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Just when I think he’s gone, there comes a call froic which was not yours Pain will co pause, then he adds, "It starts to behind silence, confusion and terror

Connla’s alive He rises when the de He says he was asleep until my shout, that he couldn’t ic Drust checks to see if the demon has fed from him but can find no marks on the warrior’s flesh

I’ to hi hiic I’ve never felt this powerful or so alive The world looks and feels completely different I can see as if it’s day The stars are brighter than a full , multicoloured And they’re connected! I couldn’t see it until tonight but now it’s obvious The sky’s like a giant system of roots, each star linked The lines between the stars are veins of ic fro

I reach out with my mind and suck in power I want it all, the whole of the sky, every bit ofthe world with a click of ers I can

"No," Drust says softly I look down and see that his hands are on either side ofht "Youto draw strength from the stars

"You won’t be able to contain so much power Your body will unravel You’ll die"

"I can hold it together," I sigh "With this "

"No," he says firmly "It will destroy you"

I don’t want to believe him I don’t want to stop But I can see the truth in his expression He’s not a jealous teacher intent on holdingto save me Reluctantly I pull back and cut off the seductive flow of power froain

Drust’s hands close on my shoulders and he squeezes warmly "You did well," he says

"I did it," I reply, hardly able to believe it now the ic"

"Yes" He doesn’t let go He looks troubled "I’ve never seen someone make the leap froic from him The power that involved"

"I didn’t ?"

Drust shakes his head and smiles thinly "No Just unexpected" He releases et everybody settled down and restore the ht not be so willing to retreat as Lord Loss"

"Do you knohat he was?" I ask "Why he could speak? What hetomorrow?"

"We will talk about him shortly," Drust says "First the spells You can help me cast them this time Listen carefully, then copy what I do" And he shows me And I try it And it works Easy

"Lord Loss is one of theclose together It’s late in the night but nobody can sleep, not after e’ve so recently witnessed "He’s a demon h yet," Fiachna notes

Drust nods thoughtfully "When the first deh the tunnel, it iden There will be a flood of deer to get in on the killing while there are hue, unformed, monstrous We’ll knohen they are here-the screa will fill the air

"I don’t think Lord Loss cah the tunnel, or that he crossed any tie Even the powerful demon masters cannot do that without much practice I believe he has been here for asps "The de last year"

"No," Drust says "Some came before that There are ways for hu They usually kill recklessly, then slip back to their own foul realm But this one seems at hoe of the Demonata comes from the Old Creatures They walked the land once This was their world They instructed the early druids, told theht But they did not teach us all that they knew Perhaps they couldn’t, since they were gods and ere only humans

"As far as I are, demons could not roam this world freely unless a tunnel was open That is what the Old Creatures taught us, and we have seen evidence of that in the many centuries since they withdrew from our company But I see now that there are exceptions to that rule Lord Loss must be one of them"

"Are you sure he was a de by the old legends"

"He was definitely a Demonata," Drust says "But he is different to most The majority revel in bloodshed The masters are like the weaker demons which you’ve seen-crude and wild, interested only in slaughter Lord Loss appears to be more cultured Cruel rather than brute He could have killed us but he didn’t Instead he spoke of sport and future suffering He-"

"The stones!" I blurt out I’d been thinking about hie clicked into place "I saw hi!" When the others look blank, I tell them about the deical stones "There was one who didn’t pay attention to Bran when he was running around and dancing He was by hi the rest of us It was Lord Loss He’s been following us since then"

"But why?" Orna asks

"Sport," Drust replies, face dark orry "I think this demon is as vicious as any of the others, but he feasts on the agony of humans instead of their blood Sorrow excites him He must have sensed the pro ever since, waiting for thewait!" Goll huffs "I won’t be played by a deht hiloomily but his eyes are dark and I can see the embers of fear in them