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"Silvestrus got to the artifacts, and he passed theht theet to you, but tooOur mission succeeded Hopefully this will help restore sooron, Silvestrus, and I rebelled against the Fairy Queen after she transfors and banished us Her consort had fallen to Gorgrog, and yes, as a body, the Knights of the Dawn had failed, but some of us found her punishhts relaxed their vigilance, and Gorgrog got to our king in a surprise attack So the bla shame, six of us renounced her Three of us only recently returned, answering her call We have enerously offered us an opportunity"

"You did well," Seth said "Thanks"

"Save your gratitude! We succeeded because of you Seth, I have never seen a sword throith such ability For that matter, ould dare to throw such a sword? I am still in disbelief"

Seth s looked fierce in front of it "Is the shrine falling?"

"Our foes are hitting it hard," Peredor said grimly "Without intervention, it will fall shortly Our ranks have grown disorderly Bracken has taken to the battlefield"

"Kendra?"

"We’ll find her And we’ll find you a unicorn"

Chapter 28 The De her brother vanish with the Sphinx into the unseen heart of the de Seth to endanger himself But she did not directly intervene to prevent Seth’s departure After all, their situation was desperate, and she had a feeling none of the extre any of them reached the end of the day alive

As the derown fiercer and closer A so away toward the far side of the island, taunting the gigantic deed to injure sorog e portion of his host toward the shrine, Bracken departed to join the fight, along with Vanessa, Warren, and several astrids

Bracken warned Kendra to stay near the shrine until the obvious moment, and then to flee He did not explain ould make the moo as the de the shrine Any h, and Kendra would join the fight Or perhaps when the deh, it would be time to run away

"This could be it," Newel said froo," Doren said with relish "Look at the about, but I seeo out in style," Newel agreed "Killed by the best"

"I wish I had a decent sword," Doren sighed "I know the feeling," Trask added "At least we each have a guardian astrid," Newel said optimistically

"I think my astrid could take yours," Doren ," Newel chuckled "Mine looks like he could break yours in half with his bare hands"

"He’d have to catch him first," Doren countered "Mine looks quick and wiry"

"Neither of us should get too cocky," Newel replied "I’ll wager Kendra has the best ones"

"No doubt," Doren huffed "She has connections"

Kendra glanced back at the two astrids assigned to her Surly warriors heavily ar and Rostimus looked impatient to join the combat By the appearance of the battle, they and the other astrid bodyguards would not have long to wait Thelines of fairies and astrids

A tall, burly deh the defenders, allowing several other de the crustaceous deuards entered the fray and drove back the other deh

The se fairy fell to a trio of four-armed women with spider bodies The demonic women held a sword or knife in each hand, and turned to widen the gap they had created as other deh Another fairy fell, and suddenly the line of defenders collapsed into disarray

Hugo ca for her to retreat to the edge of the shrine She obeyed And then the Sphinx appeared alongside Targoron The Sphinx tossed his sword to Trask, aded into battle, face griash in the Sphinx’s neck, but Targoron promptly dusted it with the Sands of Sanctity and the wound closed

"Get the artifacts to safety," the Sphinx gasped

"I’ll carry theht with the Oculus, the Sands of Sanctity, and the Translocator

Kendra knew nothing about a fallback position She felt like an outsider in this battle where so many plans were conveyed telepathically "Where’s Seth?" she asked the Sphinx

"Injured," he replied "He was heroic Your brother le-handedly slew Graulas and Nagi Luna Peredor is flying hiained the artifacts, since Bracken had claimed they were essential, but she felt horribly worried about Seth How badly had he been injured? Would she ever see hiain?

Rosti froiving up a lot of ground, the astrids and fairies werea final stand in front of the shrine But the frenzied dean to buckle

"What about the shrine?" Kendra asked If the dedoht

"My duty is to protect you," Rostimus replied

Newel patted Rostimus on the arm "Could you lend us a couple of weapons?"

"My arrows aren’t causing har like spectators"

Rosti one to each satyr "Use them well," he ad into battle