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Greene and Tindall had their binoculars to their eyes in a flash But Lirael did not need binoculars to see which way the great croas heading The leading groups were already turning to the west, to the ridge and Forwin Mill beyond To the Lightning Farm, where from the look of the storm the hemispheres were already in place

"We have to stop thes

"It isjoined," said Lirael She hesitated for a second, unsure of what to do or say Only one course seee to see as happening beyond it, and thatthe valley as quickly as possible "We need to get up on that ridge! Coing slowly at first but slowly increasing her speed The Dog ran at her side, her tongue lolling out Sa on his shoulders Major Greene and Lieutenant Tindall were slower, but they were both soon bellowing orders, and the soldiers were running back fro up

The road was h the fields, crossed the stream in the center of the valley at a concrete ford or sunken bridge, and then ran along the side of the ridge

Lirael ran as she had never run before A lone figure, she splashed across the ford and cut in front of the Southerlings Closer to, she saw that they were in faenerations Hundreds of families Grandparents, parents, children, babies They all had the same scared look on their faces, and nearly everyone, no s, and se possessions, small machines and nized as sewing ely, nearly all the adults also clutched small pieces of paper

"Theyas Lirael slowed to look at the"

Lirael halted for a second and turned back Sarim determination

"Sas, ere starting to turn towards the ridge So the slope "Stop the on!"

Lirael began to run again, ignoring the pain from an incipient stitch in her side With every forward step it see, and the thunder was growing louder andup a long spur that ran up to the ridge To help her along, she grabbed at stones and the branches of the white-barked trees that were dotted along the slope

She could feel the Dead beyond the ridge as she climbed No more than a score at first, but at least a dozenspirits in from Death He must have found a source of corpses somewhere Lirael did not think they would be Shadow Hands, for it took longer to prepare a spirit for Life if there was no flesh to house it in At least it was supposed to take longer Lirael was afraid that she had no idea what Hedge was capable of

Then, without warning, she was on top of the ridge and there were no reat boulders She could see clearly down the bare western slope to the blue waters of the loch The hillside had been totally cleared, swept clean as if by fire and a giant broo only furrowed brown dirt But the dirt had sprouted a strange crop Slender ht Hundreds of them, spaced six feet apart, and joined at the roots by fat black cables that snaked down the slope and into a ra that had lost its roof Parallel metal lines laid on top of many short wooden beah the building, ending abruptly twenty yards on either side of it There were two flatbed ons on the line, one at each end Lirael instinctively knew that these were for the heons and so storhts It caht that Lirael had to shield her eyes with her hand She knehat she would see there, because she could sic It turned her stomach, and she was thankful that she hadn’t eaten for hours

One of the silver hehtning struck it The other hehtning was hitting the he out and up the slope, androds, the thousand lightning rods that togetherFarinning to swirl off the loch Lirael could sense this was a , built with real water, so it would ic working in it, and the source of it Hedge was somewhere down on the quay There were Dead down there with hi the first hemisphere, and there were s that lined the quay Lirael could sense the She felt like a fly on the edge of a cobweb, feeling the reatfarther around the web

Lirael drew Nehima, and then after a moment’s hesitation her hand fell on Astarael The Weeper All who heard her would be thrown into Death, including Lirael If she could get close enough, she could send Hedge and all the Dead a long, long way Hedge, at least, would probably be able to return to Life, but there was a sliain her precious time

But as she started to draw the bell out of the bandolier, the Dog juainst her and pushed Lirael’s hand aith her nose

"No, Mistress," she said "Astarael alone cannot prevail here We are too late to prevent the he joined"

"Sam, the soldiers" said Lirael "If we attack at once--"

"I do not think ould easily pass through this Light-ning Far her head "The Destroyer’s power is less constrained here, and the Destroyer is directing the lightning Besides, the Dead here are led by Hedge, not Chlorr"

"But if the hemispheres join" Lirael whispered to herself Then she sed and said, "It’s tie will have noticed us, as we have noticed him His mind is on the he before he orders an attack"

Lirael turned to retreat back down the eastern side of the ridge, then stopped and looked back

"Nicholas? What about hi sadly "When the hemispheres join, the shard within him will burst from his heart to beco of it It will be a swift end, though I fear Hedge will enslave his spirit"

"Poor Nick," said Lirael "I should never have let hied Lirael behind the knee, anxious to make her move "We must hurry!"

Lirael nodded and turned back to retrace her path down the slope As she hurried down, sliding and alht of Nicholas and then of everyone else, including herself Perhaps Nick would have the easiest path After all, it was likely he would be only the first to die, unknowing Everyone else would be only too aware of their fate, and they would probably all end up serving Hedge