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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
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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
Leesa's Advent Chapter 454
“Don’t get too close to anything she has killed,” she instructed them. “I think that’s how she got Rave.” “Avoid my powers all you want for now,” Lamashtu taunted. “Soon, you will not be able to escape them, no matter where you go. My destruction will be everywhere.” “We’re going to stop you,” Leesa said determinedly. “Stop me?” Lamashtu said, her voice filled with disdain. “There is no longer anything here that can stop me. But I grow weary of this meaningless talk. Be gone from here, while you still can. Your time will come soon enough.” “We’re not going anywhere,” Leesa said. “Not without Rave.” “Oh, yes you are.” Rave’s image raised its arm toward the brightening sky. Leesa, Ralin and Dominic stared off into the distance and saw a dark cloud speeding toward the ridge. The outer edges of the thing undulated rhythmically, reminding Leesa of a video she had seen of a huge school of tiny fish swirling around each other, moving through
Leesa's Advent Chapter 455
As soon as Leesa, Ralin and Dominic dropped below the level of the ledge, the crows ended their aerial assault, winging away en masse to some unknown destination. Dominic kept his shield in place until they reached the ground though, just in case the birds decided to return, or some other unexpected danger appeared. They alighted at the base of the ridge without a sound. All three carefully scanned their surroundings for any sign of imminent threat, but saw nothing. Dominic finally dropped his shield, but remained wary. Leesa glanced wistfully back up the hillside, the image of Rave’s translucent form still sharp in her mind. “So, what do we do now?” Ralin asked. Leesa turned to her son. Her tone came out sharper than she intended. “What we do now is figure out some way to destroy that demon and to bring your father back to us.” “Not to be flippant, Mom, but I kind of knew that. What I meant is HOW are we going to do it?” Leesa sighed.
Leesa's Advent Chapter 456
Leesa, Ralin and Dominic drove home together, with Ralin once again wrapped in an air shield to protect the car from his volkaane energy. Balin had promised that as soon as they departed he would head to the archives, and armed with the new information they had provided him, resume his search. Leesa was just as anxious to get started on her own research.As soon as they arrived home, she headed straight to her computer. Ralin stood behind her, a safe distance away from the electronics, so he could read the screen over her shoulder. Dominic retreated to his room, but said he would rejoin them shortly.Leesa was a bit surprised at how many results a Google search for “Lamashtu” turned up. She scrolled down, reading the two and three line summaries, trying to decide which might be most useful for further investigation. They all seemed to mention she was Mesopotamian and/or Sumerian. Many called her a demon/goddess and “mother of misshapen creatures,” which fit with the creatures that had
Leesa's Advent Chapter 457
“That sounds like her, all right,” Dominic agreed.“Dead foliage, infested rivers and streams—that’s what we saw in our dreams,” Ralin said, seconding Dominic’s opinion.“There’s not much else here,” Leesa said, “except for a description of how she was often portrayed: a female figure with the head of a lion or a bird.” She turned her head back to Dominic and Ralin. “At least we seem to be on the right track. Let me see what else I can dig up.”Leesa returned to her search listings and clicked on the Wikipedia entry. It contained a lot of similar information, but was a bit longer and more detailed. It ended with a long incantation that was supposed to help protect against the demon. Leesa did not put much stock in that, but she made a mental note to come back to it if necessary. Like the Britannica site, it made no mention of anyone or anything that could defeat her.Next,
Leesa's Advent Chapter 458
Before Leesa could really even get back into her search, Ralin spoke again.“More company is here,” he said, turning around to look toward the doorway to the room.This time, Dominic did not detect any magic. Either Ralin had heard someone approaching with his extra sharp hearing, or he had sensed the one type of magic he was sensitive to. Dominic guessed it might be the latter.“Vampires?” he asked.Ralin nodded. “Yep. Cali and Stefan, to be exact.”A moment later, a knock sounded at the front door.Leesa was surprised. Cali usually just came right in like a member of the household, which she almost was. Leesa wondered if perhaps Cali was being more circumspect now because of her transformation. After all, vampires and volkaanes were not natural companions.“C’mon in, Cali,” Leesa called. “There’s no need to stand on formalities.”A few seconds later, Cali breezed into the room, followed closely by Stefan. Both wore dark pants and black hoodies with the hoods up over their heads. If
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