Bec

“What about—” I begin.

“No time!” he shouts. “Ask them to fight and buy a few seconds for us, and pray that’s enough.”

His lips start moving at an u

I turn my attention to Co

From the shaft come screams of outrage. The demons must have piled down too fast, too many of them, and jammed. But the blockage can’t last long. They’ll be upon us in a minute or so, I guess.

“Why?” Goll roars at Co

“You’ll die,” Co

“The night when he was talking to you!” I gasp, remembering our first encounter with Lord Loss, finding him crouched over Co

“Aye,” Co

“Weren’t you listening?” I cry. “They won’t spare anyone!”

“Of course they will,” Co

“Did Lord Loss actually say that?” I ask.

“Not directly, no, but it was implied.”

“You’re an ass!” Goll spits. Then he squints at Co

“Information,” Co

From the sounds in the shaft, the jam has cleared and the demons are moving forward again. Time’s almost up. I glance desperately at Drust but his lips are still moving and he hasn’t stepped forward.

“Be quick!” Goll shouts at Co

“Very well.” Co

Whatever he was about to say is lost as the first demon crashes through the entrance into the cave. It falls on its face but is up in an instant, head swivelling, searching for the source of danger. It spots Co

The demon bounds forward, shrieking. Goll meets it solidly, drives his sword through the tip of its head, then kicks it into the path of those which are following.

Lorcan shrugs off his death and lays into the demons with his sword, pushing forward, keeping one hand over the hole in his chest to stem the flow of blood.

Bran dances around the cave, over, under and around the demons spilling into it, confusing and enraging them, doing what he can to draw their attention away from the rest of us—and especially from Drust, still muttering his spell in front of the abusive Brude.

I reach within, call upon my magic and unleash it. I set a demon on fire. Make another’s eyes pop. I drive one mad by squeezing its brain—in its madness it attacks those around it.

The spells come quickly to my tongue, power flowing through me, building up and dispersing through my fingers, lips and eyes at a frightening speed. I make one demon’s stomach explode. I cause a host of the V-shaped formations overhead to snap free and fall, killing several demons in the process.

But it isn’t enough. More come. An endless flow. Streaming into the cave. Lorcan has disappeared under an avalanche of monsters. I see one of his ring-pierced ears fly high into the air— my final glimpse of him. Goll’s stomach has been ripped open and half his face clawed away. He fights on but it’s hopeless. I can’t save the old warrior. Bran is still going strong, fast and agile as ever, but what good is that?

I catch sight of Co

A moving spell. I cast it quickly and Co

“You’ll have to do better than that!” he chortles, wiping water from his eyes.

“I don’t think so,” I retort.

He frowns at my tone. A demon standing close to him, with a head that’s mostly human except for an extra eye in the middle of its forehead, sniffs at Co

Co

“Hah!” Goll shouts, taking great pleasure from Co

Then a demon knocks the old warrior’s legs out from under him. He falls. Demonic bodies fill the space around him. And the one-eyed ex-king who was like a father to me—who gave me my name—is gone.

Alone. No time to mourn. The demons are closing in, ignoring the dancing Bran, focusing on me. I lash out at them with every spell at my disposal, wreaking havoc. But I can’t kill them all. They’re getting closer. Almost upon me. Any second now, one will lurch within striking distance and then—

A hand grabs the neck of my tunic. I’m hauled backwards. I cry out, but the cry’s cut short by the V of the tunic digging into my throat. I land hard on the ground. Scrabble to my feet, trying to clear my throat, to cast a spell, to take at least one more demon down with me before…

I stop. I’m in the gut-studded tu

“A positive start,” the druid says. He smiles quickly, then half-closes his eyes and moves down the tu

I laugh hysterically and pull faces at the furious, thrashing demons. But then I recall the deaths of my friends and my crazy humour passes. I look for the bodies of Goll and Lorcan but I can’t see through the demons crowded around the mouth of the tu

I sigh heavily and wipe tears from my eyes, thinking about Goll and Lorcan, all the good times and adventures we shared. Then, putting soft thoughts behind me, I make myself hard, turn my back on the demonic chaos and set off after Drust, readying myself for a swift, victorious death.