She screamed all that day and into the night, and with every scream Tanin hated himself, knew he was weak, and wanted to do it, to end her pain. But still he could not. And she wept as the dawn rose again.

It was noon when she finally died.

She died in Issari's arms, finally at peace.

"We'll bury her outside the village," Tanin said, voice choked. "Outside this path of disease. In a beautiful place in the shade of trees."

He draped his cloak over the body and carried it through the village. Issari walked at his side, her head lowered, a single tear on her cheek. They moved between the ravaged huts, the bones, the puddles of blood, heading past wilted trees toward the living forest that grew beyond.

There, on the border between life and death, the creature awaited them.

The demon lay against the trees, it legs cut off, bones thrusting out from blue flesh. Arrows pierced its gray, warty skin, and its heart pulsed within an open wound. The creature seemed too weak to rise; it could only hiss at them. Blood stained its maw, and between its teeth lay shreds of blue cotton.

Tanin looked down at the body in his arms. The girl wore a dress of the same blue fabric.

Gently, Tanin placed the little girl's body down, straightened, and drew his dagger. With a hoarse cry, he leaped onto the demon. The creature bucked, snapped its teeth, lashed its claws, trying to resist, but Tanin fought in a fury, stabbing, screaming, tearing into its flesh, driving his blade again and again into its head. Blood splattered him, and the creature fell dead, and still Tanin stabbed, his body shaking.

"Tanin." Issari's soft voice rose behind him, and a hand touched his shoulder. "Tanin, stop."

But he could not. He kept stabbing, the rage overflowing him.

"It's my fault." He trembled. "I flew south to save Sena. I enraged your father. And now this. Now demons are slaying innocents." He stared through tears back at the dead girl. "What did she know of Requiem or Eteer? What did she know of dragons or demons? This is our war. A war for a kingdom my own family founded. And she paid with her life while I live."

Issari pulled him into her arms. "Many innocents die in war. Many pure lives are lost when soldiers fight. Requiem was forged in starlight, but she will be tempered in blood." Eyes dried, she stared at the dead demon. "We will rise from horror. We will overcome darkness. We will find our sky."