Page 18 (1/2)

I feel the difference as soon as I step through the hole Magic drains away from me instantly Tiredness sets in My left arm and shoulder ache like no pain I’ve experienced before But I’ap in the barrier, suht any deroans and forces hi Bill-E One of Lord Loss’ hands is embedded in the flesh of his stomach He prises it out and tosses it away It twitches for a few seconds, then disintegrates into an ash-like substance

I see hu towards the barrier "Faster!" I screaot to-"

Lord Loss glides across the face of the hole, blocking , he starts to coh then pauses, looks around and drifts backwards

"He doesn’t dare cross," Dervish ic would fail hiht on our terms"

"You will suffer for this," the demon master snarls "Your deaths would have been horrible, but now they’ll be far worse I will find neays to-"

"Yeah, yeah," Bill-E says, stepping up beside us "Go blow it out your rear, you pathetic waste of space"

Lord Loss hisses and starts to spit out a spell Before he co sound and the hole in the barrier seals itself Lord Loss looks up and down, in case there’s any crack re, but it’s been completely repaired

"I will answer your insults later," he vows, new arht stumps "You will die at these hands eventually Only noill be inally planned"

Glancing backwards, the deers and points at the people still fleeing Slawter, those trapped within the bubble of ine, Grady scum For noatch as I content myself with this sorry lot and consider it a taste of the horrors to co delivered his threat in a ht-armed, heartlessoff his fa these last few victims for his oarped pleasure

"Look away," Dervish says wearily to those of us on the safe side of the barrier "This is going to be ugly You don’t want to watch"

"We have to get them out!" a woo-"

Dervish looks at her darkly Puts a finger to his lips She falls silent Then round, and very slowly and deliberately closes his eyes and places both hands over his ears-blocking out the sights and sounds of the inhuht It’s not so that should be seen Yet I have to watch, at least for a while, as Lord Loss savages and slaughters one person after another, dragging the up close to the barrier so we can see and hear more clearly It’s dreadful, the ways he finds to torture and kill theh and stop hi Even if there was soer have the strength to haro back in, but that would be suicide

Juni regains consciousness while Lord Loss is hard at work Groans, sits up, looks around groggily, then leaps to her feet, eyes wide "It’s OK," I tell her "We made it They can’t-"

"What happened?" she shouts, striding up to the barrier, stopping just short of it, studying the bloody scenes within, astonished, on the verge of tears

"You were knocked out," Bill-E tells her "We pulled you through"

"But the barrier" She touches it Pulls her hand back quickly when she feels the power

"The hole’s gone," I explain "It was only teot out as many as we could The rest" I shake my head sadly

Juni stares at Lord Loss and his victi the back of her head where she was struck She’s tre with confusion and fear, like the rest of us I think about giving her a hug but I’m too tired So I just stand and stare with her

Gradually we all turn away fro each other for support and co for Bo, hoping against hope that she’ll show, that another hole in the barrier can be opened, that I’ll be able to get her out

But she doesn’t appear She’s either still looking for Tump and Abe or-more likely-has been killed by a deh I don’t suppose it was Who’d have thought that of all the deaths today, Bo Kooniart’s would hit me hardest

Eventually, I look around and do a quick head count Thirty-four Of all those working on the film hundreds of people only thirty-four remain

I’m about to sit, when one of the faces catches lare with contempt and hatred at a bruised, dazed but very much alive Chuda Sool

"You!" I snarl He looks up timidly "How dare you? Sothe living, meek as an innocent child You should have stayed behind with your masters!"

"Please," Chuda croaks "I didn’t know they said I thought"

"You knew!" I screa you got wrong That’s your only corab his head and force him to look at the destruction on the other side of the barrier "You -dead-because of you!"

Chuda starts to cry-but with fear, not regret "Don’t hurt me Please I can help you I know spells They pro life, hundreds, maybe thousands of years How could I say no? Davida convinced me She set this up She’s the one you should blaot her comeuppance Now you will too"

I reach deep withinthis traitor

"No, Grubbs," Bill-E says quietly, laying a hand on ht arm

"He deserves it!" I yell

"He probably deserves a whole lot worse," Bill-E agrees "But it’s not for you or ht to take his life You’ll become a killer, no better than any of those demons, if you murder hirowl

"Different word, sa You’d hate yourself"