They covered the city, rising to bustle like flies, creatures born of demons and mortal women. Many covered the city streets, feasting upon the bodies of their dead mothers. There were hundreds. The blood of their mothers still on their lips, they began to crash into homes, tearing into human flesh, feeding, growing larger. People fled into the streets. Walls crumbled. Blood flowed.

The city fell to darkness, Issari thought. Now it will fall into the Abyss itself.

She turned back toward her soldiers. "Men of Eteer!" She grabbed a fallen khopesh. "Follow! Into the city!"

She ran, burst from the doors, and raced down the hill. Her men charged behind her.

Below in the city streets festered the spawn of demons, a shadow covering the land. More kept emerging, tearing their way out of mortal wombs with claws and teeth, taking flight, ready from their first breath to fight for the Abyss. Upon roofs, streets, and corpses, they turned to stare at the army charging toward them. They leered, tongues unrolling, fangs bright, eyes blazing. The creatures clustered together, and their howls rose, shattering stone. Upon a distant hill, the temple columns cracked and fell. The roof crumbled, and dust rose to hide the sun. The water in the canal boiled and turned red. The beasts beat their wings and flew toward the palace.

Issari ran, raising her sword. Tanin ran at her side, spear in hand. Behind them ran hundreds of Eteerians, armor and shields dented and dusty, swords raised high.

Under a veiled sky, upon the foothills between city and palace, the hosts of nephilim and the army of Eteer slammed together with blood, steel, and fire.

Issari had never been a warrior, but this day her sword drank blood.

She fought screaming, lashing her blade, cutting creatures down. All around her they swarmed, dipping from the sky, scuttling up streets, leaping from roofs. Her blade flew, digging through their flesh, spilling their entrails. They were the children of mortals, but she felt no pity for them, and she fought not only for Eteer, not only for Requiem, but for all good people of the overground. Tanin fought at her side, spearing the creatures, and around her soldiers cut through the nephil horde.

"We must fight as dragons, Issari!" Tanin shouted.

She shook her head. "Not while my people die upon the ground."

He grunted, shifted, and took flight. "Fly with me in the sky. Only victory matters now, not honor. Fly and blow fire with me."

He soared, wings beating, into a cloud of nephilim. The buzzing creatures crashed into him, biting his wings. Tanin blasted out flames, torching a cloud of them. His tail lashed. His claws cut into their rotten flesh. They tugged him down, and he crashed onto a roof, cracking the stone, rose again, and blew his fire.