Keystone (Gatewalkers) by Amanda Frederickson Read Free Book Online Page B

didn’t want to go through any more Gates for a while at least.
    “Wait.” Tom lifted up his head. “Where’s she gone?”
    Lallia gasped. “Our hero! She doesn’t even know where to go!” She would be completely lost in Seinne Sonne.
    “Like you do? Where are we, anyway? This isn’t Iomara.”
    Lallia fluttered upward to look around. She sighed in relief. “We’re exactly where we need to be.” She pointed down the beach. “There’s Alta.”
    “Alta? That’s the end of the world! Why would we want to go to Alta? The Keystone was stolen from the palace vaults. We should be in Iomara!”
    “No, we need to go to Alta,” Lallia said. “ Trust me. Oh! There she is! Come, come!” She sped after their hero.
    ***
    A large ball of pink light shot out of the tall grass straight for Charlie’s face. Startled, Charlie automatically slapped it away, sending it tumbling.
    “That wasn’t very nice!” said a small male voice. “Especially since we went through all the trouble of finding you and bringing you here.”
    A palm-tall boy appeared before her on the sandy ground, a glare on his tiny face and a green plastic sword in his hand, pointed at Charlie. “What have you to say for yourself, human?”
    “I thought brownies were brown,” Charlie said.
    The boy gave a derisive sniff and rested his sword on his shoulder. “I thought a real hero would know a pixie when she saw one. Though I suppose it is good to see that you did not die when crossing through the Great Gate.”
    “Of course she did not die.” The pink light was back. “She’s been through hundreds of gates, and slain dragons and all other manner of creatures. I heard her speaking of them. She is Seinne Sonne’s true hero.”
    The turquoise haired pixie didn’t seem convinced.
    “Welcome to Seinne Sonne. Call me Lallia,” the pink pixie said, fluttering to hover before Charlie’s face, apparently having forgiven her for the slap. “Are you ready to save princess Maelyn?”
    “You can’t expect her to save the princess with her bare hands,” the boy pointed out. “Call me Tom, by the way,” he added to Charlie.
    Lallia buzzed in irritation. “Of course I don’t expect her to save Maelyn with her bare hands. Not alone, either. That’s why we’re going to Alta first.” She pointed downward of the sandy hill.
      “Alta?” Tom said. “Why would we want to go to Alta? The Keystone was stolen from the palace vaults. We need to go this way,” he pointed inland, ”to Iomara.”
    “No, we need to go to Alta,” Lallia said. “ Trust me.”
    “Where is Alta,” Charlie said. It sounded like as good a starting point as any. Two pixies have requested to join your party, she thought. Request accepted.
    “Right over the hill down the coast,” Lallia said.
    Lallia started drawing in the air, a little pink streamer of light following her finger as she created a shape something like a ragged edged gibbous moon. She drew a ragged circle roughly in the middle, leaning toward the right side, with a squiggle that trailed upward and off to the left side. “This is the kingdom of Seinne Sonne.”  
    She pointed at the circle in the middle. “This is Iomara and Sonne Lake.” Her finger followed the scribble coming off the lake. “This is the Great River, and Alta is right here, where the river meets the ocean.” She indicated a little cove just above where the river met the edge of her drawing. Her finger indicated the space to the left and down of her drawing. “South of Seinne Sonne is the Black Forest. No one goes there if they want to live. North is nothing but mountains and snow.”
    “All right, if we’re so close to Alta anyway, why don’t we start there, and then catch a ride upriver to Iomara. Sound reasonable?” She looked at Tom.
    Tom grudgingly nodded. “I still do not see why we need to go to Alta.”
    “Trust me,” Lallia said again, this time smugly. She waved her air map away.
    The road Lallia led them to wound over