Tag: novel

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“You do? You know a cure?” Rain said quietly, feeling hope grow inside of her again. She looked over at Shea. “Can he hear us?”

“I can tell he fights the Soulblight. Something deep inside him is trying to hear us. That is the part of him I will try to communicate with. It will be difficult to cure, as he is so far along. And I will need something from you. Please, tell me why you have come to the Dark Wood.”

Rain hesitated. …

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“It’s been three days since you decided to find the Dark Wood by yourself,” Shea complained as they set off from their night’s rest. “Aeraldor said it was a week’s journey, and now it has been a week since we left Belmaeron and we haven’t found the lake.”

“We lost the map! Don’t expect us to get there when we had planned.”

Rain had grown increasingly worried about Shea’s new personality. Aeraldor’s description of the Soublight’s symptoms kept running through her head. Shea was constantly …

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Shea clicked his tongue and his horse surged ahead. Rain followed, watching him struggle to keep the black horse from cantering. She looked behind and saw Whiskey and Aeraldor disappear behind the thick tree trunks.

They continued silently at a brisk trot, Shea doing his best to keep Ahearn from cantering. The thin undergrowth allowed for easy traveling. The great trees of Ellwood stood around them like pillars holding up the heavens, and birds trilled in the treetops.

Shea’s horse continued to act strangely, and …

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Rain entered the protective bubble of air and felt a strange chill go through her body. As soon as she was through, she could see everyone in the chairs around the table. Everything outside of the small area was blurry.

She recognized the king, and a beautiful elf sat next to him with her hand on his, who had to have been the Queen. Aeraldor and Rowena were there. Beside them were a dryad and a faerie, the former with deep green leaves for hair …

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She found another stairway leading to the ground level of Belmaeron and followed it, excitement building inside her. Elves, as she remembered from the legends she knew, were known as the best archers on the other side of the Fangs. She wondered what she hoped to do without a bow, but it didn’t dampen her anticipation.

The clangs of steel on steel, the shouts of orders being given and received, and the hammering of what she guessed was a forge echoed in the distance. Amid …

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As they traveled on the fourth day, the trees seemed to become thicker, like massive pillars holding up a roof of leaves. Gnarled branches reached into the sky far over their heads. The sun dappled the soft forest floor with speckles of light, and the air was alive with birds and insects.

Around noon, the pungent aroma of blacksmiths, cooking fires, and other city smells wafted around them. Rain sensed they were nearing a city, but couldn’t see any sign of one yet.

“Halt.” From …

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“I can’t believe it,” Shea said.

The three of them stopped their horses before the gate that led to the Pass of Hearn, over the Fangs. It was clearly made to keep things out, as it didn’t even appear to have a lock or a way to open. It was one solid piece of steel, different than the gates at the front of the city.

And it was blasted open.

“How does someone just open a gate like this?” the lieutenant continued, walking his horse …

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It took them the better part of the next day to arrive at Highgate. The tall gates of the mountain pass city stood across a clearing. The city was beyond, and on the far side of the city was another pair of gates before the Pass of Hearn. They towered even higher, sealing the way through the pass. The Fangs of Grunae loomed above them, their jagged peaks stabbing the sky. Dark gray clouds rolled in from across the mountains, their edges stained the rusty …

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Outside it was cold and foggy, the morning light beginning to peek through the cloudy sky. When she saw Pan saddled and bridled, Rain hurried to his side and rubbed his nose, leaning in close to appreciate her old friend. When she saw the other two were already mounting their horses, she hurriedly strapped the saddlebags to Pan’s back and hopped on, following behind Whiskey. Shea brought up the rear. Rain pulled up her cloak’s hood as they went down the stone roads of Fairfield, …

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It was true that she was a little curious about the lieutenant. How did he know about craetons? Had he come from Willshire and seen the destruction, too? She headed for one of the two cushy armchairs in front of the fire and sat down with a long sigh. Her legs ached from the long ride on the saddle. The lieutenant sat in the chair next to her, rubbing his hands together in front of the flames. He looked at her again but she refused …