"Mouse! Let me go, damn you! _Mouse!_"
"You can't help her. We go, quick."
Ciaran went on kicking and thrashing.
The hunter banged him over the ear with exquisite judgment, took the
wand out of his limp hand and tossed him over one vast shoulder. The
light hadn't affected the hunter much. He'd been in deeper shadow than
the others, and his half-animal nerves had warned him quicker even than
Ciaran's. Being a wise wild thing, he had shut his eyes at once.
He doubled behind the metal sheds and began to run in dense shadow.
Ciaran heard and felt things from a great misty distance. He heard the
hermit yell again, a crazy votive cry of worship. He felt the painful
jarring of his body and smelled the animal rankness of the hunter.
He heard Mouse scream, just once.
He tried to move; to get up and do something. The hunter slammed him
hard across the kidneys. Ciaran was aware briefly that the lights were
coming on again. After that it got very dark and very quiet.