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Perhaps soic allowed Mason to keep us all protected from the shower of ice, every spike as sharp as a knife, shattering like blades of glass against his shield He grunted as the icicles fell harder and faster, and we only ventured to peek outside of ourhad dwindled to nothing

The ground was littered in shards of hted song, untouched by the torrent of frost But all around us, the circle of green hellfire had disappeared, doused and vanquished by the same person who had once saved me from Mammon’s flames

“Herald,” I said, ht of him, and of the rest of our friends

“No ti us away froht the what they have planned, but we’ll have a better chance of breaking their seal that way”

“Fair enough,” I said, stuht the faces of the rest of Team Borica Bastion, Prudence, Romira, and Royce were there, as were Carver and, of all people, Maht of the crowd of people behind them

“We brought reinforcements,” Bastion announced, his chest puffed up, his voice deeper as he stood tall and proud I recognized so with them, but I found so many more, dozens that I didn’t know Men and women from the Lorica, co for humanity

And then I saw the fro in froes, each and every one, spells already prepped in the palnized Frau Helena near the front My blood thrummed with renewed confidence This wasn’t just the Lorica Theto defend our home

Wordlessly, as one, we turned on the witches, and the night sky lit up with the horrific brilliance of raw ainst the White Mother, or theI’d ever encountered in the arcane underground up to that point would have been slaughtered by the assault of soin sy with abandon

So at the sound of a barked order from Frau Helena The air cleared, the s away in a gentle breeze I gritted ht of the thirteen witches completely unharmed and untouched I clenched my fist

“We barely made a dent,” I cried out

I spun on athered there, their skin red in the light of Agatha Black’s sorceries They were just as worried as I was, though a few of their number were busy with other concerns Bastion and Royce were speaking to each other rapidly, practically yelling I noticed a third in their cluster, Odessa, another Scion of the Lorica fa powerful shields She was involved in the arguh when she bent closer to suggest so in a whisper The three of them nodded as Bastion stepped forward to address us all

“Everyone, back,” he said, to the protestation of some of the Hooded Council’s es “No Back Those of you who can create shields, lend us your power We’re calling in a strike”

I knew exactly what that ed on Herald’s wrist and ran towards the rest of the es Asher and the others followed suit My eyes landed on Royce, who had two fingers pressed to his te to so his orders

“Ready,” Bastion cried out, thrusting his arm towards the sky

A wave of force emitted from the palm of his hand, and I es contributed their essence to the shield, lifting ensorcelled fingers and hands and wands to the sky A faint hu with the concentration of so ic around us solidified into a e by the hilltop We needed to be properly defended for as co