Glory Alley and the Star Riders (The Glory Alley Series) (90 page)

"This place is s
p
-
sp-
spooky at night, but it
sure is p-
p-
pretty under the snow,”
s
he paused
.
Here I go,
s
he
sucked in a breath.
"That
Nightburner
you have there
is a mighty fine ligh
t
—
I
wish it were mine.
”

She
g
rimaced
, hoping
that
hadn’t sounded
too obvious
.
The
Wybbils
kept working
.
Her chest tightened. Oh, goodness, I’m so close!

"
You know what
?”

“What?” asked Needle.

“
I wish my mother was alive
,
and then I wouldn’t have to build her a monument at all
.
”
S
he
tried to hide the wish under a deluge of words. “Aren’t mothers great
…I mean do
Wybbil
s have mothers too?
”
She
winced at the dumb
question;
sure she had just blown it.

"
Of course,
Rock Collector
,” said Needle, brushing the dirt off his hands onto his trousers
.
“Th
e
spot
be
thoroughly marked
.
Let's be off."

Glory
slowly exhaled
.
She
had
to think of
another
wish—and fast.

"Can I say good-bye to my family?"

"No," said Bone.

"Not even to my father?”

“No.”

“Oh, well
.
He probably won’t even miss me, but
for the
sake
of my brothers and sisters I wish
he
would
quit
with the booze,
so he can be nice
again,
like he was before Mom died.
"

Th
e last
wish
had
rolled off h
er
tongue
as if
it had be
en
sitting there for ages
.
W
ouldn’t it be
awesome
if all three wishes took hold
?
She
could only hope
.
I
n hindsight
s
he
wanted to kick h
er
self for wasting a wish on something as inconsequential a
s the Nightburner
,
dangit,
but it was too late to take it back.
The time had come to trick the star riders into swearing their oaths.

"We’ve made
the
provisions to honor your last request,
Rock Collector,
” White Feather said
.
“
Let’s
leave this forsaken planet.
"

"No!
”
Glory
stamped one foot in the dirt
.
"I’m changing my request
.
I want to see my family
one last time
instead
of being buried here
."

"Ye can’t do that," Needle said, shaking his head from side to side.

“Why not?”

Needle looked to the other
star riders
, who shrugged.

“Ye just can’t.
”

“That’s a stupid reason.
”
Glory
folded
her
arms
across her chest
and
stuck out her bottom lip.
The
y
made no reply, so
she
pushed the issue.
“I’ll be dead
,
and there will be nobody
left
to hold you accountable, so how can I trust
you’ll honor my wishes?"

“You mean your request,” Needle said.

“Wishes, requests—
it’s
all the same to me,”
Glory
said with a dismissive wave of hand that belied h
er
careful choice of words
.
“Why should I go back
to Wybb
without promises that you’ll honor your end of the deal?”

Needle replied with an exasperated sigh, "Don't worry, I'll make sure
everything be
taken care of-—ye have my word."

Glory
’s
heart flip
-
flopped in her chest when
Needle g
ave
his oa
th, sealing the wish
.

Next
s
he
turned to Bone
.
"What if Needle can't do it alone
—
will you help?"

"
I
said we’d give ye what ye asked for and
like all
Wybbil
s
, I
always keep
my
word."

“Aye,” White Feather grumbled
.
“I
shall
honor
what
ever
I’ve agreed to do
.
Now, let's get out of here."

Joy
!
"Dragon's Bane
!
Dragon's Bane!"
She danced in place and jumped out of the circle.

“Enough of this nonsense,” White Feather said,
looking at her as if her brains had fallen out. Bone made a move
to grab
her arm, but his fist hit something invisible. White Feather tried to detain her, but his nose hit something unseen.

“Ow!” White Feather rubb
ing the end of his face
, sounding shocked. “The
Tullah
n punched me
.
She
was so fast, I didn’t see it coming.”

Needle
made a grab toward
Glory
.
“Yow
ch
!
”
h
e cried out
again
when his knuckles hit something invisible, but solid.

Dawning comprehension spread over
Glory
’s
face.
A force
field had sprung up around the
Elboni
, holding the
star riders
in
.

She
ha
d
been at war
. This
was
her
triumph
.
She
pointing at the three
men trapped in the circle of stones and jumped up and down.
“
I bound you
!
I bound you!"

The
y
jerked to attention
. Puzzled expressions crossed their faces. Needle scratched at his wormy beard.

"I didn't bind just one
star rider,” she cried happily. “I got
three!
”

"
Rock Collector
.
”
Needle’s civility was forced through his teeth
.
"Ye have not met the req
uirements for binding
."

“But the force
field is up and
...
”

“I do not feel c
ompelled to give ye
the
wish, therefore
the
ritual
must
be incomplete.”

"Shush," White Feather admonished
.
"It
be
forbidden to reveal the secrets of
the
binding."

The three men plowed toward
Glory
causing h
er
to flinch, but try as they might to break the
barrier with their shoulders,
it held fast
.

Bone threw a rock at it, but it bounced
around inside the bubble-shaped
field like a pinball
.
The
Wybbil
s ducked and dodged before the rock lost
mom
entum and fell harmlessly to the ground.