The three dragons halted, reared, and clawed the sky. Their wings beat, scattering smoke and fire. Sparks flew off Angel, showering the city, igniting trees and gardens. The Demon Queen wasn't much larger than Issari—small compared to the bulky dragons—yet she did not cower. She let out a shriek like shattering glass, so loud that Issari covered her ears, and the dragons shook as the sound waves blasted them. The demon laughed, and rings of fire blazed into life around her, unholy halos that spun around her body, sending out heat and light. Smoke pounded and her wings beat, the wind tearing down trees, scattering stones, and sending the dragons into a spin. At that moment, Angel seemed larger than any dragon.

"Greetings, reptiles!" she cried. "Greetings, stinking, cursed creatures of disease." As she laughed, the cracks on her body of stone widened, seeping lava like blood. "Do you see this kingdom? Do you see this hive the humans call Eteer? Look upon it! Here is your graveyard. Come to die."

Sena winced; the blue dragon turned away from the flames. Tanin growled, but the red dragon dared not approach, and sparks sizzled against his scales. Sitting upon Tanin, Issari raised her amulet, but the chain caught fire, and she cried out and tore it off her neck. The amulet seared her palm when she held it, and she could barely see through the pain.

Maev—her green scales chipped, her face bloodied, her wings tattered—seemed the only one undaunted. She reared, roared, and shot forward.

"Enough talk!" Maev roared. "Taste some fire."

With that, she blasted out her flames.

White-hot, the blaze crashed through the rings of smoke and flame, slamming into Angel.

Engulfed in the inferno, the Demon Queen laughed. She tossed back her head and stretched out her arms, basking in the fire.

"I am a creature from the molten rock inside the womb of the earth!" she shrieked, her voice rising like typhoons from the blaze. "Your dragonfire cannot harm me. Now you will taste true heat."

The Demon Queen swung her arm. A fireball flew from her grasp and tumbled forward, leaving a wake of light. The projectile slammed into Maev.

The green dragon let out a cry like a wounded animal. The flaming ball shoved her back in the sky. Scales cracked. Blood spilled and the smell of burnt flesh rose. Maev fell from the sky, wings beating uselessly, and crashed into the palace below. The rooftop gardens ignited and smoke hid Maev, curling upward in a cloud.

"Maev!" Tanin cried. The red dragon looked down toward his sister, then back up at Angel, seemingly torn between flying to Maev and battling his enemy.

Sena seemed to reach a decision more quickly. The blue dragon let out a roar—a sound that shook the city below.