Without saying another word, we both step into the water, which instantly sucks us down into what feels like a water slide. I scream as loud as Sage does, and we slide down into darkness, banging against the sides of a strange tunnel. Sage’s hand slips from mine at some point and then suddenly the tunnel ends and my head goes underwater.
Not again!
I half expect to wake up in the infirmary yet again, but the gods must have decided to cut my sorry ass some slack. Opening my eyes to the palace I glimpsed once before, I find myself still standing on the leaf.
“Holy mother of fuck. We did it!” Sage shouts, jumping excitedly on the spot. Her enthusiasm quickly wanes when she glances back at the palace guarded by two armored giants. “How do we get in? What are we supposed to do?”
I look at the palace, trying to make sense of the task at hand. Giants, like trolls, covet shiny things. What they don’t manage to steal themselves from other realms, they send their magpies to do the dirty work for them. That’s really all I know about their species. Oh, and that they like to eat people like me for supper. Yah. Piece of cake breaking into their palace, right? Sheesh.
Healer Julie said we were protected while in the Enchanted Forest, but I’m willing to bet the same doesn’t apply here. We’re in giant territory now.
I scan the guards for any weak spots. Only their necks and protruding stomachs aren’t shielded by armor. Stupid on their part, useful on ours should we need to attack them. My stomach coils at the thought of their flabby flesh oozing between my teeth. But needs must if they catch us. At least I’m doing this on an empty stomach and won’t have anything to barf up. And at least Sage hasn’t blocked her tracker yet, so if shit really does hit the fan, they’ll find our bodies.
Pitch chuckles.
Nodding, I say to Sage, “I can get us into the palace from the shadows next to the tower. We just need to get over there without them spotting us.”
“I say we shift into magpies,” she suggests, pointing to the ledge of the tower where there is a row of magpies. “Giants might not be as stupid as trolls, but they’d probably not expect us to do that.”
“Sounds good to me!” Lifting my hand, I high five her and prepare to shift into a magpie.
But then something catches my attention, flickering in the corner of my eye.
I bend over and carefully pull out at a piece of parchment wedged in a gap in the beanstalk.
It’s another clue.
Unrolling the parchment, I read out loud: “To be victorious, one must be full of heart, courage, and use one’s brain wisely.’”
Sage’s eyes bug in their sockets. “I really hate riddles.”
“And why does it sound like something from The Wizard of Oz?” Jonah demands, appearing beside us. His hair and clothes are drenched, which makes me wonder if he fell into the puddle instead of stepping through it. “Heart, courage, and brains. So original.”
“Where’s Ronan?” I demand, tucking the parchment into my pocket.
“He nearly splatted to his death. Unfortunately, Gale caught him just in the nick of time, along with the other idiots who fell off.”
I wince at the image of Ronan splatting on the ground like a stepped-on juice box.
Yikes.
“So what’s the plan?” Jonah asks, eyeing the parchment poking out from my pocket.
“We’re shifting into magpies and flying over to the side of the palace. I can then shadowlocate us inside.” When I catch Jonah looking around at the dense, flat landscape, I hurriedly say, “There’s no shadows here, Sherlock. It’s too sunny and the land is flat.”
With that, I transform into a magpie and swoop down from the leaf. Sage and Jonah join me and the three of us soar into the clear-blue sky. The palace giants remarkably pay us no attention as we join the other magpies resting on the ledge. Good. Looks like we blend in. And when I look back at the beanstalk nestled far away in the distance, we’re still the only team to have found the portal.
I brush my wing against Sage and Jonah’s, then I peel the shadows away from the tower and wrap them around our bodies. It’s difficult to navigate the shadows when you