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the wind as he ran after his father. Missy would be in foul spirits for days if she spent the night harnessed.
    Jeph shook his head. “It’s too dark already! A night hitched won’t kill her.”
    “Lock me in the barn, then,” Arlen said. “I’ll unhitch her and wait out the storm with the animals.”
    “Do as you’re told, Arlen!” Jeph shouted. He leapt from the cart and grabbed the boy by the arm, half dragging him out of the barn.
    The two of them pulled the doors shut and threw the bar as lightning split the sky. The wards painted on the barn doors were illuminated for a moment, a reminder of what was to come. The air was pregnant with the promise of rain.
    They ran for the house, scanning the way before them for the mist that would herald the rising. For the moment, the way was clear. Marea held the door open, and they darted inside, just as the first fat drops of rain stirred the dust of the yard.
    Marea was pulling the door closed when a howl sounded from the yard. Everyone froze.
    “The dog!” Marea cried, covering her mouth. “I left him tied to the fence!”
    “Leave him,” Jeph said. “Close the door.”
    “What?” Arlen cried, incredulous. He whirled to face his father.
    “The way is still clear!” Marea cried, and darted out of the house.
    “Marea, no!” Silvy cried, running out after her.
    Arlen, too, ran for the door, but not before Jeph grabbed the shoulder straps of his overalls and yanked him backward. “Stay inside!” he ordered, moving to the door.
    Arlen stumbled back a moment, then ran forward again. Jephand Norine were out on the porch, but stayed within the line of the outer wards. By the time Arlen reached the porch, the dog was running past him into the house, the rope still trailing from its neck.
    Out in the yard, wind howled, turning the drops of rain into stinging insects. He saw Marea and his mother running back toward the house just as the demons began to rise. As always, flame demons came first, their misty forms seeping from the ground. The smallest of corelings, they crouched on all fours as they coalesced, barely eighteen inches tall at the shoulder. Their eyes, nostrils, and mouths glowed with a smoky light.
    “Run, Silvy!” Jeph screamed. “Run!”
    It seemed that they would make it, but then Marea stumbled and went down. Silvy turned to help her, and in that moment the first coreling solidified. Arlen moved to run to his mother, but Norine’s hand clamped hard on his arm, holding him fast.
    “Don’t be stupid,” the woman hissed.
    “Get up!” Silvy demanded, yanking Marea’s arm.
    “My ankle!” Marea cried. “I can’t! Go on without me!”
    “Like night I will!” Silvy growled. “Jeph!” she called. “Help us!”
    By then, corelings were forming all over the yard. Jeph stood frozen as they took note of the women and shrieked with pleasure, darting toward them.
    “Let go! ” Arlen growled, stomping hard on Norine’s foot. She howled, and Arlen yanked his arm free. He grabbed the nearest weapon he could find, a wooden milk bucket, and ran out into the yard.
    “Arlen, no! ” Jeph cried, but Arlen was done listening to him.
    A flame demon, no bigger than a large cat, leapt atop Silvy’s back, and she screamed as talons raked deep lines in her flesh, leaving the back of her dress a bloody tatter. From its perch, the coreling spat fire into Marea’s face. The woman shrieked as her skin melted and her hair ignited.
    Arlen was there an instant later, swinging the bucket with all his strength. It broke apart as it struck, but the demon was knocked from his mother’s back. She stumbled, but Arlen was there to support her. More flame demons closed in on them, even as wind demons began to stretch their wings, and, a dozen yards off, a rock demon began to take form.
    Silvy groaned, but she got to her feet. Arlen pulled her awayfrom Marea and her agonized wails, but the way back to the house was blocked by flame demons. The rock demon caught sight of