Issari flew higher. "Requiem!" she cried out. "Dragons of Requiem!" Her eyes stung. They had to be here too. They had hidden in the north in caves and forests. They had hidden in Eteer in brick homes. Surely the stars blessed Goshar too. "Dragons of Goshar, hear me! I am Issari, a Princess of Requiem, a kingdom of dragons. You are not cursed!"

The battle raged below, thousands of people dying, thousands of buildings collapsing. Several nephilim flew toward her, reaching out their claws, cackling and licking their maws. Tanin flew somewhere below, engulfed in a cloud of the creatures.

"Hear me, dragons of Goshar!" Issari cried. She zipped across the sky, dodging nephilim. "I have freed the dragons of Eteer! I have fought with the dragons of the north. A kingdom of dragons rises. You need not be ashamed. You need not hide your magic, for it is blessed by the stars. Arise, dragons of Goshar! Fly with me! Blow your fire with mine! You are dragons of Requiem." She roared out her cry. "Requiem! May our wings forever find your sky."

A nephil landed upon her back and dug its claws into her. She yowled. Another nephil slammed into her belly and bit her chest. She could barely stay aflight. A third nephil grabbed her left wing and tugged.

"Dragons of Goshar!" she cried. Her blood spilled. "Fly with me. For Requiem. For Requiem . . ."

She tumbled through the sky toward the falling city. Below her, the palace of Goshar collapsed, raining bricks and dust across the ruins.

Goodbye, Requiem, she thought. I rise now to your stars. I rise to your celestial columns. To—

Firelight rose in a dozen pillars. A temple of flame rose from the ruins.

Roars pierced the air.

Issari wept.

Requiem lives.

A dozen dragons rose from the rubble, roaring. Their fire washed across the nephilim around Issari. She thrashed and shook herself free from the beasts grabbing her.

"Dragons of Goshar!" she cried. "Arise! Fly with me. Fly for starlight, for freedom, for Requiem! Requiem lives!"

The dozen dragons rose around her. A hundred more soon took flight from the ruins, soaring, blowing their fire, lashing their claws.

"Bloody stars!" Tanin said, flying toward Issari. Several of his scales were missing, and blood dripped from the wounds. "Where did they come from?"

"From the stars that bless the world. They were always here, hiding, ashamed." Issari laughed. "We freed them."

The dragons of Goshar rallied around her—red dragons, blue dragons, metallic dragons, dragons small and large, all blowing fire, all roaring.

"Issari!" they cried. "Fight for the white dragon."

"For Requiem!" Issari shouted. "Burn the enemy."

Soon two hundred dragons roared. Two hundred pillars of fire blazed across the city.

The nephilim shrieked in fear.