“But?” Hadrian repeated nervously. “But what?”
Tomas’s voice grew weak. “But it says, ‘I cannot allow those who have seen even half my name to remain alive.’ ”
“Oh, you bastard,” Hadrian cursed, pulling his great spadone sword from his back. “Run, Tomas!”
The Gilarabrywn rose, flapping its great wings, causing a storm of ash to swirl into a cloud. It snapped forward with its head like a snake. Hadrian dove aside and, spinning, drove his sword at the beast. Rather than feeling the blade tip penetrate, however, Hadrian felt his heart sink as the point of the spadone skipped off as if the Gilarabrywn were made of stone. The sudden shock broke his grip and the sword fell.
Not losing a beat, the Gilarabrywn swung its tail around in a sharp snap. The long bone blade on the tip hummed as it sliced the air two feet above the ground. Hadrian leapt over it and the tail glanced off the hillside, stabbing into a charred timber. A quick flick and the several-hundred-pound log flew into the night. Hadrian reached inside his tunic and drew Alverstone from its sheath. He crouched like a knife fighter in a ring, up on the balls of his feet, waiting for the next attack.
Once more, the Gilarabrywn’s tail came at him. This time it stabbed like a scorpion. Hadrian dove aside, and the long point sunk into the earth.
He ran forward.
The Gilarabrywn snapped at Hadrian with its teeth. He was ready for that, expecting it, counting on it. He jumped aside at the last minute. It was so close one tooth sliced through his tunic and gashed his shoulder. It was worth it. He was inches from the beast’s face. With all his strength, Hadrian stabbed Royce’s tiny dagger into the monster’s great eye.
The Gilarabrywn screeched an awful cry that deafened Hadrian. It reared back, stomping its feet. The tiny blade pierced and cut a slice. It shook its head, perhaps as much in disbelief as in pain, and glared at Hadrian with its one remaining eye. Then it spat out words so laced with venom that Tomas did not need to translate.
The beast spread its wings and drew itself up in the air. Hadrian knew what was coming next and cursed his own stupidity for having allowed the creature to move him so far from the pit. He could never make it there in time now.
The Gilarabrywn screeched and arched its back.
There was a loud twack! A wad of rope netting flew into the air like a ball. With small weights tied to the edges, which traveled faster than the center, the net flew open like a giant wind sock, enveloping the flapping beast even as it tried to take flight.
Its wings tangled in the net, the Gilarabrywn dropped to the hilltop, crashing down with a heavy thud, the impact throwing up bits of the manor house’s stairway banister, which flew end over end before shattering in a cloud of ash.
“It worked!” Tobis shouted, as much in shock as in triumph, from the far side of the hill.
Hadrian saw his opportunity and, spinning around, charged the monster. As he did, he noticed Theron following him.
“I told you to take Thrace and run,” Hadrian yelled.
“You looked like you needed help,” Theron shouted back, “and I told Thrace to head for the well.”
“What makes you think she will listen to you any more than you listen to me?”
Hadrian reached where the Gilarabrywn lay on its side thrashing about wildly, and dove at its head. He found its open eye and attacked, stabbing repeatedly. With a terrible scream, the beast raked back with its legs, ripping the net open, and rolled to its feet again.
Hadrian, so intent on blinding the beast, had stepped on the netting. When the monster rose, Hadrian’s feet went out from under him. He fell flat on his back, the air knocked from his lungs.
Blind, the beast resorted to lashing out with its tail, sweeping it across the ground. Caught trying to stand up, Hadrian was struck by the blunt force of the tail.
Hadrian rolled and tumbled like a rag doll, sliding across the ash until he stopped in a patch of dirt, where he lay unmoving. Freeing itself fully of the net, the beast sniffed the air and began moving toward the one who had caused it pain.
“No!” Theron shouted, and charged. He ran for Hadrian, thinking he could drag him clear of the blind beast before it reached him, only the beast was too fast and reached Hadrian at the same time Theron did.
Theron picked up a rock and drew forth the broken blade he still carried. He aimed for the exposed creature’s side and, using the rock as a hammer, drove the metal home like a nail.