The Silver Door by Emily Rodda Read Free Book Online Page A

understand it.’
    â€˜In daylight they are,’ said Tallus. ‘It has long been my theory, and my apprentice agrees with me, that skimmers live and breed in the dark—in a cavern underground, perhaps, where sight is not important.’
    Or in some foul place where the only light is dull red, thought Rye, feeling cold inside as he remembered his dream.
    â€˜They emerge at night to hunt,’ Tallus continued. ‘And why?’
    The Warden stared at him. ‘Because they are hungry, of course! Really, Master Tallus, you must get to the—’
    â€˜No!’ Tallus cried, his voice cracking. ‘Skimmers hunt at night because they
cannot
hunt during the day! Because daylight renders them helpless! It is their one weakness. When I looked closely at the specimen’s eyes I saw clearly that this must be so. The eyes were totally without protection. Almost transparent!’
    â€˜Yes, well, that is all very interesting,’ the Warden mumbled, looking queasy. ‘But—’
    â€˜And it suddenly came to me!’ Tallus exclaimed. ‘It is so obvious, once you have seen it! Ever since the skimmer invasions began, Warden, we have been blanketing Weld in darkness at night. But we should have been doing the exact opposite!’
    â€˜The—?’
    â€˜We should have been repelling the beasts by using their one weakness against them! We should have been defending ourselves with
light!’
    â€˜Light?’ the Warden repeated, frowning. ‘Are you mad, Master Tallus? Light
attracts
the skimmers. How many of our more careless citizens, poor souls, have perished because—’
    â€˜Because a chink of light in a pool of darkness creates a target, and one small lantern is no real threat!’ cried Tallus. ‘I am not talking about leaving a few house lights burning, Warden! My plan is to make the sky of Weld blaze, so night is as bright as day!’
    The Warden’s mouth fell open.
    Tallus pulled a folded paper from one of his many pockets and shook it open. It was covered with diagrams and notes.
    â€˜I have worked it all out,’ he said, flattening the paper on the polished table and beckoning impatiently for the Warden to come and look. ‘Tall columns, higher than the rooftops, must be built all over the city—’
    â€˜Columns?’ murmured the Warden, staring vacantly at the paper.
    â€˜At the top of each column we place a large lantern,’ Tallus rattled on, stabbing his finger at one of the diagrams. ‘We can use the Keep lanterns—they are the biggest we have, and you must have thousands of them here.’
    â€˜The Keep lanterns?’ the Warden repeated faintly.
    Tallus nodded. ‘Each lantern will be surrounded by mirrors so that the light is spread and reflected upward. The Keep can supply the mirrors as well.Every soldier has his own mirror, I hear, and there are many kept in stock.’
    â€˜Yes, well, it is very important that the soldiers are always neatly—’
    â€˜Between them, the lanterns and mirrors should make enough light to repel the skimmers and force them to go elsewhere to feed,’ Tallus finished, slapping the paper triumphantly. ‘You see?’
    He glanced at the Warden expectantly. The Warden frowned and rubbed his chin.
    â€˜Yes,’ he said slowly. ‘Well, Master Tallus, I will certainly give your suggestion some thought …’
    Sonia groaned. Rye stiffened, but luckily neither Tallus nor the Warden seemed to have heard her.
    â€˜Some
thought?’
Tallus yelled.
    The Warden straightened his plump shoulders. ‘Possibly your idea has some merit, Master Tallus,’ he said carefully. ‘But before we clutter our tidy streets with ugly columns—not to mention removing vital equipment from the Keep—we must discuss the whole matter thoroughly. One thing you have not considered, for example, is who is going to build all these