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The day is in its final stages e co for the last half hour, out of sight of the waves Noe stop, stunned by the ne The cliff drops straight beneath us, as though the land had been cut aith a godly knife I take an instant step back, terrified I’ to fall Most of the others retreat instinctively too

But Drust isn’t afraid He breaks into a s out into the sea like gigantic fingers It’s a like this-he was further north when he caawp, astonished

"There," Drust says "The third Jutland fro" He looks at the sun, then the land around us "We should be fine Deic and usually avoid it But let’s not tarry, just in case"

We push on, ulls are settling in their nests for the night, cawing and screeching Some rabbits watch us from a safe distance Even further beyond the rabbits, a s long by itself out here in the deed wilds

At the foot of the dip there’s hard, level ground It’s possible to crawl forward on your stoe of the cliff Drust doesn’t pause-he’s not interested in the view, intent on reaching the third jut of land-but the rest of us can’t resist the opportunity to gaze upon the sea frogle forward to the end of the world and a sight that surpasses any I ever dreamt about in the past

Unbelievable Withthe cliff edge for dear life, it’s as if I’od ulls nestled in the rock The white of the waves as they batter the base of the cliff, visible even in the di sounds The scent of birds and salt

The urge to throwTo die so beautifully, so perfectly to fly for a handful of seconds becoainst the rocks until I’, then swept away to the Otherworld in the company of fish, mermaids and all the other creatures of the deep

I ignore the suicidal urge, but it’s difficult I suppose people who live along the shore grow hardened to this call of the sea But it’s dangerous for land-dwellers like us When I look up, I see misty expressions on the faces of the others, which prove I’m not alone in my desire to castelse in those expressions which I feel too-triuh I’m tempted by the call of the sea, I resist It can’t claiood about that Se for what see time but is probably no more than a few minutes Connla’s the first to crawl back and stand up when he’s a safe distance froe, where the wind can’t catch hie than Connla, not afraid of the whirling, whistling wind

The pair head after Drust A nal for the rest of us to retreat Bran’s the last to leave, laughing as he gazes down, pointing at seagulls and waving as though he knows them I call to him to come with us but he doesn’t move Annoyed-I’ve now had s and reel him in

"Coe "We have to follow the others It’s not safe here"

"Eggs boiled leaf," Bran says, nodding to show that he agrees But he looks at the edge one last ti his hand withafter Lorcan at the rear of the ht up with Lorcan when the dee worms, a dozen or more Multi-limbed Many have several heads Claws like branches on a tree Mouths full of fangs Gibbering and howling-faroup of Fiachna, Lorcan and Goll A few go for Ronan and Connla One lues at Bran and etting in the heat of the ic of the Deht unleash Lipsquickly, I fill my hands with fire, then blow flames at the demon, which has two heads-one of a bear, one a fox The de de with it as if it was a skipping rope of fire

Drust’s de a spell The demon flies over the druid’s head, then off the cliff, falling to its death on the rocks beneath, hollering hatefully all the way down

The others are battling, swords and axes flashing, hacking at demon flesh Drust starts back to help, then pauses and stares inland I follow the direction of his gaze and spot a figure in the distance, hovering above the earth There’s nothat looks like a dog is ju up and down beside hi the cliff, heading for the Jutland where he said we’d be safe, leaving the rest of us to fight and, if we lose, perish

I curse the druid, then wade in to where Lorcan, Goll and Fiachna are struggling with the deround around them is slippery with blood, littered with demon limbs, chunks of flesh, even a head or two But still the dee of the cliff, seeking to push them over

I touch the back of a leathery dehs I say a word and the nails ofdeep into the ans The hellish creature chokes, blood gurgling up its throat My nails burst out the far side of its body I say another word and jerktheoes still

Another of the demonic pack sees what I’ve done It screeches and hurls itself at s up and halt the dee with my feet It swipes at me with a clawed hand Barely ue and its head explodes, splattering , turning to deal with a third demon, I hear a human scream from further away No time to check it out A bull-headed demon is on top of Fiachna It’s bitten a chunk out of his left shoulder and is trying to latch on to his throat I dive at it, grab its mouth, put my face close to its pink, cracked lips and breathe out

A hs, tries to snarl at ed its throat It can’t breathe Some demons don’t need to breathe but this one does It falls away, scratching at its neck, eyes bulging as it suffocates

Goll and Lorcan force the final de a lashing tendril which threatens to drag thelance around, make sure we’ve dealt with all the monsters, then rush off to help Ronan and Connla Bran and I follow just behind

When Goll and Lorcan stop short I fear the worst But running up, readying , Connla standing proudly by the cliff’s edge, sword raised, bellowing colourful curses after the monsters We approach uncertainly Connla beareen with deuts to fight! I ran them off! Did you see how fast they-"

"Ronan," Lorcan interrupts, scanning the area "Where’s hs "They forced him over"

Lorcan stares at Connla, then walks to the edge of the cliff and looks down The rest of us hang our heads, the joy of victory already forgotten There’s a lu almost as hard as it must have been for the de, hunting, laughing, flicking blood fro, curly hair as he raced from the pack of demons who first pursued us He would have wanted to die this way, fighting, but that doesn’t ht bravely," Connla says He probably h talking to a child

"Did he fall before or after the demons ran?" Goll asks

"Before, of course," Connla frowns "They forced hie He never stood a chance"

"Yet they left you alone?" Goll doesn’t phrase it as a challenge but it’s hard not to interpret it as such "They killed Ronan, then ran?"

"They saasn’t such an easy touch," Connla snorts "They got lucky with Ronan, but when they tangled with me and realised they were out of their depth, they ran for their miserable, demonic lives" Connla’s face hardens and he looks at each of us in turn "You don’t seem too pleased," he e," Fiachna says uneasily "Deht that way To catch a person in the open outnu off"

"What are you-" Connla starts to roar

"Enough," Lorcan stops hie of the cliff, face strained but resigned "Ronan’s dead That’s the end of it I don’t care why the deuments, not at a time like this"

Goll and Fiachna look down uncoh any fault of his own," Connla says "They took him by surprise It was just bad luck that he was so close to the edge I would have saved him if I could"

Lorcan nods slowly "Luck will always turn against a warrior in the end You have nothing to answer for" He looks off into the distance, to where Drust is still running, closing in on the Jutland A light flares in Lorcan’s eyes "That coward, on the other hand"

He sets off after Drust at top speed I share a worried look with the rest of the group, then hurry after him, afraid of ill happen if he catches up with the druid in this dark mood

Drust has reached the Jutland by the ti out into the sea, grass growing thickly along the top, blowing ever easterly fro in a spot in the ainst the wind, his chess set on the grass in front of hiures

"You!" Lorcan shouts, striding up to the druid Drust doesn’t look up at the furious teenager "You abandoned us and left us to the demons! What do you have to say in defence of yourself?"

No answer Drust is fully focused on the chess game

Lorcan’s axe is in his left hand He raises it, his youthful face twisted with hatred I want to stop him but I dare not interfere And, to be honest, part ofout on us and wants to see hi and reaches for his knife, to intervene, but before he can, Drust says quietly, "You cannot harm me here You will suffer if you try"

"Suffer this!" Lorcan screas his axe down

The head of the axe melts The handle turns into a shaft of fire Lorcan yells with pain and drops it I blink duic, but it didn’t come from Drust It seemed to come from the earth itself

"Violence is not perain, you’ll die"

Lorcan snatches for his sith his unhar reusted

Drust looks around at us, azes without any hint of shame "Lord Loss orchestrated the attack He set the deht it was an ambush, so I fled for my life, as I was duty bound to I see noas ame but I was not to know that at the ti about?" Goll snarls "Ronan died It was no game"

Drust shakes his head "If it had been a real a trailed us this far and listened to our conversations, Lord Loss must knohat our plan is If he truly wished to stop us at this point, he’d have killed me The rest of you don’t matter That hy I ran I couldn’t let myself fall, not this close to the end"

"Fancy words, but it boils down to the sa-cowardice," Fiachna says

"You may call it that if you wish," Drust says coolly "But I told you fro to me You’ve helped rateful for that but it s"

Goll laughs bitterly "I bet you didn’t have many friends when you were a child!"

"Druids don’t need friends," Drust replies, then regards his chess set again

I study the Jutland uncertainly Night is upon us and I can hear the howls of the demons that Connla ran off And Lord Loss is still out there I feel exposed, open to attack "Are you sure we’re safe?" I ask

"Aye," Drust says "This is a place of Old ic No lesser demon can set foot here A demon master can, but like us, they can coods for small mercies," Connla sniffs "Are therethe coast, where we can shelter in the cohts?"

"No," Drust says "But ould have no need of the for It’s the end of the road"

Then he gives his attention over fully to the chess garass, the drop on either side, the sea which stretches off into the distance-and wonder what exactly he brought us to this desolate place for

Night darkens Black clouds blow in off the sea, unloading their rain on top of us I’lad of the rain at first-it washes the worst of the blood from my face and neck-but its appeal quickly fades as a chill sets in To co ic and we huddle around it, capes and cloaks pulled over our heads, shivering from the damp and cold

I’ve treated Fiachna’s wounded shoulder, but it’s a nasty purple colour I’m not sure I cleaned out all the deerous at thea close eye on it

Lorcan is silent and distant, thinking of his dead brother There’s not much you can say to a warrior when a loved one dies Death is so all warriors learn to embrace It’s part of their trade At least Ronan died in battle Lorcan will o on There’s no benefit to be had fro like a woame, head bent over the board to shelter it froures around slowly, after much deliberation Maybe this was his aim-to escape to a place where he’d be protected, safe to play his gaht and day in peace

After an hour the rain eases and rateful, but now that we can seenear where the Jutland starts, watching us intently