimes splashing through thewater, sometimes trotting along the bank. They followed, keeping up with difficulty, trying to keep his bobbing red top-knot in sight when he drew ahead.
He did not speak a word. All of them could feel his tension as he neared the place he had missed for so long. But when at last they reached a waterfall that cascaded in a fine veil from a sheet of rock, he stopped.
He turned and waited for them, his small face completely without expression. But even when they reached him, he did not move.
We have arrived, thought Lief. But Manus is afraid to go the last step. He is afraid of what he will find.
The silence grew long. Finally, Jasmine spoke.
“It is best to know,” she said quietly.
Manus stared at her for a moment. Then abruptly he turned and plunged through the waterfall.
One by one the
He trusted them enough, now, to tell them what the mark meant. It was the Ralad sign both for a bird and for freedom. But it had spread far beyond Raladin, and had taken on a special meaning throughout Deltora. Carefully, Manus explained what the meaning was:
The freedom mark had become a secret signal used between those who had sworn to resist the tyranny ofthe Shadow Lord. By it they recognized one another — and told enemies from friends.
Before the owners of this deserted house had died or fled, they had left the mark for any future traveler of their kind to find. It was the only way they had of showing their defiance in defeat, and their hope for the future. It made Lief understand that they would have been glad to give anything they had to help the cause.
It was indeed fortunate that we found Manus, he thought. It is almost as if fate has brought us together for a purpose. As if our steps are being guided by an unseen hand.
He was half ashamed of the thought. Like his friends in Del, he had always jeered at such talk. But his journey had taught him that there were many things of which his friends in Del knew nothing, and many mysteries he was still to understand.
They moved on the next morning, and now that they knew what to look for they saw the freedom mark everywhere. It was chalked on crumbling walls and fences, marked out with pebbles on the ground, scratched into the trunks of trees.
Every time he saw it, hope rose in Lief. The sign was evidence that, however things were in the city of Del, in the countryside there were still people who were as willing as he was to defy the Shadow Lord.
Manus himself, however, was growing more and more serious and worried. The sight of the deserted countryside, the ruined houses, made his fears for his own village grow stronger with every step he took.
He had first left home, it seemed, when his people heard that the Shadow Lord wanted more slaves, and that his eyes were fixed on Raladin. The Shadow Lord had heard that the Ralads were hard workers of great strength and builders beyond compare.
Manus was to seek help from the resistance groups that the Ralads thought must exist in Del. They did not know that resistance in the city had been crushed long ago, and that their hopes of help were in vain.
Manus had been away over five years — years in which Thaegan had laid the land further to waste. He had no idea what he might find in Raladin.
But doggedly he moved on, hurrying despite his exhaustion. By the end of the third day it was all they could do to persuade him to rest for the night.
Lief would long remember what happened the next morning.
They rose as dawn broke and left the cottage where they had taken shelter. Almost running, Manus led them across an open field and plunged into a patch of scrubby bushes beyond.
There was a small, deep pool there, fed by a little stream that bubbled down from some gentle hills. Manus moved up the stream, sometimes splashing through thewater, sometimes trotting along the bank. They followed, keeping up with difficulty, trying to keep his bobbing red top-knot in sight when he drew ahead.
He did not speak a word. All of them could feel his tension as he neared the place he had missed for so long. But when at last they reached a waterfall that cascaded in a fine veil from a sheet of rock, he stopped.
He turned and waited for them, his small face completely without expression. But even when they reached him, he did not move.
We have arrived, thought Lief. But Manus is afraid to go the last step. He is afraid of what he will find.
The silence grew long. Finally, Jasmine spoke.
“It is best to know,” she said quietly.
Manus stared at her for a moment. Then abruptly he turned and plunged through the waterfall.
One by one the
Similar Books
