Issari tightened her lips, swallowing down her fear. She grabbed hold of Shedah's corpse. She tugged. The body was surprisingly heavy, and Issari grimaced as she pulled it inch by inch; it felt like dragging a sack of iron ore. She opened her sliding doors, grunted, and dragged the corpse out onto the balcony.

At once, as if attracted by the stench, three demons came flying toward her.

One of the creatures looked like a strip of dried flesh, its insect wings buzzing. Another could barely keep airborne; its bloated belly swung beneath it like a sack, and its red eyes burned in its pasty face. The third creature looked like flying entrails, warty and red and squirming as it flew, wingless. They were as large as horses, festering and reeking.

Issari took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and pointed at the dead crone. "Eat." She clenched her teeth and stepped back. "Eat until nothing is left."

One of the demons—the bloated creature with the swinging belly—gazed at her and hissed. "King Raem has forbidden the Children of the Abyss to feast upon the flesh of mortals."

Issari forced down the urge to gag; the stench of the creatures was overwhelming, even worse than the corpse. "King Raem has flown across the sea! I am his daughter, Princess Issari. I sit upon the throne in his absence. I give you leave to eat one mortal—this body alone! Feast upon it, then demand no further flesh."

The demons descended like buzzards and tore into the meal. Gobbets of meat flew. Bones crunched. The thin demon tore off the crone's jaw and gnawed.

Issari stepped back into her chamber, grimacing. As she watched one demon tear into Shedah's entrails, she couldn't help it. She doubled over and gagged. Her body trembled and it was a long moment before she could straighten again. Covered in blood, she stumbled back toward the balcony and gripped the doorpost for support.

All that remained of Shedah was a red stain.

The demons stood upon the balcony, necks bobbing as they swallowed their last bites. They gazed at Issari, eyes red, saliva dripping down their chins.

As she watched, they began to grow.

The living strip of meat lengthened, widened, sprouting higher and higher upon the balcony until it wavered like some malformed tree of rot. The pale creature with the swinging belly ballooned in size. Its abdomen extended so widely Issari thought it might burst, and through its translucent skin, she saw snakes coiling between its organs. The last creature, tube-like, bulged and lengthened into an obscene tapeworm the length of a boat. They could no longer fit upon the balcony but flew to hover before it.

They are as large as dragons, Issari thought, reaching under her tunic for her amulet. That's why they craved human flesh. It makes them grow.

They hissed at her, smacked their lips, licked their teeth, and reached out their tongues.