The Grimm Conclusion by Adam Gidwitz Read Free Book Online

You know. The special one. With the sister.”
    â€œHe doesn’t look very special to me,” said the second voice.
    â€œI still don’t know who you’re talking about,” said the third.
    At last, the little boy found them. They were sitting on a low branch of the juniper tree. And they were not human.
    They were bird.
    Raven, to be precise.
    Joringel should have been shocked. He knew he should have been. There were ravens—
talking
. And talking about
him
, no less. But shock originates somewhere in your chest, just below your heart and just above your stomach. And at that moment, that part of Joringel was being occupied by strange gurglings and tinglings that had begun just after he’d swallowed the juniper berry. So he didn’t feel shocked at all. He just said, “I’m special?”
    The three ravens looked at him all at once. Their small eyes were so perfectly black that they reflected the stars overhead.
    â€œYes,” said the first raven.
    â€œWell, you will be,” said the second. “As will your sister.”
    â€œI,” said the third, “still have no idea what they’re talking about.”
    â€œThat makes two of us,” Joringel replied.
    The ravens chuckled.
    â€œYou have just ingested the berry of a juniper tree, have you not?” asked the first raven.
    â€œI don’t know what ingested means,” said the little boy, “but if it means ate, then yes, I did.”
    â€œQuite so,” replied the first raven. “Would you be surprised to learn that you are soon to undertake historic feats of courage and heroism?”
    â€œI don’t know what you just said,” Joringel replied.
    â€œIt’s not the right kid,” the second raven interjected. “I don’t believe it.”
    â€œWHAT KID?” the third raven squawked.
    â€œShall we test my hypothesis?” the first asked.
    â€œI don’t know what you just said again,” answered Joringel.
    â€œIt’s not him,” the second raven sighed.
    â€œI DON’T KNOW WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT!” screamed the third raven.
    The first raven ignored him. “Little boy, would you like to begin the greatest adventure in the history of the Storied Kingdoms?”
    Joringel had no idea what the Storied Kingdoms were. But his answer, without any question, was yes.
    â€œThen follow us,” said the raven. And he dove from the branch and swooped past Joringel. The second raven swooped down after him. But the third, with a flutter of wings, hopped down onto Joringel’s shoulder.
    â€œDo you have any idea what’s going on?” the raven asked. Joringel shook his head. “Okay,” the black bird replied. “Then let’s find out.” And he took off after his brothers.
    Joringel glanced back at the little house he had grown up in. A lump formed in his throat.
    But he turned away, following the flight of the three ravens into the bloody, rising sun.
    ----
    They had walked for nearly a day. Once, the third raven had asked him if he found it strange that birds could talk.
    â€œUsually, you kids find it strange,” the raven added.
    Indeed, Joringel felt that he
should
find it strange. He just didn’t. That place between his heart and his chest still tingled, and his head felt like it was swimming in brine.
    As the day waned and the gray sky gave way to dusk, the strange party arrived in a dark wood.
    â€œNow let’s see if that juniper berry works,” announced the first raven.
    The trees were blackened and moldy. Their branches were bare, hanging at odd angles like broken, burned bones. As the muddy ground squelched under the little boy’s feet, he wondered why he was not frightened. He should have felt frightened. The wind suddenly whipped through the wood, and it moaned, long and low and mournful. Then it fell silent again. This was a place of death.
    â€œWell, I’m scared,” said