Read Angel Fall for Free Online Page B

Look up.”
    Both girls stared at the sky. Above them a pale sun was setting, and above it there were stars. A sun and stars together. Tori gulped and her lower lip began to tremble.
    “Now, don’t be afraid. You’re safe, so very safe with me. Did I not tear the twilight to come to you? And did I not call the Wind? It blew and blew and carried us away. Too old to do it now—not as young as then—aging with my world, and so it ought to be.”
    “Who are you?” Amanda was staring at her with hard eyes.
    “Who?” The woman spoke softly and smiled. “Not just who, but what . What and what and what. The Watcher of two girls from the mornings they were born. Who? Many names. Names on names. But only one that matters. On Boreth, I am Bellwind .” As she spoke her name, the mist around her sparkled like a thousand tiny diamonds, and from far away there was a whispering echo as though something unseen had heard and answered. Suddenly the dog began barking joyously, and they all turned to look.
    In the distance fog was rising from the ocean, growing in billows like heavy smoke from a giant furnace beneath the sea. And it was moving toward them. As it drew nearer, a vague shape began to form. What they saw was an island made of mist. Cloudy cliffs and dim forests drifted in the haze. Before they knew it, the fog was all around them and they found themselves entering a river of shadows.
    Bellwind rose and beckoned. The girls joined her at the front of the raft. Tori stared down at the baby in her arms. As they drifted in the stillness, he was changing. His skin took on a gentle pearl-like hue, and in his hair there were flecks of gold. He was even more beautiful than before, but now there was something wild about him, as though a flower from another world had begun to bloom. He sat, pulling at her sweater, gurgling just as any baby would. Yet, in him, there was mystery and strangeness.
    Tori looked up. Bellwind was smiling at her. But the ancient face was not the same. It was her eyes. The silver coverings that had made her appear blind had vanished. Tori was staring into the loveliest eyes that she had ever seen, filled with pale blue mist. And as she stared, from deep within the shadow island, a haunting voice began to sing.

6
GRANDFATHER
    H eartbeats.
    Clanging.
    Sounds without meaning.
    Slivers of light and pain.
    Alex’s eyelids flickered open…then shut.
    More than anything, he didn’t want to wake up. But the very act of willing himself to remain asleep was so annoying that it only awakened him further. And the more awake he grew, the more he knew that everything was wrong. To start with, his whole body ached, even his hair. And his mouth—it tasted like he’d been sucking garbage all night.
    More aggravating awareness.
    He was lying on something cold and clammy, and it was moving …rolling back and forth…in the most stomach-churning way. And every time it rolled, it made a nasty sound.
    Roll-slosh…Roll-squish…Roll-slosh.
    He forced himself to crack open one eye. It was a very brief experiment. The lids were stuck with mucus and the light made his head swim. Which didn’t do one thing for his queasy stomach. His aggravation grew to anger.
    What was going on here?
    He opened his eyes and stared up into a dark blue sky. He hated camping, so he couldn’t think of one good reason why he should be sleeping outdoors. Then he began to realize that the sky wasn’t right. A pale sun was setting and above it there were stars. Sunlight and stars do not go together.
    He groaned and turned his head, and the sky vanished. Two feet from his nose bulged an inflated rubber wall. With a great effort he lurched into a sitting position, which made his stomach want to leave his body. He was alone in a huge life raft. He rubbed his eyes. His head was splitting. How in the world had he gotten here?
    Then, the terrible memory.
    Shrieking wind and noise…
    A roaring explosion.
    Their plane had broken apart.
    Alex forgot the