Free The Thirteenth Scroll by Rebecca Neason Page B

overtired mind giving too much freedom to her imagination.
    But all that she had felt and seen and heard defied logic. Though she hated to admit it, what she was doing was not only
right
, it was the only thing that could be done.
    Cloud-Dancer came over and laid his head across her knees. It was the signal to go outside they had established when he was
     still a pup. He gave a single plaintive whine, as he did when nature’s call was urgent. This time, however, Lysandra knew
     it was
her
call to which he was responding.
    “All right,” she told him as she ran her fingers through the ruff of thick silken fur that covered his head and neck, “we’ll
     go.”
    At her words, he stepped back. Even without her
Sight
she could picture him—the eager stance of his body, ears forward and tail high, the happy half-open way he held his mouth
     in the excited lupine version of a grin.
    Lysandra would trust his instincts; he would neverknowingly lead her into danger. But it took all of her resolve to walk away from her chair and over to the door, to swing
     her bag onto her shoulder and wrap her fingers around her walking stick.
    She wished she could share Cloud-Dancer’s joy for the adventure ahead. Instead, she continued to stand in the doorway, nearly
     paralyzed with the dread of going forward. The battle raged within her, between the fear of going and of staying, between
     the known and the uncontrollable.
    Lysandra held herself still a moment longer. Slowly, her
Sight
came to her and gifted her with a last look around the interior of her small cottage. Though she already knew it as well
     as life within her own skin, her heart memorized anew every part of it, as if afraid she would never see it again. Then, finally,
     she stepped out and firmly closed the door.
    I will not think of what I am leaving
, she told herself,
only of where I am going
. Still, when she reached her garden gate, she could not help but repeat the process. Her heart embraced every stand of flowers,
     clump of herbs and vegetables that fed her, the little table where she spread out crumbs for the birds, the stone bench where
     she so often sat in the warmth of the sun. All these, like the forest beyond, were so much a part of her that the thought
     of leaving them was like losing an arm or a leg—or her sight.
    Then, with a flash of memory so intense she automatically took a step backward, her mind filled with the vision of the man
     in the worn monk’s robes. Once more it seemed as if her garden was shaded in moonlight through which rich green light radiated.
     As if to spur her on her way, Lysandra felt an urgency coming from the man and from the odd cylindrical object he carried.
    Once again she saw the man’s eyes, so full of pain and pleading. For an instant they reminded Lysandra of the eyes of all
     the sick and injured animals she had helped over the years.
    But with that thought came the memory of the young shepherd and his sick ewe. Would she be just as ineffective this time?
     But if so, why would she feel this need to go? she wondered. If she was going to fail, why not stay here and let someone else
     answer this call?
    The intensity of the man’s gaze doubled, trebled, telling Lysandra that this was more than a memory. He opened his mouth;
     though her ears heard no sound, his voice filled her—mind and body—telling her that she could do what must be done.
    Lysandra bowed her head in defeat.
    Then, with a sigh, she turned away from this place that had healed her heart and given her a life once again and began her
     journey into the unknown—heading north to Ballinrigh.
    Studying Giraldus’s maps and marking out their journey had not proved as easy as Aurya anticipated, even with Tambryn’s scroll
     in hand. Aurya thought she had understood the many veiled phrases and metaphors, so that his directions would be easy to place
     on a map. But it took her two full days to accomplish what she thought would take only a couple of