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"And we ansith joy," replied Brother Peter with his flat voice and uns face

He bowed low Saint John kissed his head and blessed hiine, and roared off into the woods

Saint John watched hi to himself with silent approval Brother Peter was the best of the reapers The best by far A genius of the blade and a killer whose every breath was dedicated to giving the gift of darkness Saint John had no doubts that Peter would find this man--this troublesome man--and do as he had promised He would open the doors in the reatest act of faith and devotion possible Saint John almost envied him that pleasure

He reached up and touched the silver whistle that hung around his neck He stroked it contemplatively for aand hard and with no apparent effect

Soon, however, he heard the sound of clu on dead leaves, and the swish of pine branches brushing against bodies that moved without delicacy but with the implacability of the stars themselves

Then the saint of all the killers left on earth ran after Nix and Benny, and behind hi dead followed

FROM NIX’S JOURNAL

To to a code of ethics and behavior called Bushido You’d think so thatthe enemy, but that’s not hoas There are seven "virtues" that true warriors had to live by

1 Justice This is about doing the right thing or ht decision (even if it’s the hardest choice at the time)

2 Bravery We can’t really be fearless, but we can act brave even e’re scared green

3 Benevolence Warriors should always show mercy, charity, and kindness

4 Respect Everyone deserves it (I have to keep re myself of this one!)

5 Honesty This includes trust and sincerity, too

6 Loyalty Yeah This one’s really i to survive out here in the Ruin

7 Honor Toive your word, then that’s set in stone He said, "Honor isn’t a convenience It’s a way of life"

34

AN ARROW THUNKED INTO THE TREE TRUNK AN INCH FROM CHONG’S FACE

He screa, Brother Andrew shouted, "Danny! Did you get hiht down," cried a second voice froet hi while theto his feet and bolted for the crooked line of shrubs twenty yards away He ran bent almost in half, sword clutched in one fist Another arrow struck a tree directly in front of hi him to skid to a stop and dive down behind a thick pine A third arrow hit the pine, and when he risked a look, a fourth cleaved the air so close to his head that it tugged at his hair It tangled in a creosote bush and fell to the ground Chong gave it a lance The arrow had an alu and a wicked barbed head that was s did not want to touch it He scuttled away as fast as he could

"There he is," called the archer, Danny, as he stepped out of the woods "It’s just a kid with a toy sword"

Danny was a thin black man, dressed identically to Brother Andrew, shaved head and all He had a leather quiver of arrows slung over his back, the fletched ends ready above his shoulder so all he had to do was reach up and slide an arrow out and down into his bow Chong had seen plenty of hunters co back from the Ruin with quivers identical to that What struck hih, was the bow this man carried It was not one of the old-fashioned red-elm recurve bows made by the Gibson brothers in Haven; nor was it one of the sixty-two-inch plain longbows Chong and all his friends used in gyht: a lass compound bow fitted with cables and pulleys to bend the li the archer superior accuracy, velocity, and distance Chong had seen only one like it before A ave a deo He’d outshot every archer in the Nine Towns, and each of his arrows sank twice as deep as even the longbow arrows used by Cleveland Dave Wilcox The Motor City Ha Mike a thousand ration dollars for the bow, but the scar-faced nized and feared that weapon His stomach clenched into a tiny knot of ice

He ducked so low that he was alle of brush he could find He heard another arrow strike a tree, but the archer was ai felt a splinter of relief If he could stay out of sight for another couple of minutes, then he could circle behind Danny and lose himself in the forest He risked one peek and saw that the archer was noeen hi

"Hey! Where’d he go?" growled Brother Andrew "Watch out, Danny, I can’t see him--"

"Carter!" A woman’s voice suddenly cried out in total horror, and everyone--Andrew, the archer, and Chong--turned to see a woe of the clearing Sarah Eve clung to her , face blank with incomprehension

The archer smiled and drew another black-tipped arrow

"Sarah," said Brother Andrew, and he actually looked relieved "Looks like we’ll get the whole fao into the darkness alone"

The co It was so weirdly inappropriate, and yet it seeenuine

"Carter!" Sarah’s eyes blazed withher husband’s name as if somehow the depth of her need could call him back from the dark place to which his soul had fled Her body treht between the desire to run to her husband and the need to protect her daughter

"Sarah," said Andrew, "Carter is in the arms of Thanatos now--all praise his darkness"

"N-no"

"He’s waiting for you, sweetheart He wants you and Evie to join hi

"I want irl "You see? She wants to be with hi for all of you"

"You bastards killed ed pieces of her breaking heart "And now you want to kill my baby?"

"We want to save Eve and all the other children," insisted Andrew "Please, Sarahdon’t fight this E knew that it was all hopeless Sarah was on the edge of panic, and she could never defeat both reapers She should never have co understood that she could not have done anything else It was a terrible script written by an evil hand, and she and her daughter were going to beco his arrow, the barbed head gleaoo; Andrew hefted the scythe with its wicked three-foot-long curving blade

Ti, but thisto snap He knew he could flee this encounter and head into the woods Physically he could do that; but that was not possible on any other level He also knew that he was no one’s idea of a hero Benny was, although his friend would laugh at the suggestion; and both Nix and Lilah were heroes Chong was a self-ad heroic He didn’t have the mentality or the musculature for it His bokken was clutched in his fists, and his teeth were clenched

The reapers were distracted--Chong could simply run away

"Move it, town boy," he snarled at hi

Toward the tableau that was suddenly co unstuck from time Sarah screamed and rushed at Andrew; the reaper raised his scythe The archer shifted his stance to take aim at Eve, who stood alone and confused in the dirt

This is insane, Chong told himself I can’t do this

"Danny!" yelled Brother Andrew "Behind you!"

Chong was still too far ahen the archer turned and fired