Minutes later, Boldoak and nine Knights of Alleble exited the sky carriage and raced across a long suspended bridge to a cluster of barracks nested in a vast elm. Boldoak loosed a blast on his war horn. In moments, they were surrounded by a host of archers.
“My braves!” Boldoak cried. “The Paragor Knights have outlived their welcome here!” The braves cheered. “We have the Queen’s orders to capture any Paragor Knight who lingers, but we should begin with those in Kismet. And if they will not surrender . . . then we will do what must be done! Quickly, prepare yourselves and break out the glides! We need all speed!”
The braves scattered to the barracks and returned with supplies, weapons, and strange-looking devices. To each of the Knights of Alleble they gave one of the devices. Antoinette stared at the contraption in her hands. It was a large slotted wheel threaded onto an axle. There were handles on either end of the axle.
The archers raced off across a bridge to another platform on a neighboring elm tree. Kaliam and the others raced after them. At the end of the next platform a single cable of rope was fastened to an elm branch about head high. The rope gradually descended to another flat in the trees several hundred yards away. Boldoak slung his glide over the cable so that it fit in the slot of the wheel. He grabbed the other handle with his free hand, checked to make sure the wheel rolled atop the rope, and then he was gone, hurtling down the rope. One after another, the braves whooshed away. At last, the brave who had handed Antoinette her glide came over to her. “Get a tight fit, wheel to rope,” he said. “Step off of the platform, and hold on tight!”
Then he too sped down the rope. Nock jumped on next, followed by Kaliam, Farix, and Tal. Antoinette turned to Aelic. “This is like a Zip Line!” she said.
“A Zip Line?” he echoed. But Antoinette didn’t answer. She lobbed her glide over the cable, grabbed the handles, and stepped off the platform. She lifted her legs so that her body was in an “L” shape and flew down the rope. The angle of the cable became shallower at the bottom. Antoinette’s momentum slowed, and she cruised to a soft stop on the platform below.
“That was fun!” she said to Aelic and Mallik when they arrived seconds later.
“Agreed,” said Aelic. Mallik said nothing, but his pale face seemed rather green.
Nearby, a Yewland Brave was speaking to Boldoak and Kaliam. “Yes, surprised to see him, I was,” he said. “The Queen’s personal guards do not usually come ’ere themselves. They send squires, most times.”
“How far ahead of us was he?” asked Boldoak.
“Perhaps five minutes,” the brave replied. “No more ’n that.”
Boldoak turned to the others. “That is disconcerting news,” he said, absently rubbing the scar on his cheek. “One of Queen Illaria’s personal guards arrived here moments ago. He was headed in the direction of Kismet.”
“A spy of the enemy?” Kaliam asked.
“If he is, he will no doubt warn the Paragor Knights who remain in Kismet! Make haste!” Boldoak yelled to his braves. “There is something wicked afoot! I will lead us, braves! And to those from Alleble: Watch your step. It is a long way down!”
“How far is Kismet from here?” Antoinette asked Nock.
“About a league and a half,” he replied. Then they were off. The journey to Kismet was the most complicated and harrowing venture Antoinette had experienced thus far. The nine from Alleble followed the Yewland Braves from platform to platform, from tree to tree. They climbed and descended stairs, glided across gaping chasms between skyscraping trees, and marched across dozens of bridges—all at top speed. At last they came to a wide-turreted platform, high in a wide oak that grew on the edge of a grassy cliff.
Boldoak led them to the eastern edge of the platform and pointed down. Carriages ran along the cables from the platform to the small town far below. “That is Kismet,” he said. “The spy—if that is what he is—has already passed over the Allure.” He pointed to a railed walkway that was attached to the side of the platform. It zigzagged between platforms until finally ending at a castle tower in Kismet.
“Hurry, now!” Boldoak said, and he cast his glide to the ground and sprinted to the walkway. “Follow me on the Allure! Be swift!”
“But wait!” Antoinette called. Boldoak and most of the others were already gone, but Aelic was with her, and a few of the Yewland Braves turned around. “Why do you delay?” one asked.
“That way,” she said, pointing to the Allure. “That’ll take too long! The Paragor Knights will get away!” She looked over to the cables running steeply down from the platform. “What if we use the glides on those?”
“Are you mad?” one of the braves asked, staring at Antoinette. “Those cables are for the heavy wheels of the carriages. And the angle is far too steep. You would smack into a carriage or crash at the bottom! Come on! We must go!”
The braves ran off, leaving Antoinette and Aelic on the platform. “They’ll never get there in time,” she said to Aelic.
“You are not thinking of—”
“I’m going!”
“But, m’lady! You heard what they said!”
Antoinette swung her glide over the cable, winked at Aelic, and plunged over the edge.
“I am going to regret this,” Aelic said, and he followed her.
The glide worked well on the cable. Too well. She raced down the cable faster than she ever dreamed possible. The distant ground sped by beneath her in a blur, the wind blasted her face, and her arms strained to hold on to the handles of the glide. She stole a glance back over her shoulder and saw a dark blur that she took to be Aelic.
When Antoinette turned back, a carriage loomed on the cable ahead. It seemed to be flying toward her. She had to act fast or she would smash into the carriage at seventy miles an hour! She looked down, but the ground was still too far to simply let go. Then, as she sped toward the carriage, she had a thought. “Aelic!!” she yelled, hoping he could hear her. “Watch me!!”
There was no response. Antoinette dropped her legs out of the L position and let the air blow her now-vertical body backward so that she swung up toward the cable. Then she bent back into the L and pumped herself forward. Not enough!
The carriage zoomed closer. She repeated the swinging motion, pumping herself as fast as she could. The wind fought to still her speed. She swung back and then forward again—a little higher this time. Maybe! Again, she swung back and forth. I need to get higher! King Eliam! She swung back one more time and heaved herself forward with all of her might, all the while thinking it would not be enough. But she had no choice! The carriage sped toward her.
Antoinette swung forward and just as the momentum carried her body up, she let go of the glide with one hand. She felt the whoosh of the carriage go beneath her, and she started to fall. The cable rose up suddenly beside her. She grappled awkwardly and twisted the glide on to the cable and then barely managed to grab the other handle with her free hand. The wheel did not seat correctly at first on the cable, and Antoinette tugged and twisted it. And then, a strange thing happened.
As she twisted the glide, it created friction. The rubbing of the wheel’s edges slowed her descent considerably and WHAMMM!!
Aelic slammed into her from behind. The impact knocked the wind out of both of them. Antoinette lost hold of her glide and started to fall. She grasped frantically. Her glide fell, smacked against her thigh, and disappeared. Aelic let go of one of his glide’s handles and grabbed Antoinette’s collar.
“Get the handle!” he yelled as he felt his glide begin to tilt to the side of the cable. Antoinette reached up, and with Aelic’s boosting, grabbed the free handle of Aelic’s glide.
Each holding on to one handle of the glide for dear life, they sailed down the cable the last three hundred yards. The platform at the bottom was coming up fast. Too fast.
“Twist the glide!” Antoinette yelled. “It’ll slow us down!”
Antoinette and Aelic began swinging in opposite directions to twist the glide. They managed to turn it so that its rails burned against the cable. They slowed considerably, but not enough. Then, fifty yards from the platform, they heard the sharp sound of cracking wood. A quick glance up confirmed their fears: the glide’s wooden wheel had split. As pieces of the wheel flew into the air, Antoinette and Aelic plummeted downward.
