Page 29 (1/1)
The Red Sea was always on their right Below the the foot of an equally endless e Beyond it, dry and stony land stretched to the horizon, with towns and villages scattered like islands, and deep ravines gaping like vast cracks in the wilderness
The air was heavy with strange aro over thes out to sea Barnabas Greenbloom had warned Ben of this, too The dark clouds were the sooty discharge fro like torches after a war between humans Just before the sun rose to blaze down on the land, Firedrake dived into the waters of the Red Sea to wash off the black filth, but some of it stuck fir cleaning the dragon’s wings and her own thick fur, andcrossly to herself It was easier for Ben with his s a clean T-shirt out of his backpack, he al’s head
The manikin was only just in ti had left the backpack only when he was sure the others were all asleep Then he would stretch his aching lies to eat -- luckily there were plenty of the as soon as one of the other three stirred
He wanted to put off theas possible Sorrel distrusted hiolden scale the professor had given Ben The boy kept it in a bag that he wore around his neck, and Twigleg had looked inside while Ben was asleep It also contained a sraph, a stone, a shell, and some of the silvery dust from the basilisk’s cave The scale undoubtedly ca else in the world felt so cold or so hard When Ben turned over in his sleep the ho with a shudder and sat down beside the boy -- as he did whenever the other three were asleep -- and leaning very, very carefully against the s’s shoulder he read the book that the boy always left open at his side It was the book Barnabas Greenblooiven Ben Every day, the boy read it until his eyes closed, for it was full ofthat hued horse and the giant roc bird that feeds sheep to its young, about fairies, will-o’-the-wisps, sea serpents, and trolls
Twigleg skipped several chapters For instance, the one about h about them already But on the third day, while the others were asleep and the light of the afternoon sun was bathing everything in a yellow haze, Twigleg finally came to the chapter about homunculi, artificial man-made creatures of flesh and blood
His first impulse was to close the book
He looked around Ben waspeacefully, as usual, and Firedrake was sleeping like a log
Twigleg began reading, his heart beating fast Oh, yes, he knew he had a heart all right, but there was es A hoer than its creator, he read He knew that, too But he had never heard what came next So far as it is known, a homunculus can live al affection for a hu In such cases, the hoiven its heart
"Uh-oh! Just think of that! Watch out, Twigleg!" the manikin whispered to himself "Keep your heart to yourself if you want to live You’ve already survived all your brothers and even your ive your heart to a hue at which Ben had left the book open Then he looked up at the sun Yes, it was time he reported to his master He hadn’t done so for two days now, not that there was anything to report
Twigleg turned and looked at the sht they’d reach the ravine where the djinn lived And if the djinn really knew the answer to the question, the answer hisfor more than a hundred years, then Nettlebrand would set off for the Ri shivered No, he didn’t want to think about that What business was it of his, anyway? He was only hiswhat Nettlebrand told hi, first slipped out of a s What difference did it make that he hated his master? The crucial point was that Nettlebrand would le mouthful of hi for so long
"Just re," the hoet down to work"
Just before Firedrake landed thaton water soh disused, still collected precious rainwater The homunculus was about to set off for the cistern when he felt Ben beginning to stir He quickly hid behind the nearest rock
The boy sat up sleepily, yawned, and stretched Then he rose to his feet and clih wall behind which they had camped This time Firedrake had had to fly so incense trees growing on a sandy hill The trees looked half dead The walls of the castle courtyard still stood, but the buildings behind them had fallen in and were almost buried in drifts of sand Only lizards and a few snakes lived here, but Sorrel had driven off the snakes by throwing stones at the his legs and looking to the south, where highup the line of the horizon
"It can’t be"If the professor was right, we’ll reach the ravine to peered out fro hi into the distance, lost in thought Then he thought better of it He cast a quick glance at the sleeping Sorrel, then crept over to the backpack without a sound and wriggled in like a lizard as The report to his master would have to wait
Ben stayed up on the wall for sohed and jumped down onto the sand He went over to Sorrel
"Hey, Sorrel," he said quietly, shaking the brownie’s shoulder "Wake up"
Sorrel stretched and blinked at the sunlight "It’s still broad daylight!" she hissed, looking at Firedrake, as sleeping peacefully in the shade of the old castle wall
"Yes, but you promised me we’d talk about the question to ask the djinn, remeht, but only if we have sory" She made her way over to her backpack, the sand hot on the furry soles of her paws
Ben followed, grinning "It’s the heat now, is it?" he teased her "We’ve had rain and thunderstorms and all kinds of weather since we started out, and you’re hungry all the ti of mushrooms out of her backpack, sniffed it appreciatively, and licked her lips Then she placed two large leaves on the sand and tipped the mushrooms out on them "Hmm … which shall I eat first?"