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“STOP!” Hayden orders from his room

Slayde pushes s my shoulder I cry out in pain, just as the wood above our heads explodes with the force of Hayden’s blast

We’re up again, and he’s draggingnarrow hallway leading to the exit My shoulder is throbbing, but I’ so fast, I don’t even care

“This way!” We’re out of the castle, running through the glooh the little white flowers, and Slayde leads ht into the forest

“Where are we going?” Ionly Hayden’s coat, doing my best to keep it closed around me

“The rift between the worlds is at the end of this forest” Slayde stops and lets me catch my breath He slips the two shields back in his pockets

“What are those things?”

“Negative energy repellants” He wipes his hand across his forehead as his breath returns to nory, but when Hayden’s negative pulse hits them, they consume and deflect it in an arc”

I don’t understand a word of what he just said, but I nod anyway

“You ready to run? We’ve got to get out of here now”

I’m just about to say yes when I hear a sound I know too well The terrifying howl of a dog, followed by the snarling a

nd snapping of teeth

“Cerberus!” I scream “RUN!”

The words are just out of my mouth when Slayde’s ice blue eyes widen I don’t have to look behindbefore he has the chance to grabunder lis He jerks my hand, and we veer to the left I see a strea closer

His roars and terrifying barks are just at our heels I push hs until they burn with pain, but I don’t see anywhere for us to go I don’t see a cave or a hill or a door Nothing is ahead of us, and ives out