"Do we need to do anything about those giant trees?"
Megan asked Shade, but he shook his head.
"Keep focusing on preparing for the battle with the Watcher. We have far fewer people than the Five Gods Church, so we cannot afford to divert our attention to anything else."
The Great Witches had received the letter Speaker Isabella had left in the Council this morning. She had already reached the Sacrificial Ground atop the mountain and met Sister Devlin. The Nun herself had encountered no trouble; only the Order of Spiritual Cultivation had run into a few minor problems. Still, they would definitely reach Vesta Woodland within three days.
The Witches continued with their respective tasks, while Shade entered the city alone and went to Old Town in Vesta City to investigate the Old Bookstore the Doctor had mentioned yesterday.
The city sky had been gloomy since morning. Perhaps the First Snow of this winter would arrive tonight. Following the address provided by the Doctor, Shade wandered through the deserted old streets. He thought of the Creekwood Town scenes he had seen several times in past eras, while also considering what impact this journey in search of the Rhodes Cards would have on Vesta City's story.
The sign for "Berkeley Bookstore" was as inconspicuous as the storefront itself. It blended perfectly into the street, and without careful searching, one might pass by it dozens of times without sparing it a glance. It seemed older than any other shop on the street, yet at a time when only one-third of the shops on the entire street remained open, it still persisted in opening its doors.
Even in the Old Town at the former site of Creekwood Town, this was considered a rather remote place. When Shade pushed open the door, the