CHAPTER THIRTY‑SIX

Neala flinched as the door crashed open. She pressed her face tightly against the deerskin beneath her, and wished she could burrow in.

Heavy footfalls shook the ground.

No!

She gritted her teeth, trying not to scream.

“KRULL! ”

Her body quaked, shaken by the blast of his roar.

He is the Devil! Cordelia was right!

Oh Christ, we should’ve run!

Any moment, he would fling aside the skins that covered her.

Hail Mary, full of grace; the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women…

From his hiding place behind a draping deerskin, Robbins watched the huge dark shape stride toward the far corner.

His sword clacked against the wall.

The creature swung around. It stood motionless. Robbins held his breath. He gazed at the thing, and shuddered.

Its wide, leathery face looked red in the candle‑ light. One eye was gone, its socket a dark slit as if the lid had been torn away. The remaining eye seemed to glare at Robbins with contempt.

Then it lowered to the stack of skins near Robbins’s feet. Robbins looked. He saw Neala’s hair. Inches of it curled from beneath one of the skins, glossy in the golden light.

The creature lunged. Its massive hand grabbed Neala’s hair and jerked.

The head came free.

It swung slowly as the single eye studied it.

Robbins staggered from behind the deerskin. With both hands, he swung the saber. Its blade struck, lopping off the outstretched arm. The arm dropped to the floor, Neala’s hair still gripped in its hand.

Robbins swung at the creature’s neck. Its remaining arm battered the sword from his grip. It flung Robbins against the wall. He slammed it hard, and fell.

Neala, hidden in the far corner, heard the struggle. Thrusting aside the deerskins, she saw the thing standing over Johnny, its back to her. It reached down for him with its one arm. It grabbed him by the throat.

Silently, Neala raced across the room. She leaped onto the massive back, grabbed a handful of wild hair, and tore its throat open with her knife.

Blood sprayed onto Johnny.

The creature whirled, bellowing, and threw itself backward against a wall. Neala cried out. She lost her knife. She slid off its back.

It reached down for her. It gripped the stubble of her hair and pulled, but lost its hold. So it clutched her shirt front. It lifted her off the floor.

Blood spilled onto her face from its ripped throat. Its mouth opened wide. She shut her eyes, and felt its teeth on the sides of her face. They clamped tightly.

Suddenly, the beast staggered. Its teeth kept their grip, but the hand let go of her shirt, and she dropped to the floor. As she hit, the teeth cut into her cheeks.

“It’s all right. ”

Johnny’s voice.

The jaws opened, and the pressure of the head went away. Johnny, crouching over her, held the monstrous head in both hands. He tossed it aside.

Then he picked her up, and held her tightly.

Later, Robbins unknotted Nealas long, soft hair. He pulled it from the jawbone of the old head, and tossed the head outside.

Among the crosses in front of the cabin, he found one more sturdy than the others. On it, he impaled the head of Manfred Krull. He propped it near the cabin door.

“Sir! ”

Turning, he saw a man moving through the barrier. The thin, pale man casually pushed aside the pikes as he came forward.

Neala took hold of Robbinss arm. He saw that she held the saber.

“Be not afraid, ” said the man.

He stepped out of the crosses. A skirt of hair floated about his legs as he moved. He stopped in front of Robbins.

“You have slain the Devil, ” he said. “With his life, you have purchased your salvation. We shall escort you to safety. ”

“We can go? ” Robbins asked.

“Tell no one what you have seen in these woods, or your lives shall be forfeit. ”

“What about the others? ” Neala asked.

“There are no others. ”