"Take one more step, reptile, and you will not die. Not for thousands of years." Angel licked her lips, her tongue as thick as a human arm, dripping sizzling saliva. "But you will beg me for death. As I sew more heads onto your body, you will beg. As I drink your blood, only to pump you full of more hot liquid, you will weep and beg harder. As all the creatures of the Abyss consume you—and thousands still lurk below—you will scream for death. But I will not grant it. Not until you are the basest of my demons, the most monstrous among them. Only one part of you I will leave unbroken." Angel grinned. "Your mind. Your sanity, your consciousness, your memory, your sense of self—all those will remain. Forever will you feel the pain, the horror, the ripping agony over what you've become. That will be your lot." She rose higher, and fire blazed within the cracks along her body. "So step closer, Queen of Filth, and we will begin."

Issari took a deep breath, and her eyes stung. For Eteer. For Requiem. For Tanin.

She raised her fist and uncurled her fingers, revealing her amulet. "By the light of Taal, I tame you!"

Her palm thrummed and light blazed out in a beam.

Angel screamed.

The light crashed against the demon's chest, cracking stone. Lava spilled and smoke blasted out. The demon's wings beat madly, and she tried to lunge forward, but the light slammed her back against the wall. Stones cracked. A chunk of the ceiling fell. Issari took a step closer, hand held before her, drenching the towering demon with her god's light.

"Kneel before me, Angel!" Issari shouted. "Kneel and accept me as your queen, or die in my light."

Angel hissed, cursed, retched out embers. She spat a glob of dark drool, trying to block the light. Issari, expecting the attack, dodged the projectile. She took another step forward. Her talisman's light spun, howling like a storm. The palace trembled. Angel thrashed against the wall, tail whipping about, wings churning smoke.

"Kneel, Queen of Demons! Kneel and serve me. I am Queen of Eteer and you will accept my reign."

The Demon Queen began to laugh.

It was a horrible laugh, a sound of anguish, of pure hatred forged in the depths. Even in the light drenching her, her chest rose and fell, and her eyes burned, two mocking forge fires. The queen rose taller, her head brushing the ceiling, and opened her arms wide, her claws sprouting flame.

"It will take more than the light of a sunlit god to burn me." Angel flexed her claws. "Taal is my father, but he too will beg me for death. I will crush him like I will crush you. The silver god will be my slave. You two will rut in the mud before me."