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When they left the ar soldier ran up to Bruns and handed hi "They’re ready for you, sir"

"Wonderful"

Bruns led him outside the co a mere foot away Unfortunately, the null shield re Only one way to find out, but he’d wait until he was alone to strip

Now the air held the faint scent of the sea The Jewelrose clan did have a thumb-shaped bit of land that extended into the Jade Sea And, if he remembered correctly, the area was rather isolated In fact, just north of it was the Lion’s Claw Peninsula, where the Bloodrose cult had lived for years in relative obscurity, until Opal discovered their illegal activities and stopped the a pasture with a wooden fence, Bruns halted A forest lined the north and west sides Dozens of soldiers crouched on the southern side

"Watch this," Bruns said He leaned against the fence and waved the flag Gesturing to the soldiers now clih the wooden rails, he said, "That’s one of our platoons And in the woods is a mock Ixian army about the same size"

When the platoon reached the halfwayinto the soldiers, they stopped inan invisible barrier, and dropped to the ground The platoon increased their pace Two people called ene archers

Within minutes the platoon had penetrated the forest and captured the Ixian soldiers

Bruns beahting alongside soldiers?"

Leif tried hard not to get swept up in Bruns’s enthusiasm But damn That was one hell of an impressive de?" I asked Fisk With all the bad news, it was nice to hear soood

Fisk shot to his feet as if he needed to move He paced behind his couch "Five of the and dying, they ca around your headquarters, are you sure they’re still safe?" Janco leaned forward in his chair

"Yes But the requests have stopped, and I fear he’s responsible"

Iand four dead ht, if we count Leif," Ari said

My heart squeezed Leif wouldn’t become a statistic I’d make sure of that

"And they’re just the ones we know about," Fisk said "It’s not like they all work for the Council or the Master Magicians They’re spread over the eleven clans of Sitia"

"Who would know if there are ?" Ari asked