Of all the surprises Haley had experienced over the past three weeks, the biggest yet, perhaps, was the fact that “storming the castle” wasn’t as terrifying a prospect as she had initially thought. On the other hand, over the course of the next few hours, as they readied their supplies and went over Oscar’s strangely elaborate and even more devious game plan, she found herself brimming with a savage desire to confront the Harbinger trio. All the pain and death they had caused in the town in which they had taken refuge, to the centaur camp in which she had so greatly enjoyed her time, and of course, to Sytris, it was now their time to return the favour.

  They could not revive their caretaker, but they could avenge him.

  Haley welcomed the darkness of night rather impatiently. She could think of so many moments prior when she had pleaded with Father Time to run the clocks a little more slowly so that she could enjoy the finer moments of life and he had so spitefully disobliged, and now he was taking his sweet time, stretching every second into ten, in an effort to delay the inevitable battle as much as possible.

  She found it hard to sleep, knowing what their mission was tomorrow and what low chances of success they had.

  I’m our secret weapon. She repeated the words to herself over and over, staring at the gloomy ceiling of the opulent room Sytris had prepared for her. It was indeed a great pressure, to think that their triumph tomorrow could lean heavily on the fact that the Harbingers had limited knowledge of her capabilities. But could she do it? Sunder had taught her so much over the past few days, and yet it felt like she had barely scratched the surface of her potential. Being in the heart of the forest with Sunder’s warmly paternal voice guiding her, it was easy to try to develop some kind of connection with the flora around her. He had told her once that it was possible to hear the very earth speaking.

  She had never truly experienced it, but unless she was deluding herself, after a few days working with Sunder, she had started to hear a faint humming each time she returned a plant to its original vitality, as if the earth was whispering a word of gratitude.

  Would she be able to fully tap into her power tomorrow, to use the earth not as a tool, but as an aide in their victory?

  Stop thinking about it, she chided herself. The last thing she needed was to overwhelm herself before the battle had even started. Instead she threw her blankets around herself and fell back against the pillows, trying to empty her thoughts. It was a difficult feat, because her mind was teeming with all manner of imagery, ranging from dreadful predictions of tomorrow’s fight, to what she might find in Sytris’s work space when they arrived at the house.

  Hours passed, but eventually she managed to drift off into a fitful sleep. Her dreams were plagued with the appearance of monsters they had seen over the course of the last two weeks: the awful doctor that Jon had killed; the gruesome faces of the innocent people who had died during Valarok’s storm; the bloodied bodies of the centaurs who had been struck down protecting their home. Even her father, unresponsive in his hospital bed…

  All of what they were going through now was a direct result of the Harbingers. The Harbingers, who had forced their family to separate them in youth; who had uprooted their lives, destroyed their homeland, and forced them to flee the sanctuary Sytris had created for them.

  It was difficult to believe that ridding the world of the Harbingers would immediately relieve them of all the problems that had emerged following their appearance, but she knew life would take a definite upturn if they were successful.

  She was up at the crack of dawn, once again going through the small bag she had packed with her supplies. There were snacks, clean clothing and a fully charged cellphone, in case they ended up stowed away for another prolonged period of time. She ambled down the stairs and found the other four already in the kitchen, tucking into plates of eggs, bacon and pancakes glazed with syrup.

  “I was going to come wake you in a minute,” said Jon, handing her a plate of her own and a steaming mug of peppermint-scented tea, her favourite.

  “We were just going over a few last minute details,” Tim added. His plate was larger than everyone else’s, due to the fact that his speed demanded a higher energy intake than the rest. “We just landed on the subject of what we were going to do if Erymithia’s ‘children’ showed up again. Don’t know how we skipped over that part last night.”

  “The flaming mongrels are bad enough, but the Necroforagers are going to be a real problem,” Jon said bitterly. “Neither our weapons nor our powers can do any real damage to them.”

  “And if we do manage it, they immediately repair themselves,” added Oscar.

  “I think it’s got something to do with those green crystals embedded in their chests,” Haley said through a mouthful of toast. “I never gave it much thought before, but it seems to me like those things function like their hearts.”

  Tim frowned, but not as though he were confused or angry. It seemed a realization had dawned on him. “Remember in the woods? One of those crystals hit the floor first, then the ground started swirling up around it to form a body. So the crystals must be enchanted to take on a physical form based on whatever material they come in contact with. If we can destroy the hearts —”

  “Then we kill the necroforagers,” finished Jon.

  “But that brings us right back to square one,” Lauren said. “How do we damage the necroforagers enough to extract the hearts, before they can mend themselves?”

  Silence filled the room. Haley took a sip of her tea. She had no thoughts on how they were meant to effectively combat the necroforagers, only that she hoped they wouldn’t have to deal with them at all.

  “I guess the only option for now is to keep hitting them until the opportunity presents itself,” Jon said with a shrug, breaking the silence at last.

  “That sounds like a terrible plan,” Oscar said casually. “Unfortunately it’s all we’ve got.”

  “And it’s one we may not even have to use,” Lauren said, standing up. “Remember, this is a rescue mission. Fighting is second priority, saving our parents is first.”

  “Agreed,” said Tim.

  “And remember, whatever happens, even if we lose…” Jon began, his eyes bright, a small smile playing on his lips. “It’s all your fault for suggesting this lunacy in the first place.”

  “Fair enough.” Oscar shrugged, bumping his cup against Jon’s in a toast. The others followed suit, and the kitchen was soon thick with the sound of gentle clinking and loud gulps as they downed their drinks. “Now, shall we go kick some divine ass?”

  The city was in ruin. Rooftops had been ripped clean off of dozens of houses, broken wires were spread messily over the ground, trees had been uprooted and were hanging loosely over the roads. Windows were broken, walls had been shattered, and even now the streets were almost totally hidden under channels of muddy water.

  “All those people…” Lauren said quietly, peering down at the destruction. “Those monsters. They can’t get away with this.”

  “And they won’t,” Jon said, in a voice of fierce determination. They were riding atop Skylar, galloping through the air above the city that Sytris had brought them to. From their perch on her back they had the perfect vantage point to survey the true extent of Valarok’s hurricane. It was truly awful, but worst of all was the distinct lack of people. Haley wanted to believe that the lack of bodies meant that meant the people of this town had managed to escape, but she knew deep down that it was due to the bodies rising of their own accord to lead the assault on the centaur’s camp.

  “Keep your eyes peeled,” Oscar cautioned. Haley nodded and then she caught sight of Tim, who was clutching his stomach, looking as though he was seconds away from being sick.

  “Are you okay?” she asked him. He nodded but did not speak, as though he did not trust himself to open his mouth. “Air sickness, or are you just nervous?”

  “To be honest, I can’t tell which,” Tim said groggily.

  “Just try not to hurl all over my back please,” Jon pleaded from in front of them.

  “There’s the mansion!” came Lauren’s voice suddenly. It appeared first as a small blip surrounded by rolling fields of green, growing larger with every passing second.

  “Time for cover,” Lauren said. Oscar raised a hand and began to wave it in a wide circle around them. Rivulets of purple energy began to stream through the air, soft and fluid like droplets of water, weaving through the sky around them. As Haley watched, a hazy outline of a soft puffy cloud formed around them. Farther and farther on they flew, until at last the mansion came into clear view. Her jaw dropped.

  All the damage from the storm had been repaired: the windows that had been cracked, the walls that had been torn asunder, the trees that had been heaved from the ground — all of it had been cleaned up, as if it had never happened at all.

  “They’re still here,” Jon said, his voice shaking with fury. “After all of that, they’re living in our house.”

  Oscar too looked angry, but he took several calming breaths and said, “Our focus is getting our parents out. Everything else can wait.”

  Jon clearly didn’t like the idea but he didn’t protest. Instead he urged Skylar onwards and she began to sink lower and lower through the bright, mid-morning sky, which was currently a brilliant cornflower blue. It really was an amazing sight, which was ironic considering the pandemonium that was about to break loose underneath it.

  The cloud slowly dispersed as they sank lower, then they touched down, light as a feather, in the spacious backyard.

  They dismounted as quietly as they could and Jon dismissed Skylar with a wave of his hand. She flicked her ethereal mane and went cantering out of sight. She was their only way of escape, but if Erymithia’s hounds were still around it wouldn’t bode well for anyone.

  “Stay close to me,” Oscar breathed. They huddled together, walking slowly across the perfectly kept lawn as Oscar maintained the illusion of an empty backyard around them. As one they trudged up to the immense fences and climbed over, landing rather awkwardly in the front yard. As they moved up towards the door, they heard movement. Haley went as still as a statue; the others froze too, though not quite as smoothly. Jon had stiffened so fast that he slipped as they were walking up the driveway and nearly faceplanted onto the pavement, but Tim reached out just in time to stop him from collision. Across the lawn, resting, was one of the enormous black-and-red dogs that Erymithia had dubbed her “children.” Its chest was rising and falling slowly; it almost looked like a normal dog, had it not been for the fact that it was made of wispy shadow and flame.

  Oscar turned to Tim, who looked nervous but determined. “Go,” he whispered. Tim gave a hurried nod, grabbed hold of Lauren, and disappeared. Haley, Jon, and Oscar went the other direction, moving as fast as they could.

  They crept around to the side door instead, which, unsurprisingly, was locked. Jon moved to the head of the group. His eyes began to glow, transitioning to a violently bright shade of orange.

  Energy flowed through his fingers and a beam of light burst from his hands onto the lock. There was a gentle simmering sound, and they watched in amazement as the lock melted. Slowly they pushed open the door and entered. The Harbingers seemed to have made the mansion their home. The interior had also been repaired, but they had certainly taken it on themselves to make a few stylistic changes. Instead of the white velvet sofas Sytris had procured for them, they had been replaced with dark brown coffee tables and red leather furniture. The curtains had been removed, replaced with dark, forest-themed drapes. In the corner stood what looked like a portable closet, except there were no clothes inside. Instead it was filled with an array of weapons, ranging from daggers to broadswords. A strong scent of tobacco smoke lingered through the air.

  “What did they do to our house?” Oscar said in a low, indignant voice.

  “Guys, we don’t have time for this,” Haley said, although she was eying a discarded sweatshirt on the sofa with distaste. “Remember why we’re here.”

  Reluctantly, Haley could tell, they tore their eyes away from the mess of the living room and hurried up the curving staircase. It was harder now more than ever to ignore what they were seeing, because now it was plain that the living room wasn’t the only thing that had been ransacked. Their rooms too had been assaulted: their clothes were strewn all over the floor, along with their personal effects, mementos they had carried for years, shattered on the gleaming tiles.

  “When I get my hands on them…” Jon growled, but Haley kept him moving, shunting him along with a hand on his back.

  At last they made it to the end of the corridor, where Sytris’s room stood. This door too was ajar, and like their own its contents had been overturned. Haley held her breath as they entered the room, not daring to hope —

  But the mirror was intact, besides a thin crack snaking its way across the otherwise smooth surface.

  “Oh my God,” she said, hurrying over to it. “That won’t stop it from working, will it?” She turned around and saw Jon staring wistfully into the mirror. A glance to the left revealed Oscar staring at it too, his expression somber. She stood up slowly, as the realization set in that she was the only one who wouldn’t have anyone waiting for her on the other side.

  “You guys should go check it out,” she said gently. “I’ll wait here in case anyone shows —”

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” Jon said firmly. He marched forward, seized her wrist and Oscar’s elbow, and together they stepped through the mirror. Haley felt an odd sensation as though she were walking through a sheet of cold water, then into a blazing inferno. Almost as soon as it had come on the feeling vanished, and she stepped out into a darkened stone room.

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

  She blinked rapidly as her eyes tried to assimilate to the gloom, then an instant later her hands flew up to cover her face as a blaze of light speared through the darkness.

  Jon raised his hands high, pointing the beams of light into the corners of the room, and Haley’s heart skipped a beat.

  “Jonny?”

  Mr. Whitmore had been shrinking back against the wall, holding a rusty old pitchfork, but his eyes were shining in the sudden brightness, wide with shock.

  “Dad?” Jon’s voice shook as his eyes landed on his father, and a look of utter relief broke across his face. Mr. Whitmore made an indistinct noise of relief, threw down his weapon and hurried forward, sweeping Jon into a crushing bear hug.

  “Oh my God!” he said, his voice slightly muffled. “You made it out! I knew you would! I told them you’d be okay!”

  The other parents slowly shuffled out of the other corners of the room. They looked wan and haggard, to be expected given what they had been through, but they were all there, and they were okay.

  “Oh thank goodness, I was so worried,” said Mrs. Bryant, hurling herself at Haley, who was so caught off guard by this sudden bout of affection that she stood frozen for several seconds with her hands outstretched in the air. When she finally regained herself, she returned Mrs. Bryant’s hug. She felt conflicted: on one hand she felt a surge of guilt, knowing that Tim should have been the one in her position, but she also found for a fleeting moment that she didn’t want to let go. It had been so long since she had felt a hug like this, warm and full of love. The last time had been when she had visited her mother in the hospital, and not only had she embraced her, she had assured her that what happened wasn’t her fault.

  “Oh I’m so glad everyone’s okay.”

  “Yeah,” said Haley, who felt a sudden wave of tears coming. She hurriedly detached herself and turned away so that no one could see her face. “We’re all okay. Everyone else is on the other side. They’re waiting for us. We should hurry.”

  “Are you sure it’s safe?” asked Lauren’s father, who was being tugged along by his wife. “I mean, we were all hesitant about leaving because we didn’t want to stumble across those —”

  “They wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t safe, dear,” Mrs. Combs said patiently. In twos and threes they emerged through the mirror and into Sytris’s room. Haley felt another great pang as she realized that one of the last mementos of Sytris would be left in such a grubby state, but there was no time to rearrange. The trio could be back any moment.

  Out the door, across the hallway and down the stairs they ran, over a dozen pairs of feet thundering over the tiles in their haste.

  They had almost reached the door, home-free, when a silky female voice crooned from the shadows: “I told you they couldn’t resist.”

  Everyone halted. Haley looked wildly around for the source of the voice and her eyes met Erymithia’s. She was wearing an intricate suit of dark green armour; she had3 pale skin, long silver hair and blood-red lips, which she was currently licking in a very disturbing manner.

  “One way or another they would find their way back here, just as I told you. No one can ever pass up a good revenge scheme.”

  They looked across the hall to find who she was talking to: her older brother, who was still wearing the body of a child. That was never going to stop being creepy. Valarok was surveying them critically from his perch at the top of the stairs, arms folded behind his back.

  “No, I think I’ll have to disagree with you this time, sister. This isn’t a plot fueled by vengeance. It’s a salvage mission. They’re here to rescue their mortal families. How absolutely darling.”

  Hearing such an innocent voice filled with such callousness sent a shiver down Haley’s spine. The axe-wielding lunatic and their equally psychotic sister were one thing, but the eldest sibling was easily the most unsettling of the bunch. She wondered if he had chosen to don a child’s face deliberately to inspire conflicting feelings of attacking a child during batt —

  Haley let out an involuntary gasp. She had just realized that Valarok was staring down at her, his lips pulled back in an awful smile.

  “So, you survived. Very good indeed. I would have hated for you to suffer such an underwhelming death. It gives me the chance to do it properly this time.” And she watched in horror as he held out his hand and the same glittering, tar-black blade he had used to stab her materialized in his hand. “Now listen very carefully, children. You have exhausted all manner of patience I have so courteously extended you. I will say this only once: surrender the Nexus, or die where you stand.”

  “We don’t know what you’re talking about. We don’t have your stupid Nexus,” Oscar snarled.

  “Very well. Die it is,” Valarok said smoothly. “I suppose you’ve accepted your fates. After all, what else did you imagine by coming back here? You should have expected this the moment you took the bait.”

  Bait? thought Haley. But no one else seemed very interested in his statement. Instead, Oscar smiled back at him. “Actually, we did.”

  For the first time, a look of confusion dawned across Valarok’s face.

  As if in response to their bewilderment, a horrible, animalistic cry rang out from outside. It was like the bellow of a wounded rhino.

  “Azeban,” Erymithia gasped. “What have you done?” she screeched, and suddenly her sharp features looked rather insane.

  “Nothing much.” Oscar shrugged again. “Just added a bit more salt to his diet, if you know what I mean.” He finished his statement with a wink.

  Understanding dawned on her visage with a rather alarming speed. “Impossible,” she said, horrified. “How did you…” Her eyes widened with shock, as if another terrifying realization had settled in. But before she had even got the words out, Haley thrust her hands sharply towards her. Erymithia started, as if expecting something to come hurtling towards her, but no such thing happened. Instead, several huge, fast-growing branches burst from the ground underneath her. She screamed as they erupted into the room, wrapping themselves around her with a frightening speed. Her screams were extinguished within seconds as the branches completely encompassed her. Valarok moved to help his sister, but he had barely taken a step forward when a streak of bright green electricity erupted onto the landing, directly where he was standing.

  It looked like a scene from a horror movie. Valarok’s tiny figure shook convulsively as lightning charged through his body, blasting him off the top of the stairs and into the wall behind him. His body slowly peeled from the stone surface and he clattered into the middle of the living room below.

  Most unfortunately the divine resilience and healing they possessed was a trait that the Harbingers also had. Valarok was on his feet again in mere moments, his eyes burning with fury. He drew his sword — and then a streak of blue smashed into him, sending him flying into the ugly red sofa that disfigured their living room.

  “Get them out of here!” Jon yelled at Tim.

  They couldn’t even see his face, only the sparkling trails of blue light that he left behind as he whizzed back and forth through the door, each time bringing with him two members of their families. In less than a minute he had completely evacuated all the civilians, but unfortunately that was all the time they could afford. The trees that had been suffocating Erymithia had suddenly caught fire, wilting under a dark green inferno. The branches fell away from her and she emerged from her sylvan cocoon.

  Her huge Auxilyte scythe was clutched in her hand, and green lightning was crackling at her fingertips. A bolt of it broke free from her hand and flew right at them, but just before it connected Tim had swooped in and swept them out of harm’s way.

  Where they had been standing half a second before now lay an enormous smoking crater, so deep they couldn’t see the bottom.

  Dimly Haley registered that the winds outside were picking up. The sky had darkened so suddenly it was as though something was blotting out the sun, but she knew better. Valarok was staring another storm. As the realization formed in Haley’s mind, Valarok himself came trudging around the corner, his black sword shining.

  “I’m impressed, you’ve certainly improved since our last encounter.”

  They said nothing, watching as Erymithia came at them from the other side. Orpheo hadn’t appeared yet, which was something that had come up during their previous night’s planning.

  According to Valarok, Orpheo would only show up when things “got interesting.” Even now he could be on his way there, ready to appear in a flurry of ice and snow as he had the last time. Though they had certainly taken into account the fact that he could show up at any time, Haley would vastly prefer if they could finish their showdown when there were only two Harbingers to deal with.

  A telltale crackle signaled more lightning incoming. Haley dived to the side, narrowly missing another one of Erymithia’s bolts.

  She rolled to a halt, leaping to her feet with her fans unfurled. Erymithia took one look at her and screamed with derisive laughter.

  “What are you going to do, dear? Fan me? I am feeling a bit humid, now you mention it.”

  A flicker of irritation ran through Haley’s mind but she immediately shot it down. After all the planning they had done, it would all be in vain if she allowed Erymithia to goad her into doing something stupid now. Instead she did what she had been planning to do: she threw her fans. Erymithia deflected the first with a simple flick of her scythe, sending the gleaming brightsteel weapon cascading into the air around her. The second she ducked underneath, but this time she had barely tried to evade it. Completely at ease, almost unconcerned, she simply threw her head back, allowing her mane of aluminium-coloured hair to ripple like strands of liquid metal.

  “Did you really think that would work?” she asked with a mocking smile. “You children really have so much to learn.”

  “Actually,” Haley said, “I did think it would work.”

  Erymithia’s cocky smirk faded, to be replaced by an expression of apprehension as she whipped her head of shining hair around. Her fans whirred as they flew through the airh, signaling the goddess that the weapons were returning to their mark. She reacted in time to block the first, but the second came just as quickly and before she could raise her scythe again, it had slammed into her chest and thrust her backwards.

  The concrete exploded as her back smashed into the wall, her scythe flying out of her hands.

  As she slid to the floor, landing in a messy heap, Haley saw that her fan had ripped a huge gash in Erymithia’s chest; bright gold blood dribbled out of the wound.

  If Haley had to guess, that wound was stinging her as painfully as the one Valarok had inflicted upon her, and it filled her with a rush of savage pleasure to see her on the floor, whimpering in pain as she tenderly reached up to feel the extent of the damage. A tumultuous burst of energy ripped across the room, flaring so brightly and so suddenly; that Haley had to look away. She peeled her eyelids apart very slowly and watched as the energy poured over Erymithia, who screamed in pure unbridled agony. Her screeches were so loud and raw that Haley almost felt bad for her. Almost. Until she remembered what she had done to Sytris. Jon finally let up, and when the light had faded Erymithia slumped back against the wall.

  The hole the fan had carved across her chest had widened under the blast. The entire patch of skin around her neck had melted, leaving bone exposed.

  A sudden wave of nausea overtook Haley and she had to fight down the urge to be sick. She had seen some truly gruesome stuff over the past few weeks, but she didn’t think it was something she could ever get used to.

  Jon, however, was advancing on the fallen goddess with nothing short of pure hatred in his eyes. She was wheezing, blood splattering from her mouth and onto the floor. He raised his hand again — another jet of energy flew from his palm and engulfed her. She shrieked again, her wails echoing through the cavernous kitchen. The sound of her flesh melting, coupled with her agonizing screams, was one of the most deeply unpleasant sounds she had ever heard.

  “That was for Sytris,” Jon said, and he let loose another blast. Haley had to look away, wishing that she could stick her fingers in her ears so that she didn’t have to listen to what was unfolding in front of her.

  It seemed she didn’t have the stomach to do what was necessary after all.

  “And that was for our parents,” he added contemptuously.

  “Get away from her!”

  It was Valarok, appearing suddenly at the doorway, which had darkened drastically. The storm was intensifying outside. They could hear the wind hammering away at the windows and doors, hear the rain pounding on the roof as if it were hail. A fork of lightning tore through the sky and the windows of the kitchen exploded. Fragments of glass flew over the room like shrapnel. Haley dove behind the counter with a yelp as Jon launched his counterattack.

  This time his rays were a piercing violet, twin streams raining over the walls as Valarok leapt out of sight. There was another deafening rumble, then another thunderbolt struck.

  Haley didn’t even see when he dodged. She didn’t see how he could have dodged. The electricity had hit at point-blank range, but Jon was all the way on the other side of the room, perfectly unscathed, leaving behind another smoking crater. Finally it fell into place, as Tim sped across the room to intercept Valarok before he could resume his attacks, and delivered a crushing blow to his jaw with his vast hammer. His frail body was lifted off the ground by the force of the impact and he collided with a huge, glass-covered painting that had certainly not been there during their time at the mansion. Valarok fell to the floor in a shower of glass.

  But as Tim advanced again, the gale force winds picked up yet again, repelling him. Rain was now coming in through the holes in the walls, so heavily that it looked like the mansion would soon be flooded.

  Light pierced the gloom as Jon fired another harsh purple flare. Valarok managed to dodge, but his movements were becoming more sluggish; no doubt the hits he had taken were taking their toll.

  He pointed his stygian blade at Tim, but then his face was overcome with visible confusion. Another Tim had sprouted into existence mere feet away from him. Then another. And another.

  One blink later and ten Tims were now surrounding him as he shrank back against the wall, pointing his sword helplessly from one to the other. Unable to tell which one of them was the real one, he sent streaks of lightning catapulting in every direction. Every time he hit off one the Tims, the image rippled and vanished. Seizing on his confusion, Haley unfurled both her fans and launched them both at him.

  The first he noticed coming, deflecting it with a sharp swing of his sword. The second snaked through his defenses and slid across his wrist; he yelped in pain and dropped the sword.

  Valarok dived for it, but before his fingers could close around the shaft he was sent flying backwards by another shaft of green electricity. Lauren had joined the battle. Haley couldn’t believe it. They were winning.

  “Orus!” shouted Jon. There was a flash of deep sapphire and his sword appeared in his hands, the gleaming grey-green Brightsteel a sharp contrast to the pitch-black Auxilyte. He took off with a resounding war cry, charging right at Valarok, whose eyes had gone impossibly wide at the prospect of what was about to happen. Jon was within ten feet of him when it happened: in the blink of an eye the temperature in the room dropped to freezing point. The rain that was pouring in became flakes of snow; the ground had turned into an ice rink before their brains could register what had happened.

  Jon slipped, tumbling right into the overturned sofa.

  “He’s here!” Lauren yelled.

  The third sibling. But they couldn’t see him. Haley looked around wildly, fans at the ready, but she was hit in the back by what she could only describe as winter-in-a-can. She flew across the icy floor, colliding hard with the base of the entertainment center and trembling as violently as if she had been walking through a snowstorm for hours. Dimly she registered that her hands had actually turned blue. She tried to speak but her jaws seemed to have been frozen together.

  To her horror, the floor beneath them was churning, chunks of ice swirling to the center of the room.

  Oh no.

  She caught a glint of emerald just ahead of them and saw two huge glowing crystals, each of them threaded with what looked like veins, disappearing under mounds of ice and snow.

  “Time to go!” Oscar shouted, hurrying over to help Haley up.

  Jon looked at him as though he was insane. “Are you kidding? Look at how close we are! We can end it!”

  “No we can’t! Not anymore. Unless you miraculously figured out a way to destroy those things, because we haven’t!”

  The Necroforagers’ bodies were almost complete. The room around them was still being engulfed by an impenetrable wave of cold. Jon looked around with an anguished expression. She understood how he was feeling. They had tasted success. They were right on the cusp of victory, and then the world had fallen apart underneath them. Looking extremely dispirited, Jon put his fingers in his mouth and whistled.

  Under other circumstances Haley would have thought there was no way Skylar could possibly hear the call. But she had witnessed firsthand just how wrong she was.

  The Necroforagers had fully formed, standing at their full, intimidating heights. The crystals embedded in their chests emitted a ghastly green glow, and even though they didn’t have mouths Haley could have sworn they were making low growling noises. And then he appeared, clad in crystalline blue armour, battle axe held high: Orpheo.

  There was a loud whinny, then Skylar galloped into the room.

  Lauren fired another blast of lightning in the center of the room, trying to cover them as all of them clambered onto Skylar’s saddle, Haley helped up by Jon and Oscar.

  “No, don’t let them escape!” shrieked Valarok. The Necroforagers pounded towards them. Skylar reared onto her hind legs and released a huge gale of emerald wind, not quite pushing them back but at least managing to slow them down, then she wheeled around and streaked out into the dark, stormy evening.