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Pain beca for the Saremon who kept the Vortex down I hit heavy resistance in the Mhizul quarter and I ducked low against the Gorder’s neck as a fireball exploded on the stones in front of ed; it was all I could to ai before her

Its long, bladed ar the Saremon at the waist The upper half of the body tilted and fell over while the legs took twothe streets, and the terrified cries increased until the citizens realized the Sraith wasn’t attacking theainst my mental leash, but I held firm

“Find shelter!” I called

As one, the crowd dropped to its knees ae and bowed their heads “Yes, my queen”

“Now!”

They did as I bade thee lay closer to the walls, where athered By dawn, I had quieted the last city block and turned toward the broken gates There, a er and rage that they fought a themselves, just inside the city My vision turned spotty fro ue order to attack

The Sraith hurled itself into the fray, slicing liht The Wailer fluttered over the mass of beasts and aimed a shout that liquefied half their brains A s and razor-sharp claws The Gorder lashed and ate and smashed with its tail while I held on with the last of th

I must not falter I must end this For my people My city

The man I love

Just when I thought blackness would overtake me, the battle ended There remained onlywould take days without ickal assistance

Only one more step Almost there

“Find ick”

It stood to reason that the joint casting the Saremon had performed left a powerful trail The Gorder was blind, but it had other senses This ht not work—

Then it fixed A shudder ran along its awful length and it leveled two buildings, taking thewith rage, but the wailer kept pace above us, broad wings flapping lazily

The Sare place like rats, and once theymaelstro before me in desperate terror The wailer stunned theickal protections, and I rode thehted dip of its head, while the others treed Their words fell like stones on my ears

I slew them all

Afterward, I ordered the wailer and the Sraith to fight to the death

Their destruction eased my mental burden and kept h the ruined city As dawn broke, casting golden light over the shattered buildings, sorroeighed on htered monsters and killed a number of Saremon, I hadn’t seen Oz anywhere

Which

He must own a particular madness, one such that he didn’t care what he destroyed if it wasn’t his If I can’t possess it, then no one will It was a brand of evil that troubled even me, who had once killed lovers as a precaution I treive But at least I’d kept my word, protected the city to the best ofrebels

So tired

“What a to do with you?” I whispered to the Gorder

There could be no return to its life outside the walls, but the city was no place for such a huge beast It had given up its hoht bravely, and I had no suitable reward The hted with my attention It destroyed three more half-burned hoainst the dizziness It got harder to stay on its shoulders, harder to keep the darkness at bay

At last the crenellated walls rose in the distance beforesun It seemed quiet, despite the bodies piled outside Citizens had thrown the sanctuary, but I was the only one who could have let them in; they’d fried on my protections That hen I noticed the awful truth: No shi field prevented our entry

At soht, the wards had fallen

The Running Game

The gates stood wide open Not broken As if soh for ed the Gorder forward The giant lizard-wor constantly toward a threat I couldn’t see

I sensed it, though Currents of distant y, I opened to the astral and saw smears of old spells all over the ether In the courtyard, bodies lay everywhere, but the fighting wasn’t over I charged into the melee—or rather, the Gorder did These invaders had to be Xaraz; they reflected all demon castes and abilities, and only a handful of defenders remained, most bloody beyond belief, faces blackened with dirt

The Sareht as if they had nothing to lose Two Hazo went down the Gorder’s throat, but an Iered hands onto the h the enorht

I had no ick left As the Gorder shook, I vaulted down My knees nearly buckled, and my head spun I ran at the Iht I could defeat it in single coe was that the Gorder would recover if the deht me one-handed

Otherstench, they were all outcast Noit, Mhizul, Luren, Hazo There were just too many Without the Gorder, I had no chance to defend the courtyard If this Imaron turned into a Gorder once it completed the drain, then it was over I struck fro state, the Imaron knocked me away in a fierce bloas too tired The other Xaraz pressed, encircling me Tremors rocked my limbs, so powerful I could scarcely keep hold of my knife

At least I die on my feet

Besideand its enor a couple of Noit The Iress I should have charged then, but there were too ht then, they seele step, they’d attack

It’s finished

Then a blade impaled the Imaron from behind Dark blood bubbled out from the wound as the sithdrew When the derin “The Hazo taught me a lot of shit while they had e?”