Tag: novel

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“Damien?” Whiskey said in disbelief.

Rain could only stare in hatred, thinking of how he’d killed Arok’Amon.

“Oh that’s right,” the Demonmaster hissed. “You don’t know yet, do you, Wizard? It’s Dar’Quath.”

Taking advantage of his surprise, Dar’Quath threw his hands forward at Whiskey, who immediately dropped to his knees, shouting in agony.

Her uneasiness at hurting another being with magic vanished at the sight of Whiskey in pain. Remembering their previous fight, she gathered red energy in her palms and quickly released a bolt at Dar’Quath. She …

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They raced across the plains at a gallop with Maruck and Gralin in the lead and Tamrin and Rain following close behind. The clouds looked much like they had when she first came: dark and foreboding. The stale smell from before was also there, blown around by the wind. They’d make it to the door in time, but she was worried that the rain would come before the soldiers could return to Dolmeria.

They took one stop for water. To her surprise, Maruck took an …

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Once they returned to the healer’s home, the guards left for their barracks and Faramond went back to the Crone to tell her what had happened. Rain sat at the table with another cup of tea. Lynara stood at her book stand, pouring over the book an elf had died for.

Rain tried not to think about what had happened and sipped the aromatic tea for something to do. As she drank the last of her cup, she looked over at Lynara, who hadn’t budged …

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Outside, the wind howled and sent cold gusts rippling through their clothes as they rushed forward. Thunder rumbled overhead. A flash of lightning was visible in the distance, and in that brief second of light, black clouds churned.

“Quickly, Great Mother! We don’t have much time until the rain starts!” Faramond yelled above the noise of the storm. They all picked up their pace.

They followed him to an enormous building along the outside ring of the plaza. The front doors were two or three …

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Rain moved backward at the last moment, and for a split second she felt the awful, piercing pain. But Dar’Quath hadn’t expected her move and fell forward, losing his concentration. Seizing her small window of opportunity, she ran to the back of the room to the door.

Rough hands on her shoulders spun her around and pushed her against the door. Dar’Quath forced his hand around her throat, not quite choking her, but not letting her look away from his eyes, dark pits of fear. …

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Rain clutched Pan’s reins in a death grip as they descended the steep switchbacked path into the darkness below. Despite the rough bark of the torch, she held it tightly in her other hand. The incessant noise of hundreds of ravens chilled her to the bone as they hurried down the winding slope for the cover of the trees.

A small group of the birds seemed to be catching up to them. Pan nearly tripped as he rushed on, barely slowing at each switchback turn, …

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She worked through the first room of twenty in just a couple of hours, working on dryads and faerie folk, along with a few elves. It was just a trickle of energy per patient, but she eventually felt fatigue begin to steal over her. She knew, though, it was good for her to be exercising her yellow energy. It meant that in the future she could have a larger store of the energy. She pushed herself since she wasn’t exhausted yet, and offered to work …

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Rain drifted in and out of consciousness. At times in the haziness of waking, she felt a bitter, warm liquid slide down her throat or a cool cloth on her forehead. Time slipped by unnoticed. It could have been a few minutes or a few days.

A warm hand on her brow awakened her. Her eyes fluttered open. She could finally see clearly, and her thinking was unclouded. It was as if the dark veil had been lifted. She opened her eyes and saw she …

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When they reached the second level, the guard led them across platforms and walkways to a more central staircase to the third level. A few minutes later, they arrived at their familiar rooms in the trunk of a massive tree.

The guard opened the door and stuck his head inside. The hushed talking coming from inside stopped.

“Rain and Shea are back, sir,” he said, then nodded his head in respect.

There was a short silence, and then she heard Whiskey’s voice. “Well, send them …

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Unanswered questions ran rampant through Rain’s mind. As the darkness of night pressed in around her, she feared that she would forget the Goddess’ prophecy. She closed her eyes and concentrated, thinking of the first line, which she remembered. She said it aloud, and as soon as she did so, she recalled the second line. As she ran through each line in her head, she remembered the next one. Somehow, the Goddess must have etched the words into her mind so she would never forget …