Renna looked at him and nodded. ‘Ent my husband, but I’ll do what I can to see it so.’

Thamos looked at her. ‘Can you … ah …’ He made a sweeping gesture, drawing a clumsy ward in the air.

Renna shook her head. ‘Don’t think so, but I can tear a demon’s arm off and shove it down its throat.’

Gared chuckled. ‘Seen her do it.’

Leesha felt her head throb again, wondering if it would be enough.

Renna stood with the Haveners when night fell. She knew her presence lent them strength and was glad of it, but wished that there was someone to lend strength to her. Arlen was still unconscious, and Thamos had split his forces to guard the weakest points of the Hollow’s net, unable to focus on any one place. Leesha had insisted on keeping her hospit at the centre of the Hollow, where it would be safest. Teams of Gatherer’s apprentices and volunteers stood ready with carts to move wounded.

General Gared and the Cutters guarded New Rizon, where the eastern mind demon had built its ward, and Thamos and the bulk of his Wooden Soldiers waited by the border of Lakdale to the west. The other boroughs had their own militias standing ready with spear and bow, but there was no way of knowing precisely where the demons would strike.

Renna had been given command of Newhaven, with Rojer and the Krasians to bolster the Haveners, who had taken heavy losses the night before. The rest of the Jongleurs had been split between the boroughs to help as they could.

She shifted her feet, wondering if she was in the wrong place. She had felt the mind demon at the centre die, and the coreling ashes in the area confirmed that its death had taken all the local demons with it, but the minds had made the borough the centre of their assault for a reason. Newhaven still had the weakest wardnet of any borough, too much of it made from trees and structures that could be easily smashed by a rock demon with even moderate aim. Those not fit to fight had already been evacuated, but they had to hold the ground as long as possible. If Newhaven fell, it would bring the demons in striking range of Cutter’s Hollow.

‘It’s going to be all right,’ Rojer said, as if reading her mind.

Renna looked at him and his wives. They were clad in bright colours like a Jongleur’s troupe, the women’s veils cut short to reveal their full lips, that their voices might carry unimpeded. It was strange that revealing something every other woman Renna had ever known bared without a thought should seem so scandalous, but somehow it did. The Krasian men seemed to feel it even more strongly than her. Sharum kept glancing at the women, distracted. Kaval caught one warrior looking and struck him hard with the shaft of his spear, shouting something in Krasian.

‘How’s that?’ she asked. Rojer masked his feelings well, but she could smell his fear.

The red-haired Jongleur shrugged and gave her a smile. ‘Either we win and show the world that the demons can’t pull us down no matter how hard they try, or we die and someone writes a song about how we stood strong to the end so a hundred years from now, folk remember and take heart in our bravery.’

‘Rather live,’ Renna said, as the cries of demons began to sound in the night. The greatward was coming to life beneath her feet, a huge pool of strength she did not fully understand. Could she tap it as Arlen had? Would it be enough even if she could? She thought again of her husband, lying still as death in his hospit bed.

There was a rustling in the thin line of trees across the clearing, and she embraced her fear and worry, straightening. As she did, she felt power rush into her, making her strong. Her mouth watered. If they were going to die, let them die fighting.

‘Bows at the ready,’ she called, and the Haveners raised their weapons. The Krasians were not shooters, but each held three spears, two for throwing and a third for close fighting.

‘That’s our cue,’ Rojer said, stepping forward and raising his fiddle, beginning to play. Amanvah and Sikvah raised their voices to join him, touching the demon bone chokers at their throats.

The music carried far on the currents of magic, growing louder and more complex, weaving a spell in the air that pushed at the demons as strongly as a wardnet. Renna knew they were out there – could see their glow shining in the trees – but they seemed unable to approach so long as the trio continued to play. After several minutes, the pounding in her heart began to slow.

But then a boulder arched high into the air over the trees.

‘Look out!’ Renna cried. Enkido was already pulling Amanvah out of the way, and Renna grabbed Rojer and Sikvah like children, leaping aside. The gigantic stone hit just as they landed, knocking her from her feet and showering them with bits of rubble. They coughed from the dust, unharmed, but the damage had been done.

The moment the music stopped, the woods exploded with demons. Field demons came in reaps, with flame demons at their heels. Others, their scales a glittering white, followed. Renna had never seen the like, but knew snow demons from Arlen’s stories.

Someone screamed, and the Haveners let loose a volley of their precious warded arrows. Their aim was erratic and the targets in fast motion, but the sheer number of demons meant many were struck. Some few of these fell, but most ran on.

‘Don’t shoot, you fools!’ Renna screamed. ‘The greatward is still active!’

Indeed, the corelings came up against the ward and were thrown back with a bright flare of magic. Renna wondered at the point of the charge until a falling stone fell on the head of an archer, killing her instantly. She looked up and saw a wind demon bank and fly off even as more came, hauling large stones in their hind talons.

‘Shoot the windies!’ she cried. The Haveners lifted their bows to comply, but their fear was palpable, shaking hands that needed to be steady. Even with the light of the greatward, the night sky was dark, and they could not see the demons glowing as Renna did. A few wind demons dropped from the sky, crashing into the wardnet and sliding off like birds flying into a thick pane of glass, but most of the arrows vanished harmlessly into the blackness.

‘Rock and wood!’ Kaval shouted, and Renna turned, cursing. At the tree line, the huge demons were massing, carrying heavy stones and sections of tree trunk in their talons.

Renna froze, unsure, but Kaval smoothly took command. ‘Archers!’ he cried. ‘Target the rock demons! Ignore all else! We will deal with the wood!’

Some of the Haveners looked to Renna, and she gritted her teeth. She should have seen the diversion for what it was, and now she had foolishly wasted much of their ammunition. She hated to admit it, but she was out of her depth. Kaval, calm and ready to lead, had trained a lifetime for this. ‘Do as he says!’

The Haveners loosed again, this time at targets even a novice could not miss. As they did, the Sharum ran forward, coming to a stop right at the edge of the wardnet and using the momentum of their sprints to aid their throws. The light spears flew far, piercing the hearts of wood demons and knocking them down. The demons shrieked, trying to clutch at the weapons, but the defensive wards along the shafts prevented them from drawing them out, even as the offensive wards continued to suck magic from the corelings, turning it into killing energy they pumped back into the wounds.

The Haveners were having less success. Their strongest arrows wasted, the crude ones stuck from the rock demons like pins in a cushion. The demons shrieked, but it seemed more in annoyance than distress. They cocked their arms back, launching their heavy missiles.