The Mad Giant (Shioni of Sheba Book 3) Read Online Free

fragile crystal between them. Shioni was acutely aware of the danger of shattering their developing understanding.
    “Yes. A little.” She glanced down at Zi, who had kept silent throughout their conversation, and then back up at Talaku. “But he’s the same man who pulled me up a cliff by my hair and saved my life.” Shioni forced out a soft laugh. “Besides, I carry the claw marks of a wild lion on my shoulder and live to tell the tale. You’re not so scary compared to that.”
    Talaku’s snort of amusement reminded her of a bull elephant, knee-deep in the river, shooting a trunkful of water over his back in play. “Come on, Shioni. Let’s go find where the Wasabi went in such a hurry.”

Chapter 3: Tracking the Wasabi
    “H e’s not so scary?” Zi squeaked. “Shioni, are you mad? Have you forgotten how the lion tore your shoulder apart? What planet do you live on?”
    Shioni glanced up from the trail, distracted by her question. “Hakim Isoke did give Annakiya a lesson about the planets, but I don’t really remember–”
    “No, you silly baboon! I meant the mad–!”
    “ Hush!” Talaku hissed behind them.
    The afternoon air slept b eneath the pungent juniper trees, undisturbed by the chirruping of crickets, the twittering of birds, or even the slightest breath of wind. The heat made her clothes stick to her skin. The juniper forest was strangely still. Shioni wondered what it might be waiting for, or what might have frightened the animals into hiding.
    She focussed again on the faint trail left by the fleeing Wasabi. Talaku was right. The enemy warriors might yet be waiting in ambush, concealed somewhere amidst the thicket, or they might have fled entirely. But to where? Somewhere ahead lay the sheer, thousand-foot-tall basalt cliffs that so spectacularly framed the valley above and below Castle Asmat. The Sheban warriors had scouted the ridges many times to identify any trails that could be used by an enemy–and there were precious few. The castle’s location had been carefully chosen by an unknown, ancient king or chief. It could not be easily flanked or surrounded.
    So… a secret trail? Shioni scanned the ground ahead with care. After fleeing blindly for a few minutes, she deduced from the spoor, the Wasabi must have calmed down and organised themselves. Twice, she identified signs that told her their warriors had carefully concealed the marks of their passage–a leaf not quite returned to its prior position, the stem of a plant which had been bent and bruised, but then bent upright again. Here again, Azurelle pointed out a thread of clothing snagged on a branch. They were headed for the cliffs. For certain.
    Kalcha’s oversized pet hyenas… and now a troop of Wasabi warriors… General Getu was not going to receive this news well. Oh no. And she would be the one to enflame his wrath. At least it wasn’t her fault–for a change!
    Young juniper s had mixed with old to create a shaded, leafy green underworld that they drifted through like leaves floating silently upon a zephyr. The old trees were fifty or more feet tall, and around their feet the younger growth jostled for a share of the sunlight, especially where one of the forest giants had fallen. Such as this one right before her nose. Shioni paused. She raised her hand and heard the giant hesitate behind her. What was this? Something odd… she glanced back over her shoulder.
    Talaku signed ‘what’? Shioni patted the air in the hunters’ speech she had been learning as part of her training: ‘hold on’. Pointed at her nose. She smelled freshly turned earth somewhere nearby. That was what had kindled her danger-sense. The giant nodded. He must smell it too. Shioni wondered suddenly if his senses were developing at the same exceptional rate as his frame. The giant’s reaction speed was already amazing–but then, hadn’t she recently knocked down a speeding arrow destined for Princess Annakiya’s head? How different did that make