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we sat at the table and emily titled the page : warnings .
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i didnt know why .
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okay , jazell , what exactly did he say ?
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emily asked , pencil poised in the air ready to write .
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he said , hes rising , hes rising .
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i have no idea who he meant or if what he said means anything .
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emily scribbled down , toad dwarf said , hes rising , hes rising .
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whos coming and is he important ?
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i stared at the paper , the question swirling in my mind .
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who did he mean ?
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now what did the dwarf tell you , seth ?
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she asked .
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he said , you wont stop him , little warrior .
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he frowned at the last part .
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emily added , toad dwarf told seth , you wont stop him , little warrior .
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does this mean hes powerful ?
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did you have to add the little warrior part ?
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it makes me sound weak .
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seth complained .
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i did because we need all the facts .
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its obvious the dwarf was trying to make you sound weak anyway .
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now what did he tell you , jason ?
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he said , he will destroy all half-lings .
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whats that supposed to mean , anyway ?
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jason said .
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she added the last bullet ; toad dwarf said to jason , he will destroy all half-ling .
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what does half-ling mean ?
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did the dwarfs tell you anything ?
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i asked , taking the paper .
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none of what she wrote on the paper made any sense to me .
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she shook her head .
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no and if they did , i was too busy trying to burn them to hear them .
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she took the paper back .
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well i think the only thing weve established is that toad dwarves are crazy .
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seth said .
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i noticed a thin , red line on his cheek where a thrasher must have scratched him .
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emily wagged her finger at him .
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never dis facts .
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they might save you later in life .
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seth just snorted .
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jason punched him in the side .
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listen to emily .
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shes actually right sometimes .
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thank you , jason .
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she said cheerfully , huh wait , sometimes ?
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she raised an eyebrow at him .
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jason scowled at her .
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im admitting youre sometimes right so dont push it .
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point taken .
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she tucked the paper in her drawstring bag .
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you guys want to go to the park ?
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they both half nodded , half shrugged , which she took for a yes .
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so we got up and mounted our bikes .
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i threw the bike lock in my bag , clipped on my helmet , and followed the others .
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the three of them raced each other , but i kept my bike behind them .
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what the dwarf had said was still troubling me and i didnt know if anyone else was feeling the same way .
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i saw seth slow his bike down and glide next to me .
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hey , he said .
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hey .
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then a question popped into my head , what were you doing alone in the woods yesterday ?
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he was silent so i yelled to emily , hey , seths lost for words !
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emily appeared by me and chuckled .
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whats wrong , seth ?
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thrasher got your tongue ?
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before he could reply i said , i asked him what he was doing in the woods yesterday and he didnt have an answer .
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we all know what this means .
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yup , hes hiding something .
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seth , why were you yelling at jazell for being out alone in the woods when you were doing the same ?
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i wasnt hunting down monsters alone .
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jazell was doing that , he grumbled , clearly annoyed .
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but you were still out alone and you yelled at me for doing the same thing .
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the same thing could have happened to you .
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do you think youre stronger than the rest of us ?
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my voice rose slightly at the end of my question .
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no .
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he went quiet and tried to avoid our eye contact .
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now whos keeping secrets ?
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youre breaking your own rules .
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why were you out ?
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emily can be very demanding sometimes , i actually felt a little bad about involving her in my interrogation .
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just a little .
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he mumbled something under his breath .
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i cant hear you .
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emily snapped .
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i was out scouting !
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he shouted , now can you hear me ?
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yes , and now youve made me deaf !
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emily yelled back .
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why were you out scouting in the first place ?
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i asked calmly , trying not to shout it out like emily .
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seth gripped the handlebars and i knew he was losing his temper .
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i was being cautious so we didnt have to worry last night , he said through gritted teeth .
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he was lying and both of us knew that .
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i glared at him , nice story seth , now what really happened ?
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he didnt say anything and he rode ahead to get beside jason , who was in the lead .
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the park slowly came in view .
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it was a huge grass circle with a small play set in the middle covered in kids .
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the woods surrounded it except for the side that faced the street .
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a fountain was near the entrance along with a bike rack .
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thats where we parked our bikes .
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