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Chapter Eighteen

"You&039;re going to need a ticket to do that," said the worker behind me, and he actually stood and blocked Arthur froht of Arthur&039;s wounds - bloody rents in his sleeves and a cut lip - and the worker&039;s mouth literally dropped open

"You will step aside," said Arthur in a low, even voice "Better yet, I suggest you leave altogether Would be better for your health"

The kid stared at Arthur Arthur stared back Solanced nervously toward the closed tent flap, then back to Arthur They stared at each other for another heartbeat or two, and then the kid dashed out through the tent flap without looking back He was still running as the tent flap settled back into place, giving me snatches of the scene outside Unfortunately, I also had a good view of the goons with swords, both of ere now a good deal closer

"U on?"

"As they say in your physical world, James, there&039;s no time to answer"

He positioned himself in front of the stone Outside, the croas still screa feet I had a sense that thequickly Arthur took a deep breath and closed his eyes

"Where&039;s Marion?" I asked

"She&039;s safe," he said, and wrapped his hands around the hilt, his long fingers gripping it tightly There eat on his brow, I saw, and the knuckles of his right hand were bloody The sound of bone hitting bone that I had heard earlier?

What the hell was going on?

Better yet, what the hell had I gottenI shied away froh at any moment Two men with swords

Sweet Jesus!

I turned back to Arthurandto hie and wonderful and- and not of this world

At least, not of the world that I knew

I&039; This can&039;t be real

I had joked about blue sparks earlier - but I had been close Too close They weren&039;t exactly blue, and they weren&039;t exactly sparks Instead, green coils of crackling energy wound around Arthur&039;s hands and wrists like glowing neon tubes See him to the sword

Arthur lifted his face to the heavens, reen coilsa sword burst into the tent

I squeaked like a dog&039;s chew toy Thenearby, and his face twisted into soht armor and leather boots and sported a sword that looked like itinto the table

Did Iat me Okay, he so wasn&039;t my new BFF anymore In his defense, all of the man&039;s concentration was centered on the sword In particular, pulling the sword free Sweat poured free from Arthur&039;s brow as thick, muscular cords stood out on his neck A vein popped out on his forehead, thick as an earthwor his shoulders and upper back bunched together impressively and seemed ready to burst free froth

Sweet h I probably shouldn&039;t have been - the sword slowly, ever so slowly, started coy looped around Arthur&039;s hands and wrists, around and around, sealing hih his clenched teeth: "Help me, James!"

But he didn&039;t mean help hi guy with a sword - a sword that wasn&039;t embedded in two tons of rock A sword that was now raised and ready to strike

Is this really happening?

Yeah, I think it is

I looked desperately around for anything that rese I could think of: I hurledlike a madman