03 Abhorsen by Nix Garth

Author:Nix, Garth [Garth, Nix,]
Format: epub
Published: 2010-04-10T21:25:00.320000+00:00

"But if the hemispheres join ..." Lirael whispered to herself. Then she swallowed and said, "It's time, isn't it?"

"Yes," said the Dog. "But not here. Hedge will have noticed us, as we have noticed him. His mind is on the hemispheres for the moment, but I do not think it will be long before he orders an attack."

Lirael turned to retreat back down the eastern side of the ridge, then stopped and looked back.

"Nicholas? What about him?"

"He is beyond our help now," replied the Dog sadly.

"When the hemispheres join, the shard within him will burst from his heart to become part of the whole. But he will know nothing of it. It will be a swift end, though I fear Hedge will enslave his spirit."

"Poor Nick," said Lirael. "I should never have let him go."

"You had no choice," said the Dog. She nudged Lirael behind the knee, anxious to make her move. "We must hurry!"

Lirael nodded and turned back to retrace her path down the slope. As she hurried down, sliding and almost falling in the steeper parts, she thought of Nicholas and then of everyone else, including herself. Perhaps Nick would have the easiest path. After all, it was likely he would be only the first to die, unknowing. Everyone else would be only too aware of their fate, and they would probably all end up serving Hedge.

Lirael was halfway down when an enormously loud, booming voice filled the valley. It shocked her for a second, till she recognized it was Sam, his speech greatly magnified by Charter Magic. He was standing on a large boulder only a hundred yards or so farther down the spur, his hands cupped around his mouth, his fingers glowing from the spell.

"Southerlings! Friends! Do not go beyond the western ridge! Only death awaits you there! Do not believe the papers you holdthey offer only lies! I am Prince Sameth of the Old Kingdom, and I promise to give land and farms to everyone who stays in the valley! If you stay in the valley, you will be given farms and land beyond the Wall!"

Sam repeated his message as Lirael panted to a stop next to his boulder. Below it, Major Greene's men were strung out in a long line along the bottom of the ridge. The Southerlings were gathered beyond that line, overlapping it by several hundred yards at the southern end. Most of them had stopped to listen to Sam, but a few were still climbing up the ridge.

Sam stopped talking and jumped down.

"Best I can do," he said anxiously. "It might stop some of them. If they even understood what I was saying."

"Nothing else we can do," said Major Greene. "We can't shoot the beggars, and they'd overwhelm us if we tried to stop them with just the bayonet. I'd like a word with the police who were supposed to be"

"One of the hemispheres is already ashore, and the other is close behind," interrupted Lirael, her news provoking instant attention. "Hedge is there, and he is raising a fog and creating many more Dead.

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