Read Online The Familiars #4: Palace of Dreams by Adam Jay Epstein, Andrew Jacobson - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Adam Jay Epstein, Andrew Jacobson
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was asking about the sluggot on Gilbert’s shoulder.
“I didn’t think they’d notice one little slug gone,” Gilbert said.
The group headed west on the Smuggler’s Trail, toward Kailasa.
“Once we leave the woods, I’ll cast another illusion,” Skylar said. “It should only be a short distance across the plains to the Ebs.”
“What are we going to be this time?” Gilbert asked, catching flies out of the air with his tongue. “Goat? Fox? A very small pony?” He lapped up another swarm of bugs.
“I was thinking pig,” Skylar said, eyeing the mess of flies dripping from Gilbert’s mouth.
“How’d you come up with that one?” Gilbert asked.
Normally Aldwyn would have gotten a good laugh over that, but right now he was too concerned to even smile.
“You okay, Aldwyn?” Skylar asked. “You haven’t seemed yourself since you woke up.”
“I had a dream,” he said. “Queen Loranella was in it. I think she was calling for my help. But I couldn’t get to her.”
“We’re doing everything we can,” Skylar said.
“She was trying to tell me something, but it only came out in letters, and they blew away before they turned into words.”
“The Dreamworld often tries to send us messages,” Skylar said. “And it’s not always easy to understand them. There are no rules in the place where our mind travels while we’re asleep.”
“I hear something,” Gilbert whispered to the others in a panic. “Quick, hide!”
“No need,” Skylar replied calmly. “Remember what the bearded fairy said. The woods won’t expose those who don’t wish to be found.”
She fluttered to the side of the road to avoid whatever was coming. Aldwyn and Gilbert joined her at the edge of the path. From there, Aldwyn watched as a band of warriors clad in black armor rushed toward them on horseback. It was the Nightfall Battalion. A large-eyed lemur rode atop the first horse. Aldwyn knew these creatures had the magical talent of seeing through solid objects, and it appeared this one had been enlisted as the Battalion’s scout. The lemur turned its head from side to side, scanning the forest. Navid and Marati sat together on the second steed, while the rest of their troop followed behind.
The lemur held up its paws, slowing the group. The horses came to a halt just a few feet away from the familiars, but it was evident that their riders couldn’t see them. The forest was doing its job.
“I spotted something through there,” the lemur said, pointing past a cluster of dense trees. “A flash of blue.”
Marati leaped down from her horse and went scurrying past the trio, into the woods. Aldwyn glanced over to the soldiers of the Nightfall Battalion, who were pulling noose sticks off their backs.
Marati returned with an oversized blue feather.
“It’s too big to have fallen from Skylar’s wing,” she said.
“Looks like it came from a parrot or a pixie steed,” Navid said from atop the horse.
“If they are hiding in here, they won’t be able to stay forever,” Marati said. The white-tailed mongoose practically brushed Aldwyn’s paw as she walked past. “Let’s keep moving.”
The king cobra swung down his tail and gave Marati a boost back up into the saddle. Then the horses charged east, leaving the three animals behind in the magical cloak of the forest.
“I knew we should have waited a bit longer,” Skylar said.
“Yes, but now we know the Nightfall Battalion is headed in the opposite direction of where we’re going,” Aldwyn said.
During the remainder of their trip along the Smuggler’s Trail, the familiars didn’t pass anyone else. Not that they were aware of, anyway.
Once out of the forest, Skylar and Gilbert were atop Aldwyn’s back yet again, and this time they were traveling as a wandering mountain goat. The journey to the Ebs was not long, and was rather pleasant. Farmers tended to their spring harvests, plucking the winter pumpkins and frostcumbers from their branches. Tulips
“I didn’t think they’d notice one little slug gone,” Gilbert said.
The group headed west on the Smuggler’s Trail, toward Kailasa.
“Once we leave the woods, I’ll cast another illusion,” Skylar said. “It should only be a short distance across the plains to the Ebs.”
“What are we going to be this time?” Gilbert asked, catching flies out of the air with his tongue. “Goat? Fox? A very small pony?” He lapped up another swarm of bugs.
“I was thinking pig,” Skylar said, eyeing the mess of flies dripping from Gilbert’s mouth.
“How’d you come up with that one?” Gilbert asked.
Normally Aldwyn would have gotten a good laugh over that, but right now he was too concerned to even smile.
“You okay, Aldwyn?” Skylar asked. “You haven’t seemed yourself since you woke up.”
“I had a dream,” he said. “Queen Loranella was in it. I think she was calling for my help. But I couldn’t get to her.”
“We’re doing everything we can,” Skylar said.
“She was trying to tell me something, but it only came out in letters, and they blew away before they turned into words.”
“The Dreamworld often tries to send us messages,” Skylar said. “And it’s not always easy to understand them. There are no rules in the place where our mind travels while we’re asleep.”
“I hear something,” Gilbert whispered to the others in a panic. “Quick, hide!”
“No need,” Skylar replied calmly. “Remember what the bearded fairy said. The woods won’t expose those who don’t wish to be found.”
She fluttered to the side of the road to avoid whatever was coming. Aldwyn and Gilbert joined her at the edge of the path. From there, Aldwyn watched as a band of warriors clad in black armor rushed toward them on horseback. It was the Nightfall Battalion. A large-eyed lemur rode atop the first horse. Aldwyn knew these creatures had the magical talent of seeing through solid objects, and it appeared this one had been enlisted as the Battalion’s scout. The lemur turned its head from side to side, scanning the forest. Navid and Marati sat together on the second steed, while the rest of their troop followed behind.
The lemur held up its paws, slowing the group. The horses came to a halt just a few feet away from the familiars, but it was evident that their riders couldn’t see them. The forest was doing its job.
“I spotted something through there,” the lemur said, pointing past a cluster of dense trees. “A flash of blue.”
Marati leaped down from her horse and went scurrying past the trio, into the woods. Aldwyn glanced over to the soldiers of the Nightfall Battalion, who were pulling noose sticks off their backs.
Marati returned with an oversized blue feather.
“It’s too big to have fallen from Skylar’s wing,” she said.
“Looks like it came from a parrot or a pixie steed,” Navid said from atop the horse.
“If they are hiding in here, they won’t be able to stay forever,” Marati said. The white-tailed mongoose practically brushed Aldwyn’s paw as she walked past. “Let’s keep moving.”
The king cobra swung down his tail and gave Marati a boost back up into the saddle. Then the horses charged east, leaving the three animals behind in the magical cloak of the forest.
“I knew we should have waited a bit longer,” Skylar said.
“Yes, but now we know the Nightfall Battalion is headed in the opposite direction of where we’re going,” Aldwyn said.
During the remainder of their trip along the Smuggler’s Trail, the familiars didn’t pass anyone else. Not that they were aware of, anyway.
Once out of the forest, Skylar and Gilbert were atop Aldwyn’s back yet again, and this time they were traveling as a wandering mountain goat. The journey to the Ebs was not long, and was rather pleasant. Farmers tended to their spring harvests, plucking the winter pumpkins and frostcumbers from their branches. Tulips
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