Emily Rodda - Deltora Quest #1 - The Forests of Silence

He heard a groan nearby. He tried to turn his head. And it was only then that he realized that he could not move.

Panic seized him. He tried to lift his hands, move his feet. But he could not even twitch a finger.

How could they have bound me so completely? he thought stupidly.

And slowly, horribly the answer came to him. He was not tied up at all. His body was simply refusing to move at his will.

“What — has happened?” he cried aloud in terror.

“They stung us — as wasps sting caterpillars, as spiders sting flies.” Barda’s voice was thick and slow, but Lief recognized it. He realized that it was Barda who had groaned. Barda was lying near to him. Barda was as helpless as he was.

“The creatures have paralyzed us so that we still live, but cannot move,” Barda’s voice went on. “They will be back, and then they will feast.”

Again he groaned. “We were fools to ignore the warning sign. I am to blame. I could not imagine a weapon we could not fight. But that sound! No one could stand against it. I cannot understand why the Guards in Del did not speak of it.”

“Perhaps they did not know. Perhaps no one who has ever heard the sound has lived to tell of it,” said Lief.

“Lief — I have led you to your death!”

Lief licked his dry lips. “It is not your fault. We took the road together. And we are not dead yet! Barda — where are we?”

The answer came even more slowly than before, and when it came it filled Lief’s heart with dread. “They carried us a long way,” Barda said weakly. “I think — I think we are in the Forests of Silence.”

Lief closed his eyes, trying to fight the wave of despair that was sweeping over him. And then a thought came to him.

“Why?” he asked. “Why bring us here, to a place so far from their home?”

“Because,” called a new voice, “you are too great a prize for the Wenn alone. They have brought you as an offering for their god. The Wennbar likes fresh meat. It will come when the sun goes down.”

There was a rustle from the tree above. And, as lightly as a butterfly, a wild-haired girl landed on the ground right beside Lief’s head.

Astounded, Lief blinked up at the girl. She was about his own age, elfin-faced, with black hair, slanting black brows, and green eyes. She was dressed in ragged grey clothes that seemed strangely familiar. She was bending over him, unfastening the ties of his cloak.

“Thank heavens you have come!” he whispered.

“This will be useful, Filli,” the girl said.

With a shock, Lief realized that she was not speaking to him, but to a small, furry, wide-eyed creature that was clinging to her shoulder.

“How lucky that we came this way today,” she went on. “If we had left it until tomorrow the cloth would have been quite spoiled.”

With a single push of her slim, sun-browned arm, she rolled Lief onto his side so that she could pull the cloak from beneath him. Then she let him roll back and stood up, the cloak draped carelessly over her arm.

A harsh cry came from overhead. Lief raised his eyes and saw a black bird, a raven, perched in the tree from which the girl had leapt. Its head on one side, it was watching them carefully with one sharp yellow eye.

The girl grinned and held up the cloak. “See what I have found, Kree!” she called. “A fine new blanket for the nest. But we are coming back now. Do not fear.”

She turned to go.

“No!” shouted Lief in panic. “Do not leave us!”

“You cannot leave us here to die!” Barda roared at the same moment. But already the girl had disappeared from sight, taking the cloak with her. And suddenly, in the midst of his despair, Lief thought of his mother’s hands, patiently weaving the cloth by candlelight.

“Bring back my cloak!” he bellowed.

Even as he shouted, he knew how foolish it was. He was going to die, horribly, very soon. What did it matter if the cloak was gone?

But somehow it did matter. “You have no right to take it!” he shouted furiously to the empty air. “My mother made it for me. My mother!”

There was a moment’s silence. Then, to Lief’s astonishment, the girl was back, staring down at him suspiciously through the tangled mass of her hair.

“How could your mother have made this cloak?” she demanded. “Grey Guards do not know their mothers. They are raised in groups of ten, in houses with —”

“I am not a Grey Guard!” shouted Lief. “My friend and I are — travelers, from Del. Can you not see by our garments?”

The girl laughed scornfully. “Your disguise does not fool me. Only Grey Guards take the Wenn Del path, for it leads nowhere but to the Forests.”

She raised her hand to caress the little animal clinging to her shoulder, and her voice hardened. “Many of your fellows have been here before you, seeking living things to take or destroy. They have learned painfully of their mistake.”

“We are not Guards,” Barda called out. “My name is Barda. My companion is Lief. We came to the Forests for good reason.”

“What reason?” the girl demanded disbelievingly.

“We — we cannot tell you,” said Lief.

She turned away, shrugging. With a surge of panic Lief shouted after her. “What is your name? Where is your family? Can you bring them here?”

The girl paused and turned back to look at him again. She seemed puzzled, as though no one had ever asked her such things before. “My name is Jasmine,” she said at last. “Kree and Filli are my family. Grey Guards took my mother and father long ago.”

Lief’s heart sank. So there was no one to help her carry them to safety. But still … she was strong. Perhaps even now there was some way …

“The Grey Guards are our deadly enemies, as they are yours,” he said, as calmly and forcefully as he could. “Our quest to the forest is part of a plan to defeat them — to rid Deltora of the Shadow Lord. Help us, we beg you!”

He held his breath as the girl hesitated, fingering the cloak she still held over her arm. Then, above their heads, the black bird screeched again. Jasmine glanced up at it, threw the cloak down onto Lief’s chest, and darted away without another word.

“Come back!” cried Lief, with all his strength. “Jasmine!” But there was no reply, and when he looked up to the tree again, even the bird had gone.

Lief heard Barda moan once, in helpless anger. Then there was utter silence. No bird sang. No small creature rustled in the grass. It was the silence of waiting. The silence of despair. The silence of death.

The sun sank lower in the sky. Long, dark shadows striped the place where they lay. Soon, very soon, it would be dark. And then, thought Lief, then the Wennbar will come.

The cloak felt warm on his chest. He could not lift a hand to touch it, but still it gave him comfort. He was glad that it was with him. He closed his eyes …

Something gripped his shoulder. He cried out in terror and opened his eyes to see Jasmine’s face close to his.

“Open your mouth!” the girl ordered. “Make haste!” She pushed a tiny bottle towards his lips.

Confused, Lief did as he was told. He felt two cold drops fall on his tongue. A horrible taste filled his mouth.

“What —?” he spluttered.

But Jasmine had already turned away from him. “Open your mouth!” he heard her hissing to Barda.

A moment later Barda made a choking, disgusted sound. Lief realized that he, too, had been given some of the vile-tasting liquid.