Daniel Thompson
Stories
13
Chapters
4,688
Words
1.4 M
Comments
0
Reading
4 d, 20 h
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After a good night’s rest and after an afternoon spent laughing and chatting and being a bit silly, I wake up to find that I’m that last one out of bed for once. My friends are in the little lounge area, sipping at morning tea and working hard to keep Felix away from all of the biscuits. “Hey,” I say before sitting across from them on the last free seat. I stifle a yawn, blink a few times, then grab at the kettle that’s still steaming lightly. “So, what’re we going to get up to…-
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Bianca pauses in front of one shop in particular, her neck straining back as she looks up at the store’s name. It’s called Garmaments, and it’s probably one of the nicest shops I’ve seen in this city. “This is the place?” I ask. “It is,” Bianca says. “I’ve heard good things about this store. I haven’t had all that many opportunities to shop for myself until very lately. Would you mind if we spent some time here?” “I don’t see why we would,” I say with a grin. “We’re out…
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The girls and I walk into the weapon’s shop after making sure that there aren’t any Templars waiting for us inside. It wasn’t like being seen by a few Templars would be a huge problem. I don’t think most of them would be able to tell that we’re secretly working for Mom just at a glance. They’d need to ask us and then use their truth-hearing ability to discover that. But there’s also a small chance that any Templar we ran across was in Montele when we were. Or maybe they’ll have heard of…
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“Mom?” Valeria asked as she slipped into the room. It was one of those rooms adjoining the library, with another balcony (her mom really liked big scenic balconies) overlooking the exterior of the castle. Luciana stood by a lectern next to a large stained-glass window that depicted her (as a huge dragon for some reason) breathing purple fire onto some castle. Semper was next to her, standing very close. Maybe it was just Esme putting ideas in her head, but Valeria couldn’t help but notice how close…
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“Templars?” I ask. “What are they doing here?” “I dunno,” Felix says with a shrug. “I figured I should tell you before we run into a bunch of them. Might have a fight on our hands, you know?” “Let’s avoid that if we can,” I say. “Did you get any details? Did you see them yourself? How many are there? Come on, spill.” Felix shakes her head. “Bianca and me were talking to the old guy by the counter. He mentioned that a few templars came over yesterday to check on some books. I…
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“Where are we going first?” Felix asks. “If you mention a place that sells food, I’m going to smack you,” I say. She laughs and shakes her head. “Nah, I’ve had my fill for now. Really though, what are we going to check out first?” My friends and I gather ourselves up just outside the inn’s front door. The road around the inn is actually pretty quiet, at least up to the nearest intersection, then it becomes a busy street filled with a constantly moving throng of people. “Books?”…
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98 •
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I wake up at noon. It really blows. I’d much rather stay in bed and continue sleeping for a while, but I guess my body’s just... awake now. I turn over, tug up my blankets, and try hard to get back to sleep, but there’s nothing for it. I can’t even remember what my last dream was about. Sighing, I turn onto my other side, then blink my eyes a few times to clear out the crud in them. It’s pretty clear that I’m an inn room, a fairly nice one. There’s a vanity, an end table covered in careful…
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Luciana idly looked up as the serving monster slid into the room carrying a tray overflowing with freshly picked grapes, thin slices of cured meats that shone golden with the layer of honey lathered over them, wedges of aged cheese whose scent she could already detect in the air, and a large pitcher of ice-cooled wine. The monster carefully deposited the tray upon the table between her seat and Semper’s, bowed its head, then carefully backed out of the room while making as little noise as it was capable…
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I catch my first glimpse of the city as an orange glow in the sky ahead. It’s not hard to see it, not with the low clouds above, framed by a few glimmers of star light. The carts rattle and bang, the same as always but it feels as if they’re a lot louder now that it’s dark out. The sound carries strangely at night, and I can easily imagine there being eyes watching us pass from within the woods. Well, alright, there probably are eyes watching us in the woods. I’ve sent out some of my little…
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I watch as Esteban and Rafael move off to the side. They talk in quick, hushed whispered for a moment before Rafael steps away and gestures to the carts. “Boys, help them unload. Be quick about it, our lions here have a long road ahead of them.” Glancing up, I try to guess at the time, but it’s hard to tell. The fort’s walls are too tall to see the sun, but I know that its on its way down. It’ll be nightfall in maybe three hours or so. Assuming that it takes an hour to pitch camp, that’s only…
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