The Rock of Ivanore Read Online Free Page B

was or what she was doing, at dusk she always came back to the cliffs.
    Mouse sat on her boulder with her knees to her chest and counted the stars as they appeared one by one overhead. The sun had long since descended beneath the distantsea, and her stomach told her she had better get back to the tavern soon or there would be hell to pay. But she chose instead to wait a while longer, braving the owner’s inevitable wrath.
    Was it the anxious churning in her chest that anchored her there tonight, or was it the ever-increasing hopelessness she felt? She thought if she could somehow hold on one moment longer, she just might catch a glimpse of that fading hope on the horizon. Yet it was not to be. With a slow, disheartened sigh, she hefted her bundle to her shoulder and made her way down the path to town.

Six
    arcus fell into a deep and comforting sleep. In his dreams he smelled the scent of fresh leather, felt the stiff edges of a fine strap between his fingers. He imagined that inside his new satchel he carried the most delicious fare: hot corn fritters bathed in sweet Willenberry sauce, dried pears, and squares of rich fudge. As he prepared to devour this feast, a loud screech shattered his vision.
    Marcus sat up abruptly. He rubbed his eyes, still cloudy from sleep, and searched the darkness for the source of the sound, but all was now quiet. Only a cricket’s lullaby and Clovis Dungham’s rhythmic breathing reached his ears.
    He stabbed at the remains of the fire with a stick. The orange coals spit hot sparks back at him. He watched theever-changing flames while absentmindedly fingering the key his master had given him. It felt smooth and cold—and strangely comforting.
    With heavy eyes, Marcus was about to lie back down when the screech tore through the night once more. The high-pitched shriek sounded almost human, as if someone had cried out in pain—or fear.
    The screech sounded a third time. “Watch out!” it screamed.
    Marcus leapt to his feet and spun around. There, above the glow of the dying embers, were two yellow eyes. At first it appeared as if the two glassy spheres hovered in the darkness, but as they began to sway back and forth and came forward into the light, Marcus saw that the eyes belonged to the biggest snake he had ever seen.
    The snake slid through the glowing embers, its thick body seemingly endless as it curled itself into an enormous coil directly in front of Marcus. Its massive forked tongue flicked at the air as if tasting it. Then, to Marcus’s surprise, the serpent spoke. “The foresssst issss no place for man,” it said. Its voice was a deep, drawn-out whisper, not like the shriek Marcus heard before. “Perhapssss man isss losssst?”
    Marcus tried to hold himself steady despite the fact that his entire body trembled with fear. “I’m not lost,” he said. “I’m only passing through this part of the forest.”
    â€œPassssing through?” The snake’s pupils dilated and then narrowed to slits again. “Alone?”
    Marcus glanced at Clovis sleeping on the ground. Had the serpent not noticed him?
    His stomach felt queasy. He was afraid his knees would buckle at any moment, but he managed to remain standing. The snake met his gaze and held it for a long while before rearing its head high in the air. Its gaze bore down on Marcus’s quivering frame.
    The snake responded to his own question. “Yessss, alone. On a long journey. Ssssoooo no one sssshould missss you for ssssome time.” The snake opened its jaws so wide that Marcus could have stepped inside without hitting his head. Though Marcus was inclined to run, the absolute terror of the moment glued his feet to the ground.
    The snake lunged forward, and as it did so, Marcus instinctively threw his hands over his face. To his surprise, Zyll’s key grew hot in his hand, so hot it burned him, and he nearly dropped it from the pain. At the same moment, the