"Hold your ranks!" Raem shouted, tugging Anai to face the advancing horde. "Stand before them. Fight, warriors of darkness!"

Squealing, half his demons fled from the onslaught of fire. Others, farther ahead, burned and crumbled. The new force of dragons drove like a glimmering spear into the rotted, black flesh of his host, digging toward him. For the first time in many battles, perhaps the first time in his life, Raem felt something cold, overwhelming, all-consuming flood him: fear.

Laira tore free from her captors, and the golden dragon soared to join her brethren. With smoke, fire, and song, the dragons of Requiem crashed into Raem.

MAEV

 
MAEV

She had never seen such darkness, such terror in the world.

Maev had fought many demons in Eteer, small creatures no larger than men. She had battled a host of rocs in the shadows of the escarpment. She had faced living nightmares and overcome them. But not in all her years of exile and war had Maev, Princess of Requiem, seen a force of evil like this—a thousand demons, each as large as a dragon, hiding the sky. They were all different—some scaled like her, others flayed, others dry, some rancid, some mummified—but all stared at her, and all flew toward her, and all craved her blood.

"This is more like it!" Dorvin laughed at her side. He roasted a flying worm, slashed a naked bird with two heads, and slammed his tail into a quivering ball of flying fat. "Let's play, Maev. I'm at three already!"

She soared higher, roared her flames, and ignited a cloud of furry creatures with many eyeballs and tails. "Forget counting and just kill them all!" She roared to the dragons behind her. "Kill them all! For Requiem!"

They flew with her: Dorvin, a silver dragon who laughed as he killed; Alina, a lavender dragon, praying as she fought; and forty dragons of Bar Luan, scared but strong, blowing their fire. Ahead, Maev saw them—the others of Requiem. Laira, a golden dragon alone in a cloud of devilry. Jeid, roaring out his clarion call, leading only a dozen surviving dragons against the horde of the Abyss. Rocs and pteros fought here too, but they were falling fast.

For Requiem. For starlight. Maev blew her flames and lashed her claws. For King and Column.

"Maev!" Dorvin shouted, dipping toward her. He grinned, blood on his teeth. "Fifteen now! Stop shouting out battle cries and get to killing de—"

A flying python crashed into him. The beast wrapped around the silver dragon and began to constrict him. Dorvin thrashed but couldn't free himself. With a growl, Maev tore into the demonic snake, ripping through its scales, tugging out segments of its spine, and finally freeing Dorvin. She spat out a chunk of flesh.