24 The next evening I gathered with my small army of eleven huntsmen at the Beltany stone circle. Liam had stayed back in Belfast with Ashley but the rest had all come to play their part. As the sun slowly descended toward the horizon, we ran through our strategies, again, and double-checked weaponry, again. My veins thrummed with adrenaline and I could hardly stand still with a flood of nervous energy pulsing through my body. When the sun finally dipped out of sight, we gathered in the middle of the circle and I called forth my magic. The world around me became eerily quiet as I envisioned the Twilight Realm and focused on creating a passage to its perpetually starry skies. Sparks swirled in a circle far larger than I had been able to conjure previously. The thinning of the veil between w
