Glory Alley and the Star Riders (The Glory Alley Series) (46 page)

The whifferdil leveled at the last second, gained altitude, and
then
circled in a controlled descent.

"That’s some fancy flying,”
Glory
said
.
“
I don’t see any wings, propellers or engines. So how do they go?
"

“The
whifferdils
be
superior to any aircraft on
Tullah
,
” White Feather said. “
Instead of clunky machines
that
run on noxious chemicals, our entire transportation system is
powered by magic.”

Clunky, noxious—what a rude way to describe Tullahn technology
. She must defend her world’s honor.
“
Personally,
I’d rather be wrapped in metal with engines under my feet
, a
nd
look
,
t
he
passengers on the whifferdil aren’t
even strapped in
.
That can’t be safe.
If you ask me
,
it
looks like a flying hunk of cheese
—
totally weird.”

White Feather narrowed his eyes and asked, “Which is weirder—placing one’s faith in pieces of metal junk that go ping, pop, whirl
?
Or having faith in
the
source of all magic?”

“I suppose it depends on what a
g
al
’s used to
.
”

“
Rock Collector
,
” Needle joined the conversation. “
A
ll
dimensions
be
immersed in
the
magic, even yours, but the power manifests differently in each
one.”

“
If you say so.”

“Let me finish
.
Every world
in
the
universe
be
ordered according to the designs of
a greater magic.
Ye
Tullah
ns
live in th
is
magic,
be
held up by it,
be
surrounded by it and sustained, but
ye
go your whole lives not knowing it’s there
.
B
orn unaware
,
ye
die unaware, never able to use
the
magic at will
.

“See
the
whifferdil pilots
out there
…
as we speak
they
call upon
the
magic to power their crafts
.
If Wybb’s link to the
Elboni
closes
all the way
,
more than just our transportation system will shut down.
”

"On
Tullah
,
we don't need magic to fly,"
Glory
said with a toss of h
er
head
.
“
We use
our brains. It’s called
science.
”

“
So sad for you,
”
said Needle, wrinkling his nose in distaste
.
He pointed at a gold post taller than h
er
head smack in the center of the chamber
.
“
The
Elboni
belongs there.
”

Glory
made a step toward it. H
er
kneecap hit something hard
.
“Ouch!”
S
he looked down
.
N
othing was there
.
“
Huh?
”

“Observe,” Needle said, shaking a pouch of orange dust into his palm
.
He blew
.
The powder scattered in the direction of the empty post and settled around it, revealing a rectangular barrier the size of a garage
.

"A force
field?"

"Aye.
T
he
rectangular shape of the field deflects all words uttered in
the
Elboni
’s presence.”

Glory
jerked to attention. “Did you say the shape of the field matters?”

“Aye.
”

Glory
knew useful information when
s
he heard it, but was unsure how
it a
pplied to her mission.
In
Treasure Quest, when
one looked for gold,
the impo
rtant thing was to keep digging, and in this world
,
her tongue served as shovel.

“Why does the
Elboni
need to be protected from words?”
she asked.

“Not
all
words,
Rock Collector
, just certain ones
, a
nd it’s not the
Elboni
that needs protecting
.
The
barrier
prevent
s
unsavory sorts from using its power for ill gain.”

“But I thought only
Wybbils
knew how to use it
.
”

“
Not just any Wybbils, only the star riders,”
Needle explained.

“
Can only
Wybbils
be star riders
?”

“No.”

“So the ritual isn’t just a Wybbil thing?”

“I suppose not.”

“Only
a star rider
can touch the Elboni without dying.”

“Not even
a star rider
can touch it
with bare hands
and live
,” Needle assured.

“Are you sure?” Glory had touched it and lived. So why were they lying?

“
As far as we know, but
there are worlds in all shades of the spectrum
waiting to be explored
.
Although the
Elboni
’s substance remains the same in every world, each world interacts with the magic differently.
So perhaps one day we will find
someone who can
survive the
Elboni
’s touch.
”

She wanted to tell them about her own experience, but they’d only call her a liar.

“
You see,
” Needle continued. “O
n
Tullah
the
Elboni
appears as a lovely indigo rock, but here on Wybb it looks like a
beautiful
swirl of green light
.
It reflects the appearance
of each world it resides in
, so it has many forms, y
et
in essence
,
the
Elboni
never changes
.
Do ye see,
Rock Collector
?"

“No
.
But it doesn’t seem fair that some worlds get to interact with the magic however they want and mine can’t.”

“Trust me,” Needle said
.
“
Tullah
’s not
for such power.
”

"
If you say so
.
”
Glory
glanc
ed
around at the golden
scrollwork
running along a pearly buttress
.
The building was lovely and serene. The sea outside the window looked calm. “
I don’t get why you need the
Elboni
back so badly
.
E
verything here looks like it’s doing
perfectly
fine without
it.”

"When ye removed it from
the
pedestal in your world, ye removed it from the pedestals in all connected worlds
.
This brings great danger to many places, including Wybb
.
If
the
Elboni
stays
separated from its pedestal for too long, this planet will lose her magic
.
Understand,
the
Great
Elboni
Stone sends its
power
to every place in Wybb by way of
the
pedestal.”

“Why?”