Then the Devourer laughed.
The sound came from everywhere, from the throne, the walls, the air itself.
Shadows erupted beneath Daemon and wrapped around him. They lifted him into the air and squeezed.
I heard ribs crack.
Blood streamed from Daemon’s nose and ears as he coughed, choking on it.
"Did you think," the Devourer asked gently, "that your shadows were yours?"
Daemon struggled. His own darkness fought against him, constricting tighter with each heartbeat.
"You were born of a curse. You’re a child of darkness," Aeron said, his throat knitting as he spoke. "My darkness."
The shadows tightened.
Daemon’s scream was wet.
I tried to rise, but I hadn’t recovered from the last attack.
Around me, combat raged.
Soldiers were closing in on Zephyr before he could take them out from a distance. He resorted to driving arrows into their throats at close range, stepping back with each strike.
Kane fought alone, trying to hold our flank, narrowly avoiding being surrounded. Even with his immense strength, the swings of his hammer were beginning to slow.
Kael had made his way behind enemy lines, trying to reach Daemon, but the enemy forces closed around him. He was attacked from every side. He caught spears after dodging the thrusts, using them to block incoming blows, but there were too many. Cuts were beginning to stack across his body, even as he avoided anything fatal.
We were losing.
The Devourer held Daemon suspended, crushing him slowly.
My vision blurred at the edges. Daemon’s shadows had vanished from my wrist, and blood pooled beneath me. The Veil screamed against my bones, demanding release, offering to unmake everything if I would just let go, but I was paralyzed.
Daemon’s struggles weakened.
There were too many soldiers around Kael for me to see him.
Kane’s hammer dropped to the floor. His arms hung limp at his sides.
Zephyr stood with his back to the wall, facing a line of spears.
And the Devourer smiled through my enemy’s face, patient, eternal, utterly certain of victory.
CHAPTER 29
SERIS
Shadows coalesced above Daemon. The tendrils crushing his internal organs shifted, drawing up and away from his body. They detached, gathering into a single, malicious form.
Dozens of spears formed from the darkness holding him captive, their edges gleaming unnaturally as they angled downward at his suspended body.
The Devourer’s smile widened.
"All those who defy my will meet their end in my shadow."
Pain meant nothing. Blood loss meant nothing. My missing hand, the soldiers closing in, the screams behind me, all of it fell away.
