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Chapter 363
“What's wrong?” Kaila asked. Her voice was calm and matter of fact, disguising any anxiety she might be feeling inside.
“It’s my shield,” Leesa replied. “It’s preventing Ralin from going where he needs to go.”
“What do you mean?” Balin asked. “Preventing him how?”
Leesa drew another deep breath. “It’s wrapped around him, keeping his magic inside, but it’s also keeping him where he is. I’m not sure I can explain it, but I don’t know how to adjust the shield so that it will slip out of me with him.”
Rave’s fingers stopped moving on the sides of her head. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” he asked, his voice heavy with concern.
Leesa nodded. “Yeah. As long as I keep the shield in place, Ralin’s not going anywhere. I have to remove it.”
“But you can still feel his heat, even throug
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Leesa's Advent Chapter 364
Baby Ralin grew even more rapidly than he had inside Leesa’s womb. By three months he was as large as a human child twice his age, and by six months he was pretty much the size of a one-year-old. His physical abilities were equally accelerated—he started walking at four months, and within days was toddling easily around the house, keeping mom and dad anxious and on the alert. Not long after, he could jump from a standing start up onto the bed. Once he learned that trick, he began leaping up and down off all the chairs in the house. His favorite landing spot, though, became the old round end table still stashed away in the corner of the living room.The first time Leesa saw her tiny infant son leapt up onto the creaky table, she was beside herself with worry that he would miss or fall or suffer some equally disastrous fate. She soon learned that his balance and coordination were as advanced as his strength, and her concern turned more to the furnishings in the hous
Leesa's Advent Chapter 365
Ralin's magic returned the very next day, triggered by a totally unexpected occurrence.After his birth, Leesa took a week off from practicing her magic before resuming her daily sessions. Occasionally, she held Ralin cradled in one arm while she practiced; most times, though, Rave held their son while Leesa worked on her ever-increasing repertoire of spells. For the first few months Ralin seemed oblivious to what his mother was doing, but had then taken to watching her with more patience than either mom or dad would have expected from so young a child.Now and then Leesa even had the feeling that Ralin was studying her, but she thought she might be reading more into his watchful eyes than was really there. He certainly noticed the results of her magic, though, often laughing delightedly when she made objects grow or blasted something with bolts of energy. He especially liked it when she floated him through the air from Rave’s arms to hers or vice versa.The October afternoon was cool
Leesa's Advent Chapter 366
Stefan's appearance seemed to trigger a rebirth of Ralin’s magic. It didn’t happen immediately, but looking back, Leesa was pretty sure the incident marked the beginning of the magical resurgence. Whether it would have occurred anyway without Stefan’s visit no one knew for certain. She thought it probably would have happened eventually, and probably sooner rather than later. Balin concurred.What did happen right away was that Leesa became more careful with Ralin when he was around other people, keeping him wrapped in a protective shield for the overwhelming majority of the time. Hugs from relatives and friends without a shield became far less frequent and much shorter in duration. Whenever she allowed a hug without a shield, Leesa made sure to focus her attention completely on her bond with Ralin, alert for any small sign his magic might be about to erupt. People who loved holding Ralin were disappointed at the restrictions, but they all understood the newly awakened danger and the n
Leesa's Advent Chapter 367
Now that Ralin’s magic had spontaneously reappeared without the stimulus of a nearby vampire to trigger it, Leesa immediately became more careful about where she took him. She knew she might be overreacting—other than blasting at Stefan, all he had done so far was harmlessly turn a smoothie green—but she thought excess caution to be the wiser choice, given the total unpredictability of Ralin’s power. Gone were the visits to her mom’s or aunt and uncle’s that she used to make with Ralin. She didn’t want to take the chance his magic might damage their homes or be witnessed by neighbors. When his relatives wanted to see Ralin, they now had to come to Leesa’s house.Worse, she grew increasingly anxious about leaving Ralin alone with Rave while she went out on errands like shopping. She wasn’t worried that Ralin would hurt his father—Rave was still much too quick, as long as he remained alert, which was pretty much his na
Leesa's Advent Chapter 368
On his first birthday, Ralin decided it was time to begin talking. Unlike most children, his first word was not “Ma-ma” or “Da-da.” Instead, it was a word he had heard his parents use often.Friends and relatives gathered in the back yard to celebrate the occasion. Judy and Bradley were there, of course, as were Aunt Janet and Uncle Roger. Cali showed up wearing a rainbow clown wig and a bright blue sweatshirt festooned with big yellow polka dots. Where she had found the psychedelic garment, Leesa had no idea. She was just glad Cali hadn’t added clown-face makeup to her getup—potentially saving Ralin from being scarred for life by a fear of clowns.Balin, Bain, Dral and Kaila came from the volkaane settlement, and Jenna had happily responded to Leesa’s invitation as well. Ralin watched excitedly when a big brown and white owl descended slowly into the yard and then, with a bright silver flash, transformed into a person. He laug
Leesa's Advent Chapter 369
“Blue fire doesn’t burn volkaanes,” Rave explained. “I was pretty certain the green fire wouldn’t affect Ralin. Whether he’s immune to blue fire, or to blasts of his wizard magic, is another matter, though.”Leesa picked up a napkin and wiped a big smudge of icing from above Ralin’s lip.“Let’s hope he is. But let’s not be in any hurry to find that out, please.”Ralin’s birthday seemed to mark a major transition in his magic. Leesa and Rave didn’t know if it had anything to do with his turning one year old, but magical outbursts of varying sorts began to appear with increasing frequency, until they were occurring once or twice each week. It wasn’t until he was a year and a half old, however, that the magic started to become truly dangerous.The leaves in the two tall oaks in the yard behind the house were just beginning to turn. Most remained green, but
Leesa's Advent Chapter 370
Leesa sat at the table in the living room, gripped by a feeling she could neither understand nor explain. Her book of magic lay unopened in front of her—for the first time ever, she felt hesitant to lift the cover. She was troubled by a nagging sense that events were combining to drive her toward a dangerous future, and that by opening her book this afternoon she might be taking one more step in that uncertain direction.It wasn’t just Ralin’s brush with disaster the day before, though that was almost surely part of it, as was his increasingly powerful yet uncontrolled magic. She wondered if perhaps some innate wizard sense might be warning her of portentous events to come, or if her feelings of foreboding were simply a normal reaction to the unpredictable way things were unfolding.She felt foolish for hesitating. There was no way she wasn’t going to open her book, the same way she had done pretty much every day since Dominic had given it to he
Leesa's Advent Chapter 371
She turned her chair back around and started reading. The book made walking through walls—or any other solid surface—sound easier than she guessed it actually was. The main thing was to remember that all things, including wizards, were made up of matter and space, and that when you got down to the level of the tiniest particles, there was a whole lot more space than matter, even in the densest of objects. So in the most basic of terms, walking through a wall simply meant aligning your particles with the spaces in the wall, and vice versa. The key was in creating the proper alignment, which is where magic came in.Leesa read through the pages a couple of times to make sure she understood everything. Finally, she was ready. She left the book open on the table and stood up, turning around to face Rave.“If this works, I’ll be in the bedroom in a few moments, without having to go through the doorway. Wish me luck.”“Good luck, my
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