Atherton #3: The Dark Planet (No. 3) by Patrick Carman

mouths
    opened and firebugs tried to escape their predators. They left
    blue trails of quickly dying light.
    Without warning, Edgar felt a pull on his legs and back from the
    seat he sat in. He felt glued to the chair by an unseen force.
    The Raven had begun to roll and gain speed, but it remained
    fairly calm inside. Already the Raven had moved past the giant
    stone-covered monster and watched it cower in fear of a million
    spikes. The Raven was virtual y indestructible, and she was
    more useful than Edgar knew.
    She came to the point in the tunnel where it dropped off
    violently, and this time Edgar felt the surge of speed. He
    couldn't move his limbs as the Raven went faster still. The
    seven rock-encrusted cave eels that had waited for Edgar's
    return heard the spiked beast coming and cowered deep in their
    holes, snapping their jaws in nervous fear.
    The Raven shot through the hole and into the open air around
    Atherton. Silent and stealthily it flew, rising as if invisible in the
    dark night until it landed ever so quietly on the surface of the
    Flatlands.
    It was night on Atherton as Edgar moved quietly over a rocky
    surface peppered with clumps of green grass. The Raven had
    landed to the right of the grove, which meant Edgar would have
    to pass through a wide pasture.
    Edgar had begun his adventure climbing down the side of
    Atherton in the late morning of the same day and found it hard
    to believe so much time had passed. He was hungry, thirsty,
    and tired. Though he pressed on soundlessly as he neared his
    destination, the sheep in the pasture saw his approach,
    scurrying off in clusters and baa ing as they went.
    "You're bothering my sheep."
    Edgar jumped back and lost his footing, dropping the tablet with
    a bang as it landed badly on the rocks below. It was the
    shepherdess Maude, out watching the herd much later than
    he'd expected.
    "Sorry, Maude... I was just passing through on my way to the
    grove."
    Edgar and Maude knew each other well. They both understood
    the secretive nature of the other.
    "I see," said Maude. She was a portly woman with a round face,
    known for her strong personality.
    Maude leaned against a shepherd's staff and clicked her
    tongue in the direction of the herd.
    "Edgar's not going to hurt you. He's only sneaking back from
    someplace he doesn't want anyone knowing about."
    Maude raised an eyebrow at Edgar and locked her eyes with
    his in the dim light of night. She was worried about him, but she
    also wouldn't pry or try to stop him. After all that Edgar had
    accomplished in the past she had learned to let him go about
    his business.
    "I have to leave for a little while," said Edgar, knowing Maude
    would understand.
    Maude stabbed the end of the staff into the dirt and looked off
    toward the lake.
    "Where are you planning to go? There's not much around the
    other side."
    She had been all the way around the lake in search of pastures
    and found nothing better than the ground she stood on.
    Edgar didn't answer. He had discovered a crack along one side
    of the tablet. The two sides were still stuck together at the
    middle, but in the faint light Edgar could see that one had been
    damaged.
    "What have you got there?"
    "Something I found. I'd like Samuel to have it, because there's a
    lot of writing."
    Then and there Edgar struck on an idea.
    "Would you give it to him for me?"
    Like the majority of people on Atherton, Maude couldn't read.
    She didn't want any part of books or words, so there was no risk
    in having her discover what the words said. She took the tablet
    and examined it curiously.
    "Where are you going, Edgar?"
    Edgar hesitated before answering, but in the end he knew he
    couldn't leave his friends without telling them where he'd gone.
    "I'm leaving Atherton, but I'll be back. Make sure you tell them
    I'm coming right back. I won't be gone long."
    "What do you mean, leaving Atherton?" asked Maude, stricken
    with fear for the boy. "You're not making any sense, Edgar."
    "Tell