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Another night in the open No trees, so we sleep in a field littered with rocks

It’s been a day of disappointof this new ic It’s too different I wish Drust would focus on natural ic and help me improve that way I learnt a lot frorown rusty I think we should work on the type of reith

But Drust is firm He says he can’t teach me the way a priestess could, since he doesn’t work that way And even if he could, he wouldn’t

"You’re no good to me the way you were!" he snaps when I question the need to learn new spells "I need more!"

But what for? Why does he needdeeply Drea the dreah an inner voice whispers, "Wake up" Connla’s been guarding us for the last few hours Now it’s o on watch

I’ myself I never need to be called It was one of the first spells Banba taught me A priestess has to be able to control her dreams Otherwise she can cause chaos while asleep

I’ on my back, next to Orna, cloak drawn across htly, careful not to break Drust’sspell I look across to where Connla is And see a de, because the de Connla It’s crouched beside hi And when I prick

A drop of rain hits me square between the eyes I blink-then snap out ofto my feet, I roar at the top of my voice, "Demons!"

Everyone comes alive in an instant, on their feet, weapons in hands Ronan notches an arrow to his bow, takes aim and stops as the deers quiver, his face twitch, his eyes narrow He wants to unleash the arrow but he can’t The de him

Lorcan attacks, sword and axe a blur, screae The demon points with a lumpy, pale red hand And Lorcan stops too, not frozen in place exactly, but hovering beyond striking distance of the demon, unable to advance

Goll and Orna are about to leap forhen Drust shouts, "No! Leave hi up His hands are joined His lips are aze fixed on the dehtened

Nobody moves All eyes are pinned on the deht has adjusted and there’s tiet a clear view of the hly shaped hands, dangling strips of flesh instead of legs and feet Hovering in the air, not touching the ground Pale red skin, flecked with blood At first I think it’s Connla’s blood-I’m sure he’s dead- but then I notice scores of cracks in the de the lue No hair Its eyes are dark red, with a black circle at the centre of each globe No nose, just two gaping cavities in the middle of its face No heart either-just a hole in its chest filled with eel-like creatures, which slither over and under one another, hissing and spitting

The demon cocks its head and sirl too, if she could only learn what you teach her"

Complete shock I’ve never heard a demon speak like this, in words of our own It-he-has a deep, sorrowful voice Not entirely human, but the words are clearly formed A demon who can speak as a human must also be able to think as a human Drust’s prediction-and our worst fear-has been confir of his words sink ho to teachThat means he can either readus!" I shriek, taking a step towards the heartless creature

"Bec!" Drust hisses "Don’t get involved!"

"But-"

"Such sadness," the demon murmurs "So much pain A quest doomed to fail This land overrun by demons Everybody killed And all your fault, Little One Your people will die because you failed theuilt"

I tre to believe him But he sounds so sure of himself, so certain this is what the future holds There’s pity in his voice I get the feeling he wants to co this, the dely "Co Lord Loss"

I ripped by his power and the proain This isn’t right He’s ood can come of that But I can’t resist I’rief and only Lord Loss seems able to help

Then Drust is by ic This deenerates power Take it Use it Fight"

My body continues forward as though Drust hadn’t spoken But my mind’s in a whirl I’ll die if I come within the demon’s reach He’ll suck all the life from me and tossold ht him but I can’t moveechoes The deenerates power I recall my recent lessons, the spells Drust tried to teach ed ic from a celestial source

With my mind, heart and spirit I reach out to Lord Loss I feel his power, his ic And I draw fro with it, hair shooting up straight, eyes widening, arasps and rises a few feet higher off the ground I float too, supported bypart of the world of the air

I turn round, ripping free, dripping soil and pebbles, floating upwards They stop short of my hands, which I slide behind the stones I look from hand to hand, stone to stone Then at Lord Loss I smile-and push The stones zip towards him

The demon’s arms shoot out and the stones explode into clouds of dust and tiny brittle shards Everybody ducks to avoid being pierced Except me and Lord Loss We re at each other

Some of the stone splinters strike the demon’s cheeks and open fresh, deep cuts He doesn’t look angry or surprised Just sad

"Such potential," the de, when you could achieve soto his feet, linking his right hand with my left I fill with even more power than before I feel like I could reach up and quench the stars theht?" the de my limits" One hand starts to point at us Then stops The demon lowers his arms "But where would be the sport in that?" he murmurs And then he turns sht