The truth-seeking vampiress’s golden eyes flashed silver. Raw power burst from her hand. The force hurled monsters backward, smashing them into stone. The cavern wall split with a crack like thunder. She surged forward, her sword darting, yet her hand trembled as she raised it again. The next spell came slower, diminished. By the third, it was even weaker. She abandoned magic entirely, steel meeting flesh in a desperate rhythm, narrowly avoiding deadly claws.
No power sparked from Razira’s fingers. Her sword danced, each strike surgical and precise.
A lean devotee drove his spear clean through two creatures. Then he lifted one hand; silver light burst from his palm, blasting apart a cluster of foes. He was already moving, weapon in hand, seamlessly shifting from magic to metal.
Damian called the cadence of battle: “Right flank! Hold!” Fire bloomed from hisfingertips, blackening monsters where they stood. He didn’t pause; his sword cleaved into what his magic hadn’t finished.
All around us, the devotees surged forward, their palms aglow with power. Illusions flickered—phantoms that distracted. A small swarm of ants engulfed a mutant. Stones hurled by unseen hands crushed skulls. The tide of magic and steel pushed on, relentless.
One of the creatures lunged at Felicity. Boris intercepted it, jaws snapping shut on its ankle and pulling, putting it off balance. Felicity drove her blade through its heart.
A monster skittered toward Razira’s exposed back. I stepped into its path and forced my dagger upward. It sank into its chest, easier than impaling a vampire.
Razira flowed past without breaking stride, her weapon already seeking the next target. “Thank you,” she called.
Another monster charged at me. I twisted, and it overcommitted, stumbling. I slid my blade into its eye. Finn was there as well, low and fast, sweeping its feet. It collapsed.
Ash cut down more foes than anyone else. He became the axis around which the battle rotated. The tytoursus erupted into the melee as a blur of feathers and fury. One creature leapt at its face, but Ash snapped it out of the air. Another clawed up his back. Ash’s head turned completely around. His mouth clamped down on its head and crushed it. Black ichor sprayed the room. His paw descended like a hammer to throw another monster from his flank.
Emmeline cast again. Weak silver light bloomed, and bodies flew backward. No second spell followed. She advanced with her blade instead, each strike precise and deliberate.
Felicity's fire cut through the darkness once more. The creatures recoiled. She gasped for air and bent, bracing herhands on her thighs. The pause stretched dangerously long. When she finally straightened and raised her hand again, ice crawled across the stone more slowly than before.
The pale monsters kept coming. They seemed endless, yet their ranks thinned with each onslaught.
We pressed forward, still outmatching them with every clash, but we were slowing. A devotee's anguished cry rose above the chaos as he fell. Another dropped with a guttural scream.
Razira’s strikes never faltered. Emmeline fought close beside her, her weapon flashing in tight, practiced arcs. Felicity’s flames still scorched the air but less often now.
Boris hurled himself into the fight with savage resolve, face bloodied. When Ash brought down his final stomp, silence crashed over us like a wave.
My arms screamed from exertion. My dagger dripped red. Emmeline’s chest heaved. Felicity leaned against one of her devotees, sweat streaming down her face, her hands trembling. Devotees moved beside their Beloveds. Several male bodies lay decimated on the ground.
A grinding sound drew my attention. Light spilled into the room as a hidden door opened.
Sanguine guards marched into the cavern. Their ranks parted to reveal Mathias approaching with unhurried strides.
My stomach gave an involuntary flutter at the sight of him, and I clenched my jaw in disgust at my emotions. His gaze swept across the scene: the dead bodies, the massive tytoursus, and finally, me. A slow, knowing smile curled his lips.
“The Trial of the Labyrinth is complete,” he announced. “You are among those who have emerged…fortunate.” His gaze drifted past me to Finn, who was petting Ash. “Though I must admit, the outcome has taken some unexpected turns. An intruder in the Labyrinth forced us to intervene. Under normal circumstances, you would have simply followed the lit path to safety.”
Sweat slickened my palms as Mathias leveled an accusing finger at Finn. “This one is not claimed in a Devotion. He is a trespasser. Seize him.”
The guards advanced in a flawless machine of synchronized motion.
My heart raced, and sweat beaded my brow as they moved toward Finn, who didn’t flinch. Ash growled low, feathers bristling. Finn glanced at the beast, calming him with a wordless look.
“No!” I stepped into the soldiers’ path. “He’s with me. He’s my devotee.”
Mathias smiled. “Is he now? How…fascinating.” He turned to the guards. “Take them both to be tried by the Flask of Dominion.”
I shuddered, picturing the agonized faces of the unworthy vampiresses the Flask had turned to ash.
As the soldiers approached me, darkness slithered in. Not the simple absence of light, but something thicker. Alive. It flooded the chamber like ink in water, devouring glow and swallowing sound.
Gasps echoed, then silence, smothered by the miasma.
The darkness receded, but only in a ring around me.
