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Chapter Nineteen: Love and a Map
Once Ilyria had drawn Astrapi inside the cave, she turned and walked to the bed where she had woken the first time he brought her. The light from thousands of fireflies on the cave ceiling, flickered off Astrapi’s skin as he followed her. He stood before her and like her, seemed to be holding his breath.
“Ilyria,” he started to say, and she heard the question there. She put her finger against his lips. It was no longer the time for talking. She thought briefly of the night weeks ago when she was to be married to Dirk. She would have had to have this moment with a man she loathed. She was sure of what she wanted.
She wished she was wearing the midnight hued cloud silk dress. She wished it would show her in its way, how to act. She wished she had perfumed her body with oils. Instead, she stood in front of Astrapi in a simple tunic she had changed into after helping to clean the House. What would the dress have done? Something complicated that involved slapping her legs
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Ilyria and the Lightning Bird Chapter Twenty: Dirk Returns
Ilyria froze. It could not be. Surely this was not her mother? The exquisite Daria Agrio? Ruin of souls. Torment of men and women. The old woman reached out a hand for the wall to steady herself. She looked up and Daria saw her eyes were pale and glassy. She seemed drugged, ill, dying even. She did not see Ilyria, or anything at all. Yet the lines of Daria’s beautiful face were still there, stark beneath the withered flesh but still recognizable. What had Dirk done to her mother? Say something, she told herself. This is your mother. But the nausea had returned, and she found herself unable to hold onto her thoughts. Something about a mother. Whose mother? My mother, this is my mother. Ilyria clutched the map to her chest as if it might still hold some of the protective magic from her father’s chambers. And maybe it did, because her head cleared a little. Her mother opened her mouth and Ilyria saw that all her pretty white teeth were gone, leaving only
Ilyria and the Lightning Bird Chapter Twenty-One: An Urgent Plan
Ilryia clawed at the hands around her neck, her feet kicking out. She felt her face swelling with blood, her eyes streaming. She could barely see anymore, but she could see enough to know that that Dirk was no longer just Dirk. The strength in his one hand was terrifying. Her fingers could find no purchase on that iron grip. He squeezed tighter and a thought came to Ilyria of a twig snapping from a tree. He could kill her easily. But he was not done toying with her. “You stink of him,” said the Dirk-thing. “You stink like a whore.” He grinned Dirk’s grin with the snaggle-tooth catching his lower lip, but his eyes were not Dirk’s. Not even close. They were blacker than a starless night. She felt her head buzzing and her vision faded. She came to coughing and spluttering on the cold stone in front of Dirk’s boots. One boot reached back and almost in slow motion, it came toward her then connected with her jaw, sending her sprawling on her back. She heard a cry. She thou
Ilyria and the Lightning Bird Chapter Twenty-Two: A Fortress in the Air
“We have to rescue them first. I have to go back,” said Ilyria, taking the map from Astrapi. As she began to roll it up, something caught her eye. She looked closely. At first, she thought it might be a smudge, but the line was clear not smudged. Then she thought it was a tracing, the faint ghost of a line left by the cartographer either when they were making this map or perhaps another with this one carelessly left underneath. Then, she knew. Excited, she scanned the map again. She found the ‘A’ in the top right corner of the map. “You said Benguzi is south, but this shows Benguzi as south-east?” Astrapi tilted his head in his questioning way, “What if this isn’t the real map?” “There is another map?” “Yes,” she said, “underneath this one. Imagine if the person who created the map of the lost cities wanted to keep it hidden, but they also wanted someone to find it.” “That doesn’t make sense,” said Astrapi. “Astrapi,” Ilyria tried not to let h
Ilyria and the Lightning Bird Chapter Twenty-Three: Flying Machines and Izben
“Astrapi,” she whispered, trying not to panic at the sight of his pale face. He did not answer or look at her. “Astrapi,” she said again. He glanced at her quickly, then understanding what she needed, his hands worked to help her to loosen herself from the harness, still staring ahead. As soon as she was free, she turned to see what he was seeing. Now it was no longer so thrilling to be standing on a glass floor in the clouds. Now, she felt afraid and vulnerable. She felt in her pocket for the switchblade. Her eyes once again had to make the adjustment for the glass. From where she stood, she was staring into thunderclouds as dark as night. She could hardly make out any shapes at all until slowly the archway emerged and beneath the archway …She gasped and clutched at Astrapi’s arm. For she saw him now. A winged man, his outline barely visible against the dark clouds behind him. “Nemachi,” said Astrapi under his breath, his voice raspy with anger. Then, his fists clen
Ilyria and the Lightning Bird Chapter Twenty-Four: The Whisperers
Ilyria clamped her hand over her mouth, trying not to call out to the man. He sounded so desperate, so afraid, she wanted to let him know he was not alone. But that voice inside her warned her to listen more closely. So, she did. She once more heard the man’s groan. But there was also something else underneath. She held her breath as she listened, trying to picture the silence as something physical, a curtain that only had to be pulled back. The man groaned again, and the whispers grew more excited. It was as if the whispers carried the sound of the man’s voice. That was it! Ilyria was certain the whisperers had replicated the sound and were trying to lure her away from the path she needed to take. Fumbling in the dark, she felt the walls around her. There was the path ahead, from which came the moans and the frightening whispers. And there was the path behind from which she had just come. There had to be an alternative. A path the whisperers did not want her to take.
Ilyria and the Lightning Bird Chapter Twenty-Five: The Treasure Hunter
During the trip back to the Nemachi air fortress Ilyria experienced none of the exhilaration she had felt on the trip out with Astrapi. She felt sick with worry for Astrapi. She replayed the last moments she saw him over and over in her head, trying to persuade herself that the whispering things had not reached him, that he had not been sucked back into the tunnels. But the truth was that she had not seen enough to know. Her and Nicos’ ascent had been so swift, she had seen only enough to recognize that they had unleashed something from Izben. They were silent until they landed at the air fortress. Again, Nicos was skillful in landing the damaged machine. He quickly helped her out, asking if she was alright. Ilyria was astounded. He was completely recovered. She did not need to ask the question. “What is inside the enchantment is often left there,” he said, “Not always. But I was lucky.” “What about the Princess?” asked Ilyria. “Was she
Ilyria and the Lightning Bird Chapter Twenty-Six: Jealousy
Ilyria could not bear to look at the smoke billowing from the destroyed air fortress behind them so she stared at Astrapi instead, not even sure if she wanted to hear his response. She felt the pressure of Nicos’ hand on her arm. “Ilyria …” said Nicos. “Leave her,” said Astrapi and Ilyria was startled by what she saw. His face had transformed completely. His lips were thin and tight against his gums, his mouth bared in a snarl, his eyes were narrowed and had darkened to the color of a storm-whipped forest. He looked wild, like a creature not quite human. Not quite human. Later, Ilyria would remember this image of him, holding it in front of her to remind her of what he was and what he was not. Ilyria glanced at Nicos. He seemed neither offended nor surprised. He squeezed her arm before removing his hand. She knew that he was thinking only of Madame Skia. He knew they needed Astrapi’s help though at this moment Ilyria could not think why. “Why
Ilyria and the Lightning Bird Chapter Twenty-Seven: Yxat
Nicos asked Ilyria to bring out the map of the Lost Cities. "There is nowhere for us to go right now because we need the Lightning Bird to travel to the Between Realms," he said, "And I should like to see what is shown there." He was yawning, "And also to stay awake." He was able to point out a few places that Ilyria had not learned about in Astrapi’s brief summary of the wars in the metropolises that had become the First War. “How do you know of these places?” asked Ilyria, “Have you been there?” Nicos answered so softly, Ilyria almost did not catch his yes. Ilyria again wanted to know more but Astrapi returned. Nicos carefully rolled up the map. The sky had turned a pale shade of lilac and Ilyria’s heart skipped in her chest. The night was done. Today was the day of Madame Skia’s execution. Astrapi glanced at Nicos and Thassa but lingered on Ilyria. He tried to smile at her, but she looked away. “What did you find, Lightning
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