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We h we’re not really part of the world The horses push on at tre to tire It’s only e stop at Drust’s co from exhaustion We rub them down to warraze for a while The others are keen to continue but Drust says wea close eye on the ti questioned "This is my quest I’m the one who knoe can and can’t do, when to race and when to rest"

While the horses are grazing, the druid approaches me "I want you to ride besideto teach you the spells needed to close the tunnel"

"Why? I thought you were going to cast the should happen to me"

"The Old Creatures said it would only work if a hs "Aye But if the worst coht as well try it on one of the others Cast the spell-it’s complicated but I think you’ll be able to aze flickering over my friends It comes to rest on Bran

"No," I say instantly

"He’s a kind of ician," Drust says "Of the four, he’d be most suitable You’d stand a better chance with hiain "Goll or Lorcan would give their lives willingly-h I doubt it-but Bran wouldn’t understand He couldn’t make a choice I won’t kill so asked of him"

"I’m not so sure he wouldn’t understand," Drust murmurs "But if he didn’t, wouldn’t that be for the best? You could do it quickly, "

I shake my head stubbornly "If I have to, I’ll ask one of the others But I won’tthe consequences if we fail?" Drust asks ly

"Even then," I s we should never do Othere’ll become like the demons-mere s sourly "As you wish If luck is with us, it won’t coht I’d make you aware of your options Just in case"

He rises and shouts at Bran to gather the horses-though they obey us e’re on their backs, they revert to creatures of the hen left to graze and only Bran can get close to the besideme the spells which will hopefully destroy the tunnel between this world and the Demonata’s

We rest several times over the course of the day The third time, one of the horses collapses and dies I ride with Bran after that,me behind him by the way he tilts his head back to nuzzle htfall This tiement, but it’s plain from their worried expressions that they think we should press on Drust sees this, and though he scowls, he takes the tiress today If we rest the horses tonight, we can push them hard tomorrow and arrive at the tunnel by afternoon If we continued now, they’d die before dawn, leaving us to ouldn’tthe night, snuffling and snorting, more than I’ve ever seen before It h which they cross It’s hard athered them in a small circle before dusk and dozes in thethe them motionless

I don’t sleep I can’t This is probablywith cold and fear, knohat’s to co about death and all that I’ll lose Why couldn’t I have fallen in battle, killed quickly, no ti behind? This waiting is worse than death itself

I have ht, when the world is a lonely place I could run Desert with Connla I’ He could have left ere at the coast or when Bran brought the horses He said he wasn’t one to flee a challenge butby hio with him, I’th and standing, allied to hty pair Set ourselves up as rulers of so, me a priestess-queen All-powerful

It’s te will be brief, that I’ll find peace in the Otherworld But in irl, afraid of the darkness of death, wanting to grow up and see more of the world, tasteof the terrible sacrifice I must make, the joys I will never know, the love I’ll now definitely never find Part of me wants to slither across to Connla, put htmare as fast as I can

But I don’t Duty wins out over fear in the end I can’t stop the shivers or the fast beat of round And I do I hate the prospect of dying and I’ht I could be But if this is ods ask of me so be it Better to die for my people in my own land than rule in another and suffer a lifetiuilt

Many of the de trophies of their battles with humans-heads, li and screa but there’s nothing we can do without giving our position away If we did that, the dereat and unmerciful force and we’d all perish

"They’ll be the last," Drust whispers, his eyes hard "After tomorrow, no more will die at the hands of the Demonata"

"You prohis face for a hint of the lie that would provide me with an excuse to bail out

"I pro come this far I’m sure on’t fail" He pauses "You’re still prepared to?"

"Of course!" I snap, pretending to be offended by the notion that I entle hand on ht knee "It will be quick It won’t hurt You haveas if that was the furthest thing fro by and try to drown out the echoes of the children’s screams

Day The order of the world restored My final sun Fittingly, it’s obscured by heavy grey clouds I’ve heard that clouds are rare in some lands, that the sun shines all day in a clear blue sky But surely those are fanciful tales, told for the arey It wouldn’t feel natural if the sun shone brightly all the time