E02 朗读版 | A young warrior

Chapter 1 

In a dark room in the Land of Heart, a young warrior readied for battle. Twelve-year-old Raya pulledon gloves. She grabbed her bamboo fighting sticks and tied a dark mask over her face. After a quick pause to pull her hair back, she slipped out into the night.

Outside, the damp night air felt charged with electricity, though whether it was from the thunderstorm or Raya’s own excitement, it was hard to say. She ran lightly over the tiled roof tops of Heart Fortress. Her slippered feet hardly made a sound as she leapt, cat-like, from building to building, then jumped to the ground.

The first raindrops splashed down, covering Raya’s tracks as she hurried toward the Chamber ofthe Dragon Gem.

The fortress sat atop a natural stone arch atthe center of Heart. Beneath a tangle of leaves andvines, Raya found the hidden doorway that ledinside. She glanced around, making sure she wasunseen, then sneaked in.

Raya crept through the torch-lit tunnel, sliding her hands along the walls. She could feel the shapes of dragons that had been carved there centuries before.

Raya paused. Something didn’t feel right. Therewas a groove in the wall that was deeper than thecarvings...

She knelt and examined the damp cobbles tones that lined the tunnel floor. One stone was looser than the rest. Carefully, Raya pressed it.

WHOOSH! A net dropped from the ceiling,right on the spot where she was standing. But Rayahad been expecting it. She rolled backward, easily dodging the trap.

“Looks like someone’s trying to be clever,” Rayamurmured. 

Reaching into her satchel , she pulled out a small ball covered in hard scales. When she tappedit with her finger, the ball partly uncurled, revealing two bright black eyes and a cute furry face.

“All right, Tuk Tuk,” Raya said to the little animal.“Let’s show them what clever really looks like.”

She placed her pet on the ground. Tuk Tuk curled back into a scaly ball, then rolled down the tunnel, triggering more traps. One after another, nets dropped from the ceiling. But Tuk Tuk rolled right underneath them.

Halfway through, though, Tuk Tuk spied a bug.He waddled after it, forgetting all about his job.

“Tuk Tuk!” Raya whispered. “Come on. Focus.”

Tuk Tuk curled back into a ball and rolled to the end of the tunnel.

Raya crawled under the nets to where he was waiting. She gently picked Tuk Tuk up and patted his head. “Hey, bud. That was awesome. Gimme some shell.”

Tuk Tuk tried to high-five her, but he lost hisb alance and rolled onto his back.

“I gotcha.” Raya turned him upright, thenplaced him back in her satchel.