Read Online Deltora Quest #3: City of the Rats by Emily Rodda - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Emily Rodda
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cried out, and lay still.
Then Lief realized two things. The center of the passage was a moving path, driven by some unseen machinery. And Reece was dead. Horribly dead. Lief gazed down at the terrible face, and shuddered, remembering Tira’s description of others who had tried to escape through the Hole.
He heard a shout and saw Barda and Jasmine running towards him down the pathway, looming out of the darkness with amazing speed.
“Jump off to the side!” Lief called. “The moving strip is only in the center!”
They did as he told them, stumbling as their feet hit solid ground. When they reached his side, and saw Reece’s body, they gasped in horror.
“What — what has happened to him?” muttered Barda, shuddering.
The palms of the man’s hands, and the top of his shaved skull, were smeared with red fungus, andhideously blistered. Foam flecked his lips. His face was blue, twisted into a grimace of agony.
“Poison!” breathed Jasmine. She looked feverishly around her. “In the Forests of Silence there is a spider whose bite can —”
“There are no spiders here,” Lief broke in, his stomach churning. His finger shook slightly as he pointed to the dead man’s head and hands. “The fungus in the passage — I think — I think one touch on bare skin is deadly. We dragged Reece to his death. He woke, and saw where he was. But already it was too late.”
Sickened, they looked down at the crumpled body. “I did not know,” Jasmine said, defiantly, at last. “I did not know that to take his gloves and the wrapping from his head would kill him!”
“Of course you did not,” said Barda quietly. “How could you? Only the Ra-Kacharz know that it is their gloves and head-coverings that allow them to enter the Hole and live.” He grimaced. “Our clothes are smeared all over with the fungus. How will we be able to take them off in safety?”
Lief had been thinking about that.
“I think that the poison is only deadly when it is fresh,” he muttered, looking down at his own gloved hands. “I do not see how, otherwise, the Ra-Kacharz could go among their people without harming them.”
Barda shrugged. “I pray that you are right.”
There was a soft sound behind them. They spun around and saw the gleaming shape of one of the silver drums sliding down the Hole and coming to rest on the moving pathway. It settled gently and began to come towards them.
“I closed the grille after us, hoping that the cooks would not realize that we had escaped into the Hole,” said Jasmine. “It seems they have not.”
“Not yet,” said Barda grimly. “But once the Ra-Kacharz’ sleeping quarters have been searched, they will know there was nowhere else for us to go. We must find the way out quickly. If we follow this tunnel, I believe we will find ourselves on the other side of the hill.”
Leaving Reece’s body where it lay, they jumped back onto the moving pathway and began running along it, soon leaving the silver drum far behind them.
They had not been travelling for long when they saw a gleam ahead of them, felt fresh air on their faces, and heard the sound of clangs and voices. They jumped from the moving pathway again and began creeping along beside it, flattening themselves against the tunnel wall.
It grew lighter. The voices grew louder. There were strange, snuffling sounds, too — sounds that seemed familiar to Lief, though he could not place them. And then, all at once, he saw a gateway ahead. The moving pathway stopped just in front of it, and a small cluster of the silver bins stood in the opening like guards. Beyondthem Lief could see the shapes of trees, and grey sky. A night bird called. It was nearly dawn.
As he watched, three tall figures strode into view. Each lifted one of the bins, and carried it out of sight.
“They were Ra-Kacharz!” hissed Jasmine. “Did you see?”
Lief nodded in puzzlement. So the three missing Ra-Kacharz were here. What were they doing with the waste food?
Then Lief realized two things. The center of the passage was a moving path, driven by some unseen machinery. And Reece was dead. Horribly dead. Lief gazed down at the terrible face, and shuddered, remembering Tira’s description of others who had tried to escape through the Hole.
He heard a shout and saw Barda and Jasmine running towards him down the pathway, looming out of the darkness with amazing speed.
“Jump off to the side!” Lief called. “The moving strip is only in the center!”
They did as he told them, stumbling as their feet hit solid ground. When they reached his side, and saw Reece’s body, they gasped in horror.
“What — what has happened to him?” muttered Barda, shuddering.
The palms of the man’s hands, and the top of his shaved skull, were smeared with red fungus, andhideously blistered. Foam flecked his lips. His face was blue, twisted into a grimace of agony.
“Poison!” breathed Jasmine. She looked feverishly around her. “In the Forests of Silence there is a spider whose bite can —”
“There are no spiders here,” Lief broke in, his stomach churning. His finger shook slightly as he pointed to the dead man’s head and hands. “The fungus in the passage — I think — I think one touch on bare skin is deadly. We dragged Reece to his death. He woke, and saw where he was. But already it was too late.”
Sickened, they looked down at the crumpled body. “I did not know,” Jasmine said, defiantly, at last. “I did not know that to take his gloves and the wrapping from his head would kill him!”
“Of course you did not,” said Barda quietly. “How could you? Only the Ra-Kacharz know that it is their gloves and head-coverings that allow them to enter the Hole and live.” He grimaced. “Our clothes are smeared all over with the fungus. How will we be able to take them off in safety?”
Lief had been thinking about that.
“I think that the poison is only deadly when it is fresh,” he muttered, looking down at his own gloved hands. “I do not see how, otherwise, the Ra-Kacharz could go among their people without harming them.”
Barda shrugged. “I pray that you are right.”
There was a soft sound behind them. They spun around and saw the gleaming shape of one of the silver drums sliding down the Hole and coming to rest on the moving pathway. It settled gently and began to come towards them.
“I closed the grille after us, hoping that the cooks would not realize that we had escaped into the Hole,” said Jasmine. “It seems they have not.”
“Not yet,” said Barda grimly. “But once the Ra-Kacharz’ sleeping quarters have been searched, they will know there was nowhere else for us to go. We must find the way out quickly. If we follow this tunnel, I believe we will find ourselves on the other side of the hill.”
Leaving Reece’s body where it lay, they jumped back onto the moving pathway and began running along it, soon leaving the silver drum far behind them.
They had not been travelling for long when they saw a gleam ahead of them, felt fresh air on their faces, and heard the sound of clangs and voices. They jumped from the moving pathway again and began creeping along beside it, flattening themselves against the tunnel wall.
It grew lighter. The voices grew louder. There were strange, snuffling sounds, too — sounds that seemed familiar to Lief, though he could not place them. And then, all at once, he saw a gateway ahead. The moving pathway stopped just in front of it, and a small cluster of the silver bins stood in the opening like guards. Beyondthem Lief could see the shapes of trees, and grey sky. A night bird called. It was nearly dawn.
As he watched, three tall figures strode into view. Each lifted one of the bins, and carried it out of sight.
“They were Ra-Kacharz!” hissed Jasmine. “Did you see?”
Lief nodded in puzzlement. So the three missing Ra-Kacharz were here. What were they doing with the waste food?
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