LOT'S MOUNTAIN

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR: Blood, Battle, and Glass

The tops of the pine trees brush against our legs as we slice through the sky, climbing higher and higher. I can't see the other devils yet, the ones not crushed by the theater, but something shrieks again.

Two other things answer.

And then a third. I don't have to be a math genius to know that one of them plus three more equals a world full of hurt for us.

As we turn to the right to avoid the one that just popped up in front of us, another one claws into my leg as it streaks by. Whirling back around, the thing swoops at us again.

At the last minute, Skeiron veers to the left and pours on the speed, leaving all but one in the dust. While the other ones figure out which way we went, the biggest one slithers along the breeze. Its forked tail rakes across me, stinging my cheek. Jamie flinches as the barb on the end catches her on the back. If it holds us here too long, the other devils will catch up to us, and then we're as good as dead.

Skeiron puts on the speed, but it can't shake the big one behind us. He zigzags, but the Jersey Devil's gaining on us.

Two more race up, coming out of nowhere. I think I evaporate one. I don't know what I find in its place. Something that looks like a filing cabinet appears and then falls.

I try to take out another one, but flying on this horse ... whirling all over the place ... I feel like I'm going to puke.

Now there are six in front of us. Christ.

Where the hell did these things come from?

Skeiron keeps going forward.

Doesn't he see them??? He's GOT to see them. There's no way he can't. Isn't he going to swerve?!? This is NOT the time for a Kamikazee Skeiron—

I'm half-expecting to slam into the devils that are in front of us, but we don't. As we dart between two of the devils that race forward, the largest crashes into the one that was chasing us. The other ones keep flying and start attacking the other three that were after us. They spin and spiral, going nuts on each other.

I always figured that if one of a kind of monster went with the Glass Man that they'd all go. But that's just not how it is. I don't know if the devils from Belle Lake are all that concerned with Jamie and me or that they just want to tear the hell out of the devils that are with Glass.

Skeiron zigzags and then picks up speed again. Behind us, three of the Jersey Devils—a tangle of all teeth, tail, and claws—plunge to the ground.

There are other monsters down there, too. Maybe that's why Skeiron's circling the way he is, trying to find a place to land. He's not looking that good. The Glass Jersey Devils got him pretty bad.

When we fly lower, I get a better look at the monsters below us. Some of them are definitely from Belle Like. I see a few stone angels down there and a handful of cherubs. There are some hairy monsters that are hard to see because it's dark down there. Just when we get ready to go even lower, we see another group of monsters explode out of the woods near the first group. This second group ... even from where we are up in the air, we can see that some of them have glass scales. Others have glowing eyes.

As soon as they see each other, the two groups rush at one another. Skeiron flies to the side, but he's getting weaker. And that makes us start to fly lower.

The stone angels lash out with swords, hacking at the Glass monsters. They press harder and harder, pushing them back.

They're winning until there's a loud CLAP! that even shakes up Skeiron. All of a sudden, the monsters separate. A whole lot more Belle Lake monsters are standing than Glass ones. Just as they get ready to go at it again, a big wall of glass sprouts up between them. The wall swells up like a gigantic wave that starts curl over on itself. Before the Belle Lake monsters can do anything, the glass wall topples, shredding them.