Deltora Quest #5: Dread Mountain by Emily Rodda Read Free Book Online

exclaimed. “This is our place. This is where we should be, for always. I see that, now that I am here.” Her eyes were bright with excitement. “We should stay, and the others can join us. The gnomes cannot touch us here, in the lower part of the Mountain.”
    “Merin, we landed safely by a miracle,” Ailsa sighed. “Do you want our friends to take that risk? How many do you think would survive?”
    “And even if only half did so,” Bruna put in, “the Boolong trees would be eaten back to normal in a few years. Then the paths would be open once more, the gnomes would come back, and the slaughter would start again.”
    Merin hung her head. “It is cruel,” she whispered. But Lief, Barda, and Jasmine could see that she knew her friends were right.
    Overhead, the thunder growled. Ailsa glanced nervously at the sky. “There is a big outcrop of rock not far from here,” she said rapidly. “I saw it as we landed. Itwill be quickest if we take off from there. It will be heavy work, but I think we are all strong enough to do it.”
    With Lief, Barda, and Jasmine following, the three Kin pushed a track up through the Boolong trees. Soon they had reached the rocks and were looking out at open sky. Dark clouds had rolled in from the south.
    “The clouds will hide us, once we are safely inside them,” Ailsa said. “And if I am right the gnomes will not be looking down here. They will be watching higher up, hoping for more of us to arrive.”
    “Farewell, then, good Kin,” said Barda. “We cannot thank you enough for what you have done for us.”
    “There is no need for thanks,” Bruna answered simply. “All of us are richer for seeing our home again — even for this little time. All we ask is that you take care so that one day we may see you again.”
    The three bent, touching their heads to Lief’s, Barda’s, and Jasmine’s foreheads. Then they turned, spread their wings, and sprang for the sky.
    For a few tense moments, wings beating frantically, they struggled just to stop themselves from crashing back down to earth. The companions watched in breathless silence, sure that at any moment the gnomes would hear the wing beats, look down, fire …
    But all was well. There were no shouts, no arrows shooting from above, as the Kin at last steadied and began moving forward. Their outlines grew fainter as the clouds closed in around them. Then they were gone.
    Barda turned away with a sigh of relief and began scrambling back down the rocks. Lief was about to follow when he caught sight of something out of the corner of his eye. He looked up and to his amazement saw a dark shape emerging unsteadily from the clouds above their heads.
    “One of the Kin is returning!” he breathed. “But why so high? Oh, no!”
    All of them stared up, aghast, at the Kin blundering into view right in the gnomes’ firing line. It was not Ailsa, Bruna, or Merin. It was …
    “Prin!” hissed Lief in terror.
    The little Kin caught sight of the patch of broken trees that marked the others’ landing place. She began flying towards it, stubby wings flapping weakly. The next moment there was a high, triumphant shriek and a gale of laughter from further up the Mountain, something was hurtling through the air, and Prin was falling, falling, with an arrow in her chest.

C rying out in horror, Lief, Barda, and Jasmine leaped from the rock and pounded down to the clearing. Prin was struggling feebly on the ground by the stream. Her wings were crumpled beneath her and she was making small, piteous sounds. Her eyes were glazed with pain.
    The arrow that had pierced her chest had already fallen out. The wound it had left was small. But the poison the arrow carried had acted swiftly, and its terrible work was nearly done. Prin’s agonized eyes closed.
    “Foolish child!” groaned Barda. “Jasmine, the —”
    “The nectar —” cried Lief at the same moment. But Jasmine was already tearing the tiny jar from around her neck and tipping it over