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The same panic I had seen on Vesper’s face began to fill my heart.
“Nothing.” I shook my head. “It’s no good. I can’t do this.”
“It’s all right,” Vesper said, his voice soothing as he slipped a blade into the child’s head, then yanked it out again. “We have to get you away from here.”
Dimly I was aware that he had referred only to me, not the others.
I looked towards the passages. More children were coming through. How many were there?
I thought of Draven's story. All of the fae's children. How many could there have been? Hundreds? Thousands?
Vesper caught me by the arm, dragging me farther away from the others as a group of children neared us, buying us precious seconds.
I pulled back my bowstring and an arrow sliced through the air, hitting a child with its back to us in the neck. It turned towards me, mouth still wide and ravenous and I let out a curse.
A knife sped past me and caught the child in the side of the skull. Vesper sped forward, pulling the knife out. He looked at the sticky blackened blade with disgust, then wiped the worst of it on his jerkin and returned to my side.
“Thank you,” I mumbled. The scent of dark blood and decaying flesh filled my nostrils, blocking out fresh air, blocking out clear thought.
“We have to go.” His voice was full of alarming urgency. “We can't keep this up.”
“Yes, but not without the others,” I started to say, and then I heard Lancelet scream.
I looked over to see a child lunging at Lancelet as she pushed Odelna out of the path of danger and towards Draven, who was fighting a group of the monstrous children who had come at him from the other direction.
As the child lunged at her, Lancelet stumbled backwards, falling to the ground, her sword clattering to the stones beside her.
“No!” I started towards her.
A clawed withered hand caught my wrist, sharp nails tearing at my tunic. Vesper drew me back just in time, thrusting a dagger into the child’s skull, then yanking me by the arm, pulling me across the room.
“We’re getting out of here,” he shouted.
“No! We can't leave them.” I screamed Lancelet's name and tried to pull away, but his grip was too tight.
The child was on top of Lancelet now, its tiny fingers clawing at her leather jerkin. I watched as she fumbled beside her, desperately reaching for her sword.
I wrenched my arm, pulling free of Vesper and raised my bow, releasing an arrow. With relief, I watched as it landed in the child's head, knocking it off Lancelet's body.
Behind Lancelet, Odelna cowered against Draven as his blade flashed through the air, spraying blackened blood in every direction. He kept one arm protectively on her head as he fought with his other.
“They just keep coming,” I breathed, watching as a dozen or more children lurched towards Draven.
From the corner of my eye, I saw another child climbing atop Lancelet before she could finish getting to her feet.
I raised my bow, but before I could let it fly, I saw a small girl crawling along the floor beside us. Her sharp feral teeth were inches from Vesper's leg. I loosed the arrow and it landed with a revolting, fleshy sound in the center of the child's face.
But before I could feel anything resembling relief, I heard Lancelet scream.
More children had joined the first. She was covered by a writhing, rotting mass of them. I watched in horror as the girl who had climbed onto her chest opened her mouth, revealing decaying scissored teeth and sank them into my friend’s shoulder.
“Lancelet!” I started to run forward. “Lancelet, I’m coming.”
An iron-like vise gripped my upper arm, pulling me to a sharp halt.
“Let me go,” I shrieked at Vesper. “I have to go to her. Lancelet!”
“It’s too late. Look.” Vesper pulled me hard, tugging me across the room. I could hardly pay attention to where he was going.
