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Aht it and rolled his shoulder, wincing Then he went to stand beneath one of the holes and look up at it It was ten feet or"Hmmm"

Aria pushed herself unsteadily to her feet She walked over to Araris, bent over, and ers Araris hesitated for a moment, then put his booted foot upon her hands "One," she counted "Two Three"

Aria straightened with fury-assisted strength and tossed Araris upward as if he'd been a sh the hole with his arht up above him, then slammed his elbon on either side of the hole when he reached the other side As kick several times as he hauled hi vord cries

And beyond those, faint but clear - tru the attack, over and over and over again Firecraftings crackled and boomed in the near distance, and A up in the pool "Do you hear that?"

"The Legions," Aria breathed "But the whole horde lies between here and Garrison How?"

"Tavi," Isana said, her voice suddenly fierce "My son"

They fell quiet, and everyone listened to the distant sound of tru Each sounded both near and far away by turns Minutes crawled by in which nothing changed

Then the exhausted Lady Aria, still slu, drew in a sharp breath, and staggered back, crying, "Vord!"

And, as quickly as that, half a dozeninto the hive

Chapter 52

Fidelias sat upon his horse, keeping pace with the weary infantry of the Legions, and watched the ressive in to play out

The enshrouding mist complicated matters The knot of Caniroup muttered and snarled to themselves constantly Every so often, one of the Cani droplets of blood into the air The drops vanished as they flew, presumably to maintain the misty shroud that would hide their precise location from the enemy