Claws lashing, wings beating, she soared. The sky was hidden behind feathers, blood, and smoke.

Let me die in the sky.

"Requiem!" she cried. "My wings will forever find your sky."

She soared into the cloud of rocs, crashing into them, smiling as she killed.

LAIRA

 
LAIRA

Their blades clashed together in the tunnel, bronze against bronze, showering sparks.

"I will kill you now," Laira said.

Zerra laughed. "I will show you no such mercy."

His sword swung down. She raised her own sword, and the blades clanged together. She thrust and he parried, and when his blade swung again, it cut her wrist. Her blood showered but she gripped her hilt tightly.

"Yes, bleed for me, harlot." Zerra spat. "Bleed like you bled into the crone's leeches. Bleed like you bled under my fists. Bleed like you'll bleed tonight as I bed you, as I toss you to my men. They will each take you in turn until you're too hurt to scream."

Laira sneered and swung her blade. "No. No more." She advanced, forcing him back. He was twice her size, his head nearly grazing the ceiling. She was small and weak, and ilbane ached in her muscles, but a fire burned inside her, and she attacked in a fury. She drove him another step back. "No more. Never again." Her voice rose in strength, and she barely heard the slur of her crooked jaw. "You will nevermore hurt me, Zerra. I am no longer the little girl you beat, enslaved, tortured, starved." She thrust her blade at him, and her voice rose to a great cry. "I am Vir Requis! For Requiem I slay you. For my people. For a dawn of dragons."

Her sword slammed into his, again and again, until she found an opening. Her blade sparked against his breastplate, denting the metal.

He only laughed. "Vir Requis? Is that what you call your wretched kind? This is nothing but a colony for the diseased. I will cleanse the world of my brother and his children, and I will shatter your soul. You have grown impudent, and I will enjoy breaking your spark of defiance." He thrust the blade. "When I'm done with you, you will eat dung and drink piss and thank me for it."

She tried to parry but he was too fast. His blade drove into her shoulder.

Laira screamed.

"Yes . . . scream for me."

He swung his sword again. She leaped sideways, hitting the wall. His blade nipped her thigh, and her blood flowed. She parried the next blow but wasn't ready for his fist. His blade in his right hand, he slammed a left hook into her cheek.

White light and stars exploded.

She swung her blade blindly