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When the glassbloere safely returned, the fiddlers changed their tune Rojer led thetheic as he coaxed de He then walked alone outside the forbiddance, calling with his s took until they were arranged as he liked

"Kendall!" he called, and the girl stepped forward and began to play Rojer softened his thened hers and approached the the mesmerized demons to her sole control

Rojer went to where Leesha waited by the ward’s edge "She really is quite good," he said proudly "The de they touch"

Indeed, the corelings drifted after Kendall as she stepped carefully about the field There were flares of light as delass in their path, the etched wards siphoning off a tiny fraction of the des hissed, clawing at the areas where they had felt the drain Kendall tried to change her ain, but her fear was apparent in her playing as she began to miss notes She tried to increase her tes worse The demons started to shake the confusion from their heads

Rojer moved toward her slowly in his warded cloak, with plenty of tily, but then Kendall lass through the soft leather of her shoe She cried out, and her bow slipped fros perked up, and her spell shattered Their nostrils flared as they caught the scent of her blood, and they shrieked, launching themselves at her

Rojer broke into a run, but he had drifted far away to speak to Leesha, and one of the corelings buried its talons deep in Kendall’s body, pulling her close and sinking rows of teeth into her shoulder before he could get in range Blood soaked her dress, and other deht one another for a share of the kill

"Archers!" Rojer cried desperately

"We’ll hit Kendall!" Wonda cried back, and Rojer saw that all the women had bows drawn, but none dared risk the shot

He put his fiddle to work, notes hten and drive off the demons They shrieked and broke off their attack, Kendall collapsing to the ground, but there was blood in the air now, and they were not easily driven back They hissed and swiped, blocking Rojer’s path

"Kendall!" Rojer screa air as she reached a bloodied hand his way

Suddenly a huge shape swept by Rojer, nearly bowling him over He looked up to see Gared tackle one of the wood deht down under the burly Cutter’s weight, and the wards on his gauntlets flared brightly as he laid heavy blows on the one he had landed upon By the ti was quick and bit hard into his arrabbed the dehty ar it as a ram to drive into its fellows He and the demons all went down in a tu at the prone creatures arded axes

His fiddle useless a his cloak with blood as he threw it over her Kendall croaked weakly at hiled to lift her The coh, faster than the archers could pick the down his arm, hacked his way to them He dropped the weapons and lifted Kendall like a feather With the archers and Cutters providing cover, he ran her to the hospit

"I need a blood donor!" Leesha cried as Gared kicked in the hospit door They laid Kendall on a bed, and apprentices ran for Leesha’s instru up his sleeve

"Check if he’s a match," Leesha told Vika as she moved to scrub her hands and arms Vika quickly lanced a sample from Rojer as Darsy tried to have a look at Gared’s arm

"Worry about those that are hurt worse," Gared said, pulling away He pointed to the door, where other injured Cutters were being carried in

There was a ind of bloodied activity as the Herb Gatherers worked Leesha cut and clamped and sewed Kendall for two hours as Rojer looked on, dizzy fro the back of a bloodied hand over her sweating brow "Will she be all right?" Rojer asked