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onto Tyler’s outstretched hand. He flinched, but before he could react any further, the creature bit him sharply.
    “What the – ouch !” Tyler gasped. It was a sharp pain, but its intensity quickly faded. The spider, on the other hand, dropped to the ground and lay still, its tiny legs curled under itself as though to keep warm, even in death.
    Hargill had been kneeling all of this time, and he said, “It is done.” He pressed the spider-rock into Tyler’s hand; it was whole again and unmarked. Warmth radiated from it as though deep down it had a pulse, as though it were alive.
    Hargill had better explain himself now, Tyler thought. This was all too strange to remain a mystery.
    But Hargill had nothing to offer but more secrets. “Let me be the first to greet you, Avalon-Qwa.”
    “This has gone too far!” Tyler said. He realised he was practically yelling, but he did not stop. “I want the truth ! Hargill, what have you just done to me?”
    Hargill lifted two sad eyes to Tyler’s face. It was horrid to see such a great man humbled, but even so Tyler left him kneeling. His rage had to be somehow spent.
    “Haranio will explain. There is no time. I lied only to protect you, Tyler, and I hope with my entire being that one day you will understand why. Until then, remember that although much of what I have told you is false, this is true: I taught you this .” Hargill rested a shaking hand on Tyler’s heart. “Follow it.”
    With sinking dread Tyler became aware of the silence of the night, more terrifying than any scream.
    “ Go !” bellowed Hargill, rising to his feet. “Run for your—”
    Suddenly the torches in the hall exploded into long plumes of fire, Tyler’s hair singed as high flames licked at the bottom of the straw roof.
    Varkon gripped Tyler’s shoulder. “We must go now! The Dhimori is here.”
    Every window exploded inwards with a single, deafening boom. Hargill put all of his considerable weight behind him and kicked in the small door at the back of the hall that was used as a passage to the kitchens. The lock held, but the door smashed open to expose the cool arena of the night.
    “Run! Or all is lost. You must reach Ithrim.”
    Tyler glanced towards the great door at the back of the hall. Sprawling tentacles of fog leaked through every crack like gas. A sheet of bugs and insects burst from their misty depths, swarming the floor and walls in their millions. There was a slight waver, and then the monstrous door splintered apart, crashing downwards upon the deepening tide of bugs.
    Beyond was utter darkness. A tall figure stepped forward and carried the night with him. It was the spiked demon Tyler had seen on the street, but now he bore a wide metal sword of teeth, and at his heels came the fiends of hell.
    “ DIE ,” a voice said, but Tyler did not hear it. The voice originated from within his head like a sudden pain.
    As Varkon pushed him out the door, Tyler caught one last glimpse of Hargill with both legs planted firmly astride, his sword raised above his glowing mane of hair. “Forgive me, Tyler!” he said sadly before turning to face the evil swarm.
    Tyler fell through the door and into the night and cold.
    “ Run ! His sacrifice will buy us time,” said Varkon.
    If there was one instruction that Tyler had been given tonight that he understood, this was it. He ran. A streak of white shot past them and through the door that they had just left; it was an animal of some sort, and Tyler was glad they did not stay around long enough to find out more than that.
    For a while they could see by the great triangle of flame that was the burning roof of the village hall, but as the trees around them grew more numerous, dull moonlight took precedence. There was only one bridge that spanned the river to the east, and Tyler led the way towards it, not knowing what else to do. With any luck they could make it across and then destroy it to hinder any pursuit.
    They barely made it halfway. His