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Chapter 496
I turn back toward the ocean. From my new vantage point, I can see a much broader swath of water than I could from down on the beach, but it doesn’t matter. As far as my eyes can see, the sun-dappled sea is completely empty. I swallow my disappointment. I knew the odds were small, but I had been hoping for a sight of The Star of India, or at least one of the lifeboats. But there’s nothing. The huge, seemingly endless expanse of ocean drives home just how alone I really am. If any of my party survived, they’ve come ashore somewhere beyond my sight.
I crawl slowly toward a small clump of leafy shrubs that offers me at least some concealment and push myself up into a sitting position. I’ve been so consumed with getting off the beach that I haven’t really given any thought about what to do next. Well, I’m off the beach now, so it’s time to decide, no matter how futile any decisions might seem.
I guess a good place to start is by fi
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Leesa's Advent Chapter 497
The road in front of me has disappeared, swallowed up by a giant landslide. Tons of rock, dirt and other debris have come crashing down from the steep hillside, completely covering the highway. Green, stringy weeds and small plants sprout up from the soil, telling me the slide occurred several years ago, at the least. It would take a team of bulldozers to clear the way, and there are no bulldozers anywhere in sight.This section of road is one that skirts the very edge of the cliffs, so there’s no going around the blockage on the ocean side. I’m either going to have to climb the ridge to my right to find a way past it, or pick my way over the remains of the landslide. Neither looks like a particularly appetizing alternative.The hill above the road is bare and almost vertical for the first twenty feet or so. Above that, the terrain is steep and seems to be more thickly wooded than any I’ve passed so far. Maybe that’s just because for the first time I’m seriously considering trying to
Leesa's Advent Chapter 498
I’m standing face to face with a monster. It’s a giant lizard-like creature that looks something like a cross between an iguana and a crocodile. The beast is twenty feet long if it’s an inch, with a long, tapering tail making up more than a third of its length. Thick, slimy green scales cover its body. Four short, bent legs lift it a foot or so off the ground, but its arched back and thick neck raise its elongated snout higher than my waist. The huge head is fully as large as my torso, and a two-pronged red tongue darts in and out between twin rows of yellow, dagger-like teeth. The thing has positioned itself diagonally across the road, blocking it completely.Whether this is a creature that came through a portal from There or is simply a mutant from my own world doesn’t matter. Its bulbous eyes are fastened directly on me, with a look I can only describe as hungry. I hold my machete in front of me, gripped tightly in both hands. The weapon seems puny
Leesa's Advent Chapter 499
The sun is beginning to sink low in the sky. I’m guessing I’ve got maybe an hour of daylight left—enough time to cover two or three more miles before I’ll have to start looking for a safe place to spend the night. “Safe” being a very relative term out here in the wilds, of course.In one section of the western sky, the high clouds have been twisted by upper level winds into an angry-looking vortex of gray and white. At least I hope the clouds have been shaped by high winds. The alternative is a giant Anomaly about to open in the sky and spew forth dangerous monsters. While flying creatures are rare, they’re not unheard of. Rocs and wyverns have been seen by people I’ve talked to, and tales are told of fire-breathing dragons, though no one I know has ever encountered one of those.Speaking of monsters, the reptile creature has still not appeared at the bottom of the hill, for which I’m profoundly grateful. With luck,
Leesa's Advent Chapter 500
I quickly drift off to sleep. Not surprisingly, my sleep is filled with nightmares, each one more terrifying than the last. The visions are incredibly vivid: snarling werebears surround me in an ever-tightening circle; a giant roc ensnares me in its talons and carries me to its mountaintop nest; fearsomely ugly ogres tie me to a spit and begin roasting me over a blazing fire. The dreams all have the same thing in common—I’m about to meet some horrifying doom. I sure hope that my as yet unrevealed Power doesn’t turn out to be precognition!I wake up in the middle of the ogre vision, my heart racing and my body covered in sweat. Opening my eyes to utter blackness only adds to my terror. For a few panic-filled moments, I have no idea where I am and why I can’t see anything. I only barely manage to catch myself before I let loose a scream for help.I force myself to draw in slow, deep breaths of cold night air. They were only dreams, I remind myself
Leesa's Advent Chapter 501
My heart sinks. From where I stand, it looks like there’s no way across the gap in the bridge. I turn my gaze inland. The fold in the topography is deep and cuts far back into the hillside. Climbing down the sheer sides of the ravine and then back up would be much too dangerous, which means I’d have to go around it. I can’t tell for certain, but it looks like I’d have to travel a mile or more out of my way, through the woods and up and over the hill, before turning back down to the road on the other side.That’s a detour I’d prefer not to take. I decide to make a closer examination of the broken section of road first. Maybe there’s a way across the break that I can’t see from here.Once again, I carefully check my surroundings before exposing myself to view out on the bridge. I don’t see anything moving anywhere, and the only sound I hear is the faint crashing of the ocean upon the rocks far below me to my left.
Leesa's Advent Chapter 502
MEANWHILERadar watched helplessly as the slimy tentacle pulled Plush and Lights down into the water. Jordy was firing his rifle into the ocean beneath them, keeping his aim low enough to avoid hitting their two friends but hoping to wound the invisible monster below so it would release them.It didn’t work. The two Miracles disappeared beneath the surface.“Nooooo!” Radar screamed, her heart breaking.Suddenly, the tentacle holding Plush and Lights broke through the water and shot back up toward the ship. For a moment, Radar didn’t understand—why would the creature be returning her friends to the boat? Then she realized she was seeing exactly the same thing she had just witnessed, only in reverse. She turned her head and saw Rerun beside her, his features etched tight with concentration. He was winding back time to rescue their friends!As soon as Plush and Lights were standing on the deck again, Rada
Leesa's Advent Chapter 503
Lieutenant Gregerson smiled. Not only had the cut disappeared completely, but he was no longer feeling dizzy. It was as if the injury had never happened.“Thank you,” he said.He looked toward the lifeboat, but the vessel was now out of sight over the edge of the ship. Four sailors still strained at the thick ropes that held the boat, so he knew it had not yet been lowered into the water. It had to be close, though.“C’mon,” he said to the Miracles. “I think our transportation is almost ready.”He led them across the deck. They reached the broken railing just in time to see the lifeboat land with a loud splash onto the surface of the ocean. The boat came dangerously close to capsizing when it hit the water, but it managed to stay afloat.Three of the sailors maintained their hold on the ropes, while the fourth draped a heavy net over the side of the ship and then used the netting to climb down into the life
Leesa's Advent Chapter 504
Thirteen pairs of eyes scanned the ocean as the lifeboat glided slowly eastward. Only the four men rowing the skiff did not peer intently across the gently rolling sea—they concentrated on dipping the oars into the water as smoothly and quietly as possible.No one looked harder than Radar. Searching the surface of the blue-green water desperately for some sign of her best friend, she wished that her Power enabled her to detect the other Miracles as easily as she detected the appearance of an Anomaly. Her eyes were no better than anyone else’s, though—heck, she hadn’t even seen Leah fall overboard. She silently cursed herself for her failure. Had she been more alert, she could have done something to try to rescue Leah.The tears that welled up in her eyes from time to time didn’t help, either. So far, she had managed to keep them from overflowing and running down her cheeks, but as her heart grew heavier with every passing minute, she didn&
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