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One of thes showed

Mychael swore, seconded by Tam

I didn’t need to sense what they did I could see it

A clawed hand, a ht next to Carnades’s The hand was attached to and followed by a scaled ar should have been able to move that fast, but apparently no one had ever told that to it--whatever it was There wasn’t any need to shatter the h; theits hunched shoulders and horned head through the glass, snapping and reducing the frame to splinters That it had destroyed its own escape hatch didn’t seey, yellow eyes and a ht happy about where he was

Happy and hungry

Piaras launched into a litany of curses in Goblin So Then I sahat Piaras had seen Spellsongs wouldn’t do any good on this thing, either It didn’t have plugs in its ears

It didn’t have any ears

Though I was betting it’d bleed Proble sharp without having it do the saers that were dragging the ground

"Down!" Justinius roared

The old man didn’t have to yell twice I hit the floor, with Piaras a split second behind e of the Conclave of Sorcerers and the er there was, opened up on the ory way Justinius’s hands glowed incandescent white as he hit theinto the bedrock on the other side of the room

At least that hat should have happened

The fireball punched a hole the size of a shield through the monster’sonto the outside, suspiciously shaped blobs plopped wetly onto the floor

Suspiciously shaped like the monster they’d fallen out of

Oh hell

Then Mychael was there, pushing me and Piaras toward Carnades’splace before our eyes Ta to keep up, but so past thes seemed to slon to the point that we had all the tih that mirror I knew it hadn’t, and I knee didn’t; it was just ure out how to survive the next few seconds

"Go!"

Justinius Valerian roared that coathered his power for another strike He probably hadin this room combined, but he couldn’t keep up that kind of attack for er He knew it, and he didn’t care What he cared about was getting us through thatyou!" Mychael shouted at the old o The attacks in the city, the mirrors, the Khrynsani, and theto Regor Either we ot that rock out of Sarad Nukpana’s hands--or no one was going toknife in oing to be alive when he got to the other side

"Fall back!" Mychael shouted

I toldGuardians could handle this Reinforceh as left of that door any second I didn’t believe that and probably neither did the oldit anyway He’d sacrifice hior

"I can’t hold it!" Carnades screa with us We had no choice and neither did he The Khrynsani had earplugs, and the monsters didn’t have any ears Piaras had Sarad Nukpana’s sword fighting skills, but he didn’t have the battleh I didn’t knoould be worse: to stay here with the goblins and the rapidly growing h that mirror to possibly be ambushed by Sarad Nukpana and his sadistic Khrynsani

Both sucked Both were unavoidable Choose one or the other; there wasn’t a third option

Prince Chigaru’s two bodyguards put theuard took a crossbow bolt to the chest that’d been er into his prince

I drew breath to screauard oblin never knehat hit hier still raised to strike, confusion in his dying eyes

"Jabari? No!" Chigaru screaious as hell today

Another bolt came out of nowhere

Carnades spun to face it as if he had eyes in the back of his head A ni frost for it slaoblin who’d fired it

The shooter wasn’t ai at the mirror Our mirror

More Khrynsani crossboere raised, all with one target--a

Mychael stood back-to-back with Carnades, shielding the elf e while he worked frantically to stabilize the h the mirror, and all but threw Piaras toward it