The Stars Below by David Baldacci

Author:David Baldacci [Baldacci, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fantasy
ISBN: 9781338263930
Amazon: B07CNQRKXG
Barnesnoble: B07CNQRKXG
Goodreads: 39980855
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Published: 2019-01-01T06:00:00+00:00

HE HAD GROWN tall and lean; his hair was long and dark, his eyes pinpoints of intensity.

My brother, John, came to stand before me. Now I had to look up to him for he was at least three inches taller than me.

I could not take my eyes off him, but in my peripheral vision I did note that all the others took a respectful step back from him and slightly bowed their heads.

“John, is it … is it really you?”

“Of course it is, Vega,” he said firmly.

His tone seemed to jolt me out of my light-headedness.

I now appraised him with a more judicial eye.

Please don’t let my worst fears be realized.

He wore a long cloak, and as my gaze traveled down his right arm, I saw what I thought I would see.

A slender, whiplike wand was held in his hand.

I stared back up at him and held out my arms, the tears rising to my eyes, a knot in both my belly and my throat.

“I never thought I’d see you again,” I said.

I stepped forward and hugged him.

He did not hug me back.

When I stepped back awkwardly, he said, “It’s good to see you too. I thought you were lost in the Quag.”

“Morrigone’s spirit told me that you had left Wormwood before the Maladons came. Or at least she thought you had.”

“They’ve destroyed Wormwood,” he said sharply. “All are dead.”

“I know. I’ve been back there.”

Delph put out his hand and said, “ ’Tis good to see you again, John. You’ve certainly grown.”

John looked at the hand but did not shake it.

“If I had not grown, I would be dead, Delph. But it is good to see you too.”

Delph let his hand drop and stared uncomfortably at the ground.

“This is our friend Petra.”

John glanced at her, seeming to evaluate Petra in barely a second. He looked over at Chauncey. “One of your mates, then, Chauncey?”

“Yes, Master John,” said Chauncey quickly. “And a right good one.”

Master John? I thought.

“How did you come to be here, John?” I asked. “And how did you manage to bring everyone here?”

“It is a long and complicated story, Vega,” said John. “But to parse it to a relatively few words, I left Wormwood shortly before the Maladons came. It was pure luck that I was not there for the attack. I managed to make my way down the cliff to the valley below.”

“How?” I exclaimed.

In answer, he lifted his wand to the ceiling and gave it a flick, and his feet left the ground and he floated into the air.

I gaped up at him.

“How did you learn to do that? And where did you get your wand?”

He floated back down to the ground.

“Incantations are born of necessity.” He lifted his wand. “This came from our grandfather.”

I looked at him, stunned. “Virgil left you a wand?”

“In a book he gave me when I was a child. It was hidden in the spine. The book was meant for me to read when I was older. I think he realized I would read all my books until they fell apart.

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