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Each of the black stones had grown tall, but not uniforht, the shortest a dozen The circle they formed was uneven, yet still undoubtedly a circle, placed that ith soaps between stones were as little as a few inches in some places, and at the widest, no st the knee-high grass of the clearing, as though the black stones themselves were some sort of shrine or memorial and the flowers had been left by e of the road, hesitant to enter the clearing

"What do you think will happen?" he asked without looking at Kitsune

"I don’t know," the fox-woht, perhaps even a bit fearful "But noe find out"

The late afternoon sun still reached fingers of daylight into the clearing, but Oliver shivered as a chill breeze rustled the trees With a nervous grin he stepped into the clearing, tall grass scritching against the legs of his blue jeans as he walked toward the ebony circle

Oliver tried to peer between the stones, but there was only shadow there, as though night had already fallen within the circle He could see that the grass grew in the gaps between the stones, and that heartened hih he did not knohy What would happen, he wondered, if he was unable to pass through, but Kitsune vanished? Would she be able to cohts of Collette steeled him

Kitsune did not reach out for hi back curiously Then she reached up and drew back her hood for the first tih the Veil Despite his fear, he caught his breath just to look at her Her eyes were kind

"You must try, Oliver This will save us days"

He nodded Collette awaited The Sand

Oliver took another step

As if startled by the motion, a flock of small birds cried out and took off fro, branches waving at the suddenness of their departure

Solanced at Kitsune and saw that she was sniffing at the air

"No," he whispered, jaw set tightly "Not now"

A terrible hiss filled the clearing, resounding off of the stones Oliver turned, trying to find the source of the echoing sounds, but then he saw that Kitsune’s gaze was locked on a spot at the edge of the clearing--at the very same knot of trees that had blocked their view of the stone circle until the last mo with antlers and green-feathered wings and long, vicious claws Its features were thin and brutal and its eyes were bright as it stepped into the last of the sunlight and started toward thelanced around There were others Of course there were others Six or seven of the antlered things, each of the to behold They carried no weapons, but this troubled Oliver even ers came to vicious points, and it was clear they needed no other weapon

Back on the Orient Road, two other figures had appeared fro with jaundiced, pustulent skin and a thick ht feet high, and she carried a long butcher’s knife in each hand, ready to carve

But she was far fro responsible for the hissing in the air It rose and fell, bobbing in the air, and its upper body swayed back and forth The head was vaguely serpentine, but beneath that it was si in upon themselves Its body was like a tower of vipers, the tentacles lashing out and then curling inward again It ing and thrusting and dancing it forward

"Oliver," Kitsune whispered

Froain Oliver put his hand on the poone far enough, I think," the hag said

"Black Annis," Kitsune said, her eyes as cold as her tone "This is none of your concern Hunt me another day We have an errand that will not wait"

The hag crouched lower, the hump on her back more pronounced than ever, and took a step nearer "This errand will not wait"

The tentacled thing roiled toward the his fear but unable to rise above it Twisted as she was, the hag at least had hu forth fro in high wind, one of the winged Hunters took flight at the edge of the clearing, throwing a dreadful shadow across the grass The one that had been directly opposite it took flight as well

"Kit?" Oliver whispered

The fox-wolanced around quickly at the others He could practically hear her heart pounding, and he saw in her stance that she wanted nothing more than to bolt into the trees and run for her life

Oliver knew then that they would die here They stood no chance at all against so ain, but could she grab hih before they attacked? He did not believe so And frohtened that it had not even occurred to her

I es of his sister, and of Julianna, rising in his an slowly to draw his sword froht If he could summon the Dustht still be too great, but…

And then Oliver realized that there was another alternative

Leaving his blade sheathed, he reached into his pocket His fingers pushed aside the feather frole large seed that the gods of the Harvest had given hio Promises had been ine ever needing it ood round began to trean to close in, but several of thelanced at one another, confused The two in the air began to swoop doard

"What have you done?" shrieked the hag

The hissing of the other Hunter grew so loud it al of the earth and it darted across the road, propelled by a hundred thick tentacles

Cornstalks shot up out of the road and wrapped around it, grabbing tentacles one by one and dragging it down The thing struggled, at ith the cornstalks as they continued to burst up through the hard-packed soil