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Opening hted Malashe-el&039;s heel as he rounded a corner and took a doard raain, deeper into the thick fumes I could scarcely breathe I thumbed open the map in the bloodstone hilt and followed the daywalker down, and down, spotting our route on the three-di ht possible

"Save us," the remembered voice belled in my mind "Save us!"

"Yeah," I said,returned "I&039; at it" I rounded the next hallway and stopped short

Forcas stood in e-sight it bulked twelve feet tall, powerful in this place and beautiful as a seraph of Light In one hand it clutched Malashe-el by the throat The walker&039;s feet thrashed; its face was h swollen lips Without thought, I dropped and rolled across the cold stone floor, sheathing the longsword, drawing the blades alongAs they spun, I shouted, "Jehovah sabaoth!" The knives slammed into Forcas&039; chest to either side of the walker The Darkness released its hold and Malashe-el fell in a boneless heap Its hand opened, revealing a sathered diamond dust The walker had done it It had ainst me Or blood I can sacrifice Blood I can use as a weapon

I scuttled across the intervening space, directly under the feet of the Darkness, and grabbed the vial Elation pulsed through me Almost in slow motion Forcas withdrew my blades, tossed them, and reached for me Its seraph face, the beautiful face that once was, rippled and changed as a glamour fell away A cat head, puma or lion, its flesh leathery and burned, took shape in its stead, all that was left of its once holy mien This was much more formidable than a Watcher allied with Darkness This was a true Fallen, one of the Poho rebelled against the Most High and ept out of heaven in the war that was only hinted at in holy scriptures A crimson metal chain, the color of fresh blood, was around its neck The spur arabbed me about the waist with one hand, as it had once before No Twice before It held the spur beforeme close, it raant as a shaft of poetry, lanced through me "Time, time, and a third time I have held you thus Time, time, and a third ti The full flower is now mine," he said

Tied to ht, and I knew I couldn&039;t let it say the line three tilove "The full flower is now mine," it said a second ti le as the conjure in the spur stopped my breath I crushed the vial in love With a single thrust, I took the beast through the throat His grip eased and I inhaled, chanting, "Mage in battle, e in dire, seraphs, come with holy fire"

Forcas dropped me and I landed on Malashe-el, even as I ripped the spur amulet from my side, tucked it into my boot, and drew my sword Smoke billowed up around me Over my head, Forcas roared, a lion&039;s roar I rolled across the tunnel, leaving splatters of blood fro the walker into a crevice withhappened "Like being held in the grip of a Major Darkness isn&039;t dire enough?" I croaked to the heavens I looked at my side, but that wound wasn&039;t sacrifice; it was battle I picked a scar that looked like it ht open easily

"Inadequate," a familiar voice belled, closer now, audible I blinked away the smoke, turned, and saw the Mistress far below me in a cavern, her seraph trapped above her, on top of the scarlet cage that imprisoned her Zadkiel, only feet below onets attached at his waist, sucking and engorged The seraph held neither sword nor shield, a thing I had never heard of When in battle, the weapons were said to be part of the or hand Amethyst&039;s seraph face was turned to me "To reach us you must offer much blood Much blood"

"So I&039;h Host, other supernats always had been Behind round I dropped the daywalker and darted along a ledge above the Mistress&039; cell, holding ainst the wound in my side I checked the map in the hilt and saw that while there were nu to the deepest prison, this dooras the only way in I had no way out I won&039;t live through this anyway

Lifting my left wrist, I sliced the sleeve of the dobok With a deeper slash, I opened the artery at onet lifted its teeth away and spit at s

I ju to my knees in the sticky red adhesive that buried the seraph&039;s feet "I sacrifice myself for Zadkiel and the Mistress," I said "I sacrifice myself for Zadkiel and the Mistress" I had lost blood from the wound in my side and my throat injury, and my blood pressure dropped fast I fell forward,in the red snare The trap smelled of old blood Like Mole Man&039;s blood Like Lucas The huge clawed feet of another beast landed beside me "I sacrifice myself for Zadkiel and the Mistress," I e in battle, e in dire Raziel"

Far below, I met the Mistress&039; eyes "Help hihed Instead I ed to turn my face

Zadkiel was locked inwith , scaled, and crested with horns Winged dragonets rapped around the seraph&039;s leg Forcas reared back and drove its lion fangs into Zadkiel&039;s throat, the bloody chain on its neck clinking

Tears of Taharial All this for nothing I was dying, and no help had come for my sacrifice But then, I was soulless What more could I expect? With my last breath, I smelled Lucas&039; blood, blood that had been used in the creation of the beasts, the cell, and the chain Forcas wore My vision telescoped into tiny holes

The scarlet, spherical cage beneath reat force A foot stepped nearinto the red adhesive Strands leaped up and wrapped around the crie," Raziel&039;s voice called, ringing like bronze bells "I am here, as I promised, in life and battle and love" His hand rested for askin At his touch, strength flowed into s found a breath and vision expanded I could see His hand lifted, and I heard the crash of fighting overRaziel screamed his battle cry Hot, acidic blood splattered over h my cloak and dobok I smelled sulfur and brimstone, and chocolate and blood Lust and battle-lust twined and rose up in me

"Now," the Mistress belled, "now" Her lavender eyes caressed me, the soft purple eyes of the cobra that had come to me; that had drowned me "Use the otherness Use it as you used my wheels As you did once before"

There wasn&039;t tiht and a e hues and scents and textures The otherness was there as well Hooking a er in it, I slid sideways, outside ofwith a whoosh of sensation I rose to my knees and inspected my physical rerowing more remote I looked at my elbow in this not-here body It wasn&039;t cut, butI feltBlood loss The spur