Read Online The Serpent of Eridor by Alison Gardiner - Free Book Online

lemon to the scarlet heart of a rose grapefruit. Gradually soft blue crept in, deepening until the sky became rich turquoise.
    Alex mulled over life as he watched the colours change, sipping from a giffrod. So this was the world his parents had been exploring: one of magic, danger and intrigue. They might have been proud of him for finding his way to the island. He doubted that they would have been quite so pleased about landing a death sentence within twenty-four hours of arrival. Thinking of his parents gave him a familiar ache in his chest – unpleasant, but oddly welcome.
    Deciding to try for another nap, Alex pulled the tarpaulin over his head and fell asleep. A gentle knocking woke him later. ‘Come in,’ he mumbled.
    â€˜Come out,’ said Ikara.
    Alex pulled back the corner of the tarpaulin and found himself inches away from Ikara’s nose. In her mouth she held a large bunch of fentice.
    â€˜You look half asleep,’ she said, dropping the fruit. ‘It’s been daybreak for hours. Either you’re very lazy or you were badly hurt yesterday.’
    â€˜Bit of both,’ replied Alex, rubbing his eyes. ‘Even so, not many humans would naturally get up with the sun.’
    â€˜Odd,’ said Ikara, helping herself to a fentice. ‘Must add that to my list of facts about humans. Number one: smart alecs, or Alexs, shouldn’t be let loose alone in the jungle, especially when hungry. Fact two: humans believe that if some fruit is edible, all must be. Fact three: humans are not logical. Seems there’s a link there.’
    â€˜Cut the lecture. Hand over a fentice,’ replied Alex, draped over the wooden side.
    â€˜Make it two,’ said a small voice as Skoodle scrambled over the side of the boat and dropped on to the sand.
    â€˜Done, rodent.’ Ikara flicked a fentice at Skoodle. It hurtled straight into his stomach, bowling him on to his back. Skoodle scrambled to his feet and threw it back at her. Ikara took the hit on her head, dramatically flinging herself backwards on to the sand where she lay groaning.
    â€˜Hardly seems possible,’ said Skoodle. ‘Fewer legs but acres more sarcasm.’
    â€˜You two could form a mutual dislike society. After a while you might get to like each other.’
    â€˜Yeah, like a vampire loves a neck,’ muttered Skoodle.
    â€˜No, more than that,’ replied Ikara, shuddering the sand off. ‘Like my stomach acid adores fresh protein.’
    â€˜Don’t wind me up. I may be small but I’m fierce.’
    â€˜Terrified,’ squealed Ikara. ‘Keep him away, Alex. Don’t let him hurt me.’
    â€˜Peace and harmony,’ said Alex. ‘Or I’ll thump you both. So… anyone for fentice?’
    An hour later they joined the others in Tariq’s clearing. Keeko was hopping from one leg to the other as if standing in a bed of nettles.
    â€˜Go get yourself mango,’ Alex told Keeko. ‘It’ll take your mind off things.’
    â€˜It won’t,’ said Keeko. She set off for the nearest tree, pulled off a huge mango and dropped back to the ground, chewing on it unpeeled.
    â€˜We need to walk upstream for a few hundred metres,’ said Tariq, gazing over the river. ‘The waters are narrower there.’
    Ikara shook her head. ‘Danger freak. There are crocodiles in the upper parts of this river. Crossing here makes more sense, unless we’d rather be eaten by carnivorous flesh-eating reptiles than nuked by the witch.’
    â€˜Here suddenly seems ideal,’ replied Skoodle.
    â€˜All agreed?’ asked Tariq. ‘OK. Decision made. But beware the waterfall downstream. It drops a hundred metres on to rocks. Get swept over, you die. Clear?’
    â€˜Unpleasantly so,’ muttered Skoodle.
    Estimating the distance, Alex asked, ‘How do we get out? The far bank’s a solid wall of plants.’
    â€˜There are a few tunnels, made