The beam trapped inside the boy’s diamond-tipped staff flashed excitedly. The staff began to shake in the boy’s hand. He brought it to his face and looked closely at the beam. It seemed to speak to him. He instinctively raised the staff to the sky. The moonbeams around him then focused on the diamond. In fevered bursts of light, they appeared to celebrate the finding of their lost comrade. Messages were apparently being sent and received, then the staff pulled the boy toward the passing clouds. As a brilliant glow filled the air, the boy stepped right off the edge of the mountain peak. But he did not fall! As his foot reached the open air, it landed upon one of the clouds that was soaring by.
The spectral boy took one step, then another. He looked down around himself. He was standing on a cloud! The next instant, he was running, bounding from cloud to cloud, faster than seemed possible. He was smiling, as no boy, spectral or otherwise, has ever smiled before.
Nicholas Saint North and the Battle of the Nightmare King Chapter 7
