Page 183 of Curse of Darkness

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Howling as they run toward us. Screaming for our blood.

We’re not going to get there. We’re not going to make the Hallow….

“Thiago!” I scream.

“Ride!” he yells back at me, not daring to slow his assault. Momentum is its own weapon.

The breath chokes in my lungs as I kick one of Angharad’s warriors in the face and then shove my horse through the gap that opens in his wake.

But everywhere I look, warriors clad in Angharad’s black throng toward us.

They’re pouring through the gap, trying to cut us off from the Hallow.

We’re not going to make it.

No. No, I won’t fail. Not like this.

“I’m here,” Gwydion yells, cutting in from the right to guard me.

“Stay close,” I yell, closing my eyes and reaching toward the Hallow.

Touching it feels like running my fingers over a smooth pool of water.

Silence envelopes me. The stink and sound of battle evaporates, leaving my senses humming with the power of the Hallow. I drink it in, reaching for—

“Vi!” someone shouts. “Ward!Ward!”

My eyes blink open just in time to see an enormous ball of flame hurling toward us.

And then it smashes to the ground in front of me, enveloping the score of warriors protecting me.

The explosion slams through us.

My mare goes down with a scream. The ground flashes toward me.

Just before I hit, a silvery ward springs into being around me.

I land hard, the mare rolling right over the top of me.

Ground. Horse. Sky. Flame.

By the time it all stops, I can barely breathe.

All I can do is lie there, staring at the flames that leap and lick.

My ears ring.

Shadows flash before my eyes. Hands groping for me.

“Are you hurt?” someone demands, their voice a tinny echo.

I feel like I’m drowning. Slowly sinking below dark water, my limbs weightless and my chest aching.

I can’t breathe.

I can’tbreathe.

Every inch of me aches.

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