needed to reach his destination . If he could escape , he would be able to regroup and try again . There was just one issue with the plan . The door was gone . Only the archway of stone and the threshold marked where it should have been , and beyond that there was only more darkness . He pulled himself up using the stones for balance . If this would be the end , he intended to face it on his feet .
The stones moved when he leaned on them , which nearly scared him to death . Jona smiled ; he could work with it .
Using what little strength he had left , he pushed against the stones . They shifted , then fell , and daylight spilled into the new opening .
The creature had been no more than a pace away and didn ’ t get a chance to hiss as the sun fanned the smoldering flames left by the spell into a roaring inferno . Within moments there was nothing . Even the bubble of darkness was gone . All that remained was the ring of blackened stones and collapsed doorway .
Jona would have celebrated his triumph if not for the sting of his all-too-real wounds .
* * *
The journey back to Dalhurst was longer than he remembered , and wounds that had been minor split and bled with the stress of travel . Only one thing brought him back to the edge of the village . As he got further away from the stone ring , the air got fresher as the remaining stink of the curse was carried off by the wind .
He backed out near the river and woke in the Alderman ’ s house , where Daise tended his hurts . The man
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