"You will be my whore!" shrieked Angel, lava spraying from her mouth. "I will take you into the Abyss, Princess of Eteer, and I will break you, and I will feast upon your living flesh, and my demons will thrust into you, and you will feed us. Your blood, your pain, you sex, your flesh; they will be ours to feast upon, and you will scream forever in the depths." Angel beat her veined wings, rising from the holocaust, and came flying toward her. Her claws stretched out, and her teeth gleamed white in her red, fiery smile. "You will scream for mercy. You will scream for thousands of years. And I will answer you with more pain—your soul, your sanity, your secrets—all will be mine to shatter."

Overcome by the fiery winds, Tanin howled and began to fly backward, fanning back the smoke.

"Fly to her, Tanin," Issari said softly, straddling his neck. She patted his cracked, hot scales. "Fly to her and be brave."

"We must flee, princess!" he said, panting. Blood filled his mouth.

Issari shook her head. "I will not flee from her. Fly, my friend. For Eteer and for Requiem."

As Angel laughed, spitting out flame, Tanin roared—a roar so great it tore across even that demonic laughter. Cobblestones below shattered. Palm trees cracked and fell. And Tanin, red dragon of Requiem, drove forward into the blaze.

Angel hovered before them, wings churning the smoke.

Issari rose to her feet upon the dragon's head, clinging to his horn, and leaped forward.

She sailed through the air, legs kicking, and slammed into Angel.

It felt like falling into the sun.

Issari screamed.

The heat and light engulfed her. Wings wrapped around her, and claws slashed her, and those eyes peered into her, those white forges tearing through her veins. She closed her eyes, but still that light blazed.

She felt herself fading.

No. No, Issari. A voice spoke within her—perhaps the voice of her lost mother, perhaps of her soul. You will not die here tonight. For Laira. For our home.

Issari screamed and opened her eyes.

She dug her fingers into a crack on Angel's body. Clinging on, she drove her amulet forward. The metal slammed into Angel's face, shattering stone, and light flared out in a dozen beams.

Angel screamed again, and this time it was no scream of rage. This time she was hurt.

Stone cracked and melted. The light of Taal flared, washing over the world, and silence fell. Issari heard only the ringing in her ears.

She plummeted.

She smiled as she glided between sky and earth.

Above her Angel writhed, clawing at her face, and shards of stone fell from her. The demon let out a shriek so mighty that buildings shook. In the distance, Aerhein Tower cracked and fell with a shower of dust and bricks. Above, caught in the winds, Tanin beat his wings, spinning.

Issari's back slammed down against a palm tree.