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sabriel (the abhorsen trilogy)_加斯·尼克斯-第24章

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鈥渓et go!鈥潯he cried; and the sendings plied; the paperwing leaping up into the arms of the wind; out and upward; splashing through the spray of the waterfall as if it were no more than a spring shower; flying out into the sky and the broad valley beyond。

it was quiet; and cold; a thousand feet or more  above the valley。 the paperwing soared easily; the wind firm behind it; the sky clear above; save for the faintest wisps of cloud。 sabriel reclined in her hammock…seat; relaxing; running the charter marks she鈥檇 leaned over and over in her mind; making sure she had them properly pigeonholed。

she felt free; and somehow clean; as if the dangers of the last few days were dirt; washed away by the following wind。

鈥渢urn more to the north;鈥潯ogget鈥檚 voice suddenly said behind her; disturbing her carefree mood。 鈥渄o you recall the map?鈥

鈥測es;鈥潯eplied sabriel。 鈥渟hall we follow the river? the ratterlin; it鈥檚 called; isn鈥檛 it? it runs nornor… east most of the time。鈥

mogget didn鈥檛 reply at once; though sabriel heard his purring breath close by。 he seemed to be thinking。 finally; he said; 鈥渨hy not? we may as well follow it to the sea。 it branches into a delta there; so we can find an island to camp on tonight。鈥

鈥渨hy not just fly on?鈥潯sked sabriel cheerily。

鈥渨e could be in belisaere by tomorrow night; if i summon the strongest winds。鈥

鈥渢he paperwing doesn鈥檛 like to fly at night;鈥

mogget said; shortly。 鈥渘ot to mention that you  would almost certainly lose control of the stronger winds鈥攊t is much more difficult than it seems at first。 and the paperwing is much too conspicuous; anyway。 have you no mon sense; abhorsen?鈥

鈥渃all me sabriel;鈥潯abriel replied; equally shortly。 鈥渕y father is abhorsen。鈥

鈥渁s you wish; mistress;鈥潯aid mogget。 the 鈥渕istress鈥潯ounded extremely sarcastic。

the next hour passed in belligerent silence; but sabriel; for her part; soon lost her anger in the novelty of flight。 she loved the scale of it all; to see the tiny patchworked fields and forests below; the dark strip of the river; the occasional tiny building。 everything was so small and seemed so perfect; seen from afar。

then the sun began to sink; and though the red wash of its fading light made the aerial perspective even prettier; sabriel felt the paperwing鈥檚 desire to descend; felt the yellow eyes focusing on green earth; rather than blue sky。 as the shadows lengthened; sabriel felt that same desire and began to look as well。

the river was already breaking up into the myriad streams and rivulets that would form the swampy ratterlin delta; and far off;  sabriel could see the dark bulk of the sea。 there were many islands in the delta; some as large as football fields covered with trees and shrubs; others no bigger than two armspans of mud。

sabriel picked out one of the medium…sized ones; a flattish diamond with low; yellow grass; a few leagues ahead; and whistled down the wind。

it faded gradually with her whistle and the paperwing began to descend; occasionally nudged this way or that by sabriel鈥檚 control of the wind; or its own tilt of a wing。 its yellow eyes; and sabriel鈥檚 deep…brown eyes; were fixed on the ground below。 only mogget; being mogget; looked behind them and above。

even so; he didn鈥檛 see their pursuers until they came wheeling out of the sun; so his yowling cry gave only a few seconds鈥櫋arning; just long enough for sabriel to turn and see the hundreds of fast…moving shapes diving down upon them。 instinctively; she conjured charter marks in her mind; mouth pursed; whistling the wind back up; turning them to the north。

鈥済ore crows!鈥潯issed mogget; as the flapping shapes checked their dive and wheeled to pursue  their suddenly enlivened prey。

鈥測es;鈥潯houted sabriel; though she wasn鈥檛 sure why she answered。 her attention was all on the gore crows; trying to gauge whether they鈥檇 intercept or not。 she could already feel the wind testing the edges of her control; as mogget had prophesied; and to whip it up further might have unpleasant results。 but she could also feel the presence of the gore crows; feel the admixture of death and free magic that gave life to their rotten; skeletal forms。

gore crows didn鈥檛 last very long in sun and wind鈥攖hese must have been made the previous night。 a necromancer had trapped quite ordinary crows; killing them with ritual and ceremony; before infusing the bodies with the broken; fragmented spirit of a single dead man or woman。 now they were truly carrion birds; birds guided by a single; if stupid; intelligence。

they flew by force of free magic; and killed by force of numbers。

despite her quickness in calling the wind; the flock was still closing rapidly。 they鈥檇 dived from high above and kept their speed; the wind stripping feathers and putrid flesh from their spellwoven bones。

for a moment; sabriel considered turning the paperwing back into the very center of this great murder of crows; like an avenging angel; armed with sword and bells。 but there were simply too many gore crows to fight; particularly from an aircraft speeding along several hundred feet above the ground。 one overeager sword thrust would mean a fatal fall鈥攊f the gore crows didn鈥檛 kill her on the way down。

鈥渋鈥檒l have to summon a greater wind!鈥潯he yelled at mogget; who was now sitting right up on her pack; fur bristling; yowling challenges at the crows。 they were very close now; flying in an eerily exact formation鈥攖wo long lines; like arms outstretched to snatch the fleeing paperwing from the sky。 very little of their once…black plumage had survived their rushing dive; white bone shining through in the last light of the sun。

but their beaks were still glossily black and gleaming sharp; and sabriel could now see the red glints of the fragmented dead spirit in the empty sockets of their eyes。

mogget didn鈥檛 reply。 possibly; he hadn鈥檛 even heard her above his yowling; and the gore crows鈥櫋awing as they closed the last few yards to attack; a strange; hollow sound; as dead as their flesh。

for a second of panic; sabriel felt her dry lips unable to purse; then she wet them and the whistle came; slow and erratic。 the charter marks felt clumsy and difficult in her head; as if she were trying to push a heavy weight on badly made rollers鈥攖hen; with a last effort; they came easily; flowing into her whistled notes。

unlike her earlier; gradual summonings; this wind came with the speed of a slamming door; howling up behind them with frightening violence; picking up the paperwing and shunting it forward like a giant wave lifting up a slender boat。 suddenly; they were going so fast that sabriel could barely make out the ground below; and the individual islands of the delta merged into one continuous blur of motion。

eyes closed to protective slits; she craned her head around; the wind striking her face like a vicious slap。 the pursuing gore crows were all over the sky now; formation lost; like small black stains against the red and purple sunset。

they were flapping uselessly; trying to e back together; but the paperwing was already a league or more away。 there was no chance they could catch up。

sabriel let out a sigh of relief; but it was a sigh   tempered with new anxieties。 the wind was carrying them at a fearful pace; and it was starting to veer northwards; which it wasn鈥檛 supposed to do。 sabriel could see the first stars twinkling now; and they were definitely turning towards the buckle。

it was an effort to call up the charter marks again; and whistle the spell to ease the wind; and turn it back to the east; but sabriel managed to cast it。 but the spell failed to work鈥攖he wind grew stronger; and shifted more; till they were careening straight towards the buckle; directly north。

sabriel; hunkered down in the cockpit; eyes and nose streaming and face frozen; tried again; using all her willpower to force the charter marks into the wind。 even to her; her whistle sounded feeble; and the charter marks once again vanished into what had now bee a gale。 sabriel realized she had totally lost control。

in fact; it was almost as if the spell had the opposite effect; for the wind g
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