Emily Rodda - The Silver Door

‘Bell!’ screamed Bird, waving wildly.

‘Ho there!’ a voice yelled from the cart. ‘So you saved yourselves, did you? Bless my heart, if I’d known I’d have stayed home and got some sleep!’

As the small people around him cheered, and ran to meet the cart, memories of FitzFee again stabbed at Rye. What was FitzFee doing now? How were he and his family faring?

‘It is tempting to stay here,’ Dirk muttered, glancing at Sholto and Rye. ‘These people would hide us at the farm, I am sure. And now we know that this place is the source of the skimmers. We know the Master is the Enemy of Weld. We could speak to Cap, make plans to raise a rebellion—’

‘No! We must go back to Weld first, and tell what we have seen,’ Sholto broke in impatiently. ‘We destroyed most of the daylight skimmers, and that will delay the Master’s plans. Only for a time, but it will give us a breathing space—time to talk to Tallus, to convince the Warden—’

‘You are mad if you think you will convince the Warden of anything that will make him uncomfortable,’ Sonia said flatly.

Sholto stared at her, and then, to Rye’s surprise, he slowly nodded.

‘Of course you are right,’ he said quietly. ‘I—’ He hesitated, rubbing his forehead. ‘I am not usually so stupid, I assure you. But I feel as if I have been in a dream since you and Rye appeared at the Harbour. I still cannot believe what has happened. So many times I thought we were finished. When Kyte fired at us, and kept missing, though her aim was famous in the Harbour!’

He shook his head. ‘And when the supervisor released the skimmers … Suddenly, there was smoke everywhere! Just what we needed! It took minutes for me to realise that of course Rye’s sorcerer’s bag would have contained something that made smoke. Smoke is part of a magician’s stock in trade!’

Rye turned and gaped at him. ‘But—but Sholto, I thought you had—’

‘And that key that opens any door!’ Sholto went on. ‘The feather that defies gravity! By the Wall, I am not at all sure that I am awake, even now.’

‘Oh, you are awake,’ Sonia said cheerfully. She glanced at Rye, willing him to speak. She seemed to have decided that the next move was up to him.

Rye looked into her eyes.

Have faith .

The message came to him like a breath of cool, sweet air.

‘I think,’ he said carefully, ‘that we should go back to Weld, consult with Tallus, and then—’

He waited till both his brothers were looking at him before going on.

‘And then—I think—we should go through the third Door,’ he said.

‘The wooden Door?’ exclaimed Dirk. ‘By the Wall, Rye, why? We already know—’

‘There are still too many mysteries,’ Rye said. ‘Too many things we do not understand. And from the very beginning, the wooden Door has—has beckoned to me. I think … I am sure … it holds the answer.’

‘I too,’ Sonia said, taking his arm.

Rye saw his brothers look at one another. His heart lifted as Dirk nodded, and Sholto shrugged.

‘Very well, little brother,’ Sholto said softly. ‘We have had our turns. The last one—will be yours.’

ALSO BY EMILY RODDA

DELTORA QUEST 1

1. The Forests of Silence

2. The Lake of Tears

3. City of the Rats

4. The Shifting Sands

5. Dread Mountain

6. The Maze of the Beast

7. The Valley of the Lost

8. Return to Del

DELTORA QUEST 2

1. Cavern of the Fear

2. The Isle of Illusion

3. The Shadowlands

DELTORA QUEST 3

1. Dragon’s Nest

2. Shadowgate

3. Isle of the Dead

4. The Sister of the South

ROWAN OF RIN

1. Rowan of Rin

2. Rowan and the Travellers

3. Rowan and the Keeper of the Crystal

4. Rowan and the Zebak

5. Rowan of the Bukshah

Preview

The THREE DOORS Trilogy

Three magic Doors you here behold

Time to choose: Wood? Silver? Gold?

Listen to your inner voice

And you will make the wisest choice .

Rye is willing to risk everything to save his brothers, lost in the terrifying land outside the towering Wall of Weld. Sonia is determined to find and destroy the Enemy who is sending the ferocious flying beasts called skimmers to ravage the city.

Against all odds, the companions have survived the perils behind the gold and silver Doors. But Weld is still under threat, and Rye knows what he has to do. One Door remains a mystery—the ancient wooden Door that he has been drawn to from the beginning. For good or ill, his desperate quest will end beyond that Door.

All he has to do is dare to go through it.

Coming soon …

The Third Door

Copyright

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SCHOLASTIC and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.

Text and graphics copyright © Emily Rodda, 2012.

Cover artwork copyright © Marc McBride, 2012.

Design and graphics by Kate Rowe.

Print edition published by Omnibus in 2012, an imprint of Scholastic Australia.

This electronic edition published by Scholastic Australia Pty Limited in 2012.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, storage in an information retrieval system, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher, unless specifically permitted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968 as amended.

EPUB/MOBI eISBN 978 1 921 98962 9

Teachers’ notes for The Silver Door are available from www.scholastic.com.au