Page 5 (1/2)

Then he saw the way they moved and realized they were not ordinary at all From the waist down, they were serpentine, and their bodies moved swiftly under the water as they came upriver

Beyond them, Oliver could see the end of the tunnel, where it opened into sunlight, and he gritted his teeth and shook the sword free, ignoring the jacket as the current carried it away All that h to wish he’d held on to it

Halliwell had never felt so old It hurt him to think about it Here he was in a place that should not exist, having seen le day than most people would see in their entire lives Soht to feelas ic Instead, he felt tired and hopeless and lost Of course, he was all of those things

The only direction he had noas to find Basconment--to hell with that The only way to ht have soet him home

Once he had Bascombe, of course, he still wanted answers Theeyes and the connection to the Basco back to the world was evenhe’d ever known, he had no touchstone for what mattered What did it nize his authority?

His service weapon was clipped to his belt at the small of his back He’d worn it under his jacket, but now the jacket was abandoned Halliwell felt no need to hide the weapon, but he had seen Julianna looking at it warily She had been astonished that her fired for hidoreased the wheels of the world

His world, at least

He had no clue how this one worked

But Oliver would And Oliver was in love with Julianna Having her along for the ride had at first been troubling to Halliwell Now it had turned out to be vital For if Bascoot wind of her presence here, then he would come find them, and they wouldn’t have to search for hih, the hunt was on

Julianna had caught up with hiy, rocky slope to the river Halliwell had taken a look to the north and seen onlylandscape, so he had turned south instead, toward the forest They’d been walking alongside the river ever since, and been in the shade of the trees for a while now

"You seem awfully certain of your direction," she said

Halliwell kept his focus on the bend in the valley ahead, where the river turned and disappeared in the woods "I am"

"How do you know Oliver went this way?"

"I don’t"

Julianna faltered and fell behind But when Halliwell didn’t wait for her, she caught up to hi hiht we’d established a pretty decent rapport, Ted," she said, searching his eyes

Halliwell let out a breath and nodded He reached up and scratched at his stubbled chin "We have I’ this as well as you are"

"Funny, I thought you were handling it better I’ and II’m an old bastard and pretty sure I’m in shock, and not in the best shape for a cross-country hike"

"Bullshit," Julianna said, eyes narrowing sharply "You’re in better physical condition than I a If you’re freaked, that’s fine Me, too But we’re here together Talk tohow beautiful she was, how fortunate Bascoirl like this in love with hi happened to her here

"Can alk?" he asked

Julianna got out of his way and fell in beside hiain

"Water is life, kid," Halliwell said "If we follow the river, we’re likely to find a settle the way The other direction wasn’t exactly inviting terrain, you know? So I’ic That doesn’t mean Oliver went this way, but if we have any chance of finding hi about this place, figure out how to track hih," she replied "But you could’ve said--"

"Did you feel that?" Halliwell interrupted He stopped and glanced around, staring at the ground

"Feel what?"

Halliwell didn’t have to answer her A ain, and saw in her eyes that she had felt it, too A small tremor in the earth beneath their feet It ca on the trees

"What the hell is that?" Julianna asked in a whisper

He had no answer for her The treular, too rhythined a battlefield would be, the impact of ," he said

They walked e beneath the shade of branches of the trees along the bank The tre in intensity

"It’s getting closer," Julianna said "Ted, o a different way"

Halliwell shook his head, not in disagreeain, they faltered and came to a halt Now the branches and leaves all shook with each treh to throw the, it soon would be

"Maybe," he said at last "Through the woods West, I guess it is"

Julianna turned to go into the trees, away from the river Hallient to follow her but took one last look downstreaiant coh as the trees

The giant was hideous, the bones in its bleached white face jutting through taut leathery skin, eyes glea pink like a fresh scar, the bones of its ribs so sharply defined that they seeh the flesh It bent to snatch at soes of bones that protruded fro to his mouth as if to keep hihtened with a sharp, unfa, unable to breathe He had never known terror before, and it engulfed hi had frozen as well From a hundred yards downriver, it stared at him Then it stood and cocked back its head He was sure it was sniffing at the air, catching their scent on the wind

"Weird," Julianna said, a few feet away in the trees "The ground stopped…"

Her words trailed off He glanced over and saw that she had seen the thing now She screa the air like fabric The wind died in that h it were composed of spirits who stopped to listen, to watch