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Vol.7, Ch.3, P.11

Bursting free from the forest, the Decke outriders raced ever onwards to Merkulov. Looking far yonder, they saw the school as it sat encircled by fields of cotton, like an island lost upon a frosted sea. But within that school, whence before had risen a single plume of smoke from the steeple tower, there now fumed a second from the sprawling centre. The company urged their horses on.

Down a hillside their way now ran, before delving into another dell up ahead. Wary of another waylay, they sharpened their senses, steadied their steeds, and gripped their weapons. But when they turned a bend, the van hailed all those behind to halt, for they had found parked suspiciously upon the path ahead a waggon.

“Hn…?”

Volker’s gaze strained at the strangeness as he reined in his horse. The waggon