The first Gray reached him a second before Seamus\u2019s blade sheared it in half. Needle-sharp claws dug into the flesh of Phelan\u2019s shoulders as the creature spasmed and died, spraying freezing mist into the air.<\/p>\n
Seamus grabbed Phelan by the arm and hauled him upright.<\/p>\n
\u201cIdiot.\u201d<\/p>\n
Phelan croaked a laugh and twisted, leaning against his cousin. The current Taliesin swung his staff like a scythe, a verdant blade of magic slashing through the ranks of Grays, buying them precious seconds.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t feel my leg,\u201d Phelan said. Truth be known, his back was starting to seize up, muscles tightening as if his blood had been replaced with ice. \u201cDon\u2019t let them touch you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cD\u00e9ithe agus arrachtaigh<\/em>,\u201d Seamus swore as he hauled Phelan toward the holly bushes and the faint shimmering border between their settlement and the outside world. \u201cYou could have said something about that.\u201d<\/p>\n The ground shook with the pounding of hoofbeats against the earth.<\/p>\n No, not just the Hunt.<\/em> Phelan sucked in a rasping breath, casting his senses away from the fight\u2014hardly wise, but entirely necessary. The area\u2019s lines were twisting, writhing, the magic shifting wildly. The ground<\/em> was shaking beneath them, not just from the horses.<\/p>\n D\u00e9ithe agus arrachtaigh and goddamn.<\/em><\/p>\n Thordin plunged through the wards, slipping past Seamus and Phelan to cover their escape, ax flashing silver in the dim. Phelan could barely breathe. \u201cFall back,\u201d he rasped to Thordin as he came back to himself, blinking quickly as Seamus dragged him onward across the last few yards through the snow. \u201cIt\u2019s worse than we know. Fall back.\u201d<\/p>\n Thom crossed the lines to help Phelan, expression grim and his grip on the hilt of his blade white-knuckled. \u201cThere must be hundreds,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s worse than that,\u201d Phelan rasped. \u201cThe lines are shifting again. They\u2019re shifting again and I don\u2019t know what that means except that it\u2019s bad.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s very, very<\/em> bad.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The first Gray reached him a second before Seamus\u2019s blade sheared it in half. Needle-sharp claws dug into the flesh of Phelan\u2019s shoulders as the creature spasmed and died, spraying freezing mist into the air. Seamus grabbed Phelan by the … Continue reading