Free 01 Wing Warrior by Kevin Outlaw Page B

its head, laughed horribly, and then dashed off into the thicker undergrowth in a spray of leaves and branches.
    The stag turned to Nimbus, and there was a look in its eyes that seemed to say, ‘I don’t fancy doing all the hard work by myself, so if you wouldn’t mind helping out, that would be nice,’ and then it ran off, disappearing in the dense foliage.
    After a while, Nimbus managed to stop staring. ‘I didn’t dream that, did I?’ he asked.
    ‘Old rivers aren’t the only things that have awoken today,’ Cumulo said.
    ‘What was it?’
    ‘It was a stag.’
    ‘No, not that. The other thing.’
    ‘Oh, that. I’m not sure. But I think it was a goblin.’
     

CHAPTER TEN
     
     
    ‘Goblins aren’t real,’ Nimbus said, as he splashed across the river. ‘They’re stories kids get told to stop them going into the woods.’
    ‘Goblins are just as real as dragons and trolls.’
    ‘Trolls!’
    ‘Ugly things, live under bridges. You must have heard of them.’
    ‘Trolls aren’t real.’
    ‘And what makes you so sure of that?’
    ‘I’ve been coming to these woods all my life. I’ve explored every inch of them, in the day and night, and I’ve never seen a goblin or a troll before.’
    ‘But you bumped into dragons every day?’ Cumulo’s grin was wide and sharp and a lot more intimidating than the dragon probably intended it to be. It was probably very difficult to grin in anything other than an intimidating way when you were a giant winged lizard with teeth that could bite through rocks.
    ‘How would you know it was a goblin anyway? You’ve never seen one before.’
    ‘You’re right, but I told you before, I have a lot of memories knocking around inside my head, and I don’t know how I got them.’
    ‘If it was a goblin, why now? Why has it woken up now?’
    ‘Magic is coming back into the world. Things that once were, will be again. And there is something more. A dark threat from the West. The armour sensed it, and knew war was coming, and the other magical folk sense it too. I would no longer suggest walking in these woods alone. Goblins are small, but they are evil. They will snatch you away if you give them the chance.’
    ‘Isn’t anywhere safe?’
    ‘I think you’re safe enough with me.’
    Nimbus stroked Cumulo’s long nose. ‘I guess you’re right there, but what about my friends, my family? They live close to the woods. Will they be hurt?’
    ‘Goblins are wicked creatures. They play tricks on humans, and take careless children from their parents, but they are cowards too. They would never attack your village.’
    ‘And the thing in the cave?’
    ‘That, I’m not so sure about. Hopefully whatever it was has gone out into the ocean, and we’ll never see it again.’
    ‘What about other things? If the goblins have returned, will there be other legends?’
    ‘There are other things coming alive all around us. I can feel it in the trees, in the ground, the river.’ Cumulo’s tongue flicked out. Ribbons of cloud moved in curious patterns, attempting to obscure the face of the sun. ‘Something else too. Something much bigger. The thing that started this. I can feel it in the air. The world trembles around it.’
    ‘Is it dangerous?’
    ‘Deadly.’
    A horrible feeling had taken root in Nimbus’s stomach, and with each new revelation the feeling grew a little stronger, choking him with fear. ‘Does it know about me?’
    Cumulo nodded.
    ‘What does it know?’
    ‘It knows there is one last Wing Warrior in this land.’
    ‘Stop calling me that. I’m not a Wing Warrior.’
    ‘But you are. And the dark magic knows it.’
    Nimbus gulped. The sword in his hand seemed heavy and uncontrollable.
    ‘Is it coming for me?’ he asked.
    ‘It is.’
    All the strength went out of Nimbus’s legs, and he sat down just in case he fell over. ‘You might be wrong,’ he said. ‘You admit you don’t know a lot of things. Your memories are all mixed up, and you’ve been living in