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The doorkeeper wrinkled its nose and gave Sabriel a bit of a push in the right direction, like a parent urging a reluctant child to press on But Sabriel needed no urging Her fear was still burning in her Mouished by the rescue, the sain She set her face upwards and started to walk quickly, into the passage

She looked back after a few yards, to see the doorkeeper waiting near the door, its sword at the guard position Beyond it, the door was bulging in, iron-bound planks bursting, breaking around a hole as big as a dinner plate

The Mordicant reached in and broke off ht snap toothpicks It was obviously furious that its prey was getting away, for it burned all over now Yellow-red flames vomited from its mouth in a vile torrent, and black s in crazy circles as it howled

Sabriel looked away, setting off at a fast walk, but the walk grew faster and faster, beca and then a run Her feet pounded on the stone, but it wasn’t until she was al, that she realized why she could--her pack and skis were still back at the lower door For a o back, but it passed before it even becaht Even so, her hands checked scabbard and bandolier, and gained reassurance from the cool metal of sword hilt and the hand-sht too, she realized as she ran Charterpace with her Charter s she didn’t know Strange marks and many of theht that a First in e in the Old Kingdoainst stupid pride

Another howl cae and echoed onwards, acco supernatural flesh, or ricocheting off stone Sabriel didn’t need to look back to know the Mordicant had broken through the door and was now fighting the doorkeeper--or pushing past hi with the sentinel variety was an inability to leave their post Once the creature got a few feet past the doorkeeper, the sending would be useless--and one great charge would soon get the Mordicant past

That thought gave her another burst of speed, but Sabriel knew that it was the last Her body, pushed by fear and weakened by cold and exertion, was on the edge of failure Her legs felt stiff, s seemed to bubble with fluid rather than air

Ahead, the corridor seeht only shone where Sabriel ran, so perhaps the exit ht not be too far ahead, perhaps just past the next little patch of darkness

Even as this thought passed through her ht tracing of a doorway She half gasped, half cried out, both slight human noises drowned out by the unholy, inhuman screech of the Mordicant It was past the doorkeeper

At the same time, Sabriel becaht was the throb of blood in her ears, the pounding of a racing heart But it was outside, beyond the upper door A deep, roaring noise, so loas alh the floor, rather than heard

Heavy trucks passing on a road above, Sabriel thought, before renized the sound Soreat waterfall was crashing down And a waterfall that reat river

Running water! The prospect of it fueled Sabriel with sudden hope, and with that hope caht beyond her In a wild spurt of speed, she al for the instant she needed to find the handle or ring

But another hand was already on the ring when she touched it, though none had been there a second before Again, Charter rain of the wood and the blueing of the steel through the pal

This one was s a habit like a monk’s, with the hood drawn across its head The habit was black and bore the emblem of the silver key front and back

It bowed, and turned the ring The door swung open, to reveal bright starlight shining down between clouds fleeing the newly risen wind The noise of the waterfall roared through the open doorway, acco, Sabriel stepped out

The cowled doorkeeper ca a delicate, silver portcullis down across the door and locking it with an iron padlock Both defenses apparently came out of thin air Sabriel looked at thes But door, portcullis and lock would only slow the Mordicant, not stop it The only possible escape lay across the swiftest of running water, or the untilare of a noonday sun

The first lay at her feet and the second was still e that projected out from the bank of a river at least four hundred yards wide A little to her right, a scant few paces away, this lorious waterfall Sabriel leaned forward a little, to look at the waters crashing below, creating huge white wings of spray that could easily s her entire school, neing and all, like a rubber duck swa fall, and the height, coupled with the sheer power of the water, ht ahead, halfway across, Sabriel could just make out an island, an island perched on the very lip of the waterfall, dividing the river into two strea island, about the size of a football field, but it rose like a ship of jagged rock fro the island were liht of six men Behind those walls was a house It was too dark to see clearly, but there was a tower, a thrusting, pencil silhouette, with red tiles that were just beginning to catch the dawning sun Below the tower, a dark bulk hinted at the existence of a hall, a kitchen, bedrooms, armory, buttery and cellar The study, Sabriel suddenly remembered, occupied the second to top floor of the tower The top floor was an observatory, both of stars and the surrounding territory

It was Abhorsen’s House Hoh Sabriel had only visited it twice, orto remember much That period of her life was hazy, and mostly filled with recollections of the Travelers, the interiors of their wagons, and ether She didn’t even reh the sound of it did stir soed in the irl

Unfortunately, she didn’t reet to the house Only the words her e