Knee-deep snow crunched beneath Oisin’s feet, and he was glad of the fleece-lined boots he was wearing, as well as the heavy coat. It was midwinter, the shortest day of the year, and Oisin was hoping that the latest version of the sun-protection amulet would finally work. The day seemed auspicious for it, being the nadir of the sun’s power. He and Bel had just emerged from the timber-braced mouth of a mine, and tracks in the rutted road leading to it showed it was still in use, but apparently the miners had today as a holiday, as did many people across the world, so there was no one there to see the oddly matched pair step out from thin air.
Bel flinched a bit at the sunlight, as he always did, but this time when he dropped the amulet over his head, he let out a long sigh of relief. “It w
