“Ready?” Hoarfrost asked, gripping one side of the door. Dog’s only answer was a snarl.

Twelve gripped the other door and pulled at the same time.

Dog exploded out of the resthouse with the Hunters surging behind him. Battle cries roared in Twelve’s ears as she raced forward, the ground shaking under her feet, her axes in her hands.

Across the training ground, Victory raised her sword, the tendons standing out on her neck as she screamed, “ADVANCE!”

Chapter

Forty-Seven

Twelve was racing toward a wall of goblins, their weapons raised, sharpened teeth bared. They looked formidable, unbeatable, and for a moment her heart quailed.

“Hold the line!” Victory shrieked, her determination evident in every syllable.

One glance at the weaponsmaster and Twelve felt herself harden, felt her feet fly faster. She could never let that monster win.

With an ugly roar, the two sides clashed in the center of the training ground. Steel screamed as swords met; daggers and bodies slammed into each other. Dog barged ahead through the lines, sending goblins flying as their weapons bounced off him uselessly.

“Hunters, to the armory!” howled Hoarfrost. He blocked a deadly goblin sword-sweep with his dagger and elbowed another in the face, forcing his way forward.

Seven, Five, and Six pulled closer to Twelve, and together they rushed into the fray. Six’s arrows were deadly, clearing goblins out of their path before they were close enough to strike, but suddenly three goblins filled the space in front of them. They were all small, only reaching as high as Twelve’s shoulder, but their movements were quick and lithe, their faces set and merciless.

“I know they have swords, but I’d take these over cliffcrawlers any day,” Five muttered.

“Definitely,” Six agreed on Twelve’s other side.

As one, the three of them stepped forward and Twelve’s world narrowed to the axes in her hands and the ground under her feet. She deflected a blow from one of the goblins and dealt him a hard kick in the stomach, knocking him back a pace.

“Duck!” Seven cried from behind her.

How Twelve knew the girl was talking to her, she didn’t wonder. She ducked, felt a blade whistle over her head, and whirled to meet her attacker. He lunged at her and Twelve knocked his blade aside, slamming the haft of her other axe into his temple, knocking him out cold.

Beside her, Five and Six were fighting a third goblin together, but, when Twelve turned to Seven, her heart almost stopped. The first goblin had wrestled Five’s dagger from the girl’s hand and was advancing, his grin triumphant.

Twelve sprang between them, fury pounding through her as his smile faded, to be replaced by an angry hiss. He easily blocked her first wild swings and nearly caught her out with a deadly downward slice. She threw herself back just in time, almost colliding with Seven.