. I stared down at a forty five degree angle at the tower ruin. I had communicated with her only yesterday, so I still had a clear impression of her mind, and I knew she was down there. So I hardened my thoughts and addressed her sternly, with all the spiritual pressure I could bring to bear. Áne of the …

. “No more than a thousand troops in the town?” Major Torset was giving me a look that was between disbelief and confusion. I read that as meaning that he didn’t believe he had heard me correctly. “Or within three miles of it, Major,” I stated, then stressed, “I cannot say it strongly enough, this is for their safety. The …

. I woke up in a cold sweat, because the combination of the passage back through the spiritual realm and the frightening revelations I had received there had thrown me into a nightmare during my return. Fan Li had feared something would happen, so she had wrapped the vital memories under spiritual seals that would protect them from distortion. And …

. The scenery as I awoke looked nothing like the Dorian bedroom that I fell asleep in. Oddly, the futon and cover were present though, and the same buckwheat pillow supported my head. But the ceiling had somehow become the stars of a gentle spring night sky. Looking to the side, a well-kept lawn within an ancient brick wall spread beyond …

. Lady Chiara, as she had demonstrated back at Taihimel’s small world, was not a bad cook. The pantry and the larder were well stocked, and she had managed to produce a decent dinner. But… “There doesn’t seem to be any bread, I’m afraid,” she apologized, as she presented rice noodles instead. “I suppose that’s to be expected. People around …

. I had not gone in with an expectation I would be carrying Dilorè out. I admit, that wasn’t wise, since she had not only gone incommunicado when she went in, but also, Lucy had not been able to reach her before the green-haired dryad’s defenses shooed her away. I should have had a contingency plan for if Dilorè wasn’t …

. I dumped extra Darkness from my core into my Vampire Cloak to intensify it, and extra Wind into my [Flight] skill to propel me upward faster. The attack made no adjustment as it shot under me, but I could not tell if that meant the attacker couldn’t see me, or the attack couldn’t be adjusted. It was a magic …

. We had already criss-crossed the frontier forest itself as a pair, since the likeliest location of the danger was the nearest reaches of the wilderness. Having found nothing, we were tackling the larger region of the Highlands themselves. I flew beyond the hummock-broken sea of trees into the craggy hills westward, while Dilorè flew east. The crags below had …

This is an author’s note, not a chapter, so it isn’t locked. It’s ‘Chapter CCC’ as in Roman Numeral Three Hundred. The real Chapter 300 will post immediately after this item. As I mentioned before, I’m planning another series set on Huade once I’m done with “Substitute Hero”. I have a clear idea of what the character and the circumstances …

. It’s a fine day for flying, My Lady, Durandal commented as I ascended. He was absolutely right. The mid-morning air was warm and the blue sky held only thinly scattered white tufts of cotton. If not for the soldiers constructing stockade walls, the setting would be a perfect pastoral spring day. It is, I agreed, but I have a …