‘Go to the palace.’ Cy repeated the phrase over and over. He gripped the dreamsilk more tightly and urged the carpet on. As the net unfolded to encompass them he guided the magic carpet to soar upwards and avoid it. He flung it high and wide, wide and high.īut this time Cy was ready. The fisherman gathered his net to throw it once more. This is the tale of the fisherman who finds a strange bottle in his net.’ ‘The princess is using her stories to confuse you.’ The Dream Master spoke urgently to Cy. When he drew it in, his net was full of stones and mud. With a strong motion of his arms he threw the net into the ocean. An old fisherman stood on some rocks preparing to cast his net. She spread her hands and made the motions of the waves. ‘String,’ the Dream Master prompted him quietly.
‘Snakes!’ Cy leaped up as one serpent raised its head above the level of the carpet to strike. The hissing increased three hundred-fold, and the rocks separated into thick strands, then coils, then a roiling mass of grey slitherings. The floor of the valley below them started to boil and seethe. Shahr-Azad hissed in anger and clapped her hands. There was crisp pfutt! The roc shrank in size, its plumage changed, and the yellow eyes took on a cheerful mischievous expression. ‘It’s more like a parrot!’ Cy cried, gripping his dreamsilk and sending a surge of energy through it with this thought. Cy saw the terrible rending claws, its awful hooked beak. ‘Aaarkkk! Aaarkkk!’ The bird sensed its prey had weakened and it cawed in triumph as it returned, filling the sky above them with its immense shadow. The roc faltered, its wings trembled, then found new strength as Cy’s thoughts wavered and his mind lost the picture of the budgerigar. ‘It’s my dream, my story, and I say it’s a budgie.’ It circled and flew at them again, this time descending with its vicious beak wide open to attack them as it came. The Dream Master ducked and Cy swiped at it as it swept past. It came swooping in, talons outstretched ready for the kill. The roc’s malevolent yellow eyes had spotted them. ‘Thank goodness for-‘įrom a cleft within the nearest cliff a huge bird rose from its nest and flew flying towards them. He wiped his face with his hands and then his hands on his beard. The Dream Master was the first to recover. Its passengers slid forward and teetered on the edge.
0 kommentar(er)
