The Cloud Searchers

The Cloud Searchers

Author	Kazu Kibuishi
Cover Designer	Kazu Kibuishi
Publisher	Scholastic
Publication Date	September 1, 2010
Number of Pages	208
Series Guide
Previous The Stonekeeper's Curse	Next The Last Council

The Cloud Searchers is the third installment in the Amulet series. The book was published by Scholastic on September 1, 2010.

Emily, Navin, and their crew of freedom fighters charter an airship and set off in search of the lost city of Cielis, which is believed to be located in the heart of the storm that has been going forever. Leon Redbeard guides them in their pursuit. The Elf King's son, Prince Trellis, as well as Luger joined the team aboard their new ship.

Summary

Trellis is walking through a forest and finds footprints near a cavern's mouth. As he approaches, a repeated banging sound can be heard from inside. Trellis enters the cave to find Luger, who is repeatedly hitting his shattered amulet with a large rock. Luger looks to Trellis and asks if he has arrived to finish him off, and Trellis assures him otherwise. Luger then tells Trellis that he has destroyed the stone. Trellis tells him that he didn't and that Emily did, as she is the only one – besides the Elf King – who he has seen destroy a stone. Luger begins to panic, fearing that the King will have them both executed. Trellis tells Luger that they won't go back. The prince begins a transmission to the Elf King. The King tells Trellis to bring him good news and asks if he killed Emily. Trellis tells him that he hasn't and that he will need more time to complete the mission. The Elf King reminds Trellis that this was his last chance and that the prince will continue to fail him. Trellis tells him that he will not return until the mission is complete, and that he will kill the young Stonekeeper and bring him her head. The King urges him to return or suffer the consequences. Trellis ignores these threats and crushes the transmission device. Luger, shocked, tells Trellis that he has sealed their fate. Trellis tells him that he'll kill them if they return, or if they don't, and that it would be better if they stayed on the run. Trellis tells Luger that there is a small town to the east, where he could get Luger food. Luger asks why Trellis is so willing to help him when he'll just slow him down, and Trellis replies that he just feels he has to. As the two exit the cave, Luger thanks the prince.

Elsewhere, Gabilan approaches the Elf King's domain. Logi tells the assassin that it is an honor to meet him, and Gabilan tells him to show him to the King. The Elf King, on his throne, greets him and asks if he has been informed of his targets. Gabilan tells him that it is the young stonekeeper and her companions. The King informs him of one more target: Trellis. Gabilan questions the King's motives for wanting to kill his own son. The King tells him that he will destroy anything and anyone that may impede his progress, and to think of it as a sacrifice for the greater good. Gabilan tells the King that his cause is meaningless to him, and that all he requires is payment. The Elf King tells him that Logi waits at the door with half of his payment. Gabilan tells the King that he has never failed to hit his mark and that he has no reason to doubt him. The King tells him that better men have failed, and tells Gabilan to surprise him. As Gabilan approaches his bird, he asks Logi if he enjoys working for the King. Logi replies that it simply survival, and for his efforts, the King allows him to live. Gabilan tells the elf that he will have a better arrangement, when he is king. Gabilan rides off into the sky.

Emily, Navin, and Karen are searching through the undergrowth for the leafiest brach they find by orders of Cogsley. Karen notices a cut on Navin's hand and demands that she have a look at it, despite Navin's insisting he is fine. She wipes the cut with a tissue and reminds Navin that they are on an alien planet surrounded by dangerous things. Emily tells them that they should head back, as Leon wants to be on the road before midday. Navin asks why they're leaving the house behind, and Emily tells him that Leon says it will make them too easy to track. Karen asks why they have to follow Leon's orders, and tells Emily that he might be trouble. Emily tells Karen that she trusts him.

The three arrive in front of the Charnon House. Miskit is telling Cogsley that it's impossible to hide the house. Cogsley tells him that they have to try and that they can't leave the structure out in the open. Emily remarks that Cogsley is taking the situation pretty hard. Miskit tells Emily that Cogsley built the house with Silas and that it's like a baby to him. Emily then asks where Leon is, and Miskit tells that he last saw him in Silas's library.

At the library, Leon tells Emily that he's been looking through the books all morning and still can't find their destination. He tells Emily that his job is to escort her to the city of Cielis, and that the issue is that the city disappeared, or destroyed depending who is asked. Leon tells Emily that the elf army set fire to the city many years ago, and that some say all of the citizens perished. He adds, however, that it would be ridiculous to kill the most powerful stonekeepers in the world with only a fire. Emily asks about the stonekeepers. Leon tells her that they were the rulers of Alledia before the Elf King came to power.

The leaders of Cielis came to be known as the Guardian Council. The five members of this council governed Alledia for many years. Everything went according to their plans and Alledia benefited from a century of peace. It came as a surprise when Gulfen, the nation of elves, began to attack their neighbors. As the elves had become a ruthless aggressor, the Guardian Council retaliated, but severely understimated the Elf King's power.In a battle for the throne of Alledia, Cielis suffered the most devastating attack. When the dust cleared, all that remained of the city was a giant crater in its place. Leon adds that many believed the city simply perished, but that The Resistance still believes the city remains intact.

Leon continues and tells Emily that some say the Guardian Council lifted the city out of the ground and hid it among the clouds to safely rebuild. Leon says they have to believe the story to be true, because the survival of Alledia depends on the existence of Cielis and the Guardian Council. Miskit interrupts and tells Emily not to believe him. He added that Cielis is dead, and that Silas Charnon saw the ruins with his own eyes. Leon counteracts his statement and presents Silas's notes. He asks that if Silas truly believed Cielis was gone, why did had he spent so much time looking for it. He says the last notes in the book were taken the week he passed away. Miskit asks Leon that if Cielis is still around, why the Guardian Council hasn't contacted any of them, and why they haven't helped. Leon answers that he does not know.

When Theodore comes in and tells them that the transports are ready, they all head outside. Cogsley comments that at least the house won't be easy to steal, as he had to gut its engine to fix the transports. Morrie questions if it is such a good idea to split up, and that maybe they should all stick together. Cogsley says that Leon is right and that they need to stay light on their feet. That Morrie needs to tell the others what's happening. Morrie asks how will they found him. Cogsley tells him that they won't, and that when the time is right, he'll come find him. After boarding the transport, Emily asks where they are headed. Leon says that they will be going to a small town called Nautilus, east of their current location. He says that once there, they will need to charter an airship. Navin seems excited about the idea. Cogsley begins to drive the transport.

Navin asks how they will be able to get an airship. Leon says that they will need to hire a captain and crew. Emily adds that they have no money to offer them. Leon says that the Guardian Council, on the other hand, does, and that once they find Cielis, money will be no object. They suddenly arrive in Nautilus. The city is on the edge of the cliff of a canyon. Many airships are ported around the city. Leon says that Nautilus is the shipping capital of Alledia, and that most airships dock there at least once a year. Since gaining power, the elves have forced pilots to fly for much lower wages than they're accustomed to. He says that it's an unfortunate situation, but one that works to their advantage. The crew pass through a busy street with many shops and restaurants all around.

They stop at a bar, The Drinking Hole, and Leon says that most pilots like to congegrate here. Karen seems upset by the fact that her children would have to enter a bar. Navin tells Karen that it's not a bar, it's a "drinking hole." Karen insists they don't go in there. Leon says that Navin can stay, but that Emily will have to go with him. Emily tells Karen that it will be okay. In The Drinking Hole they try to find some pilots who will fly them to Cielis.

They find two humanoid cats, Enzo and Rico, who claim to have seen Cielis in the sky, but elves enter the bar demanding their wanted prisoners to show their face. The crew thinks it's Emily and try to hide her, but they find out the prisoners are Trellis and Luger, whom elves from outside of the bar have already found. Emily, remembering events from the first book, remembers how Trellis wanted her to join him to kill the Elf King, decides to save him, and attacks the other elves with her amulet.

They head to where Enzo and Rico's ship is docked with the elves in pursuit, and manage to escape. Navin offers to fly the ship due to his experience with the robotic house, but Enzo rejects the offer, thinking him to be too young, yet later on in the book he flies it through a storm while the automatic pilot robot is knocked out.

As the ship continues to fly, Leon is currently teaching Emily how to defend with the Amulet rather than attack. Emily asks Trellis why he wants to kill his father (The Elf King). He explains that when he was growing up, he was raised by his uncle. Once he decided to spy on what happened in his father's room, and saw his father wearing a mask to hide the fact that he is dead. In that very moment, he found out that his father was being possessed by someone or something.

One day on board, Trellis uses his amulet to wrap energy around Emily's mother. Emily, thinking that he was attacking her, shoots a blast of energy at him, but finds out that he was really protecting her from a wyvern (A type of bird in the Amulet series). The wyvern damages the ship's wings, but Cogsley and Miskit fix it, but are swept off the ship in doing so, much to Emily's depression.

The crew arrives at an island floating in the sky, where they have to solve a pattern of stones in midair, which are being held in midair due to the power of an amulet's energy. While doing so, the elf that The Elf King has sent attacks them, but Emily and Trellis work together to defeat him. Three mysterious people appear, one of them a teen stonekeeper named Max Griffin. The book ends with Max telling Emily that she will be tested by the Guardian Council to see if she will be worthy enough to be part of them.

Major Events

Trellis finds Luger, and it is revealed that Emily has destroyed his stone.
The group leave the house behind, saying it makes them too easy to track.
The group reach Nautilus, the shipping capital of Alledia, and meet Enzo and Rico.
Prince Trellis, Luger, Enzo and Rico join the group.
Emily and Trellis defeat Gabilan, a bounty hunter who was hunting them down.
The group meets Max Griffin.
The group reach the lost city of Cielis.
As a side note, The Cloud Searchers is the only installment where Emily is shown smiling on the cover. The series only gets more sinister and dark from here, so I don't think we'll see any more smiling Emily's.