The Cloud Castle – Page 94

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There is sufficient time between his leap and his landing for Perilous Jack to fully appreciate what he has just done – to leap from the roof of a towering castle, itself suspended upon a bank of cloudstone, which drifts high above the furthest reach of ordinary clouds, which in turn drift high above the earth.

The word ‘folly’ can scarcely encompass what he attempts – and yet he lands upon the bank of cloudstone below the castle parapet with a bone-jarring thump that testifies to the solidity of the material.

He springs immediately to his feet and dashes forward, hammer and shield at the ready. A pair of Air Elementals sail toward him, their frigid whirlwind bodies yearning to tear him apart. There is no time to trade blows; Jack slashes at the first with the hammer, connecting with a glancing blow that knocks the airy creature back with a noise like a thunderclap, and then he ducks and rolls under the second. His next leap takes him to the edge of the cloud, where a young Beanstalk waits to bear him down to the next level.

Three levels and four more Air Elementals later, Jack catches sight of the Giant just long enough to see him disappear into a Red Pipe thrusting up from the surface of the cloudstone.

Pausing only to take a breath, Jack leaps into the Red Pipe in hot pursuit.

Turn to 92.