Nicholas grabbed the rubber strap over the door and leaned forward. “We’re heading straight toward them!” he said, voice rising in alarm.

“I know.” Palamedes’ bright teeth flashed in the gloom. “Best form of defense is…”

“… attack,” Josh finished.

A solid line of the human-faced wolves launched themselves at the cab. Barreling through the still-steaming fire, they did not see the carpet of snakes until it was too late. The serpents rose like question marks, mouths gaping, heads jerking… and the front line of the Wild Hunt dissolved into filthy dust that exploded onto the window, completely coating it. Palamedes calmly squirted water on the glass and hit the windshield wiper switch, but all he succeeded in doing was turning the gray dust into a thick paste.

A trio of huge wolves, bigger and broader than any of the others, leapt across the moat… and straight onto the hedgehogs. Bristling spines rose to pierce the wolves’ legs and paws. The beasts crumbled to powder with looks of absolute surprise on their faces.

Cernunnos howled and bellowed as he blundered onto the carpet of serpents and hedgehogs. The snakes struck at him, hedgehog spines stabbed, but without any obvious effect. Josh shuddered and felt sick to his stomach as he watched snakes curl and twist up the Horned God’s trunklike legs.

Palamedes revved the cab’s engine, then threw it into gear and roared across the narrow metal bridge that spanned the moat, meeting another trio of the Wild Hunt head-on. Two disappeared beneath the tires in geysers of grit, while the third leapt onto the hood and hammered on the glass with jagged claws. The windshield cracked and the Saracen Knight stood on the brakes. The car screeched to a halt, sending the wolf sliding off the hood, straight into a nest of vipers.

Josh turned in his seat to watch more of the Wild Hunt fall as they brushed past the oily skin of the poisonous toads; he saw others turn to dust as they stumbled across the newts or trod on worms. The air grew thick and gritty with explosions of opaque dirt. Owls swooped out of the night air, claws extended, scything through the beasts, leaving clouds of dust in their wake.

“Shakespeare created all these?” Sophie asked in wonder. She was staring out the back windshield and could see that the ground was carpeted with the heaving mass.

“Every single one,” Palamedes said proudly. “Each one generated within his imagination and animated by his aura. And you have to remember, he is mostly self-taught.” The knight glanced in the rearview mirror and caught the Alchemyst’s eye. “Think what he could have achieved if he’d been properly trained.”

Nicholas shrugged uncomfortably. “I could not have taught him this.”

“You should have recognized his talent, though.”

“Dee!” Josh snapped.

“Aye, Dee did,” Palamedes agreed.

“No. Dee. Directly in front of you!” Josh shouted.