Max Stone and the Lost Star of Zirdon Read Online Free Page A

stood.
    All of a sudden Max Stone felt helpless, standing out in the middle of this barren place. He felt like dinner.
    In the distance he spied a cluster of large rocks just off to his right. Perhaps he could find cover in there.
    Max clutched the box tightly under his left arm and set off. He now knew that he would really need the map. If he could find anything familiar on the map, he might be able to get to some water or shelter. As he stood up, a sharp burst of pain reminded him he had fallen badly on his ankle and he gingerly limped forward.
    Overhead the creature screeched as it watched its dinner go on the move.
    Max gritted his teeth and hobbled towards the cluster of rocks. Small lizard-like creatures, marked in bold blues and yellows, skitted off into the sand as he disturbed them. One looked very like one of the creatures he had seen on the table in the attic.
    As he got closer to the pile of rocks, the creature above him squawked and screeched louder and angrier. It circled lower and lower until Max could feel the wind of its giant wings flapping overhead. He caught a close up view of its sharp talons, and it spurred him to run as fast as he could. His leg ached painfully but Max had to keep trying. He was just a few short steps away from shelter.
    The creature swooped, its talons catching Max by the hood on his sweatshirt. It lifted him off the ground for a frightening few seconds and he heard the material of his hood rip.
    He crashed clumsily to the ground. He hurt his leg even more but he didn’t care, it was far better than ending up as dinner for some prehistoric monster.
    He scrambled into the pile of stones, breathing heavily and sweating. A large flat stone lay over two boulders, making a sort of little cave and he huddled inside. His breath came in short sharp bursts, and overhead the creature flapped about crying a harsh call.
    Max was safe, for now.
    He rolled up the leg of his jeans and carefully rolled down his sock to look at his sore ankle. It had swollen out painfully and already took on the multi-colour of a good bruise. He circled his foot, moving it very slowly. There was nothing broken and he sighed in relief. The creature had done him a bit of a favour because his hood hung from his sweatshirt by a thread. He tore it off and tied it tightly around his ankle to give it some support.
    He looked once more at the box and at the symbol on the front. The shape in his right hand matched it perfectly. It wasn’t sore to touch, but it looked to him as though it might last forever.
    He opened up the box and took out the map, searching for any clues that might help him. He felt his tummy rumble and he wished now he had taken a bowl of his Gran’s soup, instead of just the small slice of brown bread.
    He was also thirsty, his throat burning from the heat of the desert. His leg burned with the pain and knew he just had to cool it down.
    High overhead the creature circled, keeping an eye on its tasty meal, ready to swoop if he left the safety of the rocks and stones.
    Max turned his attention back to the map where he once more looked at the City of Elgonze. It was drawn as a magnificent looking city with high towers reaching into the alien sky. He noted again Mar-Hoc-Seia’s house, so carefully marked in his Granddad’s hand writing. The Zagger Zee River flowed through jagged mountains, but he was nowhere near here, for all that surrounded him was a flat barren landscape.
    Max thought he must have been to the south-west of the City of Elgonze, since the map here was blank. He really needed to move north, towards shelter and water, but how on earth would he do it?
    And that was just it, this wasn’t earth, and who knew what lay ahead of him if he did make Elgonze or the Zagger Zee River for that matter?
    â€˜And how am I even going to go looking?’ he asked himself, not really wanting to know the answer, for he knew already. His leg was so sore and swollen that any amount of