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Two Years Ago

Hannah Two

Hannah cautiously made her way through the flames. The fire made it almost impossible to see where she was going and there was little rock or soil for her to extend her earth affinity through. Her tertiary fire affinity was barely enough to keep the flames from burning her, so even that couldn’t help her. Whatever danger was here might well be on top of her before she was aware of it.

A scream from just ahead caught her attention; that must be why she was here. She paused and was trying to work out which direction it came from when she heard another one She set off towards it, scurrying from tree to fiery tree until she came to a clearing. Read the rest of this entry »

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Two Years Ago

Hannah One

Hannah slipped into the kitchen while her mother wasn’t looking, filched a carving knife and concealed it in her left sleeve. Who knew how soon she’d be grabbed and she might need to defend herself before the others could reach her. She grabbed a packet of crisps to cover her absense and returned to the lounge.
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Two Years Ago

Esen Peak Three

“Prince Alban! I am so sorry for your loss.” A statuesque sylph greeted them at the shattered doors of Esen Peak’s central palace. “You’re lucky; we’ve recovered his body.”

“That’s lucky? Karen asked sharply. She still had one arm protectively around her heart friend’s shoulders.

“When dragons are involved, yes,” the sylph replied equably. “We saw dragons taking away some of the fallen. They wouldn’t bother if they were dead, so where there isn’t a body we have to assume they’ve been captured. It doesn’t bear thinking about.” She shuddered briefly. “We didn’t find many bodies.” Read the rest of this entry »

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Two Years Ago

Esen Peak Two

“A training exercise?” Karen rose to her feet and glared at the girl angrily. “Do you have any idea how many people you’ve killed here?”

“No,” the girl said cheerfully. “And I don’t especially care. Gerian-mirian says they’re our enemies and that if we came here and made a big mess, you’d come so we could get the measure of you.” As she spoke a sword appeared in her hand. She leapt from her perch and dove at Karen in a cloud of sparkling ice. Read the rest of this entry »

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Two Years Ago

Esen Peak One

Karen couldn’t help the moan that escaped her when they emerged into the sylph city of Esen Peak. It lay in the crater of an extinct volcano and must have been a beautiful place before the attack – but now it was a smoldering wreck. Once tall towers and delicate bridges of obsidian had been shattered and corpses were strewn in the rubble-filled streets. Only a few dazed survivors were wandering among them.

“Shit!” Jason burst out. “What the hell happened here?” Karen looked over and saw he had gone pale. “I’ve never heard of something like this before.” Read the rest of this entry »

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Two Years Ago

Arrival Two

Kyle tensed up and Karen felt a surge of near panic from his mind at Sean’s words. From the startled look which flitted across Sean’s face, he’d felt it as well.

“Are you really that afraid that I’ve been telling you the truth all along, Kyle?” he asked mildly.

“What do you mean, Laverne,” Kyle snarled.
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Side Story Three

Two Years Ago

Arrival One

Karen chatted to her father as they walked down the hill towards the Storm Palace. Since he was officially her sponsor, no one thought anything of it. They had to be careful not to say anything that might give their true relationship away, of course, but it was still nice to have a chance to talk to him. Especially with what was coming. Read the rest of this entry »

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Two Years Ago

Preperations

Waiting was the hardest part, Karen decided as she studied the familiar coloured lines on the wooden floor of the school gym. It really shouldn’t be taking this long to send them on their way. They’d known the Core was calling for them for nearly three weeks, which had been plenty of time for the headmaster at Brierthorne to identify who it was after and arrange supplies. They were supposed to leave today but instead all hell, in the form of Hannah’s mother, had broken loose. Read the rest of this entry »

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Hiding Place

Epilogue

The first weekend that Matthias got home to the house he had bought for Sonia and the kids – through a large number of intermediaries – he found her digging up a large chunk of the lawn while the kids ran riot on a swing set and slide which had appeared since he moved them in.

“Daddy!” Karen spotted him first and ran across the garden towards him with the other three in her wake. Pretty soon he had four toddlers attached to him like limpets. Read the rest of this entry »

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Hiding Place

Part 4

Matthias found it hard to concentrate on work the next day. His mind kept going back to Sonia and the kids and how he would hide them.  He didn’t realise how distracted he was until his brother James slammed a folder down on to his desk making him jump.
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