The Shadowlands Read Online Free Page A

not so?’
    Heads nodded reluctantly.
    ‘Well, then!’ Tirral cried. ‘What could be more pointless than to give the Pirran Pipe to those who cannot even
play
it?’ She gazed around triumphantly.
    ‘It does not matter!’
    Everyone jumped as the high, nervous voice broke the silence. Everyone stared as Emlis stepped forward, blushing to the roots of his golden hair.
    ‘It—it does not matter if our cousins cannot play the Pipe,’ Emlis stammered, meeting his mother’s angry stare defiantly. ‘It does not matter because—because
I
can play very well. And I am going with them!’

    Much argument followed, but there was no point at all in Tirral’s raging, or the companions protesting. For the people of Keras, Emlis’s announcement had removed the last objection to the Pirran Pipe’s being taken to the Shadowlands.
    ‘So you have won, and I have lost,’ Tirral said bitterly, as she returned the companions’ weapons to them. ‘I have lost not only the Pirran Pipe, but my son. You have won the right to destroy them both, as well as yourselves. I hope your victory brings you joy.’
    Her face was ashen. The moths around her head were barely moving.
    ‘Tirral—’ Lief began. But already the Piper was turning and walking rapidly away.
    ‘It is not
our
fault that her son is coming with us,’ hissed Jasmine. ‘It is all her own work! If she had let us go in peace Emlis would never have thought of the idea.’
    ‘Yes he would,’ Barda said shrewdly. ‘That young man is as anxious as we are to escape this island. I think he saw his chance and seized it with both hands.’
    ‘But he does not realise what he is doing!’ muttered Lief.
    ‘No,’ growled Barda. ‘And do we?’

    Within hours, two long boats rowed by silent, craggy-faced leech-gatherers were setting out from the north side of the island. Lief, Jasmine, Barda and Emlis sat in the stern of one boat. In the other were the frozen-faced Tirral and two of her closest advisors.
    Green water stretched ahead, gradually darkening to grey. The horizon was shrouded in darkness.
    Kree clucked uneasily.
    ‘The Grey Zone,’ Jasmine said, staring at the ominous horizon.
    Emlis nodded. Fear mingled with excitement on his thin face, which was almost covered by the hood of the thick, dull green leech-gatherer’s cloak he wore.
    ‘It is not too late to change your mind, Emlis,’ muttered Barda, who was sitting beside him. ‘This is not one of Doran’s tales. It is real, and deadly.’
    ‘I cannot change my mind now,’ said Emlis. ‘You need me. They will not let you take the Pipe without me.’
    ‘Your skin is not fit for the world above, Emlis,’ whispered Jasmine, leaning forward. ‘The sun will burn you. The light will blind you.’
    Emlis shook his head stubbornly. ‘The cloak will protect me from the sun. And I am not the first Pirran to leave the caverns. Doran told of seven who did so, in the time of Alyss and Rosnan.’
    ‘They all died, Emlis,’ said Barda brutally. ‘They died, and never saw their homes again.’
    ‘They were killed by above-worlders, not by the sun,’ Emlis said, his voice trembling. ‘And in any case, they were Plumes, and the Plumes are as foolhardy and stupid as the Aurons are wicked.’
    ‘Plumes and Aurons are not stupid and wicked!’ cried Jasmine. ‘They are your own people! Your kinsfolk!Far more closely related to you than we are.’
    The leech-gatherers who were paddling their boat turned and frowned ferociously. One made a low sound in his throat. The other bared his teeth unpleasantly. Jasmine pressed her lips together and returned their stares without flinching until at last they turned to face the front and began paddling once more.
    Emlis hunched his bony shoulders. ‘I beg you, do not argue with me any more,’ he mumbled. ‘This is my one chance to fulfil the dearest wish of my life. To see a world that is not my own. If I die in the attempt, that is surely my choice.’
    Barda ran his hands