Creeping Shadow (The Rise of Isaac, Book One) by Caroline Peckham Page B

do you think it'll be like?" May wondered aloud as they descended the spiral staircase.
    "I don't know," Oliver said thoughtfully as he pushed open the door that led to the chamber beneath the house. He had been so wrapped up in everything since May had woken him in the night that he had hardly spared a thought for what lay beyond the portal.
    Ely was waiting for them in front of the Gateway, dressed in a heavy suede coat with a backpack hanging from one shoulder.
    "Are we going to meet Mum's twin?" May asked Ely, looking hopeful.
    "Yes, we'll be staying with her in Aleva. Stand over there by the Gateway and take out your Locks," Ely said.
    Oliver pulled the pendant from underneath his top and watched as the earthy green key to Aleva began to glow brighter and brighter.
    "Hold on to them tightly and walk through the Gateway after me," Ely instructed.
    May gripped Oliver's arm, the light from her key catching in her eyes as she gazed up at him with concern. He nodded to his grandfather and Ely raised his Lock towards the Gateway.
    Ribbons of light ripped across the arch of roots as the portal opened. Oliver could hear it humming quietly and he drew back a little.
    May tugged his arm, bringing him back to his senses.
    Ely stepped through the Gateway; the light seemed to bend around him then he disappeared with a crackle of noise.
    Oliver blinked in shock.
    "Ready?" May asked quietly.
    "I'm not exactly sure what to be ready for," Oliver said.
    "I know, can we walk through together?" May asked.
    He nodded then shared one last anxious look with his sister before stepping forward into the abyss.
    Oliver felt his stomach drop as if he were falling. The sound of May screaming seemed to echo around him as they fell and he gripped her arm tighter.
    The light from his key glowed so brightly that it was all he could see. He felt weightless for a moment then his feet collided with uneven ground and he fell backwards onto it. May toppled over and Oliver groaned as she landed on his legs. She scrambled to stand up and he followed suit, rubbing his knees.
    Ely hurried towards them and clapped his hands together, looking pleased.
    Oliver gazed around at his surroundings. He was standing at the foot of a tree that resembled the one back at Oakway Manor, minus the house.
    A large, circular hole in its trunk marked the Gateway on this side of the portal and the leaves on its branches were a bright, lush-looking green. There was a crisp chill in the air and Oliver's breath came out as a puff of vapour.
    They were standing on a ledge that jutted out over a steep valley, high up on the side of a mountain. For miles around rolling hills and towering mountains disappeared up into wispy, white clouds. Oliver crept towards the edge.
    A city was nestled between the mountain they were stood upon and one that rose up opposite. The buildings looked like a model from this height; lights twinkled in the windows and Oliver realised that daylight was already fading in this world.
    A train emerged from a tunnel in the mountain opposite, running along tracks that ran outside the city in a large circle, making its way through smaller tunnels in the hills.
    A sudden gust of wind made Oliver draw back from the ledge.
    "Beautiful, isn't it? I'll never forget the first time I saw this view. The city you can see is called Alevale," Ely said.
    "Are we going down there?" May asked, peeping over the edge with a look of fascination.
    "Yes, we'll take the- " Ely was distracted by a loud horn that sounded from the other mountain.
    Oliver located the source of the noise where a bright fire was burning on an outcrop. A booming horn responded to it somewhere further down the valley. The sound carried on the wind and echoed off the rocks, the two notes calling out together in a mournful cry.
    "Ahh, that's a sound I've missed," Ely said with a smile.
    "What is it?" May asked.
    "They sound the horns at dawn, midday and dusk. The citizens of Alevale used to rely on them to tell the