Sky Child Read Online Free PDF Page A

thoughts, I finally look up and notice Lagan staring at me. I give him a nod of thanks to let him know I realized he's saved my life. He doesn't react to my nod. Instead he looks away. He picks up the last sky spear and carries it in the direction that the sun rises from. The rest of the hunters pick up their weapons then turn and follow behind Lagan.
    When we hunt, we form a square of people, with big spears at the front, and rock throwers like me in the back. This protects us from a direct attack, but it isn't very good when we're attacked from the sides.
    One time a pack of wild wolves came at us from the side. A lot of good people died that didn't need to. If the hunters were smarter, more people might have survived.
    But the hunters are likely to kill anyone that has too many good ideas. So to keep fights from starting, Lagan has been forced to keep things the same way they have always been. It surprises me that he took the risk of showing the hunters the sky spears. Someone might try to take his life tonight because of it.
    Our square of hunters moves slowly for a few reasons. The first is to stay quiet. If animals hear us, they will run away. The other is to keep hunters from accidentally hurting each other. If you walk too fast with a sharp spear then trip, you might accidentally kill the person in front of you. And if you do, you'll never be allowed to hunt again.
    We walk for a long while, searching for animals to hunt. Off in the distance I can see a few wolves attacking a deer. I ready my sling and wait. Wolf meat is filling, but it doesn't taste very good. Deer tastes very good, which is why we keep hunting them. It is disappointing that the wolves will have eaten most of the deer by the time we get to them.
    Lagan also notices the wolves and puts his arms out to stop us from walking further. He points to the hunters that carry sky spears, and has them move away from the group. He also makes sure that they are all side-by-side, where none of them are closer to the wolves than the rest.
    Lagan holds up his own spear, like he is ready to attack, and the sky spear hunters do the same. Once he is ready, he gets a running start then throws his sky spear toward the wolves. The other hunters do the same.
    I can only imagine the fear that the wolves must have felt just before the sky spears came raining down on them. The group of wolves are all struck by the spears. Some of them die instantly, while others will soon die from blood loss. Lagan waves everyone to move closer to the wolves.
    We only make it part of the way to the pack before Lagan orders the rock throwers to hit the wolves with our slings. I load up a stone from my bag, spin my sling a few times then launch the stone. It comes down from the sky, crashing into the head of an injured wolf. The good thing is that it isn't awake anymore, and will hopefully be with the Sky Gods soon.
    Once all of the throwers have had a chance to hit the wolves with their rocks, Lagan brings us even closer. He tells the people with big spears to stab the wolves that are still moving. The big spear hunters do their jobs, and then all is quiet.
    There are as many wolves in the pack as there are fingers on both of my hands. It should be enough food for the Crag for a few days if we clean and cook our kill quickly enough. We also want to leave the killing field before other predators arrive, because we are at our most vulnerable when we are collecting our kill.
    When we hunt, we each bring a bag along to carry the meat we have gathered. As I fill mine, I look across the field. I can feel the wind pressing on my face as I see a thick fog coming toward us. It moves like a frightening blanket of hands; fingers of white crawling across the grass.
    "Lagan," I yell.
    Lagan looks up, turns his head and sees what I see.
    "Everyone, quickly, we must get back to the Crag," says Lagan.
    I pull the strap of my wolf-filled sack over my head, so that if I fall, I wont lose my kill bag. I'm worried,