The Children of Hypnos

Chapter 36: Russian Lullaby

Emery moved as fast as she could, but the explosion had torn away the last of her adrenline and her leg ached with every step. Emery pulled out her phone and called Joel.

"Em?" He said, breathless. "Where are you?"

"On our way up to the manor."

"This is—um—shit—this is freaking me out a little, gotta be honest." More voices swelled over Joel's drowning him out for a moment.

"We're almost there. Is Edgar around?"

"Yeah, I just saw him in the crowd, but—uh—where did you say you were again?"

"Coming up the path in the woods."

"Uh."

"What is it?"

"I thought I just saw you, but it's chaos here—"

Emery hung up and moved faster.

The path through Fenhallow Woods was lit by the same lanterns that had led the way from the dorms, and green light filtered in through the trees overhead. For a terrifying moment Emery felt like she was back in Klaus's dream, and the trees swam around her. She reached out for Wes, who put a hand between her shoulders and helped push her forward.

"Only a little farther," he said. She wanted to hug him for not telling her to stop. He wasn't doing amazing himself: his steps had gotten sluggish, his hair was matted to his forehead, and bags of exhaustion had formed under his eyes. Though he kept a tight grip on his hammer, it hung lower than usual.

The top of the statue of Eamon Ashworth was the first thing to crest the hill against the green sky. The dark forms of little bats flitted around it. The ground in front of the manor house had been gouged by claw marks and pools of acid; the manor itself stood beyond, lights blazing in its windows like fires inside a face. At the foot of the Fenhallow Manor entrance stood Marcia, wearing full armor and in combat with several green-eyed dogs, swinging a battle axe bigger than she was. The axe swept through all three dogs, cutting clean through them and spilling green blood across the ground. As the axe came around, it shrank to the size of Wes's hammer.

More dreamhunters fought around the perimeter of the house, fending off bats and dogs and quill-beasts. Veronica Lash speared a porcupine through the stomach with her naginata and chucked it at a tightly-packed group of bats. Isaiah Howard fended off a drooling dog with his sword and shield as his brother Samuel appeared out of the shadows of the house and leaped onto the creature's back, pinning it to the ground and driving his daggers through the base of its skull. A dark form appeared on the roof, two wicked silvery hammers flashing in her hands, swiping through bat after bat. Wes looked up at her, growling: "Ridley!"

"Is he awake?" Marcia yelled when she saw them approaching. Her axe stilled in the air, covered in glowing green acid blood.

"Yes!" Emery charged past her, up the manor steps. Students in costumes packed the entry hall and the twisted staircases. Emery shoved her way through, yelling for Edgar, but everywhere she looked there were only frightened faces and confusion, jostling limbs and reaching hands. She and Wes shoved their way through the doors of the ballroom, where even more students were still packed. The refreshments table in the corner had been upended. Two of the ballroom windows had been shattered, the glass scattered across the floor The students lined the outside of the room, staring at Emery and Wes as they walked in. Then staring just at Emery.

In the center of the room, Joel stood alone, still wearing his prince outfit. He held his hands out in front of himself, like he'd just lost something.

"Em," he said, face pale, voice shaky, "he was right here, Em. She took him. She looked like you, but her hair was—and she just came up and grabbed him from me."