Loch slammed his energy shield into some humanoid monster, or maybe it was a monster. He was focused on the wall and the Presence he could sense. Anything that got in his way was just an obstacle, something to get out of the way. Piper was up on the wall and the Presence was making its way toward her.

  He had to get there.

  The inkwall keeping the maddened Clanmembers back was gone, more of them flooding out through the gate. There was no way he could get through that. He adjusted his path, shifting the angle to avoid the rush, trying to work his way around them.

  Hands grabbed at him, he batted them away. He sent Onyx away, not wanting to accidently chop into any of the people. They were his people, his Clan. But they were in his way.

  He knocked people aside, clearing a path. They seemed to be chasing him, spreading out along the wall to block his charge.

  Flames could be seen beyond the wall, over where the bunkhouses were. More flames down in the fields. Fire started on the wall, spreading up, growing in strength and intensity.

  Loch cursed, pushing people down, clearing a path.

  ***

  Harper felt the mental blast slam into her mind. The pain was intense, blasting any attempt at thoughts away. She had been able to resist the pressure from Theodore’s Voice, but the mental blast from Theodore himself was different. It was a focused attack, aimed directly at her. It pierced her meager defenses.

  She knew she needed to get up and defend herself. She just couldn’t. Anytime she tried to form a thought, to do an action, the mental blast would shatter the attempt. Harper tried to push the mental blast away, to clear her thoughts.

  “Weak,” Theodore said. “You are all weak.”

  Harper got up to a knee, her body shaking. Her mind wanted to break, her thoughts to fall apart. She fought to hold them together, looking up at Theodore, who raised the staff, ready to swing it down. Ready to bash her head in. Harper couldn’t allow that but she couldn’t do anything about it.

  Agony flared through her body. She couldn’t control it, her body shaking. The world went blurry but she could still make out the form of Theodore. Harper could hear the shouts of her father’s bannermen, of the others that had joined them. They cursed as a low roar came from the wall. Dozens of voices all groaning, shouting and cursing. Piper’s wall had fallen. The mass of maddened Clanmembers were now free.

  They would be overwhelmed. They would all die.

  Gritting her teeth, crying out in frustration, Harper tried to push past the pain. She tried to stand, the world still blurry. She couldn’t. Every time she would rise, the mental blast would send her back down. She knew Theodore kept using his Ability. It wasn’t a continuous thing, but he was quick with releasing it. Probably blasing Davis and Mike Turner too. He’d run out of Spirit, but would it be quick enough to save her?

  Doubtful.

  She could feel the blast slam into her mind again, shattering any resistance she had. Harper dropped to the ground, hearing the laughter of Theodore and nothing else. The pain was intense. She wanted to stand but couldn’t.

  Then it stopped. The pain was gone.

  Harper looked up, her blurry vision clearing, showing Theodore. Arms outstretched, staff dropped from his hands, face wide in terror, sword sticking out of his stomach. Harper could hear muttering from behind the man.

  “The Voice. It was too loud.”

  Theodore took a couple steps, sword still lodged in his stomach. His hands reached down, feeling the blade, coming away bloody. Theodore turned to see who had stabbed him.

  “You?” he said, voice growing weak.

  An old man stood there, body shaking. He wasn’t looking at Theodore or anyone else, eyes unfocused and just staring. His hair was long and scraggly, skin stretched across bone.

  “Jim?” Theodore asked, taking a step forward.

  Harper reached out, grabbing Theodore by the ankle, yanking him down. He hit the ground hard, the hilt of the sword striking the ground and pushing the sword through his stomach. Theodore screamed.

  “You brought the Voice,” the old man, Jim, said, still not looking at anyone. “It was quiet before we met you.”

  The man sounded broken, his voice cracking. He turned, looking down at Theodore.

  “Can it be quiet again?”

  He sounded so pitiful. The wanting and desire for peace evident in his voice. The old man fell to his knees, hand clutching at his head.

  “Please. It’s so loud.”

  Harper stood up, grabbing Theodore’s dropped staff. She walked over to the man, looking down at him. His hands grabbed the blade of the sword, cutting into his fingers, blood dripping down making the blade slippery, making him cut himself more. Theodore tried to pull the weapon out, blood pooling on the ground, flooding out rapidly.

  Terrified eyes found Harper.

  “Please,” he said, bleeding hand reaching up for her. “The Voice told me to.”

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  “You didn’t have to listen,” Harper said, swinging the staff against Theodore’s head.

  There was a loud crack, the man’s neck snapping. His hand fell to the ground, the one on the sword falling to the side.

  Harper stepped back.

  “It’s quieter,” the old man said, tears falling down his face. “But not silent.”

  “It will be,” Harper said, turning to look at the wall.

  She could see her father fighting his way there, the Presence on the wall. Flames spread along the other side of the gate, people running from the fire, others still fighting. More fire was visible in the school.

  “It’s not silent yet,” Harper said, watching her father. “But it will be.”

  ***

  Piper stood up, using the wall for support. Her head hurt. That area wide attack had been bad. It had affected everyone. There were still people on the ground, some were on their knees, already attacking their neighbors. She wanted to yell at them to stop but couldn’t form the words. Then the backlash from her inksummon being destroyed. That pain had added to the lingering, making it all intense. Sharp and jabbing, the backlash had made her scream.

  The world was blurry, her head was pounding. She’d had bad headaches before but nothing like what she was dealing with. Leaning against the wall, she tried to clear her head. It felt foggy, the pressure was there but wasn’t painful. The after effects of that mental attack lingered.

  The wooden walkway shook, something walking across it. She turned, seeing a shadowy shape approaching. It was large, looming. Three long purple fingers reached out from a black robe, the hood over the head.

  Piper could feel the pressure coming from the creature. It was the Presence that was the cause of all the chaos. She had thought her father had been fighting it outside the wall. How had it gotten to her and the wall? She looked out over the wall, finding her father. He was pushing his way toward her, fighting through the crowd.

  Flames shot up from further down the wall, casting flickering shadows across the chaos.

  Piper turned back toward the creature walking toward her. It gave off more than the pressure. She could feel waves of fear.

  YOU WILL BE MINE

  The Voice came into her head. Not a whisper. Loud, deep, forceful.

  WITH YOUR POWER WE WILL BE OUR OWN ARMY

  “Go away,” Piper yelled.

  She tried to summon something, anything, but her thoughts couldn’t connect. She couldn’t form anything coherent. There were dozens of drawings in her sketchbook. Weapons, armor. So much she could use to fight and defend herself.

  But she couldn’t form enough thoughts to summon anything.

  LISTEN TO ME YOUNG ONE

  “No,” Piper yelled, stepping back.

  She reached down deep, trying to form any thoughts, summon anything. The more complex summons weren’t possible. There had be something simpler, something that didn’t require much thought. She felt something. Weak compared to others, but it was something she could summon.

  LET ME IN

  “No!”

  The words were like worms, wriggling their way into her mind. She could feel them, the thoughts of the creature pushing its way into her mind. She couldn’t stop it. She felt her thoughts form, connecting with her Core and Activating her Ability.

  The worms pulled from her mind as the Presence uttered a silent scream, the sound in her mind, echoing into the minds of all those around. It fell back, a small ink black cat clawing at the face under the hood. The creature’s strange hands reached up, grabbing at the cat, the hood falling back.

  Piper screamed, seeing the face of the creature. It was horrifying.

  Long, triangular, short writhing tentacles in place of a mouth. Bright yellow eyes, long and thin, no nose. The skin was purple, glistening in the light of the fire, as if it was wet. Small claw marks cut across the skin, the fingers grasping the inkcat. The yellow eyes flared, the cat disappearing, Piper feeling the backlash. It wasn’t as bad as when the inkrhino had been destroyed. A sharp but fading pain.

  The creature stared at her, the horrible yellow eyes locking on hers.

  YOU WILL BE MINE

  “Never,” she growled out, feeling the pressure pushing against her as the monster focused on her.

  It pushed, Piper trying to fight back. She thought of her mom, of her sister and her dad. She thought of all the people in the Clan that needed her and her family. Especially after this. She thought of her friends.

  Piper could feel her resistance gaining strength, holding back the monster’s intrusion.

  HOW

  The Voice said, surprised.

  YOU WILL NOT RESIST ME

  Piper pushed back, gathering all her strength. Everything that had made her happy, all the little things and the big things. All the hopes for the future All the plans that her father had showed her, the future of the Clan. She gathered it all, using it as a shield, pushing back against the monster. The worms weakened, wriggling out of her mind.

  “LEAVE ME ALONE!,” she yelled.

  HOW. HOW CAN YOU RESIST ME

  “Because she’s a Brady.”

  “DAD!” Piper yelled, her father appearing behind the monster.

  Before it could turn, Onyx, the axe flashing with energy, swung. Lightning crackled, spreading across the body. The purple tentacled head fell to the walkway. The body stood a couple seconds longer before collapsed, almost folding in on itself.

  The screaming and fighting stopped, silence spreading across the school.