Read Glory Alley and the Star Riders (The Glory Alley Series) Online
Authors: C.DEANNA VERHOFF
The fierce wind continued to swirl from the hole, sucking in the flowers and vases that decorated the cathedral
.
Horrid sounds echoed from the void
.
Home sounded like heaven about now, but s
he
couldn’t let go of the
dream
of
a better life.
“It’s where?”
Lady
Gost
encourag
ed
.
“I’m sorry
.
”
Glory turned her face away from the beautiful lady.
“I can’t tell you.
”
The words came out against h
er
better judgment
.
This wasn’t a game
.
It was life and death
.
She
wanted to kick h
er
self for being so darn stubborn
.
By the look on Lady
Gost
’s face, apparently s
o
did
she
.
“Go ye sons of Wybb,” Lady
Gost
said with a somber frown. “
Show
the
Rock Collector what awaits liars, thieves and murderers.
May
the
Elboni
’s magic
guide and protect you.”
Bone and White Feather each took an arm and dragged h
er
toward the funnel spinning beneath the floor
.
Needle followed behind, advising
her
not to look.
I
f only she could close her ears because the most frightful part was the sound of the wind, like a haunted freight train rolling down the tracks
.
Bone and White Feather’s grips tightened
.
They jumped
into the vortex
forcing h
er
along with them
.
A hot whirlwind toss
ed
h
er
body
around
like a cat in clothes dryer
.
They began to fall.
Glory
screamed
.
Bone screamed
.
White Feather yelled, “Crimeny!”
Oompf
!
Her body slammed
on
to
something solid
.
B
reath knocked out of lungs
, wheezing now, she opened one
eye to see the tail
end of a tornado disappear upward into a sky th
e color of blood.
As the star riders
lay on their backs gasping for breath
,
Glory
took inventory of h
er
limbs
—
n
othing broken
. She
rolled to feet and
had a look around.
There was no grass, no trees and no sign of life except a maddening moan rising up from the very stones
.
What strange and eerie place
is
this?
B
lack cliffs, jutting every which way as if carved by a madman
, filled the horizon
. The worst part, however, was the stench
.
“Ew!”
Glory
’s finger
s
went to her nose and pinched
.
“This place smells like rotten cabbage
, cow patties, and dirty socks all rolled into one!”
Suddenly there was a crackling sound from below h
er
feet
.
Thousands of
spi
ndly white lines wriggled free
.
“
Maggots!
”
They squiggled
over h
er
feet
.
“Yow!
”
Desp
ite her frantic stomping, t
hey burrowed through shoes
, socks
and up h
er
legs
.
Sizzling holes formed wherever the maggots
’
slime touched h
er
shoes
.
Pinpoints of pain burned skin as the maggots tried to burrow
.
She
stumbled to the ground
screaming
.
M
ore maggots wriggled toward her.
“Raise the Nightburner!” said White Feather.
Needle fumbled for the silver spike in his hat and cried out, “Nonru!
”
A circle of white light enveloped the four travelers
.
Glory
watched with relief as the wormy things withered into dry ash before doing more damage
.
She
smacked at h
er
arms and legs, feeling like they were still crawling
with worms
.
“Get them off me!”
s
he jumped up and down and spun in a circle to
try
see if more were on
h
er
back
.
“Calm down,” Bone said
.
“They’re gone and ye be fine.”
Glory
turned to Needle
.
“Your light killed them?”
Needle said, “No, they were already dead.”
“Huh?”
The
Wybbil
s ignored h
er
and dusted themselves off.
“That was most unusual,” Bone said rubbing his lip in thought.
“Aye,” said Bone, glancing nervously about
.
“Normally, the maggots go after the dead and nothing more.
Must be h
er
tainted
Tullah
n blood they smell.
”
Needle
touched
Glory
’s
forehead, then pressed two fingers against h
er
neck
.
“Aye, y
e be
alive
.
For the time being, anyway.”
Glory
pushed the
Wybbil
’s hand away
.
“Of course I’m alive
.
Where are we
,
anyway?”
“
Ye have a b
ad habit of not listening
.
” White Feather said. “
We be
Where
Elboni
is Not
,
the
W-E-I-N
for short
.
”
“So, the
Elboni
doesn’t touch this dimension?”
Bone nodded.
“Wait a second,”
White Feather
shook his head
.
“The
Elboni
be
everywhere
.
Even here.”
“
That be crazy talk?
”
Bone
argued
.
“If it
be here, why
call this place
Where
Elboni
Is Not?
”
“Because
people
like ye don’t know any better,”
White Feather
retorted
.
“How rude of ye to say so.”
“My apologies,” said
White Feather
.
“I shall explain. Residents of this place
hate
the
splendor
of
the
Elboni
. Its
g
reatness
contrasts painfully against their w
retchedness.
T
o
e
ndure
its
p
resence would only add to their misery
.
So
the
Elboni
remain
s
out of sight here.”
“Why would anyone hate a rock as beautiful as the
Elboni
?”
Glory
wanted to know.
“Enough questions,” said
Needle
, pushing
Glory
along
.
“L
et’s get this over with
.
”