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The deht at me, like an arrow fired from a bow A scream builds at the back of my throat, but before it can burst out of my mouth, the Kallin hits an invisible barrier and is deflected It crashes into a group of other long, hairy des flash and they rip the first Kallin to shreds Bloody bits of it fly everywhere

I pressat the barrier, wriggling around and over it, searching for weak points Within seconds, they cover the barrier entirely, blocking our view of the sky, plunging us into al patches, but the others ers and a ball of flame appears overhead I preferred the darkness We can see the Kallin in , hairy bodies, the stiff, spiky hairs on which they s They drool and slobber as they snake across the face of the barrier Soon it&039;s like looking at theh astreaked with spit and vile juices

Raz is sweating So are Shar, not with fear, but the effort ofthe barrier This is hard I don&039;t think they can keep it up for lance at Beranabus and thehe&039;s working on It&039;s nowhere near coh

One of the Kallin penetrates the barrier with its head It squeals with triu to squeeze the rest of its body through I tense, readying ht, but then Nadia shouts a brief spell and the barrier closes sharply around the de its head off

The head falls to the floor, but the jaws continue snapping open and shut It drags itself forward using its fangs, dozens of eyes glittering angrily I get to ainst it Instead, panic-stricken, I throw up The deibbers - it can still h the pool of vomit I watch, repulsed and terrified Then, as it&039;s about to drag itself out of the voht I reach out, touch the voh me from some unknown source

The vomit bubbles and becomes acid The Kallin head shakes wildly Desperate, it hurls itself out of the pool, using an upper fang as awith fear, punch the head back down The acid eats into it The head shakes a fewaway to a bloody, hair-streaked h ly ass! I&039;lare at the thousands of Kallin, eager for another to break through, so I can send it the way of its boiled-down brother "Come on," I snarl "I&039;ll turn you all into stew!"

"The boy&039;s enjoying hi the barrier in place

"I do not think he will be so anxious to fight when the barrier breaks and they co down upon us in theirShe&039;s staring ahead, eyes wide open noeat filling the pocketting thatup and more afraid than I&039;d ever been, I taketo where Beranabus is piecing together a atch the pulsing lights for a couple of seconds Then, iht towards the cluster It slides ahead ofothers It&039;s sihts - they htless, a breeze to ?" Beranabus snaps

"I can do it quicker than you," I tell hi

"You&039;re distracting rowls "Get out of my way before - "

"You&039;re too slow!" I shout "You can&039;t see the lights I can So let hts aroundFor a second - absolute panic I can&039;t complete the ! Then I realise what&039;s happened "Where were you trying to open theto?" I pant Beranabus starts to argue "Just tellfor Cadaver"

I think about the des, stuers Its face, half hu ears and hite eyes

The patches of light start pulsing again Eagerly, I reach up and begin slotting the aI&039;ht I was never crazy The lights weren&039;t iinary They were there for a reason - and now that reason is clear I can&039;t use ic to make sandcastles or barriers, but I can sure as hell open s to other worlds!

Beranabus stares at hts He only seesin all directions, like a ic He knows - hopes - I&039; our only chance of survival

"Master!" Raz shouts

"Hush," Beranabus says "Let him work If he can do what I think"

"But the barrier!" Raz cries "We cannot hold it! I feel it cru!"