Secret of the Giants' Staircase by Amy Lynn Green Read Free Book Online Page B

would put even the proud city of ancient Lidia to shame.”
    Now Jesse remembered. He had read the entry too. All of them had, though only Silas had memorized all the entries. “In case something happens to the book,” he always said.
    â€œThe stairs,” Jesse said. “There’s a staircase in the center of the giants’ city that holds the secret to their power. They’re looking for the staircase to the sky.”
    â€œImagine it,” Parvel said, sweeping his hand toward the stormy sky. “Steps that wind past the tallest of the swamp trees and into the clouds. Perhaps that’s how the giants can leap over to District One to steal disobedient children.”
    â€œI take it, then, that you don’t believe in the Giants’ Staircase?”
    Parvel shook his head. “No, Jesse. I do not even believe in the giants themselves. Perhaps the Westlunders existed once, but they died out, as many people groups do. They do not live in the swamps.”
    â€œHow can you be sure?”
    â€œThink about it: an entire civilization, never venturing out of the swamps. One that no one has ever seen. How could they sustain themselves? What would they eat? With whom would they trade?” He shook his head. “No, the Giants’ Staircase is just another invention of the king to send a squad of Youth Guard into death.”
    Jesse looked out at the towering swamp. “Not if we get there first.”

Chapter 6
    Unlike the stories Jesse had heard at the inn, the Swamp of the Vanished did not have serpents as thick as a barrel, or flesh-eating insects, or mud that reached up and sucked unsuspecting travelers into the heart of the earth.
    There were places where mud, rich and thick, collected in pits, but most of the ground was covered with moss, small bushes and a strange matted plant. When Jesse first stepped on it, his feet bounced back slightly. The plant acted as a kind of cushion.
    â€œIf we survive this, I am cutting a patch of this and taking it back as a rug,” Jesse declared, using his staff to vault himself into the air and letting the matted plant bounce him back.
    â€œWe’ve been walking for eight hours,” Silas said. “Haven’t you gotten tired of that yet?”
    Jesse bounced again. “No. How could anyone get tired of this?”
    Rae smiled a little. Jesse had caught her taking a few bounces herself. Never when Silas was looking, though. She’s probably afraid he’ll laugh at her too. Well, I don’t care. It’s been too long since I’ve had any fun.
    Occasionally, Rae would pull out her dagger and slice away the thin, stringy vines hanging from the trees, but Jesse knew it was just to keep herself occupied. For every plant that Rae took out of their path, there were a thousand more. Jesse felt almost as if the trees and undergrowth were closing in around them, trying to suffocate them.
    Well, let them try , he said. Rae and her mighty sword will attack them and drive them back . It was a funny thought, picturing Rae in a suit of armor doing battle with weeds. He laughed out loud.
    And he ran into Silas, who had stopped without warning. “What?” Jesse demanded, trying to peer over Silas’ shoulder. “Did you find a giant?”
    â€œI don’t know what it is,” Silas said. They gathered around Silas’ discovery. There, half-hidden in the weeds, was a glint of metal.
    Parvel pushed away the plants to reveal a thin piece of metal that gleamed a dull gold. The scrolls and engraved designs outlined a perfect triangle.
    â€œIt’s a weapon,” Rae said.
    â€œRae, to you, anything shiny is a weapon,” Jesse said, grinning.
    She picked it up and shoved it toward Jesse. “See that point? It’s as sharp as a blade.”
    â€œWhich is exactly why you should set it back down,” Parvel said, guiding Rae’s arm away from Jesse’s face. Jesse shot him a look of