The Dark Hills Divide by Patrick Carman

Author:Patrick Carman
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Published: 0100-12-31T22:00:00+00:00

to enjoy the questionable benefits of speaking with animals." Ander took a moment to look over at Yipes with a nod and a wink, and then he continued.

"I said before that a stone was taken by someone other than Yipes or the convicts. That person set a stone right where you've just set yours, and it glowed like a small but glorious orange sun at the tail end of a hot day.

Can you guess who might have sat where you sit now, Alexa?"

I thought for a moment about the possible answers to the question, but I was sure I knew whom Ander was talking about.

"Warvold," I said.

"Absolutely! It was none other than Mr. Warvold himself, the great adventurer. Would you like to hear what his stone revealed about his future?"

I nodded and he leaned forward over the table, the green glow from my stone wafting through his bushy fur with a watery glow.

"Warvold's stone revealed that one day terrible forces from this enchanted land would rise up and cause the destruction of everything he had created," said Ander. "He took this to mean that dark monsters lived out here and would someday enter his kingdom and kill everyone. But he badly misread the meaning of his future."

"He was mistaken, just like he told me," I interjected. "When he sat with me that last night with our backs against the wall, he told me he'd gotten it all wrong." My

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head was reeling as I tried to put it all together. "His future wasn't about dark enchanted monsters at all. He made his own monsters, then let them loose in The Dark Hills to "

"Now don't get too far ahead of yourself, Alexa. You're only half right. Allow me the indulgence of giving you the whole story, if you would," said Ander. "When Warvold was told about his future, he was terrified for his wife, Renny, and all the people streaming into Lunenburg. He was beside himself with grief. We tried to explain to him that the Jocasta could be misinterpreted to mean something it did not, and we assured him that we knew of no evil monsters lurking about."

"Did you say Jocasta?" I asked.

"Yes. That's what the messages etched on the stones are called," Ander replied.

"How much did Renny Warvold have to do with all this?"

'A lot, and she was smarter than you can imagine. She brought the enchanted stones here. She started everything." Ander hunched his enormous back up and let out a low rumbling growl. "I'm not as young as I once was, and we're approaching my bedtime," he said absentmindedly. "Where was I? Oh, yes when Warvold returned to Lunenburg he hatched a plan to build a wall before there was any further expansion. He added more guards I and made the arrangement with the leaders in Ainsworth. Everything went as planned, and during the span of the

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next several years Warvold completed not one but three walled roads, along with three new walled principalities. By the time he'd

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