Fast as a crocodile leaping from water, Jeid lunged upward and snapped his teeth. His jaws closed around Raem's dangling legs. Blood showered and Jeid spat out both legs. Raem screamed again, a horrible sound, high-pitched, almost demonic. Stitchmark flew faster, holding its lord. Raem bled from four stumps, only his torso and head remaining. Jeid snapped his jaws again, trying to catch the king, but Stitchmark flew out of the cave too quickly, bearing the dying, mutilated wreck of a man.

Laira beat her wings and took flight, chasing her father. Jeid flew at her side. They burst out from the cave into a sky full of demons.

"Where is he?" Jeid shouted.

Laira whipped her head from side to side, seeking her father and the creature Stitchmark. Too many demons still flew here, and smoke hid the moon and stars. She couldn't see Raem through the clouds of enemies.

"Grizzly!" rose a cry. A green dragon came flying toward them, blood seeping through cracks in her scales. Maev spat out a chunk of demon flesh. "Father, the demons are fleeing! Victory is ours!" She grinned.

"Hunt them down!" Laira shouted. "Burn them all!" She beat her wings mightily, flying back into battle. Jeid and Maev flew at her sides.

The demons, once a thousand strong, had lost many; hundreds lay upon the mountainside, burnt and lacerated. Pteros, rocs, and dragons kept crashing into them, tearing more apart. The unholy horde, their leader gone, seemed to lose all will to fight. Screeching, they flew south, leaving the mountain, crying out for their missing king.

The alliance of dragons and tribes gave chase. Laira blew her fire, roasting demon after demon. Her claws and fangs tore the creatures apart. The dragons of Requiem flew around her, dozens strong, their flames lighting the night, burning the creatures, and raining down onto the fields. Surviving tribesmen of Goldtusk and Leatherwing flew with them, firing arrows, their beasts catching and ripping demons apart. Rot and blood fell upon the world as the demons fled.

"Slay them all!" Laira cried. "Let none escape. Kill every last one!"

For long hours they flew in pursuit, hunting demons, chasing them in the darkness. The horde broke apart. Creatures flew every which way. Some landed in the forests and fled between the trees. Others sank into rivers. And ever the fire of Requiem lit the sky, illuminating and burning them.

"Where are you, Father?" Laira asked, flying over fields, seeking him, burning whatever fleeing demon she saw.

He was dead; he had to be. She knew that. She knew no man could survive that injury, the loss of all four limbs. He must have died within moments. Almost certainly, he lay dead back at Two Skull Mountain, hidden among other corpses upon the mountainside. Yet still Laira flew over hills and valleys and forests, hunting demons, seeking him.