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"The edge?" I ask "There’s an end to this thing?"

She pauses before answering "Of a sort"

"What--"

"Quiet," one of the twin guards says

We all freeze and drop low to the ground The pegasusme into his protection I’m not usually one to accept help, but when I hear the footsteps, even I know it’s best to stay out of the way

They are countless Like the sound of an entire ar by The echoes draw closer and closer until it sounds like they are walking right over top of us The protective wing tightens around asus’s chest The e There must be hundreds, at least I watch in silence as theyaround a bend in the canyon None of us says anything until the last of the echoes dies down

"Clear," the guard says

Everyone exhales and returns to standing positions As we get , I ask, "What was that?"

"Nychtian Arht," the golden ia"

"What do you mean?" I ask

"The dark creatures of Abyssos wish to have free, unregulated access to the human realuardians once the seal is broken" She gives me a sad look "They train now to overtake you and your sisters, to kill you so the door may reht of that ar eable But an entire ar the words out through a dry mouth "Seeirls"

"You are no ordinary girls," the golden ht too Monsters hypnotize"

"Hush, Sillus," the pegasus says "You will frighten her"

Too late "Hu huolden maiden nods, a sad smile on her face Like she can already picture our defeat She doesn’t know o down easy

"What’s the point?" I ask "Even if they succeed, couldn’t the gods just reseal the door? Couldn’t they wind up just as badly off as they are now?"

She shakes her head "The original sealing ritual was very specific"