Laira lay, enveloped in blackness, shivering in the cold, naked and wounded. Around her in the forest, she heard things stir and move, and a growl rose somewhere to her left, and paws padded to her right.

She hugged herself, unable to stop shaking.

"Please, stars of the dragon, please," she prayed. "Look after me. Don't let me die this night."

She dared not light a fire, not in case the rocs returned. So weak she could barely move, she felt around for her stick and used it to dig a little burrow. She curled up inside and pulled dry leaves over her, hugging her knees for warmth. She had never felt so cold, lost, and afraid.

"I won't die this night, Mother," she whispered between chattering teeth. "I will live. I will live."

She lay trembling and awake, staring into the darkness as growls, snorts, and glowing eyes filled the forest around her.

ANGEL

 
ANGEL

The voices screamed inside her, shrill, deep, twisting, hoarse, rising and shattering like glass.

We don't want to die!

Feed us entrails!

Attack, fight, bite, eat, feed, tear, rip!

Pain. Pain. Pain! This must end. Stop! Mercy!

Angel sneered, smoke rising from between her teeth, and clutched her head. The voices would forever fill her, she knew. Even here. Even risen from the Abyss. Even upon the soil of Eteer, this kingdom aboveground, the cries echoed.

They hurt.

They hurt us!

Hate! Bite! Tear! Punish!

A thousand voices, all her own. A child in shadows. A child chained, whipped, broken, deformed. A creature risen to domination, to rule upon a land of darkness, to govern minions of flayed skin, of rotted flesh, creatures twisting and begging and laughing.

"I have suffered, King Raem," she said, staring at the mortal. "I have suffered like you cannot imagine. A thousand times I died and rose from death. A thousand hurts coil inside me. A thousand voices of my own scream inside my skull of stone." She unfurled her wings until they banged against the walls of his bedchamber. Her flaming hair crackled, and her saliva dripped from her maw to burn holes into the rug. "Let me grow. Let me become the queen I am destined to be."

Raem stood by the window, staring out upon the city. The towers, domes, and walls of Eteer spread below the azure sky. All over the city, the cackle of demons and screams of mortals rose in a song.

"I know what you would ask of me," the king said. "And I refuse."

Angel hissed, leaped toward him, and grabbed his shoulders. She spun him around until he faced her. She bared her fangs, blasting smoke against his face.