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more frightening, for it was unfocused, and she had no idea in which direction the danger lay. |
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Except it involved the stranger who looked so like Arlen. |
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He was watching her with a perplexed scowl. Did the danger come from him? She didn't knowalthough that was the logical conclusion. Looking once more into eyes the color of cold granite, she had a sense that the man hid a darkness, a rage, deep in his soul. |
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But right now she was in no condition to run away. She asked tentatively, ready to hush if his anger seemed to increase, "Did you see Arlen or Hunwet? They were looking for water, too. Oh, yesthank you for the drink." Her throat was still dry, and, after saying so much, she coughed. |
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"Here," the man said, taking something from his belt. "Have some more." He held out a container that resembled a bottle. If this was what he had used to give her a drink before she had not known, for her eyes had been closed. She reached for it. Its milky blue translucence looked as though it were made of glass, but its smooth texture was unlike anything she had ever felt before. It did not pick up the heat of the air as glass would. But it was clearly a bottle, and as she turned it one way, then another in the cloud-muted sunlight, she was certain she saw a liquid insidewater. |
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In her eagerness, Abby fumbled with the top, crushing the sides just a little, but they returned to their original shape as the man knelt and took |
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