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A familiar voice came from behind them, rising, sharp with fear.

“Don’t turn around!” Livvy cried, and Kit glanced sideways just enough to see her, hovering at least a foot above the grass. She glowed faintly in the darkness, translucent, like she was made of starlight. She looked horrified, her eyes wide as she stared behind them. “It’s coming,” she said softly. “The basilisk. I saw it; it’s horrible. Not just fey; it’s part demon, too. I felt it. Just—don’t look.”

Kit’s blood ran cold as the sound of heavy footsteps reached his ears. He could hear it clearly now—its massive form moving through the trees, its breath coming in labored huffs. It was closer than he’d thought, and by the sound of it, it was enormous.

“It senses us.” Livvy sounded terrified. “It even senses me. Just keep your eyes shut.”

Kit closed his eyes immediately, but the darkness behind his eyelids was terrifying. He hadn’t thought before about what it would really mean to fight blind, and now he found himself clawing at his weapons belt, pulling a shortsword free in a panic—what had they been thinking? How could they possibly fight something they couldn’t see? Because of Nene’s potion, the basilisk couldn’t see them, either, but apparently it could sense them. Maybe the potion’s wearing off, Kit thought, but no: They had at least seven more hours. Most likely because if the basilisk had demon blood, it was not fully fey, and not fully affected by the potion.

Ty’s voice was low and steady. “Livvy. I need you to catch something.”

Kit cracked his eyes a little bit open, squinting as Ty took out his witchlight rune-stone, letting it gather light as he held it until it glowed in his hand.

Ty drew his arm back and threw. Livvy, hovering above them, reached out her hands, her body seeming to solidify, no longer entirely translucent. She caught the rune-stone out of the air and held it, a look of pleased surprise on her face.

It was like flipping on a lamp in a dark room. Suddenly light flooded over Kit and Ty, creating a glowing circle around them and casting their shadows harshly across the grass; outside the circle, the darkness of the night was riven by the sounds of clawed feet tearing up earth as the basilisk neared them, its heavy footsteps shaking the ground.

“Look down,” Ty said, as he drew a long dagger from his belt. “At the shadows on the grass. That’s the only way we can see what it’s doing. Fight its shadow, Kit—”

The shadow of something huge and monstrous breached the circle of witchlight. Livvy screamed as Kit whipped around, eyes fixed on the shadow of the basilisk as it flickered over the wet grass. It heaved itself toward him and Ty, and without another thought Kit lunged forward, his sword aiming at the basilisk’s heart.

The basilisk screeched, a sound like granite scraped by iron. It was deafening, but Kit didn’t flinch. He jerked his sword back without looking toward the monster, the blade now thickly smeared with reddish-orange blood.

He could see Ty’s shadow beside his, graceful and quick. Ty darted in, aiming for the basilisk’s underside, stabbing upward. The basilisk screeched again, its body lashing out in response, its bat wings flapping violently as it moved in a frenzy, unable to see them clearly but fully aware that it was being attacked. Its tail swung around like a massive whip, missing Ty by inches, sending Kit’s heart lurching into his throat, making him gasp.

At the sound, the basilisk swung its head, and Kit heard its fanged mouth snap open with a terrifying shriek. Its shadow lunged toward them, but Kit and Ty moved in an almost perfect synchrony, darting out of the basilisk’s range.

The monster’s blood was pattering onto the grass, staining it with burning red, but the creature didn’t slow. If anything, it seemed to be gaining confidence as it lumbered directly toward them. Kit took a step back and tried to brace himself for another attack, but his foot almost slipped out from under him. He looked down to see that he was standing in mud, with water lapping over his boots.

The lake, Kit realized. They were almost in the lake.

“Livvy!” he called out. “Get ready to go higher. Above the monster.”

“Okay,” she shouted down, her voice thin. “I’m starting to get tired, though.”

We have to do this fast. Kit glanced around, keeping his eyes lowered, until he saw Ty, his boots planted firmly on the bloody grass, slashing out with his sword. His face was set; for a moment he looked like the Ty that Kit saw in his darkest dreams, deadly and merciless.

“Ty!” he whispered. “We have to lead it backward! Into the lake!”

Ty didn’t need to be told twice. He ducked away from the basilisk and ran to Kit, splashing into the water beside him. Livvy’s witchlight cast its beams across them, making the air shimmer.

“Do we really think this thing is that stupid?” Ty hissed.

“Yes,” said Kit. “Yes, we do.” He grabbed Ty’s arm. They both backed up, carefully, into the deeper water, trying not to disturb the surface. Kit could sense the basilisk, back on land, huffing with frustration and confusion. Did it not realize they were in the lake? Was the water dampening its senses somehow?

“Hey!” Kit yelled. “Over here! You suck, basilisk! Your mother was a bat!”

“I mean, she probably was a bat,” Ty said. “You never know.”

Whether the insult was true or not, Kit’s yelling definitely seemed to reach the monster. With a roar, it lumbered into the water; Kit glimpsed its gray, scaly legs as it waded toward them, snarling. Then his heart caught in his throat as he heard Livvy scream:

“Ty, watch out!”

Kit dove onto Ty, knocking both of them into the lake as the creature’s tail whipped by above their heads.

The splash was tremendous. They sank underwater, Kit rolling away from Ty, not wanting to drown him. On his back, Kit looked up to see the surface of the lake like gray glass above him—just as it blazed up with light. And not any light, but witchlight, bright as an exploding star. Livvy, illuminating the water, turning it into a mirror that Kit hoped and prayed would be deadly.

The light dimmed. Everything had gone still. Kit heaved himself out of the lake, Ty right behind him, both of them rubbing their eyes and coughing up dirty water.