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Chapter 306
As Leesa and Dominic approached Balin’s cabin, they spotted the old volkaane kneeling on the ground alongside the building, tending his garden. His back was to them as he busily pulled weeds from among a row of tall tomato plants, but as soon as they turned up the walkway to his home he stood up and turned to face them. His expression showed no surprise at their unplanned visit.
“Welcome,” he said, wiping his soiled hands on the legs of his buckskin pants before reaching forward to shake Dominic’s hand.
“Hi, Balin,” Leesa said. “You look like you were expecting us.”
“Only for the last two minutes or so,” Balin replied. “Other than that, it is indeed a pleasant surprise.
“Do humans make that much noise when we walk, even on packed dirt?”
Balin grinned. “To volkaane ears, I’m afraid you do. But that is not how I knew it was you.”
“How then?&rd
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Leesa's Advent Chapter 307
One moment Leesa and Dominic were standing alone in the woods outside of Lisbon Falls, surreptitiously surveying the town below them through the trees, and the next Rave, Dral and Bain had silently materialized beside them. All three were dressed in black shirts and pants. Leesa hadn’t heard a thing, but Dominic turned his head just before their arrival, his heightened wizard senses detecting their approach at the very last moment.The night was pleasantly warm, without the humidity that had bedeviled them the last few days in Connecticut. A nearly half full moon peeked in and out from the partly cloudy sky. When the moon disappeared, it became fiercely dark in the woods, but Leesa could still make out the outlines of things around her. She was pretty sure her senses were slowly sharpening as she became more and more in touch with the magic inside her. She welcomed the darkness—it would provide excellent cover for the volkaanes to sneak safely into the town.
Leesa's Advent Chapter 308
When the sun was almost directly overhead, Rave made his way toward the northern edge of town to see about getting through the cordon that surrounded Lisbon Falls. The length of fence had grown substantially since he had entered the village the night before and the guards all appeared alert and ready. With his speed, he knew he could make it safely past them, but he didn’t see a way to get by them without being noticed. The same thing with the fence—he could easily leap over it, but someone was sure to see him. The last thing he wanted to do was raise more questions and cause the authorities to increase the security around the town.He moved westward, walking casually and keeping at least fifty yards from the fence and the sentries, searching all the while for any place he might escape unseen. When the fence curved southward, he turned with it, following it all the way to the river that formed the southern boundary of the town. He gazed down at th
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It was half an hour past noon when Rave rejoined Leesa, Dominic and Dral in the woods north of the town. His two mile long journey from the river had given his inner heat plenty of time to dry his hair and clothes. Bain was nowhere in sight, and Rave guessed that his friend had decided to remain in Lisbon Falls until nightfall.Alerted to Rave’s approach by Dral, Leesa rushed forward as soon as he appeared and wrapped him up in a tight hug.“When you didn’t make it back by noon,” she said, “I thought you might be stuck in town.” She smiled and kissed his cheek. “I’d much rather have you here.”“I would have been back on time,” Rave replied, “but I found a surprise in the river I thought well worth the extra time—especially since I didn’t learn much else of use in town.”Dominic raised one eyebrow, clearly intrigued. “What did you find?”“Thre
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Leesa, Dominic and the three volkaanes sat leaning against trees near the river, waiting for Jenna to arrive, although Leesa was leaning more against Rave’s side than she was the tree trunk behind them. Bain had returned soon after dark and reported pretty much the same thing as Rave had—no solid information to be gleaned and an increasingly tightening security presence around the town. He had exited the village through one of the few areas still remaining to be fenced. He told them he expected the fence to be complete by the following night.Earlier, Leesa had dispatched the remaining two zombies much more efficiently than the first one, needing just a single short blast to fell each of them. She was very glad for the extra practice and experience, and was now much more confident she could hold her own alone against a small band of the creatures, at least. She had also used her magic to help Rave and Dral dig three holes a short distance back in the woods to bury
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Dominic and Dral returned shortly before dawn, arriving silently out of the dimness. Leesa had eventually fallen asleep and was now laying with her head resting comfortably on Rave’s lap. She had told him to awaken her as soon as Dominic returned, so he woke her by gently stroking the top of her head with his fingers. She sighed contentedly and opened her eyes. Seeing his handsome face looking down at her, she smiled.“Hi, handsome,” she said.Rave smiled back. “Good morning, sweetheart. Sorry to wake you, but Dominic is back.”Leesa turned her head and saw the wizard and Dral standing a few feet away. In the early morning twilight they looked safe and unharmed, like their trip had been uneventful, as she had hoped. She pushed herself up to a sitting position, still nestled against Rave’s side.“What did you find?” she asked Dominic.“Much that I expected,” the wizard replied somberly, &ld
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Jenna frowned. She wasn’t learning anything she didn’t already know. Just to be sure, she turned to the second soldier.“What about you? Do you know anything?”The man shook his head. “Just what the Sarge already told you, ma’am.”“Okay.” Jenna performed a more intricate set of hand gestures, sealing a forgetting spell in place.“You can go now,” she said when she had finished. “You will remember nothing of this meeting. Get on back to whatever you were doing.”The soldiers spun around without a word. She watched them exit the alley, never looking back. Out of her presence, the compulsion spell would quickly wear off. The forgetting spell would not.Once the men were gone, Jenna shifted back into her owl form, ready to spend a couple of hours perched atop the roof of the hospital, hoping to overhear something useful. The chances were small, she knew, but she had no
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Resting on a fallen log with Rave close beside her, Leesa gazed absently out toward the river. The water flowed slowly by, reflecting the blue sky above and untroubled by any events unfolding just downstream. Leesa wished she could be as placid.Out of nowhere, an otter poked its nose up over the edge of the riverbank. A moment later, the rest of the sleek brown form climbed up onto the grassy bank. Glistening drops of water dripped from its whiskers and snout, shining like tiny jewels in the sun.“How cute!” Leesa exclaimed, happy for the unexpected break in a day that was beginning to grow just a bit monotonous. She had already practiced her magic under Dominic’s tutelage for almost two hours and was now taking a break. “Look, Rave. An otter.”Rave followed her gaze toward the river. His volkaane affinity to animals told him there was something special about this otter, and he was pretty sure he knew what it was. He didn’t s
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Leesa enjoyed the mile long walk to the restaurant. The early evening air felt pleasantly warm on her skin, and a soft breeze from the east carried the faint scent of the river to her nostrils. As she approached Giovanni’s, she spotted Cali waiting outside the entrance. In truth, it would have been hard to miss her. Cali was dressed fairly conservatively—for Cali. She had on a florescent orange tank top and plain white shorts. Three bright orange streaks adorned the left side of her dark hair and her sandals had orange straps. Naturally, she had painted her toenails to match the straps. The two girls greeted each other with a quick hug. “I’m glad to see you made it back in one piece,” Cali said. “I can’t wait to hear all about that zombie stuff. Did you see any of them for real?” “Yeah, I did,” Leesa replied. “I’ll tell you all about it after we get a table and order. I’m starving.” Inside, the restaurant was only about half full, a far cry fr
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