Book #6
Tal and Milla are only one step away from death. Evil is only one step away from triumph. An old war is made new again. The Ultimate power is up for grabs.
As shadows rage, ancient spells return. Illusion reigns and corruption threatens. The search for hope is the bravest quest.
The Crones slid forward. Tal watched them nervously, but didn�t move as they clustered all around him. He had to shut his eyes, unable to meet their stares.
He felt the Crones pick him up and opened his eyes again. He saw the mast and its Sunstone high above, and the darkness beyond.
Sneek Preview of a chapter of the 6th book
The Crones threw him up in the air. It was exhilarating to be thrown and caught again. The first time he went up half as high as the mast. The second time he was level with the Sunstone at the very top.
The third time, he didn�t come back down. He just kept going up and up and up into the dark sky. Then there was a tremendous flash of light and all of a sudden Tal was wide awake, crouched inside the crystal globe. Fashnek was only a few stretches away, frantically turning the wheel that controlled the green gas. Vapors were beginning to swirl around Tal's feet again, but he ignored them.
Without hesitation, he reached out to the seven Sunstones around him and took control. Each one flashed, then steadied into the appropriate color � the code to unlock the crystal globe.
There was a faint click and the globe split at its equator. Tal threw it fully open and jumped out. Fashnek shrieked, a strangely high-pitched shriek for a Chosen. He dropped the Sunstone he held in his right hand and scuttled back, both of his halves in total panic.
Tal snatched up the Sunstone as it skittered across the floor.
"No, no, it wasn�t me," moaned Fashnek in one breath, and then in the other, "Get him! Kill him!"
His two Spiritshadow companions obeyed. The Urglegurgle bounced twice and launched itself at Tal�s head, while the wasp-waisted shadow lunged forward to grab his legs.
Once again Tal acted instinctively, almost without thought. He stepped back against the globe. Still in tune with the seven Sunstones, he summoned a thin line of Violet from each of them, to form a fence of light around himself.
The Urglegurgle hit the fence as it came down and was split in two as cleanly as a cut apple. Each half landed badly and bounced away. They came together for a moment, failed to join, and then there was a pop as the Urglegurgle disappeared, either back to Aenir or destroyed for good.
The thin-waisted Spiritshadow was quicker. It twisted away, losing only a hand to the Violet wire. Tal raised the Sunstone he had picked up off the floor. The Spiritshadow raised its remaining hand in a gesture of defeat and vanished. Its rapid disappearance troubled Tal. It showed that free Spirit-shadows could retreat to Aenir whenever they wanted to. He hoped it was much harder for them to come back, though with the Veil weakened and possibly already failing, it might not be.
"Spare me, noble master," whined Fashnek, prostrating himself on the floor. "I am but a humble servant of the Empress."
"The Empress is dead," Tal said harshly. "Besides, I know your true master is Sushin. Where is my Spiritshadow?"
"A deal, an agreement, your Spiritshadow for my miserable life," Fashnek whimpered. "Oh, your generosity�"
The Seventh Tower is the key to it all.
Meet the Characters
Tal has never needed courage before. Now he does. Tal has never had to fight before. Now he must. He has spent the first thirteen years of his life in comfort, as a Chosen. He has never left his Castle world. He has never had to. Now everything has changed. Tal's family is in danger, and he must venture into the unknown to save everything he knows . . . no matter what might stand in his way.
Milla
To Milla, an Icecarl warrior, struggle means life. For her, pain means strength. Cold is nothing. The fight is everything. She is not afraid of battle. She is not afraid of her Quest. She will take on any enemy that threatens her clan. The only thing she fears is trusting another person � and that's exactly what she'll have to do to survive.
The Keeper
This eeriehuge and horrific Spiritshadow guards the Red Tower of the Castle. Nobody knows where it comes from . . . or who its master is. When Tal climbs the Red Tower, he must get past the Keeper. Tal thinks he can outsmart it. But the Keeper has a few tricks of its own . . .
Fashnek
Everyone in the Castle fears Fashnek. He is the guardian of the Hall of Nightmares � the chamber where people's worst fears come to horrifying life. Half-human and half-shadow, Fashnek's heart is black. He will crawl into your dreams and turn them into nightmares. He will take you places you never wanted to go . . . and strand you there while you desperately try to survive. When Fashnek is your jailer, your sanity is his captive.
Storm Shepherds in Aenir, Adras and Odris spent their time guarding the sacred places of the spirit world. They used their cloud-bodies to float, rain, and fly, and were generally quite content. Then they met Tal and Milla, a Chosen boy and an Icecarl girl. Tal and Milla had broken the rules of Aenir, so Adras and Odris had no choice but to punish them . . . with death. But Tal and Milla were different from other humans the Shepherds had encountered, and in a stranger turn of events Adras and Odris became their free Spiritshadows instead. Now Adras and Odris have been torn from the only world they've ever known, sent on a nearly impossible mission to save the Castle. And unfortunately, being a Spiritshadow, even a free one, takes a lot of getting used to. . .
Meet the Author
Garth Nix was born in 1963 and grew up in Canberra, Australia.
> His novel Sabriel won the Aurealis Award for Excellence in Australian Science Fiction, and his novel Shade's Children was named an ALA Best Book for Young Adults and an ABA Pick of the Lists. He is also the author of The Ragwitch and the forthcoming Lirael. He currently lives in Sydney, Australia.
Thank you I hope you have enjoyed my web page.
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