03 Sky Knight by Kevin Outlaw Page A

a rescue mission.
    ‘Don’t shake your head at me. I’ve not had a good day, and I’m in no mood to be arguing with a horse. Bring those reins around so I can get myself up.’
    With a good deal of huffing and panting and imaginative swearing, Silver heaved himself into the saddle, where he slumped against Onyx’s neck, breathing heavily. ‘Sky is in trouble,’ he said. ‘We’re the only ones who know about it. We have to go after her. I need you to run as fast as you can. Can you do that for me?’
    Onyx started off in the direction the spider–soldiers had gone, but after less than a dozen strides, Silver slipped out of the saddle with a groan. Onyx rolled his eyes, and started nudging the unconscious soldier. It was several minutes before he got any kind of reaction.
    ‘I think I fainted,’ Silver muttered, propping himself against a mossy bank. ‘Give me a minute to catch my breath and then we’ll move on.’
    Onyx stamped angrily. It was so annoying not being able to communicate with humans. If he could, he would have been able to tell Silver he was being an idiot. At this rate, it would take them a year to catch up with Sky and her kidnappers.
    ‘Well then, what do you suggest?’ Silver snapped, holding both hands over the wound in his stomach. ‘I can’t just let those things take her away without a fight. She trusted me.’
    Onyx pawed the ground. He knew how Silver felt, but what could they do? What hope did a dying soldier and a horse have of finding Sky out there in the blackness of the night, let alone rescuing her? They needed help.
    To the north of the Forbidden Woods, a single star hung low in the sky, illuminating a small section of the tree line. At first Onyx didn’t think anything of it; but then he remembered what the fairie had said: ‘Should you need me, you only have to look.’
    ‘Time to get moving,’ Private Silver said, pulling himself back into the saddle.
    Onyx hesitated for a moment, then turned away from the route he was on, and headed in the direction of that glimmering star.
    ‘Where are you going?’ Silver muttered.
    Onyx shook his head sadly. He was only a horse. He didn’t have a clue.
     
     

CHAPTER TEN
     
     
    For a long time, there was only the perfect silence of the night; but then a faint crack sounded in the undergrowth, and there were signs of movement in the gloom.
    Hawk motioned for Autumn to keep quiet, and then wriggled off on his belly through the rotted vegetation and tree roots. Autumn went the other way, sliding down an embankment to where another three children from Hawk’s archery class were waiting nervously.
    ‘What is it?’ whispered one of the boys.
    ‘Scouts,’ Autumn hissed.
    ‘Here in the woods? How is that possible? Crow’s army must still be a day’s march from Landmark. There’s no way they could have got scouting parties this far so quickly.’
    ‘Maybe they aren’t from the army. Maybe the stories about Crystal Shine falling to the enemy are true. Where–ever they’re from, Hawk’s about to teach them not to follow us.’
    ‘What does he want us to do?’
    Autumn swept back her hair, tying it into a ponytail with a strap of leather. She notched an arrow to her bowstring. ‘Furrow, go back to the caravan. Let Obsidian know that we’re being followed. There are two soldiers, and they’ve seen our tracks. There will be more.’
    Furrow dashed off, moving silently through the trees.
    ‘You two, find a high place with a good view of the surrounding area. Set up a watch point, and be ready for anything. Don’t fire unless you’ve checked your target. If you give away your position, those spider–soldiers will be all over you in a second. You know how quick they can be when they want.’
    The other two boys nodded and disappeared into the woods. Moments later, Autumn glimpsed them again as rapidly moving shadows, climbing one of the trees.
    She edged along the bank, then settled into a hollow, partially concealed by a