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"Perhaps we should discuss ill happen toested softly

Jack was conscious of overwhels and arms like millstones Or maybe it was the ares of the men he’d killed, as if they were painted on his eyelids So he struggled to keep his eyes open, blinking against the dust and sweat and blood caked on his face

He was looking for his co his last one-on-one with a wizard ouldn’t go down By the time he’d finished hi the trees, in a wood littered with bodies and watered with blood

And so hefor the telltale clash of ht But nothing Even the birds had left that desolate place hours ago, understanding that it was no place for living things It’s a peculiarity oftoward death The only other creatures who don’t flee a killing field are the scavengers who come after the fact

On all sides lay the detritus of terrible endings Or heroic endings The results looked the saed with ancient trees, many of them charred and splintered and broken, as yet unaware they were doo fistfuls of leaves into a brilliant blue sky Stone buildings ringed the green on all sides

The coently tugged at Jack’s ar his fist at her, and she captured it between her two hands, forcing it down onto the pillow "Jack, you’re drea, cut it out!"

His body bucked and twisted as he tried to free hiold hair was sluiced across the pillow, daible

"Co up the whole house!" Man, he’s strong, she thought, unable to resist a little professional envy

Another near lass from the bedside table and sloshed the contents into his face

He surged into a sitting position, spluttering, groping for his belt dagger Good thing he didn’t have it, or she ht have been skewered before he carasp, slid to the floor, and retreated a few yards aatching him

Finally, his bleary blue eyes cleared and focused on her "What the … ?"

"You were drea half the night Nobody can sleep"

He stared at her as if she were a ghost It was unnerving

"I was elected to corouchy Don’t take a weapon to bed, is my advice"

"Ellen," he whispered hoarsely, "I killed the them palms up, as if they were covered in blood

"You killed who?" Ellen asked, but Jack didn’t seee of the bed "Come on It was just a dream"

With that he threw back the covers and erupted fro his duffle bag froh the debris of clothes and cae

He sat down next to Ellen on the bed and ripped away the leather with treraved with dragons and other fantastical ilass with a desperate intensity

"Wow, that’s cool," Ellen said, coh Jack’s hair, which stuck out in all directions "What does it do?" She leaned close so she could see "Is it e that looked like a battlefield Only familiar

"Is that no-man’s-land?" she asked

A lone warrior stood at the center of the field, the sunlight striking his red-gold hair, head bowed, cradling a comrade in his arms And all around him lay the fallen--warriors froear and weapons appropriate to their time

"That’s you," Ellen said "What’s itit across the rooainst the wall, and dropped behind the dresser

Chapter Thirty-two Don’t Look Back

Madison Moss had long agothat narrow focus on goals Not that there wasn’t a price Sometimes she wondered if she was doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past, since she’d trained herself not to look back at it

But Maddie was, first and foremost, a survivor Beyond that, she’d protect the ones she loved Whatever it took That, at least, gave her direction

So, for now, she could set aside wondering what had happened at Bryson Faro Institute of Art and Seph McCauley

Set aside Warren Barbers threats