[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-129508-en":3,"doc-seo-129508-105":30,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":91},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":20,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":11,"is_downloadable":11,"audit_status":11,"page_count":21,"language":22,"language_code":23,"site_id":24,"html_lang":23,"table_of_contents":25,"faqs":26,"seo_title":27,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":28,"read_time":29},129508,2336474466712,"Maeve","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_a8503ba1806abce46bf441b54a3ca4cd",1,"Story & Novel","Jade - A Book of Deacon Sidequest","Jade opens with a harrowing death in a forest and an immediate pivot to a desperate town emergency: a catastrophic house fire in Isintist during an extreme drought. The surviving child, Little Jade, becomes the center of tough community decisions after the Rinton family is lost. With limited resources, no straightforward laws, and intense local pressure, town leaders convene to determine what should be done with the land and with the girl’s future, setting the stage for the sidequest’s moral conflict.","Jade  \nA Book of Deacon Sidequest  \nJoseph R. Lallo Copyright ©2010 Joseph R. Lallo  \nCover By Nick Deligaris  \n[http://www.deligaris.com](http://www.deligaris.com)  \n[OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com)  \nDiscover other titles by Joseph R. Lallo:  \nThe Book of Deacon Trilogy:  \nBook 1: The Book of Deacon  \nBook 2: The Great Convergence Book 3: The Battle of Verril  \nBook of Deacon Side Stories:  \nJade  \nThe Rise of the Red Shadow  \nScience Fiction Titles:  \nBypass Gemini Unstable Prototypes  \n[OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com)  \n\\#\\#\\#  \nA man laid on the forest floor, weak, air dragging in and out of his lungs in fading gasps. Already his vision was growing dim. He was beyond help now. The end was near.  \nA dying mind must choose its thoughts carefully. They are too precious to be squandered.  \nHe thought of his family--his wife, his brothers, his parents, each and every one of them waiting on the other side. He would be with them again soon. He thought of how little he was leaving behind. A tiny home, a failure of a shop, and an indifferent town. He would not miss them. Still a young man, he thought of the years of life that he was losing. Half of a lifetime still lay before him. He would not miss that, either. The world he knew was a bleak one. Disease, hunger, and poverty were everywhere. What he felt most was relief that he would endure it no more.  \nMost impressively, not once did his final thoughts touch upon the beast standing over him. Blood pooled around its mighty claws. A cold rain began to pound upon its green scales. Its reptilian head towered above, smoky breath rushing out between stout daggers of teeth. The dragon watched life slip away, just as it had countless times before. Then, in a few bounding strides, it was gone.  \n\\#  \n“All out! Everybody out!” cried a scraggly man, as he hammered at a crude bell.  \nFar to the southeast, the town of Isintist was a small one, but dense with people. They poured from the houses as quickly as they could. It was the alarm bell, and the smell of smoke left little doubt as to the reason. Afire was raging in a large house toward the edge of town, the site of the Rinton family’s home and farm. Every able body rushed to the scene. It would be nice to say that each had moved so quickly out of a sense of duty, but the truth was far less heroic. The village--indeed, the entire region--was in the midst of a terrible drought. The grass and trees were dry as tinder. Were the fire to spread, it would quickly be out of control and their own homes would be next. Best, then, to do what could be done to stop it before that happened.  \nThe burning home was already surrounded by onlookers, but there was little anyone could do. The whole of the lower floor was utterly engulfed. Even if a would-be hero were to brave the burning doorway, there was no  \nhope of rescuing anyone inside. With the wells all but dry, neither was there any hope to douse the flames. And so the town was left to helplessly watch as flames worked their way up to the attic. The intensity of the inferno devoured the supports of the building, causing charred lower walls to creak and splinter under what little remained untouched above.  \nFinally, in a rush of embers and debris, the foremost section of the attic tumbled forward. An instant before it struck the ground, a form tumbled from its window, colliding viciously with the ground and rolling toward the crowd. The rest of the house, finally having reached its breaking point, collapsed. A scalding hot rush of air erupted from it, filling the surrounding field with smoke, ash, and splintered wood. The assembled townsfolk scattered to beat out the dozens of smaller fires started by the flying embers--but, for some, the sound of cries of anguish and pain drew their attention to the ground in front of the smoldering remains of the attic loft.  \nThere, just beyond the mound of broken and shattered wood, was a little girl, not more than six years old. The collapse had spared her, and","cbCaivoNhfzwc5Wc","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaivoNhfzwc5Wc","pdf",714791,2,109,"English","en",105,"# Opening Tragedy\n## Final Thoughts and the Dragon\n# Isintist Fire and Rescue\n## Drought, Alarm Bell, and Collapse\n## The Only Survivor\n# Aftermath and Community Decision\n## Questions Raised by the Disaster\n## Town Leaders’ Meeting","[{\"question\":\"What triggers the main events in the story’s opening?\",\"answer\":\"A dying man chooses his final thoughts while a dragon watches life slip away. The narrative then shifts to Isintist, where an alarm bell signals a deadly fire at the Rinton family’s home.\"},{\"question\":\"Why couldn’t the town save anyone inside the burning house?\",\"answer\":\"The region was in a severe drought, leaving wells nearly dry. With the lower floor engulfed and no water to douse flames, rescue was essentially impossible.\"},{\"question\":\"What issue does the town struggle with after the Rintons’ disaster?\",\"answer\":\"When the only survivor, Little Jade, is found, the community must decide what to do with the land and what to do with the girl, since the situation has no clear resolution under their simple local customs.\"}]","Jade - A Book of Deacon Sidequest | PDF",1786106316,168,{"code":4,"msg":31,"data":32},"ok",{"site_id":24,"language":23,"slug":33,"title":13,"keywords":34,"description":14,"schema_data":35,"social_meta":86,"head_meta":88,"extra_data":90,"updated_unix":28},"jade-a-book-of-deacon-sidequest","",{"@graph":36,"@context":85},[37,53,68],{"@type":38,"itemListElement":39},"BreadcrumbList",[40,44,47,50],{"item":41,"name":42,"@type":43,"position":11},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":45,"name":46,"@type":43,"position":20},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",{"item":48,"name":12,"@type":43,"position":49},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/story-novel/",3,{"item":51,"name":13,"@type":43,"position":52},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/jade-a-book-of-deacon-sidequest/129508/",4,{"url":51,"name":13,"@type":54,"author":55,"headline":13,"publisher":57,"fileFormat":60,"inLanguage":23,"description":14,"dateModified":61,"datePublished":62,"encodingFormat":60,"isAccessibleForFree":63,"interactionStatistic":64},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":56},"Person",{"url":41,"name":58,"@type":59},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-08-28","2026-08-07",true,{"@type":65,"interactionType":66,"userInteractionCount":20},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":67},"ViewAction",{"@type":69,"mainEntity":70},"FAQPage",[71,77,81],{"name":72,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":74},"What triggers the main events in the story’s opening?","Question",{"text":75,"@type":76},"A dying man chooses his final thoughts while a dragon watches life slip away. The narrative then shifts to Isintist, where an alarm bell signals a deadly fire at the Rinton family’s home.","Answer",{"name":78,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":79},"Why couldn’t the town save anyone inside the burning house?",{"text":80,"@type":76},"The region was in a severe drought, leaving wells nearly dry. With the lower floor engulfed and no water to douse flames, rescue was essentially impossible.",{"name":82,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":83},"What issue does the town struggle with after the Rintons’ disaster?",{"text":84,"@type":76},"When the only survivor, Little Jade, is found, the community must decide what to do with the land and what to do with the girl, since the situation has no clear resolution under their simple local customs.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":51,"og:type":87,"og:title":13,"og:site_name":58,"og:description":14},"article",{"robots":89,"canonical":51},"index,follow",{"doc_id":7,"site_id":24},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":92},[93,96,100,104,109,114,119,124,129,132,136],{"id":11,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":12,"show_sort_weight":94,"slug":95},90,"story-novel",{"id":20,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":97,"show_sort_weight":98,"slug":99},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":101,"show_sort_weight":102,"slug":103},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":105,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":106,"show_sort_weight":107,"slug":108},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":110,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":111,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":120,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":121,"show_sort_weight":122,"slug":123},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":125,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":126,"show_sort_weight":127,"slug":128},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":130,"show_sort_weight":127,"slug":131},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":133,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":134,"show_sort_weight":133,"slug":135},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":137,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":138,"show_sort_weight":105,"slug":139},19,"General","general"]