Excerpt from Book2 The Adventures of Cecilia Spark –
the Mystical Mountains of Terra
There wasn’t much conversation between them
as Cecilia and Soldier followed Pacha to meet her master. Cecilia marvelled at
the variety of animals and birds that lived on and around the mangrove root
system; oysters and mussels, monkeys and spoonbills. Pacha paused now and then
to snack on a shrimp or crab, catching them nimbly with her paws.
“Not far now,” she
announced.
They had travelled
for about two hours, and were deep in the heart of the mangrove. They could see
fires flickering a short distance away. Soldier shivered. He glanced at the
gemstone, and then looked for Pacha, but she was nowhere to be seen.
“Psssssst,
Cecilia, something’s not right.”
“Shhhhh, Soldier.
We’re nearly there.”
“But look, look at
the gemstone! And Pacha has gone.”
She glanced at the
citrine gemstone which had now turned a dark shade of grey and then at the
compass; the needle was spinning round and round. The mangrove had become
deafeningly silent and the hairs on the back of Cecilia’s neck were standing
up.
“This feels
creepy!” exclaimed Cecilia.
“I know. Let’s get
out of here!”
Cecilia was
shaking her head and gazing around. She didn’t know which way to go since the
compass was still going wild.
“I wish I’d
listened to you.”
“Too late for
that!” scoffed Soldier.
Pacha reappeared
on a branch close to them.
“I’m sorry,” she
whispered.
The screech that
followed was ear-splitting. Something moved down towards them; massive wings
out-stretched and the ear-splitting noise came with it. The leaves on the trees
began to wilt and curl up, then fall to the ground. The tree bark turned black
in a flash.
Soldier jumped
into the backpack to escape the noise. Cecilia covered her ears and crouched
down. Gazing up she saw the shadow of a man in front of her. She did not get
up; she followed the man’s shadow with her gaze, then let out a frightful
scream.
It was not a human
being but a beast, with the antlered head and legs of a deer, and the wings and
body of a bird.
The last thing
Cecilia remembered seeing before drifting into the shadows was the gemstone. It
was now black.
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Wow, thank you, Mary Ann for publishing a sample of The Mystical Mountains of Terra n x
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