I shifted my mind back to Zeran and Black Mamba, and slowly the symbols in the gateway settled. I landed with a thud, still in the library. My whole body ached, but the cocoon had fractured on impact. I climbed to my feet and scooped up my staff just as Billu was coming to. He groggily rubbed his eyes. Zeran was holding his own against Black Mamba, but he was losing ground. He was bleeding from a cut on his arm that thankfully only looked like a claw mark, not teeth. A bite would be the kiss of death.

“Hey, Black Mamba,” I called. “I believe we have some unfinished business.”

Black Mamba raised her lopsided head and bared her teeth at me. The whites of her eyes swirled with blood as she flung out an arm and knocked Zeran aside. She was done with him for the time being.

Growling, she bounded toward me, her talons poised and ready to strike. I crouched and spun around, sweeping the staff in one wide arc. When the staff connected with her, the god symbols rearranged themselves. The infinity symbol, the moon, and lightning peeled away from the staff and flew into her. I didn’t pretend to know what all the symbols meant, but if the infinity symbol was involved, it had something to do with longevity or old age, depending on the context. The impact sent her crashing into one of the bookshelves.

I froze when she quickly got back to her feet, but she took one step and fell to her knees. Her gray skin began to wrinkle. “No,” she screamed as she scratched herself hard enough to draw blood. Ouch. “This cannot be! I am eternal.”

I realized then what the symbols must have done. “You were eternal, but not anymore,” I said as she collapsed to the floor. Her skin shriveled until it looked like sun-beaten leather. She’d drunk the blood of countless people to stay young, and now she looked her true age. I almost felt sorry for her. Almost. By the end, she was nothing but a dusty corpse, her chest barely moving as she breathed in and out.

“Whoa, is she . . .” Billu asked from behind me.

I turned around and faced Zeran’s little brother. He had been a ball of rage and anger only minutes ago, but now, he looked confused. He stared at me with huge black eyes. “No, she’s in a state of hibernation, and without blood, she’ll stay that way indefinitely.”

Zeran got to his feet. No denying that he’d just gone toe to toe with an adze and lived to tell the story. He was covered in bruises. “I would never abandon you, Billu,” he said, his voice choked with tears. “We’re brothers.”