THIRTY TWO: CRACKS
“Nobody disobeys me and gets away with it!” Arcana shouted triumphantly.
He seemed not to notice the horrified faces staring at him. By now he looked truly unhinged. His hair was dishevelled and his eyes bulged. He dropped the crossbow, ripped off his breastplate and shoulder pads, and tossed them aside. Underneath, his tunic was tainted with a wide sweat patch.
“The council rules are final,” he said, justifying his actions to nobody but himself. “They are law. Let this be a lesson to you all! You can’t expect to bend the rules and…”
The scrambling of claws on wood caught his attention. At once, all of the Nagafeles bolted from their hiding place, exploding onto the scene. The crowd parted to make a path for them to escape. With the smallest weighing around seven-hun
