Welcome back, intrepid explorers of Xeirin!

Earlier tonight, just as I was hitting the save button on the final draft of episode four, the power went out with a spectacular wooomph! The floor shook beneath my feet as every machine, appliance, and electrical device on my block came to a sudden, squealing stop.

Darkness yawned before me, endless and heavy. My finger hovered, poised above my mouse.

Had I pressed save?

Anxiety crawled up my throat, choking me with the staggered beating of my racing heart. I sat waiting, in vain, for relief, desperately manifesting a quick restoration of power. For hours, I anguished.

Rejoice!

I did press save! All is well, and here is Episode Four: Vale.

Happy reading!

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Episode Four: Vale

Vale gazed out over his little sleeping flock with sharp avian eyes. 

They glittered amber and gold in the pale moonlight, missing nothing, assessing every subtle twitch, shift, and sigh. Though there wasn’t an Avus among them, he couldn’t help but think of them as his own children, battered and exhausted from their lives on the run. 

This moment of rest was sorely needed. 

The Otrokári would catch up all too soon, and though it chafed at his heart, there was no place left for them in Boston. While migration was a deeply embedded part of his nature, this wastrel wandering life on the run settled the weight of all his years more firmly on his shoulders.

He could hardly remember what it meant to have a home. Many of the children he now guarded had never known such a luxury.
 
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Step into Misa’s world and immerse yourself in this thrilling episode of The Queen of Xeirin on Kindle Vella! Discover more about Misa’s identity and the unfolding mystery of the Xeir as the story deepens.

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