Read Online The Oracle's Secret (The Oracle Saga Book 1) by Amber Darke - Free Book Online
Authors: Amber Darke
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running, whining with confusion at the bright light. It hurts my eyes too but I can see well enough to scramble into the lowest branches of the nearest tree. Ahead of me I can see Tarian doing the same, a few trees over.
Steele is stumbling. I must have set the spell off too close to him, he can’t see.
‘Three feet to your right, climb!’ I yell.
He stumbles to the tree, finds the trunk with his hands, hauls himself up. Satisfied, I start to climb higher. I guess now we’ll really find out whether wolves can climb trees. The branches scratch my arms and face and bugs crawl all over me, but I don’t care. I’m not being eaten yet and it feels great.
I climb as high as I can and peer down. There are wolves milling around at the bottom of the tree, but none of them seem to be climbing. I’m tempted to yell insults at them from my perch but I’ve already tempted fate enough times today.
‘How do we make them go away?’ I yell at Tarian, parallel with me in his own tree.
‘How should I know?’ he shoots back.
‘You’re from the countryside!’ I say.
‘Yeah, I’m from North Wales, not the Yukon!’ he retorts. ‘I’ve never even seen a wolf in the zoo! If you have any questions about sheep, though, I’d be more than happy to help!’
‘Well, when a pack of vicious sheep has us trapped, I’ll be sure to give you a call!’ I say.
This whole exchange helps a bit with my feelings of frustration, but it doesn’t really do anything to fix our situation.
‘Steele, any ideas?’ I call.
He just shakes his head like he’s regretting every single one of his life choices. Which is fair enough.
‘Well... let’s wait a bit and have a think,’ I say. ‘Maybe they’ll get bored and go away on their own.’
Tarian snorts. I glare at him. I haven’t forgotten that he called me a spoiled princess. It’s not like it’s my fault that I’ve been kept in the court my whole life. All I wanted was the chance to make my own decisions. Who is he to tell me off?
Wolves. I should focus on the wolves. We could wait and see if they leave, but that could take forever and we have to beat the Northern Prince’s people to the Lightstone or die trying. Maybe we could travel through the trees somehow without having to touch the ground. I picture myself swinging on vines like Tarzan, but I’m not sure this is the kind of forest that had vines and I’m almost positive I don’t have the upper-body strength for something like that, even if Tarian and Steele probably do. Maybe we could find something up here to throw at them, but unless we could knock them out that would probably just make them angrier. The illumination spell might work again, but I doubt it would buy us enough time to actually get away.
I’m racking my brains for spells that might be useful. I only know a handful.
‘Steele, any defensive spells that would help here?’ I yell across to his tree.
He shakes his head. ‘Sealing us in here depleted my powers, I won’t be doing any spells for at least an hour.’
An hour is a long time to be stuck up a tree. Already I’m starting to ache from holding on, and the damp of the trunk is starting to soak through my jeans and make my legs cold. At least I can see the glimmer of dawn in the distance. It might help to have some light.
I go back to my list of spells, reaching back in my memory to find every single thing I ever learned - everything from charms for warts to memory-boosting spells for exams. Cherry and I were both educated in the court by my mother, with a few of the other children of courtiers, but we still had to study hard. I think back, picturing the little classroom. Cherry sat on my left, Brendan sat on my right... he was the son of a fire mage and he was always trying to scare us by messing around with fire while my mother’s back was turned. He stopped, though, the day Cherry and I got our revenge...
Yes! It’s a ridiculous idea, but it just might work.
‘I have a plan!’ I
Steele is stumbling. I must have set the spell off too close to him, he can’t see.
‘Three feet to your right, climb!’ I yell.
He stumbles to the tree, finds the trunk with his hands, hauls himself up. Satisfied, I start to climb higher. I guess now we’ll really find out whether wolves can climb trees. The branches scratch my arms and face and bugs crawl all over me, but I don’t care. I’m not being eaten yet and it feels great.
I climb as high as I can and peer down. There are wolves milling around at the bottom of the tree, but none of them seem to be climbing. I’m tempted to yell insults at them from my perch but I’ve already tempted fate enough times today.
‘How do we make them go away?’ I yell at Tarian, parallel with me in his own tree.
‘How should I know?’ he shoots back.
‘You’re from the countryside!’ I say.
‘Yeah, I’m from North Wales, not the Yukon!’ he retorts. ‘I’ve never even seen a wolf in the zoo! If you have any questions about sheep, though, I’d be more than happy to help!’
‘Well, when a pack of vicious sheep has us trapped, I’ll be sure to give you a call!’ I say.
This whole exchange helps a bit with my feelings of frustration, but it doesn’t really do anything to fix our situation.
‘Steele, any ideas?’ I call.
He just shakes his head like he’s regretting every single one of his life choices. Which is fair enough.
‘Well... let’s wait a bit and have a think,’ I say. ‘Maybe they’ll get bored and go away on their own.’
Tarian snorts. I glare at him. I haven’t forgotten that he called me a spoiled princess. It’s not like it’s my fault that I’ve been kept in the court my whole life. All I wanted was the chance to make my own decisions. Who is he to tell me off?
Wolves. I should focus on the wolves. We could wait and see if they leave, but that could take forever and we have to beat the Northern Prince’s people to the Lightstone or die trying. Maybe we could travel through the trees somehow without having to touch the ground. I picture myself swinging on vines like Tarzan, but I’m not sure this is the kind of forest that had vines and I’m almost positive I don’t have the upper-body strength for something like that, even if Tarian and Steele probably do. Maybe we could find something up here to throw at them, but unless we could knock them out that would probably just make them angrier. The illumination spell might work again, but I doubt it would buy us enough time to actually get away.
I’m racking my brains for spells that might be useful. I only know a handful.
‘Steele, any defensive spells that would help here?’ I yell across to his tree.
He shakes his head. ‘Sealing us in here depleted my powers, I won’t be doing any spells for at least an hour.’
An hour is a long time to be stuck up a tree. Already I’m starting to ache from holding on, and the damp of the trunk is starting to soak through my jeans and make my legs cold. At least I can see the glimmer of dawn in the distance. It might help to have some light.
I go back to my list of spells, reaching back in my memory to find every single thing I ever learned - everything from charms for warts to memory-boosting spells for exams. Cherry and I were both educated in the court by my mother, with a few of the other children of courtiers, but we still had to study hard. I think back, picturing the little classroom. Cherry sat on my left, Brendan sat on my right... he was the son of a fire mage and he was always trying to scare us by messing around with fire while my mother’s back was turned. He stopped, though, the day Cherry and I got our revenge...
Yes! It’s a ridiculous idea, but it just might work.
‘I have a plan!’ I
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