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Chapter 445
This had to be a dream. Cali could think of no other explanation for why she was lying on her back in the middle of the woods, her body paralyzed from head to toe.
Pretty much every muscle in her body was frozen. She had tried to turn her head, to no avail. Attempts to move her arms and legs had proved similarly fruitless. She could not even wiggle her fingers. Seemingly the only things she still maintained control over were her eyes and eyelids. She could blink, and she could move her eyeballs, giving her a limited field of vision. All she could see were the leafy branches of several tall trees above her—telling her she was probably in the woods somewhere—and a pale gray sky beyond them, indicating it was daytime. Whether it was morning or afternoon, she had no way to tell.
She tried to open her mouth to yell for help, but her jaw was locked shut. In her current condition, she doubted her vocal chords would have worked, anyway. She was not even sure if she
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Leesa's Advent Chapter 446
Cali's body convulsed as a frigid burning shot into her neck. The freezing pain spread swiftly through her body, ripping into her like sharp icicles speeding recklessly through her veins. After an agonizing moment that seemed much, much longer, the pain simply vanished. One moment she was engulfed in fiery agony, and the next she felt as if nothing had ever happened. Finally back in control of her muscles, she wrapped her arms around the back of Stefan’s neck and pulled him toward her. She had wanted to taste his lips for so long, and now she finally could. She pressed her mouth against his.To her surprise, his lips were no longer cold. Every time he had kissed her hand in the past, cold pleasure had flowed through her skin. She had expected to feel something similar now, but the cold was gone. His lips were not exactly warm, but they certainly were not cool, either. She realized the change in temperature had almost certainly taken place within her, not in him. He was probably as col
Leesa's Advent Chapter 447
As they raced through the trees, Cali could scarcely believe how different everything had now become. Scant minutes ago, she had been lying paralyzed on her back, unable to move anything but her eyes. Now here she was, flying among the upper terraces of the trees at impossible speeds with seemingly no effort at all. Along with her newfound physical abilities, her senses had sharpened to a degree that was almost unimaginable. Under the overcast sky, the woods were but dimly illuminated, yet she could make out tiny details that should have been invisible to her on even the sunniest of days. Her ears had also become unbelievably sensitive. She heard rabbits and squirrels moving the forest hundreds of feet away, as well as tiny insects buzzing through the air and branches creaking in the gentle breeze. She thought that had there been leaves growing and buds blooming, she might have been able to hear them, too.Her sense of smell had grown sharpest of all. Each tree exuded a scent that was
Leesa's Advent Chapter 448
Leesa and Rave sat on a pair of the wooden chairs in their backyard, watching Ralin practice his magic with Dominic. Thick gray clouds blanketed much of the afternoon sky, and the gentlest hint of a breeze rustled through the trees. The forecast had called for a fifty percent chance of rain late in the day, but Dominic had assured them no rain would be falling today, at least not where they were.Leesa’s computer search about demons had turned up mostly pop culture references—book, movie and video game characters—as well as a few more “scholarly” works on the topic. The latter turned out to be of little more use than the former.They had not heard from Balin since their visit the day before, so they knew the old volkaane had not yet found anything useful in the settlement’s archives. If he had, he would have contacted them immediately.In the middle of the yard, Dominic was putting Ralin through a series of exercises meant to enhance his control over his still-developing powers, but w
Leesa's Advent Chapter 449
This was only the third day, but already Leesa was getting sick of staring at herself in the mirror. They had not learned anything more about demons yet. Balin was still digging through the volkaane archives and Jenna had not returned Leesa’s call—she was probably traveling about somewhere in her owl form. So while they waited, Leesa was working as hard as she could on creating her avatar.She had never much liked looking at herself, but now that she was being forced to study every little detail of her appearance she saw every tiny blemish, every small imperfection. Still, she committed everything she saw to her memory, determined to end this part of the task as quickly as possible.Each day before she went to the mirror, she donned the same basic outfit to keep the details of her clothing as simple as possible. She paired a simple dark green T-shirt with a pair of knee-length tan shorts. Plain white sneakers covered her feet. She did not even wear socks.Finally, before she began stu
Leesa's Advent Chapter 450
After all this time, Rave still had not grown tired of watching Leesa sleep. Curled up on her right side in a fetal position, her head was thrown back against the satin pillow, making it almost look like she might be afraid of something, but in her usual stubborn way was ready to face whatever it was head on. That pretty much summed her up, he thought as he gazed down upon her lovely face. A lock of her soft blond hair had come loose and lay curled across her cheek and over one eye. Careful not to wake her, Rave reached over and brushed it tenderly aside.The thought of something to fear sent his mind drifting off to the oddities they had discovered up on the ridge. He wondered about the timing of it all—had the place been calling to them somehow? Such a thing did not really seem possible, but even before he met Leesa he had experienced enough in his long life to know not to rule anything out. He felt his lips curve into a grin—since he and Leesa had been together
Leesa's Advent Chapter 451
“He's gone,” Leesa said to Dominic without turning around. “Something’s wrong, I know it. Something is terribly wrong.”Dominic laid his hand gently on Leesa’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, we’ll find him.”Leesa turned and looked at the wizard hopefully. “How? Do you have a tracking spell or something you haven’t taught me? Volkaanes can be pretty stealthy. They do not leave tracks.”Dominic shook his head. “No. There is no tracking spell. Waziri are only good at tracking each other’s magic. And since there are no more of us left, that is now a somewhat useless skill. But I’m pretty sure Ralin can track him.”“Did someone mention my name?” Ralin asked, coming up behind them. He looked wide awake as he joined them out on the stoop. “Who am I tracking?”“Your father,” Leesa replied. “He’s disappeared.”
Leesa's Advent Chapter 452
They quickly crossed the highway and set off into the woods. Once inside the trees little light from the moon or the stars penetrated the thick summer foliage, so Leesa and Dominic floated golden illumination orbs in front of them to keep from tripping over any roots or being poked in the face by unseen branches. They kept their lights dim enough to not interfere with whatever trace of his father Ralin was following.Ralin moved through the forest silently, as was his wont, but Leesa could hear her footsteps and Dominic’s rustling through the still darkness. No matter, though—she did not see any need for silence, at least not yet.“What is it that you are actually following, Ralin?” she asked after a few minutes. She did not doubt that he was on his father’s trail; she was just curious what kind of trail he saw, or sensed.“Volkaanes leave a very faint blue afterglow behind them,” Ralin replied without turning around. &l
Leesa's Advent Chapter 453
Leesa stared down at the spot Ralin indicated. The dead weeds somehow looked more ominous than ever now. “Well, Rave’s the only one of us who can’t levitate, so unless he has suddenly developed a new power, where the hell did he go?” Leesa found herself gazing skyward despite her words. The first pale orange rays of dawn were painting the edges of the eastern horizon. Only the brightest stars remained visible in the purpling sky, and soon even those would wink out. If not for the current situation, she would have found the sight quite beautiful. “No, he cannot levitate,” Dominic agreed. “But he can jump pretty far and pretty high.” He turned toward the woods at the end of the ledge. “Ralin, do you think your father could jump into any of the trees back there from here?” Ralin measured the distance with his eyes. “Yeah, no problem. But he didn’t jump. I would see it if he had. It’s not like following footprints on the ground. He leaves a trail of blue in the a
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