Glory Alley and the Star Riders (The Glory Alley Series) (52 page)

BOOK: Glory Alley and the Star Riders (The Glory Alley Series)
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“Don’t do that. Ye
Tullah
ns
be
delicately made. If ye fall, ye will splat.”


Nothing to worry about with the
smart fibers
to hold onto me.

“Good sense be
the
best preventative. Even with smart fibers
,
accidents happen.”

So much for feeling safe, but after a few minutes the fascination of it all outweighed thoughts of danger.

“How’s he making this
thing
fly
without any controls
?”


B
y concentrating,” Needle said.

“Could I learn how to fly a whifferdil, too?”

“A
Tullah
n’s connection to
the
Elboni
be
weak, so flying a whifferdil would be impossible
.
It’s a
difficult
task
even for
Wybbil
s, taking years of practice
,
and
of course,
one must
learn all the
aviation
laws and
obtain
the
proper licensing.”

“That’s right,” the pilot said, turning his head to glance back at them
.

But learning the law
be
the easy part
.
The
hardest
part
’s
learning to
meditate on
the
Elboni
,
the
whifferdil
,
and
the
wind all at
the
same time, weaving them together in constant motion.


That doesn’t sound
all that
hard
,”
Glory
said
.
“Can I try
?

The pilot snorted
,
tossed his nose into the air
,
and looked straight ahead again without
bothering
to
reply
.
The whifferdil continued to move forward, over the sparkling
purple
Sea of Serenity, skimming over the top of a ship with billowing
yellow
sails
, up through swirling white cloud vapors.

The clean briny scent of the sea filled h
er
nostrils
.
The day was warm, but it didn’t fee
l that way up on the whifferdil
where the wind whipped without mercy.
Glory
h
ugg
ed
h
erself
to keep warm
.

A
stream
of
little
bubbles trailed behind the whifferdil.
She
watched
mesmerized
as some of the orbs rose and others fell
.

The craft hit turbulence, tossing and turning
.
She felt the whifferdil grab on and pull her deeper into its fibers, but she couldn’t help to yelp,
squeezing a handful of spongy material
between her fingers
.


Some seatbelts would be nice about now
!”

“Tarnation
,
pilot!

Bone bellowed
.
“Where’d ye learn to fly
?

“Hush.” The pilot was curt
.

Fl
ying has been most difficult
as of late
.
Using the magic feels like trying to breathe through a tiny straw
, so bother me not
.
I need total concentration.

The pilot regained control and
so did Glory’s stomach. The whifferdil
sailed over the ocean a long while without conversation
.
S
ilence gave
her precious
time to think
about her strategy
.

Something interesting she had learned on Wybb was that s
hapes and words
mattered
.
A circle be for magic,
the
Wybbil
’s voice echo in h
er
mind
.
This
data
was important
.
I
t
surely
applied to the binding ritual, but how
?
I
n the cathedral
,
the Elboni was normally
enclosed in a rectangle
. Re
c
tangles
kill
ed
certain words that came near it
.
M
ulling
everything over for miles and miles, as the wind turned her into an ice
cube
;
it suddenly clicked.
The ritual required the
Elboni
to be
enclosed in a circle
!

Glory
wanted to explode with joy, but only
allowed h
erself
a furtive grin
as she
scrunch
ed
deeper into her jacket
.


Our Rock Collector
looks blue around
the
edges,”
Needle
said
.
“Seems I read somewheres that
Tullah
ns be very sensitive to changes in temperature.
Are ye cold?

“Y-y-yes
,” she said between chattering teeth
.

“Pilot
.

Needle
held
down his flapping beard with one hand
.
“Why don’t ye put up
the
whifferdil’s windbreaker
?

“All effort
be
focused on flying these days,” the pilot called back
.

My fellow aviators
say
the
Elboni
has been
stolen a
nd that’s why the cathedral be closed
.
Ye ought to be able to verify whether it’s true or no
.
Aye?”

“I can neither confirm nor deny such information,” Bone said.

The whifferdil began to gyrate
.
The ocean was a blur of purple below them
.
At such speed
,
a
girl
wouldn’t survive a fall into the unforgiving sea
.
Glory
clung to a
fold of spongy
material with
frozen
fingers
.


I’m too young to
die
!

s
h
e
hollered over the wind
.

“Ye folks from
the
cathedral are all
act
the
same,” the pilot said
,
“Close-mouthed and snooty.”

“Maybe ye should concentrate on flying,” Needle said
, looking a bit green around the edges himself
.

“The cargo
hold
has a few blankets,
some snacks, help yourself.

The pilot offered
.
“But be careful not to fall in.

The turbulence calmed and flying was smooth again.

Glory
hadn’t noticed the string until White Feather fished it from the back of the craft
.
White Feather pulled up on it, revealing a deep storage bin, which appeared a hundred times
deeper
than the craft on which they flew.

“Impossible,”
Glory
gasped
.

It’s like a cavern in there
.
Can I crawl in it
and get out of the wind?”

“Not today,” White Feather said
. He
pulled out a brown blanket for
Glory
and
passed out sandwiches made of dark bread, cheese and cucumbers.

“I kn
e
w a rookie pilot who got lost in his cargo hold and was never seen again
,

said the pilot.

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