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"What do you mean?"

"Well, if Phaedra’s the issue… we can always just take out her and her gang"

"I’ you mean ‘take out’ as in ‘dead,’ not as in ‘Chinese food’?" she asked I nodded, surprised at my own bloodthirstiness

"I’ve considered it," she admitted But noe know someone is behind these attacks… so they’ll just send more people At least we know Phaedra, and know soood point Even if Phaedra and her gang weren’t around, it didn’t s sent by the enelyphs? So they can’t be awakened, and no one gets to be champion?" I asked

"I don’t think they want to be destroyed, as our friends learned the hard way We could end up like Anyan and Nell Or worse"

"What if we don’t open theuard them?"

"For the rest of our lives? No hed Blondie was right We had to find the creature and let her get the power it offered, and then she could do so question

"What will you do when you’re champion?" I asked

"What?"

"What will you do with all that power?"

She frowned "I dunno I hadn’t thought about it What would you do, Jane?" Her eyes had a faraway look when she asked that question, as if she were thinking hard

"I dunno," I said "Keep it safe, I guess" Then I frowned "But so has to be done about the creature, doesn’t it? If it ht? Can it still be awakened?"

"Yes, it could still be awakened Would you kill it?"

I frowned "Why would I kill it? It’s this ancient thing That would be like stea Pompeii"

Blondie’s eyes refocused, and she smiled at me "We will have to deal with that issue, but let’s deal with everything else first I like to do things by the seat of "

"And we still have to locate the lyphs," I started, before I was interrupted

"The signs protect destruction," Fugwat called from the floor in front of us Blondie and I frowned at each other before we both looked toward hins protect…"

He continued on like that, his eyes closed and his wat’s in the driver’s seat," I said

"Nope"

"The sign protects destruction," the spriggan added, helpfully Blondie took a step toward hi different from the "smack now, ask questions later" everyone seemed to favor these days

Instead, I an

"We know the signs protect destruction," I said, in ns protect destruction," Fugwat replied

"Yes," I said "We got that, but--"

"The signs protect destructions"

"Okay, but--"

"The signs protect destruction" Clearly, Fugwat’s possessor was not one to be sidetracked The spriggan was rocking faster now, repeating "the signs protect destruction" at an even more rapid rate I tried to interrupt hirabbed Fugwat by the shoulders