The savul also made an attempt but shrieked when a swipe from the Faceless soaked its limbs in the bile. It pawed at the ground in a desperate bid to wipe it off. The Dark asha hissed in pain, nails digging into the soil. Fire blazed out of the azi’s mouth, but the Faceless lifted its tail, and the flames glanced off the rough scales.

An unspoken command passed through the daeva, and they all attacked as one. Their own poisons may as well have been perfume in comparison to the Faceless’s and served the daeva no true defenses. They retreated but fought on as the bile ate down to bone. The Dark asha was shaking, her palms streaked with blood where her nails gouged her flesh.

Lord Fox avoided the beast’s long arms as she swiped at him. He feinted to one side, waiting for the blighted to snap at him, then dodged right, shoving the tip of his blade forward. It sank deep into her chest, where her heart should have been, but the creature only yowled. When the man removed his blade, it had melted from the strength of her poison. He now carried only a hilt. He swore.

“Keep her distracted,” Lord Kalen grunted, still slashing at her tail between the daeva’s flurry of assaults. The thick scales were as hard as the finest armor, and he left little more than nicks and small cuts in his wake. “Tea, fall back!” His voice was raw. “Let us…”

“There’s no time! Tea can’t keep this up!” Lord Fox discarded his sword and barreled toward the blighted, runes protecting him as he climbed up her legs to her waist. She shrieked and scratched at him, but his hands were already digging deep into her stomach, seeking the heartsglass encased within.

“No!” ripped out of the Dark asha’s throat, and the earth shuddered beneath us. The ground rose, a tsunami of dirt and soil, and as I stared at the crest of a sand-wave, I realized that the dead around us were rising along with it. The Drychta men who had served Druj were turning against the Faceless; undead hands grabbed at her, ignoring the hiss of acid as it burned through their rotting flesh.

Still wailing, the Dark asha raised her palm, and the daeva attacked. The Druj beast attempted to fend them off, but they were too many, even for her.

Lord Kalen abandoned his assault and rushed to his brother familiar’s aid, but a flash of the blighted’s tail put him back on the defensive. I heard Lady Zoya panting, struggling to extend her shield toward the two familiars.

The dead soldiers distracted the blighted woman, but her tail was unguarded. It sang through the air, dripping black, aimed toward Lord Fox. None of the compelled soldiers were close enough to stop her blow.