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We march at the same pace as before, but anxiously noare of the de that death would strike today We’re tense, prone to snap at the slightest irritation When Connla passes a si, Goll responds by criticising Connla for falling asleep while on watch The pair almost come to blows and have to be separated by the rest of us

Ronan and Lorcan are the calmest The brothers have little fear of death This is just part of the big adventure for the we are attacked, so they can kill hout the day I was afraid the ic would desert me when the sun rose, that I wouldn’t be able to draw upon the power of the stars But Drust teaches ardless of whether it’s day or night

"The stars hide but are always there," he says "We’re weaker in the day but not as weak as demons Most of them can’t draw from the stars at all while the sun shines, but we can"

Since I h, I’ve come on like a child who’s taken her first step and is now toddling everywhere at high speed I find it easy to move objects-stones, branches, even Bran I , move him a few strides across in the air and set hi That tires me but it doesn’t exhaust me and I recover quickly

Drust says I’ this that he’s ever seen I ask if there’s a limit to what I can lift and move He says there are always li to uproot a tree but he says it’s too soon for so ambitious a test

I’m not as accomplished in other areas I learn how to create fire and hold it in my hands, either as a torch or to use as a weapon Butlike Drust’s solid coluers

I develop protective spells, like the one we use to ned to shield me from physical assault If they work correctly, a demon won’t be able to haric

There are spells to protect ic too, but they’re even harder to learn I make a small amount of headith both sets of spells Drust is pleased withdrained and grumpy

"What about spells of attack?" I ask in the afternoon, thinking of the night ahead, worrying about the dangers we’ll face

"Survival is our only concern right now," Drust says, then looks around We’re not close to any of the others, except Bran, alks behind me like a faithful hound Drust lowers his voice "Youif we’re attacked Don’t put yourself in danger, even to save another I need you, Bec Your people need you too Don’t waste your life trying to save someone who isn’t iht?" I ask archly "You want me to stand by and let my friends die?"

"If you have to," he says

"I can’t I won’t Not unless you tell s "I’nore it if you wish Now, let’s work on a different type of spell This one gives you the appearance of a giant It will frighten off certain demons"

And he says no more about why I’m so important to him or why he wants to keep hter of everybody else

Lessons cease a couple of hours before sunset, to give e and prepare for any battles we ht find ourselves involved in I spend the ti what Lord Loss will throw at us

Hordes of demons? An army of the undead? Maybe they’ll burrow at us from beneath the earth or drop on us from the sky Hoerful is the demon , not until we’ve studied the heartless beast in action

The others are nervous too, even Ronan and Lorcan now that night is al taken by surprise and dying in disgrace Oddly enough, Connla seey earlier but noalks cockily, urging us on, telling us not to worry He’s acting like a king, which isn’t unusual, but he’s doing it in the face of danger, which is strange Maybe he’s finally growing into the leader his father alanted him to be

Half an hour before sunset, Drust halts on top of a hill and says, "Here"

Goll looks around "Are you sure? We can be seen frouide demons to us, he’ll find us no matter where we are," Drust responds "At least up here we can see theood for Bec and ht"

As the others make ca it to give Goll confidence "It’s true," he says "High places, with no trees, are ideal for icians who absorb power from the heavens"

"But won’t this place favour the des "Best not to think about that"

When everyone’s ready, Drust and I castspells The spells won’t count for much if Lord Loss reveals our position to other demons, but they’ll protect us if strays wander by

Tih the sky reed with clouds Nobody speaks I realise after a few hours how hungry I aht that we never thought to hunt or pick berries Oh well, too late now I’ll just have to wait for -and hope I’ht You can always tell, even when theday, coer adds to my tiredness But I dare not shuthoift the deiness could spell the difference between life and death

Later A few hours shy of dawn I’ve been dozing, despite my desire to remain awake Halfway between the worlds of dreaerous state, open to the threat of both realms Banba always told me to sleep or stay awake, never hover betwixt the two

A cry in the darkness jolts me out of my half-sleep It sounds like a child but it can’t be-we passed no villages earlier, and no child would dare wander the world by night, not in these troubled times

I look around Everyone’s awake All eyes are focused on the spot from where the sound came Ronan’s bow is aihts one

"Don’t h for all to hear "The spells are still intact Thisto do with-"

"Motherrrrrr" coirl’s voice Full of pain and grief

"Help us motherrrr" A different voice, this time a boy

"So cold er than the other two

"What is that?" Lorcan asks, nervously tugging at his earrings

"I’m not sure," Drust answers "Only demon masters can mimic human voices And the undead don’t retain the power of speech Perhaps Lord Loss isa lesser deirl again Her voice sends shivers down the back of my neck I want to run to her and wrapshe can’t be hu, scared, lost

"I don’t like this," Gollto pick out figures in the darkness

"They ht be real children," Fiachna says "The de them to trap us"

"No," Orna says, and there’s a tremble to her voice "They I"