“No!” An anguished voice echoed around the cavern.
There was a searing heat, a blinding flash of light. The mayor was ripped away from Temperance. It was so fast she didn’t know what had happened. Some of the torches blew out. There was a crash to her right, debris scattered into sight. Exhausted, she let her head drop down on her arm. Her jaw clicked. She squinted up through the pain.
Alastair was across from her, his arms outstretched ready to fight. His face was pale and clammy and his chest was heaving as though he’d run all the way. She couldn’t turn her head to see where Sebastian had gone. The werewolf appeared from behind her. His brow was furrowed and he clenched his jaw.
“Don’t ever leave us like that again,” Halvard growled.
Despite the reprimand, his hands were gentle when he helped her to sit up. “And don’t listen to that snake. I was an experiment. You saw the dreams. The hatred and fear in their eyes. I just didn’t want that life for anyone else.”
He gently wiped the blood from her face.
“I’m sorry Temperance.”
He swept her up into his arms and carried her over to a set of crumbling steps. Alastair waited for Sebastian to reappear. When he didn’t, the wizard sprinted over to them.
“Are you all right?” He reached out to push back her hair. His fingers brushed her cheek and Temperance winced. He narrowed his eyes. “I’ll kill him.”
A wall to their right collapsed with a thundering crash. Dust billowed out towards them.
“You can try Alastair,” Sebastian said, strolling out from the rubble.
He brushed off his suit, a chalky white cloud rose up around him. “You couldn’t do it when you were Alric Halvard Wolfram, what makes you think you have a chance now?”
The wizard didn’t answer. Instead, Alastair looked up and flicked his fingers at the ground. Dust and pebbles rained down on them. With loud groans, stalactites plunged down from the ceiling. They smashed into the road around Sebastian, leaving big craters. The rushing sound of buildings and rubble sliding into the holes echoed around the cavern.
Halvard bowed over Temperance, protecting her from the pieces that pelted them. He hauled her to her feet and pushed her behind him.
“Take shelter!”
Not knowing where to go, she limped into one of the ruined houses. Crouching down behind a glassless window, she peered over the sill at them.
The mayor thrust out his hand, and a blast of dust and debris sent Halvard hurtling through the air towards Alastair. The wizard leapt to the side to avoid him and was forced to stop his attack. Once back on his feet, Alastair tried to continue his assault; he raised his hands. They shook with exertion.
Sebastian jumped back from the renewed onslaught and lifted his cane. He made a move as if to bat aside the flying missiles. They swung away in different directions and careened into ruins behind him. The shelled out buildings erupted in a shower of broken stone and twisted metal. They shuddered and collapsed inward in a giant billow of dust.
One stalactite broke through the cavern wall, causing the roof to tremble. Shrieking bats erupted from the darkness above them, abandoning their perches. The massive colony swooped down towards them. The sound of their flapping wings filled the cavern.
Temperance yelped and fell back as they shot past the window in a massive blur of black. A flicker of movement to her left had her pedalling to the side.
A thin man was huddled behind a slab of rotting wood. He was filthy, dressed in a shredded and stained navy sweater with the Carwick town crest on it. He was looking out at the fight too. He turned at her gasp.
His eyes widened. He fell back with a muffled thud.
“Who are you?” Temperance hissed.
“I’m Ted Riddlestone!”
“You’re supposed to be dead! Have you been hiding down here all this time?” Temperance demanded.
“I can explain!” he whispered, waving his hands to shush her. He glanced out at the square. “But please, please be quiet, he’ll hear us!”
“Who will?”
“Sebastian!” Ted hissed. She stopped and really looked at him. He was trembling.
Temperance ducked when she heard another loud crash. Dust drifted in on top of them. Ted started hyperventilating. There was more shouting but it was moving away. The man struggled to calm his breathing and pushed his cracked glasses up his nose.
“Why’d it take you so long to get here? I’ve been pretending to be dead for days! Lilith told me help was only hours away! Do you have any idea how dangerous it’s been lying out there all this time?”
Temperance narrowed her eyes on him. “Lilith?”
“She found me after…” His sentence petered off. His eyes grew distant as he relived something. She studied his tattered clothing and wondered what had happened.
“After?” Temperance prompted.
“After he escaped! The charms on the clock door have been fading a little every year. And then on the winter solstice, it’s their weakest day...” Ted turned to look out at the grandfather clock. He frowned. “He waited, he must have known all along. Over a hundred years, waiting for it to weaken. I thought I’d been doing such a good job. Then, when he broke free, I thought he was the one who... but he wasn’t…”
“Wasn’t what? You’re not making any sense.”
“Ted never made sense,” Sebastian smiled in at her through the window, blocking the light.
Temperance screamed.
“No, no, no!” Ted scrambled back away from him.
The silence, now quite obvious, should have warned her something wasn’t right. The mayor lunged in through the gap. He snatched up her arm. She tried to hold on to the window frame, her fingers digging into the dry cracks in the stone. Her feet slid along the ground as he pulled her towards him. With a rough jerk, he heaved her out through the window. He tossed her to the ground like a sack. Temperance landed awkwardly on her wrist. The mayor rapped his knuckles against the wall and leaned back into the dilapidated house.
“Oh yes, yes. I don’t know how you survived, Riddlestone, but it won’t happen again. Just wait here like a good employee.”
He turned to face Temperance. She cradled her arm and tried to stumble to her feet.
“I had a wonderful idea, Temperance,” he murmured, advancing towards her. “I’m going to keep you alive. Killing you would have been a mistake, don’t you think? Look behind you at your new home. A few years inside will bend you to my will.”
He tilted his cane at the clock.
“No!” Temperance screamed.
She’d be left to rot in the small, suffocating place; the unending tick of the clock echoing round her. She clapped her hands to her ears as if she could already hear it. Her breathing sped up. She felt like she was choking.
This couldn’t be happening.
She scrabbled behind her, grabbing onto whatever she could find. There was a large piece of debris. If she could hit him, maybe it would give her a chance to escape. She focused on his face and hoped for the best, throwing it with as much strength as she could muster.
The stone picked up an incredible amount of force. There had been no aiming or skill in the throw but it smacked into Sebastian. It clipped his cheek; he stumbled back with a loud curse.
“That stung,” he hissed. Blood was pumping from a deep gash on the side of his face. “You’re stronger than you look. You’ve not been taking your medicine.”
He pointed at her. Temperance shrank back.
There was a shout to her right. In the torchlight she saw Halvard streak forward. He wrapped his arm around the mayor’s chest. The two men slammed to the ground. Sebastian reached around and punched the werewolf in the face. A sickening crack sounded. Halvard stumbled away as blood pumped down from his broken nose. Without any hesitation, he reached up and grabbed it, clicking it back into place. The werewolf lunged forward and grabbed Sebastian by the neck. He pulled the wizard back, smashing him into the rubble and pinnin
g him down.
“Run!” he growled at Temperance as the mayor reached up to grab his shoulder.
With a burst of adrenaline, she swung around and saw Alastair several feet from her. He was clutching his stomach and leaning against a rusted pole. Keeping her bruised wrist close to her body, she sprinted towards him, ignoring all of her other aches and pains. Her feet slapped against the ground. She knocked against her fallen torch, it skittered ahead of her. She scooped it up and stuffed it into her pocket.
She slowed when she reached him.
“Al-astair…”
There was a massive slash mark from his chest to his navel. His shirt was soaked in blood; it dripped down his legs. His hands were covered in gore and some of his fingernails had been chipped away. She swallowed back her fear and knelt to look at him. His face was a mask of pain.
“I’m fine,” he muttered.
“Alastair, what can I do?” She placed a hesitant hand on his arm. Tears of frustration welled up in her eyes. He shook his head, then grasped her hand.
He brought it up to his lips. She didn’t know what he thought he was doing but he couldn’t have picked a worse time for it. She tried to jerk her hand away.
“What are you -?”
A wave of tiredness swept over her. She sagged a little and he caught her around the waist holding her up against him. Her head lolled, she stared up at him in confusion. He was flushed. She felt his teeth brush her skin as he smiled. A thousand butterflies fluttered in her stomach when he whispered across her skin.
“You’re my very own painkiller, Temperance.”
The tired feeling left her and she jerked upright. Alastair’s hand released hers after a moment. His injuries had disappeared.
“You have some power. I just took a sip.” His eyes darted to the side, unable to look at her. “I’m sorry. I won’t do it again.”
She touched his arm and his eyes swung back to her face. “It’s okay. You can do it to me whenever you want.”
Her words hung in the air between them. Heat flooded her face at the ambiguous declaration. Alastair coughed and looked aside. Temperance noticed even his neck was red. There was a slight smile on his face.
A piercing howl erupted behind them, breaking through their awkward moment. The mayor had Halvard suspended high above him. The werewolf hurtled towards sharp jagged rocks in the ceiling and slammed against them. They pierced through his shoulder and back. A roar of agony erupted from him. Sebastian flicked a finger, sending him plummeting downwards. Alastair shot out a hand. He slowed his fall, but the werewolf still struck the ground with a sickening thud.
Temperance crawled over to him.
His skin was pale and clammy. She stared up at Alastair. “Can I help him too?”
“No you can’t, but I can.”
Alastair stayed facing Sebastian and bent down to touch Halvard’s chest. He whispered something under his breath. He stumbled as he stood again. Halvard groaned then tried to sit up so abruptly he almost hit Temperance with his forehead.
Halvard stared up at his other half. “That must have weakened you.”
“If you die, I die!” Alastair muttered.
“The two shattered pieces of the legendary Alric Halvard Wolfram and not one of you are up for a minor scuffle,” Sebastian laughed. He twirled his cane.
“I’m not finished yet, old man,” Alastair swore at him.
“We can’t do this separately,” Halvard hissed in a low voice. It didn’t reach Sebastian’s ears. He spat out blood and dirt, staring at Alastair.
“Yes we can. I won’t go back to that life,” the wizard said. “We don’t need him to stop Bloodworth.”
“Stubborn idiot,” the werewolf fell back with a soft groan. Temperance patted his arm. He let out a sarcastic chuckle. “You just don’t want my memories of the clock. They’re not so bad, just repetitive.”
The wizard snorted, “Yes, those or your animal afflictions.”
“I don’t have all day,” Sebastian sneered, interrupting them.
Alastair stalked forward. He fisted his left hand, his jaw set in concentration. Temperance couldn’t tear her eyes away. He looked impressive. Metallic shrieking filled the air. She clapped her hands to her ears. The brick walls of the nearest buildings exploded outwards. Rusted pipes harpooned out from their foundations towards Sebastian. They twisted around him, binding his arms to his body until he became encased in metal.
The mayor did nothing to defend himself.
The screeching died down.
Alastair retreated over to them.
With Temperance’s help, Halvard stood up. His arm was heavy across her shoulders. She felt his face brush against her neck. She shivered and her skin began to tingle where he touched. She stepped away from him, her cheeks burning.
The rusted metal pipes started to glow red, casting the area in an eerie light. They trembled.
Halvard glared at the wizard. “Always hopeless at maintaining spells.”
Alastair’s jaw dropped. “Me? Speak for yourself!”
“I am.” He got an answering scowl. “Temperance, move back.”
“Why?”
The pipes began to shudder uncontrollably and then exploded.
With a scream, Temperance threw her hands up to protect her face. Halvard jumped in front of her. Alastair ducked down and jerked his elbow up.
There was an ear splitting crunch and a massive screen of stone shot up out of the ground. There were resounding thuds behind the wall. Alastair held his hands up, keeping their protection in place.
The noise dwindled, until there were only Alastair’s gasping breaths. His face had a dull grey pallor and his eyes drooped in exhaustion. He dropped his arms with a wince. The slabs cracked, their protection collapsed, falling inward towards them.
Sebastian looked untouched.
He yawned. “My turn.”
Halvard suddenly dropped to his knees. He threw his hands out in front of him and shuddered uncontrollably. It reminded Temperance of what Alastair had done to the werewolves in the forest. The mayor was trying to force Halvard into his other form. Alastair looked horrified.
“You don’t have that kind of magic!” he shouted, jabbing a finger at the mayor. “That power belongs to my family!”
“Don’t be foolish. It doesn’t only belong to you, Alastair. I learned all I could from Cyprian before I got rid of him,” Sebastian spat. Despite his taunts, he still began to stoop with the effort to maintain his spell. “I’ve got a lot more power than your pitiful family. I can do anything I put my mind to. Remember that.”
It was only a matter of seconds before a giant wolf with strong salivating jaws crouched beside them. His muscles were twitching. He began whining and chewing on his front paw, reminding Temperance of her little dog, Beast. Though this was far more violent, far more worrying.
A loud piercing howl erupted from him.
“What?” She stepped away.
Sebastian huddled over his cane, watching him. “Halvard isn’t as untouched by his time in the clock as he likes to think. Invading someone’s mind, it’s a more delicate, skilful magic, Temperance. Any thug can knock down walls.”
Alastair’s lips thinned.
He knelt and buried his hands into Halvard’s fur, fighting against Sebastian’s powers. It was obviously difficult; the strain showed across his shoulders and face. There was a gasp from both men when finally one of them won.
Panting, the werewolf scrambled up and limped to stand beside Alastair. They both looked exhausted, on the verge of being completely defeated. The wizard dropped his hand to rest on the animal’s head, gaining his attention.
Halvard snapped at his fingers.
“I’ve remembered how he split us,” Alastair said. There was a long tense pause. His shoulders heaved with his large slow sigh. “And you’re right; we can’t protect Temperance like this.”
The wolf whined. His large head turned back to look at her. She wondered if Halvard
was agreeing with him or not. She knew it must have taken a lot for Alastair to admit it. She dropped her eyes. She wondered what would happen; would they both disappear into a stranger? Even with all the madness surrounding them, she felt they’d all connected in some way. The loneliness she’d felt for much of her life had retreated.
Alastair began whispering to Halvard. Sebastian frowned.
The final torches blew out, plunging them into absolute darkness. There was a flare in the black. Like a match being lit. With a great whoosh, a wall of blue flames exploded out. It swirled inwards, wrapping around both Halvard and Alastair. The flames merged and the wolf disappeared. A single towering blue inferno stretched high up into the cavernous ceiling. Then the fire dropped down to a tiny spark and went out. At the last moment, before she was left in darkness, Temperance glimpsed a tall lone figure with his arms spread.
Then thunderous crashing began all around her. It was like the cave was collapsing. She ducked down and with trembling hands tugged out her torch. The beam jumped around and landed on Alric Halvard Wolfram.
He was wearing the same clothes as Alastair, though they strained across his broad back. He glanced at Temperance, her torchlight caught his eyes; they were gold. His facial features were similar to Alastair, except he seemed older, with more confidence.
With a growl, he swung back to advance towards Sebastian; building after building toppled to the ground like dominos. Debris and dust rose up in massive ominous plumes to linger over their heads. She placed her sleeve over her mouth and spared a thought for poor Ted, hoping he was well away from the square by now.
“Theatrics will get you nowhere!” Sebastian shouted.
The mayor retreated. His goateed face seemed far paler in the torchlight. He fisted his hand. Halvard dodged whatever had been thrown by him. The two men darted in and out of the meagre light. Screams and shouting sounded at odd intervals.
To Temperance it looked as if they were evenly matched. Each of the different attacks was countered with an immediate defence. Neither man was able to gain the upper hand. A stray spell from Sebastian cracked against one large house. It disintegrated. A massive fracture radiated out across the ground towards Temperance.
She scrambled away from it.
They disappeared behind a large building. There was a shout. The floor trembled beneath her; bricks tumbled down. Sebastian stumbled out from the ruins clutching his chest. Halvard stalked out after him.
“Come on, Sebastian. The last time you came to my city, you came with hundreds of your best and only just defeated me. Do you really think, all alone and so very old, you can hope to win a second time?”
“You bastard dog!” Sebastian screamed.
His age began to betray him. He was sweating and beginning to falter. Halvard’s assaults were relentless. His movements were sparse, direct and deadly.
The men scuffled past her, towards the stone base that held the grandfather clock. Halvard’s back was to her. Sebastian whipped off the top of his cane revealing a gleaming thin knife. He slashed at Halvard, aiming for the throat, and missed. He jabbed forward, Halvard deflected him, but the mayor managed to stab him in the side. Temperance gasped and threw a hand over her mouth.
“You can’t win! Give up!” Sebastian panted. Halvard doubled over. The mayor sneered. “You obviously didn’t learn your lessons properly. Freya must not have beaten you enough.”
With an inhuman roar, Halvard’s hand whipped out and snatched the mayor’s cane away from him. He drew the blade out of his body. It clattered to the ground, dripping with blood.
With a grunt, Sebastian dived for the weapon; he snatched it up and darted towards Temperance. The knife glinted in his raised hand.
“Temperance, no!” Halvard shouted.
He lunged after the wizard. Temperance saw Sebastian’s smirk, the slide of his eyes to the side as he began to twist back around. She was on her feet before she realised and racing towards them. She pumped her arms and sprinted faster. She was too far away though; she wasn’t going to make it.
The world seemed to slow down around them, or rather Temperance realised she had sped up, her powers taking over. Sebastian’s mouth was wide open in a triumphant shout. His arm was outstretched; she could see the tip of his blade inching in a downward plunge towards Halvard’s chest. The werewolf’s eyes were fixed on where she had stood, his expression strained and filled with terror.
Temperance’s hands shot out and knocked away the knife; everything sped up again. Sebastian jerked back from her in shock. He lashed out; the knife tore down her arm, just as Halvard slammed into him. The blade clattered away from them. Temperance fell back, clutching her injury.
Halvard stumbled to his feet and reached out towards her. “Temperance, are you –”
Sebastian’s magic blasted the werewolf from behind. Halvard was flung forward and collided with the grandfather clock. Its door burst open.
The mayor followed after him.
With a strength Temperance never would have suspected he had, Sebastian forced Halvard back in towards the clock’s open space. She shrieked in panic and stared at the werewolf’s hands, which were scrabbling at the sides of the clock, trying to maintain his balance. Halvard’s eyes were wide; his breath was coming out in large gasps.
With a sudden movement, the werewolf released his hold on the wood and brought his elbow up to smash it into the wizard’s chin. The mayor’s neck whipped back. Halvard propelled himself forward, grabbing Sebastian. In a move so fast her eyes missed it; the werewolf twisted him around and shoved the mayor into the clock. He sealed it shut; muffling the wizard’s terrified screeching.
Halvard collapsed on the ground, shaking. Ignoring her injury, Temperance scrambled over towards him. He held up a trembling hand, giving a loud retching cough.
“No,” he said through gritted teeth, forcing her to stay where she was.
After a few moments, he ran the corner of his sleeve over his mouth with a rough swipe. He pushed himself up off the ground. He stared at the clock for a moment, then turned towards Temperance. The torches flamed to life around them. She was able to see him properly for the first time. He was tall and broad shouldered. His expression was stony, cold. He marched over to her, his eyes sweeping across the area, searching for any further danger. When he reached her, she flinched away, causing a jolt of pain to shoot through her at the movement. His eyes flicked up to hers. She sucked in a breath.
He had Halvard’s striking amber irises, rimmed with Alastair’s black eyes. He frowned and drew back. To Temperance he felt like a stranger. Then he spoke and her heart sped up.
“Temperance, are you all right?”
He sounded like Alastair but there was more of a guttural tone to his voice; deeper and darker. He reached out and ran a hand over the large gash on her arm. The pain subsided, the skin began to close over and heal.
Before she could thank him, there was a noise to their right. Halvard swung into a crouched position in front of her. Ted climbed out through a man-sized hole in one of the walls. He coughed and patted himself down. He tugged his glasses off to clean them on the frayed edge of his top.
“I was getting really worried you weren’t going to win.” He squinted at them and slid his spectacles on again.
“No closer,” Halvard warned. The ground trembled. “Who are you?”
“I’m Ted Riddlestone! You’d think you’d recognise me!” There was indignation in his voice. “I did the best I could to make you comfortable in the clock.”
Halvard straightened. He sniffed the air, as if to confirm Ted’s identity.
“I suppose.” He flashed his teeth in a feral grin. “Though I suspect you could have released me at any point.”
“And risk the wrath of Sebastian and the Council?” Ted looked horrified. “We all have our masters! Why do you think I’ve spent days hiding down here as it is?”
“What do you mean?” Temperance cut in.
Ted clicked his fing
ers at the clock. Several tiny metallic objects flew off the wood and shot towards his open hand. He held them up; they were tiny silver balls. “These are my cameras. I use them to monitor the clock when I’m not around. They record what happens out here.” He waved his fingers around the square. “I never told anyone about them. It was my failsafe in case something ever happened. They recorded everything after Halvard escaped.”
He tossed them into the air. They formed a triangle and projected a beam of light down between the three of them.
“Modern technology, but with a Ted Riddlestone twist!”
The beams drew together, replaying the events like a security camera. The images flickered for a moment then solidified.
“Action!” Ted clapped and horrific snarling erupted around them.
A werewolf in chains was railing against a thick lead being held by Seth Bloodworth, with Sebastian and Cyprian beside him. For a second, Temperance thought it was Halvard, but the wolf was smaller and brown. Then she noticed the body on the ground. It was Ted.
“We are going to use Halvard’s escape to our advantage. Cyprian, you kill the lupa and make it look like Alastair did it,” Sebastian said. “Once she’s dead, the werewolves will come for him, demanding retribution. We can throw him to them and sit back.”
“I’m glad we can finally end this,” Cyprian said. He was wearing the long coat from the night he’d died. “We must be careful though, Temperance Levinthal is in my house.”
Sebastian paused. “Make sure nothing happens to the girl.”
His son struggled with the wolf. “Father, why not just kill her too?”
“Stay away from the Levinthals, Seth,” Sebastian spat at him. His son flinched back, pulling the wolf with him. The creature moaned.
Temperance took a deep breath in through her nose, letting it out with a snort. She wasn’t sure how to feel. Halvard bristled beside her. His uncle turned and left without another word. There was silence. Seth watched him leave then turned to his father, waiting for his orders.
Sebastian pointed his cane at the werewolf. “Once Cyprian kills Freya take that thing and use it to kill him. Make it look like Halvard is responsible.”
Seth jerked hard on the lead.
The werewolf squealed in pain. It started choking and wheezing. Temperance cringed.
“Once that’s done, we can prosecute Halvard for killing a Seat holder with the full backing of the Bifrost Assembly. The two halves will finally be disposed of, all within the confines of the law.”
“Yes, father.”
Sebastian stared down at Ted’s body. He studied it. “I want to make sure Wolfram is seen as a violent criminal. I’m sure he was quite mad when he escaped. Have that thing rough Riddlestone up more.” The mayor stepped out of sight.
Seth reached into his pocket and removed a large syringe. He uncapped it and rammed the needle into the werewolf’s side. It howled in agony. The animal’s snarls became vicious.
It snapped and twisted its jaws in violent jerking motions. As the drug worked its way through its system, Temperance doubted it knew what or where it was anymore. Seth wrenched the werewolf forward. He set it on Ted’s body, allowing it to shred his clothes and flesh. Temperance looked away.
“I was wrong. At first I thought the wolf that attacked me was him,” Ted confessed waving at Halvard.
Temperance glanced over. His face was pale but he was still watching everything. She wondered how he could.
“How?” she croaked. She waved a hand at Ted. “How are you not…?”
“In pieces?” He tugged out a bottle and rattled the pills inside. “Ah, I take my special vitamins every day, especially in winter. They’re good for regeneration. They can be slow acting though. And Lilith helped too.”
“Are you finished here?” Halvard’s eyes narrowed on Ted. The other man rubbed his neck and looked away. Temperance was intimidated by the glare and it wasn’t even directed at her.
“Yes. Now that Sebastian’s not a threat anymore and I have your support, we can go straight to the Assembly.” Ted tapped his watch. He clicked his fingers and the cameras dropped into his hands. “You should send the girl home.”
Ted wandered away, stopping to pick up a battered metal lunchbox that had been discarded to one side. He strolled towards the edge of the square, back in the direction of his office, swinging the box at his side.
When Temperance stepped forward to follow him, her legs buckled. She stumbled against Halvard. He caught her with a grunt. She righted herself and rested her hand against his chest, feeling drained. With her head bent, she saw the large bloodstain on his top. She let her hand drift down to the tear in his shirt where Sebastian had stabbed him. The material stuck to his skin, she peeled it back, but there was no wound. All of his cuts were gone.
“You’re not injured,” Temperance frowned at him.
“I’m fine.” He placed his hand over hers and drew it away. Temperance held her breath, waiting, though she wasn’t quite certain for what. Halvard leaned closer; she could see the tips of his white teeth. She drifted nearer to him.
Sharp clapping made Temperance jump, they both broke apart. With flushed cheeks, she frowned over at Ted, who peered at them from the end of the square and scowled.
“We don’t have time. We need to leave!”
With a large sigh, Halvard bent low and swept her up into his arms.
“Let me help you.”
He ignored her when she gave a weak protest. She was too tired though to put up much of a fight. She sagged against him.
He marched them out through the decaying world.
Chapter 19