Quest for the Sun Read Online Free PDF Page B

Blue-bum’s furry head … and we weren’t at school now: we were dithering on the edge of a cliff in the rain.
    Just as I was about to step forward and try my hand at persuading him, Blue-bum did something that took me completely by surprise. He shrugged his skinny shoulders, stretched his slit mouth into a determined line, pulled up his dangling tail like someone hauling a bucket out of a well … and solemnly wound the end of it tightly round Kenta’s hand. And then he gave me a sly little glimmer of a glance that said louder than a chitter — or even real words — could ever have done: You see, Adam? You’ve misjudged me again.
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    Five minutes later the precious cylinder was safe in Kenta’s pocket and we were edging our way along the crumbling ledge that linked our platform to the ridge.
    We’d checked the contents of the tube, and as far as we could tell I was right: the two halves unscrewed to reveal a crystal phial containing a familiar-looking milky-blue liquid that glowed with a pale fluorescence in the darkness. It looked identical to the potion of invisibility we’d drunk in the Temple so long ago — but there was more of it. ‘We shouldn’t use it before we really need to,’ said Jamie. ‘We don’t want to suddenly becomevisible again right in front of the sentries.’
    â€˜And whatever happens once we’re inside, no one must tell about Adam being Zephyr. Even if we get caught …’ Gen gulped.
    â€˜ Especially if we get caught,’ growled Rich. ‘We tell no one — and I mean no one . A long time’s passed since Shakesh, especially in Karazan years, and we don’t know who we can trust.’
    Though he didn’t say so, I knew he meant Kai, the oldest and best friend we had in Karazan. Friends forever … Kai had insisted we leave him behind when we’d made our escape from the dungeons of Shakesh. Despite the danger, he was determined to continue his undercover work for the Believers, to gain the trust of King Karazeel and work towards his downfall from within the walls of the Stronghold of Arraz. They say it will be mightier even than Shakesh, and that none — not even the True King — will be able to storm it …
    Part of me couldn’t suppress an ironic smile at the memory. But another part, new and strange, seemed to stir inside me like an invisible muscle flexing and feeling its strength. Oh yeah? that part said. We’ll see …
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    We were prepared to wait hours for the next convoy — the whole night if necessary. None of us liked the idea of camping out in full view of whoever — or whatever — might appear round the bend of the track, but we had no choice: even invisible, tagging onto a party of Karazeel’s stooges was our only hope of getting across the drawbridge and through the gate, so we needed to be close enough to join the rear of the next caravan.
    But we were lucky. A rocky outcrop at the side of the road gave us cover, and almost as soon as we settled ourselves behind it we heard a low rumbling I thought at first was thunder, and a span of glonks appeared out of the gloom with a covered wagon behind them. It must be part of the previous convoy, I realised — heavy and slow, it had lagged behind.
    It was better than we could have hoped for. Not only was itdrawn by glonks, whose smell would cover our scent, but the rumble of its steel-rimmed wheels was loud enough to mask any sound. Out of the corner of my eye I saw first Blue-bum, then Kenta, then Gen, sip from the phial and vanish. Jamie was next; then Rich. An invisible hand groped for mine and pressed the cool smoothness of crystal into my palm, alive with the prickle of magic.
    I lifted the phial to my lips and sipped, feeling a tingling nothing-taste on my tongue … swallowed. A flickering chill rippled through me. I held one hand in front of my face to double-check it had worked,