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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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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
Leesa's Advent Chapter 459
“We do not expect Lamashtu to do anything immediately,” Dominic told all their new guests, “but we do not think it will be all that long, either. In any event, it’s good to be prepared for anything. Would some of you go outside and keep an eye out for anything unusual?”“Dral and I will go patrol the surrounding area,” Bain offered. “We’ll remain out of sight. No one will know we’re watching, but if we see or sense anything out of the ordinary, we’ll let you know immediately.”Dominic nodded. When volkaanes elected to remain hidden, they were nearly invisible, even when moving about. Leesa was glad to have them out there watching as well. Their devotion to Rave would insure their complete concentration on their task.“That’ll be great,” she said. “Thank you.”Dral and Bain nodded their acknowledgment and then melted silently from the room.“I’ll go out and keep watch from above,” Jenna said “I’ll be able to spy a lot of area from up in the sky.” She put a finger up by her face and tap
Leesa's Advent Chapter 460
“Maybe Lamashtu is a bit worried about us after all,” Leesa said after Ralin had related the brief incident. “Why else would she send one of her crows to spy on us if she’s not at least a little concerned?”“If it was spying, Mom, it sure wasn’t very sneaky,” Ralin said. “It landed right there on my windowsill.”“Maybe the demon was sending us a message, then,” Leesa replied. “Telling us that she knows where to find us.”“How DID she know how to find us, anyhow?” Ralin asked. “Do you think she can track us somehow? Like I can track Dad?”Dominic shook his head. “I do not think so. More likely, since she has possessed Rave, she has access to all the information inside his head.”“I don’t like the sound of that,” Leesa said, her heart once again feeling heavy at the thought of Rave in the thrall of that horri
Leesa's Advent Chapter 461
Filled with renewed enery, Leesa quickly followed Dominic outside. A nearly full moon bathed the yard with enough pale light for them to see with relative clarity. As they descended the steps, they watched Ralin levitate rapidly up into the air, propelled by the glowing green spiral beneath his feet that they had seen once before. He turned his head toward them when he heard their footsteps on the stairs. The green spiral vanished and he stopped rising.“Hi, Mom,” he called down from a height of about twenty-five feet. “I’m starting to get the hang of this thing. Pretty cool, huh?”“It’s very nice,” Leesa said. “Now come back down here. Dominic has found something.”Ralin allowed himself to sink rapidly back down to the ground. Cali and Stefan moved closer as well.“What did you find?” Ralin asked Dominic when he alighted upon the grass. “A way to smoke some demon ass, I hope?&r
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