A flash of tiny bright dots blinded Merryn from the cast spell. As she rubbed them, the coins in the enchanted pouch bulged on her hip. A twinge of guilt surfaced for taking it from that dolt. Besides, the man still had his other coin bag. She clutched it giving it a squeeze, it stretched out and slimmed back down; compressing its contents.
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The port and the book were at opposite ends of the city, hopefully, the map would have a few shortcuts marked on it. Paved jade streets, and marble lined walls bled of status and wealth. She found this city elegant by human standards, though it did nothing but remind her of how she didn't belong. This truth became magnified from the disdainful looks of the men and women who passed by. Each haughty face and glare were as subtle as a kick in the gut.
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She frowned. It was bad enough having to learn the darker arts let alone be dumped into this human city. Couldn't blame the Elder Adapts, they were already pushed past their limit keeping everyone at home from succumbing to the dark-ones.
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She breathed in a few times. It was hard calling him but had to be done.
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"Feared Kage, pull the shadows and wrap them tight, with a kiss of the night," she whispered.
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It took concentration to will the shadows to come. The coolness flowed over, starting at her feet. It spread to her torso, over her face and hair stopping as it reached her long ears.
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With a flick of a hand, the pouch slipped into her vest where it vanished from sight. Majestic trees provided cool shade between the homes. She edged away from the light; the sun shafts would break the spell. She edged away and pressed to a wall weaving between the homes working her way forward.
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Crouched down, she breathed slow and even. Soft pink petals floated to the ground and carpeted the streets. People sat under them, chatting and-ignorant.
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The petals created a false sense of serenity to the city, it masked the evil here, contained in a fragile cage; the magics within weakening.
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The shadows moved of their own; wavering up the sides up against the buildings. A thin tail lead back to the castle; it hugged the sides of the walls and buildings as it trickled back. The humans couldn't see them. It was not the shade or shadows that made her shiver. Was it still awake?
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She worked her way towards the back-end of the city; the elite lived here in their white houses, decorated with paintings of the spirits. While most other houses had the spirit of water, this one had three fish heads encircling each other. Along the edges of the houses, the blue foamy waves crested over the doorway, offering peace and blessings to those who resided or visited.
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She padded closer, her footsteps but of a whisper; her outline, but a shadow. The hidden spell absorbed the darkness around her wrapping her from view.
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She stopped, crouching near the outer castle wall. That old woman had lied! A seer still patrolled the castle. This could be a problem as some could see those in shadow.
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She padded forward in the alleyways and through the large gardens, hiding behind the various plants as needed. Crouched low as possible, she sprinted to the house ahead.
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A group of overdressed women walked past. How could they breathe in those tight-ribbed girdles? She pulled in a breath and forced her breathing to quiet while she crouched against the wall. Come on, move your slow-moving frilly butts. As soon as they passed, she tiptoed closer to the castle.
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The magic of The Hidden was fragile; she avoided the shafts of light. The only place still in shadow was a thin line of shadow along the wall right where the guards patrolled. The energy barrier it was a problem, as long as it was there it would be impossible to slip past the guards.
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Two guards stood in slick black armor; spears they held were longer than even her own people's. The honed tips towered over the guards' heads. Their jawlines next to their noses that ended at a sharp angle, unlike their wit.
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She slunk her way past them going around the corner. She slid her pack off under the window ledge. Opening it, she took out a rope tied to a grappling hook. She tossed the hook up, and it clanked on the window edge.
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She pulled the rope taut to make it secure and then bound up the wall. She boosted over it and dropped in through the window. It was dark in here and this activated her night vision. The object's borders stood out as bright gray lines.
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She dropped to the floor on all fours; the hallway cleared and she streaked through it while hugging the wall.
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The patrolling guards had grown lazy most likely as it had been here for decades. Slipping past them was the easy part. The cold wall cut through the leather armor as she pressed against it. Come on, hurry up.
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A blondy guard played with a coin end over end on top of his knuckles, flipping it to the other. The other patrolling guard came up talking to the first. The discussion became heated, and he pushed the blondy, who dropped the coin.
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She moved forward and ended up doing a half somersault back where she was before, as the blondy guard doubled back to pick up the coin. He finally left and went down the hallway.
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Checking the map, the room was close. The open archway entrance had four pillars, two near her and the others in the back of the room. It seemed too easy. There had to be a trap; there always was.
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In the middle of the room was a glass case surrounded by several locks on each side. It glowed with sealing runes. The hovering runes pulsed a faint purple, and the ancient words uncoiled as she neared:1073Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5m4m7gqo2P
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"Turn back now! They that shall break the seal of these ancient texts will wish for a swift death and know only torment, their bodies know not decay nor know of release, the soul bound forever between both worlds."
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There it is; they had hidden the trap well. She held her hand over the case. She whispered a quick detection spell. It was still in there. Now to work on the runes. She rummaged through the many pouches strung on her belt and pulled the handkerchief out, leaned over, and dropped it in the case.
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The handkerchief exploded into flames the moment it neared the runes. Her ears rang and buzzed. Were the guards coming? The buzz stopped, and it was quiet. The building filled with a grating, high-pitched tinned alarm. The case rattled from the impact when each ward exploded in turn.
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"Uarrg!" She covered her ears.
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Ignoring the alarm, she pulled the thieves' tools from another pouch. Five locks along the edge of the case surrounded its total. She picked the locks one at a time and gingerly held each one by its sides.
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Her hands flew over the locks as footsteps echoed in the corridor.
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Sweat trickled into an eye. I have to work faster. A finger slipped over the seventh lock, and the pick almost dropped. Quit messing up; focus on the last one, hurry!
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After opening the eighth lock, a hidden spring popped from within. A sharp hook brushed over a thumb. She whipped her hand away with a snapping motion. The hook dripped with a dull green liquid; the fumes that puffed up made her dizzy. The lock clanged on the marble.
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There's no time for this! Her silver daggers rang out of their sheaths. They whirred them hilt side up and shattered the glass case in the middle. The thick book flopped as she shook it. She crammed it inside her leather vest; it was a tight fit. Over at the window ledge, she climbed and secured the grappling hook. She started to work her way down.
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"Thief!"
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She spun around. A guard had entered and now was standing next to the broken case.
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He seized the rope and yanked her back up. He leaned his face nearer, and his bushy eyebrows came up to her forehead.
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"Um, hea-hi." She tugged on the rope, without looking away.
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He growled, glaring at her, and hefted her closer. "Hand it over. It's pointless keeping it now."
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Spittle flew from his mouth, and landed on her cheek, she leaned back further pulling away, she took a peek it looked about 10 feet down, should make it.
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The other guards inched closer, she let go of the rope and balanced on the thin window ledge.
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"I've a better idea: I'll keep it while you go chew a mint leaf," she said. She winked.
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He dropped the rope, whipped his spear in his other hand and thrust it at her.
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She pulled her head back, behind was a pond with a tree beside it, it looked deep enough to cushion the shock of falling. Well, maybe. Olenus, please let me make it to the water.
She pushed off the wall with her feet and dived toward it. It was hard to judge from this high, her neck tensed up. She just missed a long tree back that stuck out over the pond, it brushed the top of her head on the way down. She slipped in the muck turning her ankle not enough to pop it, but it stung.1073Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9HhLWUgPo8
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"Swift of feet so death might pass by," she said, breathing a prayer to Aetae, the wind spirit.
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He came seconds later as sky blue wisp that circled around her. His touch a frosty cloak that rose from the tips of her toes as a spray until it reached the tips of her ears.
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He held four transparent fingers up.
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She nodded back. Yes, four more times. Her body vibrated with power. Ignore the pain, go! She went through the city streets, weaving about the people who wandered the city.
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Rushing by the men and women caused dresses to go over their heads and hats to fly off. As she swooshed past, everything became long blurred lines.
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Over fifty other guards came storming outside standing in front of the castle.
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She swerved into a dead-end on the right. Well, that's just great.
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Their footfalls boomed behind her.
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She walked a little further down. A grime encrusted sewer gate was at a dead end. She dropped through and just missed hitting her head on the bars and squeaked through them.
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Thick stench of dead animals rotting assaulted her. She breathed through her mouth, but this only made her taste it. Disgusting! I have to jump.
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Several feet below into the murky waters was a broken and crumbling crack in the wall.
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She managed to squeeze into a small storage room. Sitting on the dry dirt inside, she whispered a blessing to the light spirits, who granted her request. A luminous globe appeared.
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The small globe now hovered in the air, casting a bright glow. She licked her dry lips. After wrestling with it, she drew out the book from her vest.
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Was it still in here? She inspected its cover, tracing her fingers along the embedded runes in its leather cover. I could just leave it here and run.
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She sighed. That would only delay its coming. Better just get it to the other Adapts and let them take care of it.
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She strained at the strange glowing shapes on the pages. Setting the ancient book on her lap, she started reading.
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"What is light becomes of shadow," a soft voice said.
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Closing the book she backed away from where it hovered in the air. The illusion of safety fell away like stuck snow on her lashes, this wasn't just a simple pick up and deliver, it was awake, the god was awake.
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The pages flipped on their own. Something is wrong, really freakin' wrong. She edged away. The book flipped its pages, threefold the speed of seconds before.
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It stopped.
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They said nothing about this! Merryn twisted and vaulted out through the cracked section of the wall, her heartbeat erratic and her palms sweating.
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"Olenus, protect me."
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A shadow hard to see in the dark showed only in the sparse light that streamed out of the cracks in the walls. Squinting, it looked purplish. Parts of it wafted from the book's center and met with the rest. It came at her and wrapped around. She gasped, stumbled, and fell.
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She fell landing on her side. It clung to her body, and her face. With nothing to hold on to, her fingers passed, though. Merrlyn turned her head from side to side, but it followed her, curling around her face tighter. She wanted to scream, to run to be anywhere, but here.
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The shadow burned as it moved within her; she clawed at her throat with both hands. An awful burning sensation spread throughout her. She dropped to the ground, twisting in convulsions. Once they subsided, she stood up and leaned on the moldy decaying brick wall. This can't be right. They said it would stay in the book, that it was weak. She propped her hands on the wall. She slid down and sat trying to stop the shaking.
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Above her, the thunder of the city's guards shook the streets. Cripes, what if it's all of them? Sweat trickled down her neck, and she rubbed it. Now what to do? Stay here with it or go up there and-and ...
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She leaned over drawing in deep breaths. It was all so surreal. The next thing she knew, she was deeper in the sewers. Behind a ratty cloth mural of the city, a hidden stairwell leading back up. Calling the shadows again; no it wasn't worth being aged a week.
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Panting, she sprinted through several gardens. Following the city wall, she stayed in the shadows. Running towards it, she skidded several feet from the exit. Was there a trap?
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She turned around and climbed up the side of a house near the wall. She scampered off and jumped onto the wall edge. A guard came patrolling from underneath where she knelt. Don't look up, please.
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She held her breath, watching him while he patrolled the city wall. The guard turned the corner out of sight. Jumping she went into a roll before hitting the ground. A dark purple and black beam shot out from the city's middle.
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The hairs on her arms curled and smoked from the heat. She ran and stumbled into a shallow slope. I have to get away. After clawing up the loose soil, a fine pitched naeeee hit her ears. Turning back, the beam widened and engulfed three-fourths of the city.
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The same shadow that had gone into her had widened over the city and engulfed it. Shrieks and screams rang in her ears; within seconds the entire city melted to the ground.
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She plopped to the hard ground at the top of the slope in a heap, next to the road. For an unknown amount of time, she stared at where the city had been. Did they know this would happen?
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What have I done? Her body shook as she succumbed to the tears that streamed down her cheeks. Her sobs and tears flowed free like the spirits. The last few souls rose from the city and vanished. Her chest hurt, and her heart pit-a-pat with such force as if it would break through.
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Behind was the clop of horses hooves, a small group of soldiers on horseback. They stood, agape locked in place.
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It sucked the rubble down into a gaping hole; the earth surrounding the hole turned an ash gray twenty feet around it.
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The one in the lead spotted her. It was him. His features contorted into a hard-lined hateful darkness.
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"You," he bellowed over the field
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"I told you to leave!" He pointed his spear towards her.
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Teardrops blurred the man, all except for his piercing eyes, the color of a rusty blade. She bolted away; her panic swelled up and she ran on pure instinct.
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They changed course, turned the horses, and took chase.
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####
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That night from the burnt city's ruins, a multitude of vines emerged from the hole. At the edge of the hole, vines exploded out of the ground in a shower of rocks and dirt.
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They simultaneously pulled up on the earth with their thin roots. The vines circled the wreckage and crept over the grass where it spread out in a spiral pattern.
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