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S HAWN S PEAKMAN<br />
But even as Richard was protected, his strength waned. The<br />
called fire took a toll on him physically and emotionaly, sapping<br />
his strength.<br />
He had to end this.<br />
The cat was nearly close enough to rend Richard’s neck when<br />
its head suddenly jerked as if struck from behind. The creature’s<br />
weight left the knight.<br />
Behind the cait sith, Al stood, his black skin glossy with sweat,<br />
conviction raging in his eyes. In his grimy hands, a long, heavy<br />
pipe was poised for another strike.<br />
“Get off ’im, devil,” Al screamed, swinging again.<br />
Enraged, the cat knocked the pipe from Al’s hands and<br />
pounced, leaving Richard free. The homeless man’s screams soon<br />
changed from anger to the anguish of one being torn apart.<br />
It gave Richard the freedom he needed. He sent Arondight’s<br />
fire raging into the back of the beast with all the magic he carried<br />
within, his anger fueling his power. It knocked the cat off the helpless<br />
man and slammed it against the thickly mortared wall.<br />
The hollow crack of breaking bones filled the passage.<br />
Richard was on the beast in a moment, a surge of certainty giving<br />
him strength. With the tip of his blade, he pinned the creature<br />
to the rubble at its neck but Richard knew it could not feel the<br />
heat or the blood he drew. The cat had broken vertebrae. It was<br />
no longer a threat.<br />
Behind him, Al wept in agony, his clothing rent and bloodied.<br />
“I’ll make this quick, cat,” Richard grated. “Why did you come<br />
through the portal?”<br />
“Too late,” the cait sith wheezed. It bled from dozens of<br />
wounds, and most of its chest and forelegs had been reduced to<br />
smoldering flesh. Its right hind leg twitched weakly. “You failed.<br />
The death rattle of your faith in the Word is beyond you. Behold.”<br />
Richard followed the cat’s eyes. Where the stairway to the<br />
city above began, four furtive shapes not much larger than robins<br />
flew in the shadows around the rusted pipes of the arched ceiling.<br />
Instinctively, Richard cast fire toward them. The tiny beings rushed<br />
forward, chittering with sudden fright. Lagging behind, the last<br />
7
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