"Is this how you dance?" Raem asked, laughing. When Laira swooped again, Raem swung his sword. The khopesh bit into Laira's foot, and she roared in pain. The demon's tail slammed into Maev's neck, piercing her skin; the green dragon cried out, suddenly sounding very young, and crashed down onto the mountainside. At once a horde of demons, massive slugs covered with white spikes, landed upon her and began to bite. Maev flailed upon the mountain, rolling down the slope, struggling to tear off the creatures.

Still flying, bleeding and winded, Laira tried to attack Raem again. His swinging sword and his demon's claws held her back.

"And so we fight alone, Laira." He smiled thinly. "Everyone has abandoned you. Your friends are gone. Your king cannot reach you. Your mother is dead." He stroked his demon's hair. "Do you see this creature? She was human once. I will turn you into a similar demon."

Terror pounded through Laira. She did not fear death, but to linger in mockery of life, never dying, always serving her father's cruelty . . . that she could not bear. The demon wept even as it attacked; perhaps some part of its broken mind still clung to memories of its old self. That fear gave Laira the strength to charge again. She slammed into Raem, snapping her teeth, raining her last sparks of fire onto his armor.

He laughed as he fought back, cutting her. His demon's wings entwined with her own, and for a moment they flew as one creature, some conjoined twin, their limbs locked together. Teeth dug into Laira's chest, and her father's sword cut her again, and they tumbled through the sky, a ball of scales and skin and metal. The world spun madly. Locked together, the dragon, demon, and king fell toward the mountainside, rolled through a cave, and entered the shadowy cavern within.

The women and children of Leatherwing and Goldtusk still stood within. They fled from the battling beasts, scurrying into alcoves on the walls. Locked into a ball, Laira and the demon slammed into the great stalagmite rising in the center of the cavern. It cracked and tipped over. Half the pillar, the throne on its crest, drove down and slammed into the cave floor with a cloud of dust. The impact tore Laira and the demon apart. Laira kept spinning, crashed onto the floor, and could not rise.