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projectiles arced overhead, pounding the shield into which the veyâr fled.
Most of them, Doggie saw, had reached safety. A few had not, and those the red
monster cut off, chasing them around the shield. The Hunter got one clear shot
at the monster as he passed between her and the shield, pointed her finger at
him, and snarled, Die!
This time the monster burst into flames so hot they were blue, and exploded in
a rain of charred flesh and bits of bone. Behind the dead monster, the shield
flickered once, and died completely.
Shit, shit, SHIT! the Hunter screamed, and pointed at the place where the
shield had been. Before she could do whatever she d intended to do, missiles
and fire rained down on the gate, the veyâr moving into it, and the Imallin.
The Imallin and several of the veyâr screamed bloodcurdling sounds, and the
Hunter stopped dead in her tracks, even with monsters of every variety moving
toward her, and told Doggie, Hold Jake. Fast.
Doggie, back on her feet, though skinned and bruised, grabbed Jake, noticing
as she did that she was only a handspan shorter than the Hunter now. Strange.
She held Jake, who hugged her and stared all around him, no longer the brave
little Superman, and the Hunter cast a shield around everyone within range the
veyâr, Doggie and Jake, and herself. She stood with her eyes closed for a
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moment, and the shield grew so solid that light barely passed through it. To
hell with this, the Hunter said to Doggie, patting her on the shoulder.
Let s go home.
They hurried to the injured veyâr, and Lauren knelt by each one in turn,
laying hands on them and removing their injuries. You can do this, too,
Doggie, she said. Want them to be healthy, and see them healthy. Get them
before they die, though.
They worked for a while, and Doggie heard the Hunter reach the Imallin, and
heard him croak, Let me die. Let me go to her.
Not a chance, the Hunter said. You have work to do here, pal as much as
either Molly or I do. You ll die when it s your time. But that time isn t
today.
Outside, Doggie heard roaring, and saw splashes of light illuminating sections
of the Hunter s powerful shield. She shivered; now that she d reached relative
safety, she could feel how close she had come to death. She nuzzled the little
boy in her arms, and thought of her family, and her village. She had a name
now a god-given name. From being a girl of no consequence, she had become a
woman of repute. She had stature among the goroths. She could take a mate,
find safety, live out her life with children and grandchildren of her own, and
never look back to this terror of racing between worlds, seeing monsters,
flying, fighting gods, doing magic. She could have the life she d always
yearned for.
The Hunter spun a gate out of nothing a glorious circle of light and harmony
and song that stretched a bridge through eternity and Doggie realized that if
she followed the path of her old dreams, she would never walk the fire-road
again. She would not commune with old gods, nor would she change the world.
The goroths were not a people given to dreaming vast dreams or seeing
themselves in the role of hero. They called themselves a small people, and
prided themselves on practicality, reason, and tradition. But inside Doggie,
something clicked softly, and she realized that, terror and danger and all,
she could not go back to being who she d been before she came to serve the
Hunter. She bore a god-given name. She had flown, she had stretched herself
tall, she had seen another world and walked through fire. She could claim the
right to dream the dreams of gods.
Copper House
Lauren pushed through the gate last, closing it behind her, and setting the
shield to shut down the instant she was gone. No use leaving magic running;
she had the feeling they would have hell to pay for this day anyway.
The path between the worlds comforted her, and when she stepped into the
crowded room with all the hopeful, waiting people in it and picked up Jake in
her arms and held him tight, she felt like she d come home.
But.
You still have the necklace? Seolar asked.
Lauren nodded.
Cheers broke out around the room, so loud that Jake cringed and buried his
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