Read Online Jennifer Scales and the Messenger of Light by MaryJanice Davidson - Free Book Online
Authors: MaryJanice Davidson
Tags: Fantasy
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ahead.
Yes, the water was getting lighter now, not darker. Had she flipped over somehow? She knew she hadn’t.
After a few moments, she could make out her father’s slim shape against whatever light source was ahead. His wings propelled him as he relaxed and tensed, forcing water over his body. Jennifer decided to try it, too.
It was a great deal faster, she mused, than the claw paddle she had used the first time last spring. And it certainly helped propel her faster through the disorienting swirl of current that greeted her once again. Gravity shifted along her spine until the bottom of the lake was behind her. Neither she nor Catherine had turned at all, but there it was ahead of them—the surface, and the promise of air.
She glanced back briefly to make sure her friend was still following, and then squeezed her wings one final time. The force propelled her up out of the water and right into the moonlight of a different world.
That much was obvious right away. For a start, the moon was the same shape, but was far closer than would ever be possible back home. It was so large and immediate to Jennifer, she was sure she could reach out and touch the lower point of the crescent. The sharp edge slid through the twilit sky, piercing the first bright nighttime stars with a gentle clockwise motion.
The air here was warmer and heavier, as if filled with the lingering breath of ancient things. The scales on the back of Jennifer’s neck crinkled, and her ears flexed. She could hear foreign sounds in the near-darkness around them.
“What are those?” Catherine asked. “They sound like crickets, if crickets could play cellos.”
“Fire hornets,” Jennifer replied. “There are hives of them throughout the forests and mountains near here.”
There was another sound, the tinkling of small streams of water. The delicate sound was amplified on the lake’s surface. Following the trickles with their ears, they spotted small, mantislike shapes skimming the water just below them. The water beetles raced over the ripples the two dragons had made when they emerged.
“And those are the portal’s guardians,” Jennifer explained. “The sound you hear carries up to the moon, and then…”
“Wow.” A streak of fire was igniting a circular path around the moon’s crescent shape. Like a belt of flame, the fire whipped round and round the fattest portion of the crescent several times before it died of its own accord.
“We are recognized,” said her father. She had nearly forgotten he was with her in this strange new world. “The venerables have sent us a signal of welcome.”
“Venerables? Who are they, dragons? Do they know who we are?”
“They’re dragons of a sort,” he answered mysteriously. “They welcome us. Come on, follow me. It’s not far from here to Crescent Valley.” With a curl of his tail he made off for the shore of the lake, keeping the moon to his right.
This lake was much larger than the one they had entered by. It seemed a prelude to the sea. But all Jennifer could tell for sure was that before her and to either side were the sturdy shapes of enormous hills. Their twilit outlines were rough with treetops, and soon Jennifer could make out the whistling of the wind through large branches with many leaves.
“Jennifer, we’ve got to get down to the ground! I can’t keep this up for much longer!”
Startled, Jennifer turned around. Of course—Catherine was a trampler, and her wings were not suited for efficient flying.
“Whomping?” she suggested with a grin.
“Yeah, sure, but will we be able to see down there? It’s already pretty dark!”
“Oh, we’ll be able to see!”
They dipped below the tree line and its thick canopy of leaves, and navigated a network of long and slender branches. Jennifer heard Catherine gasp behind her.
It was still a breathtaking sight—and tinged in violet, different from when Jennifer had last been here.
“What an amazing green!” she exclaimed to
Yes, the water was getting lighter now, not darker. Had she flipped over somehow? She knew she hadn’t.
After a few moments, she could make out her father’s slim shape against whatever light source was ahead. His wings propelled him as he relaxed and tensed, forcing water over his body. Jennifer decided to try it, too.
It was a great deal faster, she mused, than the claw paddle she had used the first time last spring. And it certainly helped propel her faster through the disorienting swirl of current that greeted her once again. Gravity shifted along her spine until the bottom of the lake was behind her. Neither she nor Catherine had turned at all, but there it was ahead of them—the surface, and the promise of air.
She glanced back briefly to make sure her friend was still following, and then squeezed her wings one final time. The force propelled her up out of the water and right into the moonlight of a different world.
That much was obvious right away. For a start, the moon was the same shape, but was far closer than would ever be possible back home. It was so large and immediate to Jennifer, she was sure she could reach out and touch the lower point of the crescent. The sharp edge slid through the twilit sky, piercing the first bright nighttime stars with a gentle clockwise motion.
The air here was warmer and heavier, as if filled with the lingering breath of ancient things. The scales on the back of Jennifer’s neck crinkled, and her ears flexed. She could hear foreign sounds in the near-darkness around them.
“What are those?” Catherine asked. “They sound like crickets, if crickets could play cellos.”
“Fire hornets,” Jennifer replied. “There are hives of them throughout the forests and mountains near here.”
There was another sound, the tinkling of small streams of water. The delicate sound was amplified on the lake’s surface. Following the trickles with their ears, they spotted small, mantislike shapes skimming the water just below them. The water beetles raced over the ripples the two dragons had made when they emerged.
“And those are the portal’s guardians,” Jennifer explained. “The sound you hear carries up to the moon, and then…”
“Wow.” A streak of fire was igniting a circular path around the moon’s crescent shape. Like a belt of flame, the fire whipped round and round the fattest portion of the crescent several times before it died of its own accord.
“We are recognized,” said her father. She had nearly forgotten he was with her in this strange new world. “The venerables have sent us a signal of welcome.”
“Venerables? Who are they, dragons? Do they know who we are?”
“They’re dragons of a sort,” he answered mysteriously. “They welcome us. Come on, follow me. It’s not far from here to Crescent Valley.” With a curl of his tail he made off for the shore of the lake, keeping the moon to his right.
This lake was much larger than the one they had entered by. It seemed a prelude to the sea. But all Jennifer could tell for sure was that before her and to either side were the sturdy shapes of enormous hills. Their twilit outlines were rough with treetops, and soon Jennifer could make out the whistling of the wind through large branches with many leaves.
“Jennifer, we’ve got to get down to the ground! I can’t keep this up for much longer!”
Startled, Jennifer turned around. Of course—Catherine was a trampler, and her wings were not suited for efficient flying.
“Whomping?” she suggested with a grin.
“Yeah, sure, but will we be able to see down there? It’s already pretty dark!”
“Oh, we’ll be able to see!”
They dipped below the tree line and its thick canopy of leaves, and navigated a network of long and slender branches. Jennifer heard Catherine gasp behind her.
It was still a breathtaking sight—and tinged in violet, different from when Jennifer had last been here.
“What an amazing green!” she exclaimed to
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