Glory Alley and the Star Riders (The Glory Alley Series) (44 page)

“Very true,” Needle said
.
“My fellow
star rider
has been doing it for
several
millennia and still hasn’t
mastered it.”

“Humph,” White Feather snorted.
“There be only one master of time and space—the
Elboni
.
That’s why it
helps
to be as
close to the knot as possible, because that’s where the Elboni dwells, or at least it’s supposed to.” He paused to glower at Glory. “
Even though the
Paraplume
allows me to mystically unlock the gates from afar, being in the physical proximity
assures
accuracy
.
”

Needle added. “
Trust me when I say we’ve logged thousands of unexpected side-trips due to Hops that ha
ve
gone astray.”

White Feather folded his arms and frowned at Needle.

“Times a-wasting,” said Bone, motioning for
everyone to go ahead
.
“Were you here, Rock Collector?”

Glory lo
oked around the
beaut
iful
cavern
.
Its
smooth marble
floor
glistened with wetness
.
Slabs of varying height lined both sides of the cavern. The same creamy stalagmite stood alone at the center of everything, but its indigo ball was missing
.
A sharp breath caught in h
er
chest
…t
his was where
s
he had touched the
Elboni
for the first time
…this was where the
E
lboni
had touched h
er
back
…this was where everything had changed.
She’d never forget its mystical burns and caresses
…
the incredible peace…

“
Rock Collector
, we asked ye a question.
”

Needle’s voice snapped h
er
to attention.

“Huh?”

“Were ye here last t
ime
?”

The Wybbils inched closer
. She sensed their growing
annoyance
with her
subterfuge
.
She had to give them a nugget to go on.

“
Yep
.
I remember this place for sure.
”
Sh
e
full out lied. “But I don’t remember any Elboni.”

White Feather pointed at the lone stalagmite rising from the stone floor like a twisted tree limb
.
“
The
Elboni
sat right there
since the beginning of t
he universe
,
then
poof
, one day it disappears
.
Ye wouldn't be having anything to do with that, would ye now?
”

Under pressure, she
flat out lied
again
.
"
The pedestal was already empty when I got here.”

Her claim was met by icy silence.

“
M
aybe
Budd
ate
it or something
,
”
she suggested.

Bone’s brow tilled into thick furrows.
“
It’s always
something
with this one
.
She
knows
exactly
where
the
Elboni
be
.
This
Tullah
n
may be tender on
the
outside, but
s
he's already hard on
the
inside
and rotten too, like the rest of h
er
kind.
”

"Rotten?
”
Glory
gave an incredulous frown.
“
You're the ones kidnapping
little
girls
out of their beds and eating rabbits
...
(
gulp
)
...
alive.
”

“You’re not so little,” Bone said,
saluting
his hand from his forehead to
Glory
’s forehead
, emphasizing
that
she was actually a speck taller.

“
Enough,
”
Needle said
.
“
We be having no choice
.
Take h
er
home.
”

“Home, whew
.
” She could feel the tension drain away, every muscle relaxed a little.
“
If we
hurry
I can
be back in bed before anybody notices I was gone.”

“
Not
your
home,
Rock Collector
,
”
Bone snarled, showing his gnarly teeth
.
“
Ours
.”

“Uh-oh.”

Needle and Bone squeezed her between them, holding onto her arms in case she tried to bolt. She tried to wriggle away, but didn’t d
are
scream for fear of alerting
Budd
.

“
Extra motion increases the effects of
Paraplume lag.” Needle
informed. “So try to relax.”

White Feather took the white feather from his hat, drew a large circle in the air and said, "Issatti"
.
Glimmering waves filled the spot. White Feather walked into the circle and was absorbed by the waves
.
Bone and Needle followed, tugging their hostage with them.

WELCOME TO WYBB

PART 2

Bone clutched
Glory
’s
forearm
as they passed through the shimmering circle. Everything flashed brilliant white
.
When her e
yes adjusted
she found
herself in a tunnel
made
of colored ribbons of light.
A resonating hum
passed through
her body
making her feel
peculiar
, but
t
he
star riders
continued to ruthlessly
pull h
er
along
.

Between different bands of color
,
s
he caught glimpses of jungles, snow-capped mountains
,
and
endless stretches of
outer space.
She
stopped to watch as two
triangular
metal ships hovered over a red planet hurling beams of light at one another
.

“Whoa,”
s
he marveled
.
“
Just like on
G
alactic Space Heroes
.
”
Clash
would be so impressed
.

“We’re traveling through the knot,” White Feather informed.

He
held a finger over his mouth
. Then he
pointed between two ribbons of green
.
Atop a rocky plateau
,
rising from the center of a vast purple ocean perched
a gleaming golden
palace
. Hundreds of frilly spires rose from it, lancing the aqua sky.