Dear readers, this week’s excerpt includes a wee spoiler. The farther we get into the series, the harder it is to avoid them. If you’re brand-new here, though, we don’t want you to feel like you’re on the outside. You’re welcome here. I will try not to post too many spoilers.
But I love this passage.
It was at this moment that Peet the Sock Man leapt from the rim of the gully at top speed, his arms spread wide like wings. Janner watched his uncle with awe.
His socks had long since fallen away in shreds, cut to pieces by the talons at the ends of his reddish forearms. Peet’s white hair trailed behind him; one of his eyebrows lay flat and low, the other arched like a curl of smoke; and in Peet’s eyes blazed a single purpose: Protect. Protect. Protect.
What struck Janner most about his uncle in this moment was not the graceful leap through the air or the deadly, mysterious talons, but that amidst all the danger and panic, Artham P. Wingfeather’s gaze was fixed on him with what Janner knew to be a fierce affection.
There in the gully of the gargan rockroach, with toothy cows below and Fangs of Dang approaching, Janner felt safe.
—From chapter 8, “A Thorn of Contempt.”
Do you have a favorite paragraph or so that you’d like to share with us? The above is from this week’s reading (chapters 8-14), but you’re welcome to share something from another part of the series if you like.
We’re looking forward to meeting you—be sure to stop by the forum for some tea and discussion. 🙂
My passage this week is from “The Mighty River Blapp” I like the mental picture it gives me, and it is one of those “growing up” moments for the kids, and a moment when the adults have to do a bit of their own growing too.
The arrow was trained on Podo.
Janner’s mind spun. He knew that at a word from the Fang commander, the archers across the gully could send a hundred arrows flying at them. But if the Fangs wanted them dead, he realized, they’d be dead already. Gnag wanted the Jewels of Anniera, and he wanted them alive, though Janner had no idea why.
“Grandpa, get down,” Janner said in as firm a voice as he could muster.
Whether because Podo sensed the same thing as Janner or because he submitted to some new authority in his grandson’s voice, he dropped to the ground behind Janner. A chorus of angry hisses slithered across the distance between the Fangs and the Igibys, and Janner saw there had been more than one arrow aimed at his grandfather.
“Mama, get behind me,” he said.
“Don’t be silly,” Nia whispered. “It’s too dangerous.”
“I think they’re afraid to kill us.” Janner whispered. “Gnag wants us alive, but I don’t think the same goes for you and Grandpa and Oskar. Please just get behind me.”
Nia shot a fiery look at the Fangs across the way and ducked behind Janner. Tink sidled backward and hid behind Nia.
“No, Tink!” Janner said through gritted teeth. “Stay up front. They don’t want to shoot us, just the grownups.”
Tink let out a nervous laugh and hopped up again. “I knew that. I did”
Janner nearly snorted with laughter in spite of the danger, but then he remembered the way Tink had hesitated in the rockroach den, and his laughter fizzled away.
Nugget and the Igiby children stood like a rampart in front of the three adults.
You really didn’t know? Did you have a general idea of the themes at least (trying not to say anything spoilerish)? I am catching so much foreshadowing during this time reading through. Can’t believe how much stuff I missed last time!
Thanks, you guys! It’s so fun reliving some of these moments with you, knowing now how the whole thing ends (which, I admit, I didn’t know when I wrote these passages).
I had too many favorites this week. One of them has already been posted, but I think this one belongs with it. I love seeing how Janner is growing and changing, and especially how he is influenced by Peet’s example.
From Chapter 12 Thunder, Spray, and Stone
Janner stood between those he loved with his sword drawn, wavering between two terrible choices: flee and hope Podo could hold off the Fangs long enough for him and his siblings to make their way across the falls- if indeed there was a way- or throw himself into a fight he couldn’t possibly win.
Then Janner remembered his uncle. He saw in his mind the way Peet the Sock Man had soared through the air into the rockroach gully with that fierce look in his bloodshot eyes.
Protect. Protect. Protect.
Janner was no longer just Janner Igiby of the Glipwood Township. He was Janner Wingfeather, Throne Warden of Anniera, protector of the throne, and protector of those he loved. He imagined Peet- Artham Wingfeather- hair jet black, eyes clear, sword arm strong. Artham reminded him that royal blood pumped through his veins, royal not just because of ancestry but because of the love of those who ahd gone before him and laid down their lives for him.
A battle cry rose up from within him like a fountain.
Oh no! A typo! Please pretend that “ahd” is a new word that means the same thing as “had.”