A feeling of weightlessness rose from the pit of my stomach as I plummeted over the side of the island. Habil’s maniacal laughter echoed over the screaming wind as the ground got closer and closer. Glaring at the man in a mixture of annoyance and frustration, I kicked the oversized mercenary in the head and I pulled myself free of his grip.

We may have been falling, but I was not worried about the ground. I had already experienced the effects of the blue light that radiated from the Preateritum remnant once before. The closer we got to the ground, the slower we fell, until eventually we gently touched down on the scorched rock.

The explosion from the oversized rat had flattened a third of the city. A massive crater of torn rock and shattered stone now smoldered where homes once stood. Everything around me was a scene of utter destruction. I did not want to even think about how many lives had been lost in that one instant.

Habil was still laughing, even as he started coughing from the smoky air. “The great Raddare brought low by a normal tackle. How are you this weak? It is pathetic! I cannot believe I ever put my faith in this… this child.”

I ignored the ramblings of the man as I reached out with my mind towards Nox. I could feel him on the far side of the city, still fighting Demonkin while trying to protect Esben and three other mercenaries. I called out to him through our connection, but it would take time before he could arrive.

My thoughts were interrupted when Habil put a hand on my shoulder with a twisted grin. “Irene was willing to pay a king’s ransom just to get information on that building. I wonder how much she will pay if I bring you to her personally.”

I looked at the hand touching me with disgust as my right eye flared to life. A splitting headache screamed through my skull. My little stunt with the corpse left me nearly exhausted to the point of collapse, but I still had just enough power left to make Habil lose focus for a moment.

Drawing my dagger, I sliced off the offending arm. I barely spared a glance at the appendage as it fell limply to the ground. Habil’s senses returned to him all at once. He clutched at the stump, screaming as blood splattered the ground. A string of curses spewed from the mercenary’s mouth as stumbled backwards.

My dagger still gripped tight, I moved towards the man with slow measured steps. All his courage disappeared as he looked at me with terror. He turned to run but did not even make a single step before my dagger sliced through his leg. The man collapsed to the ground as his curses turned to sniveling tears.

I stared with a cold gaze, silent as I watched him try to crawl away. After nearly a minute of internal debate, I sheathed my dagger and turned my back on the man. “I do not care about some ridiculous legend your people have about me. I exist to kill Demons and when Envy comes, I will do so. What your people believe makes no difference to me.”

I paused as I saw a flash of movement between the crumpled ruins nearby. I sighed as a pair of orange eyes glowed from the shadows. A giant alligator nearly three times the size of a man was watching me with a gaze of hunger.

“Traitors really are the worst,” I mumbled as another pair of eyes appeared behind the first.

The hulking lizard moved out of the shadows. Its scaled skin scraped the ground with every step. Behind it, was another Demonkin, a creature that looked like a squid with spikes.

Habil started laughing again as he spotted the two creatures. “What will you do now, oh great Raddare? Show me. Kill the Demons!” The alligator glanced at the crippled mercenary with contempt as he crawled closer. “Help me. I brought her to you. I did what you asked. You owe me.”

The alligator gave the man a snarl. Its large clawed leg moved to rest on the mercenary’s back. Habil’s gloating smile switched to confusion then to horror. Like snapping logs, a popping crunch came from the man’s back.

“Why?” Habil cried before the full weight of the alligator pressed down. His eyes went dim as his body was crushed into paste.

“A great way to inspire loyalty,” I said, shaking my head.

The alligator snarled at me as the squid creature moved to cut off my escape route. They both stared at me without moving and I knew they were waiting for reinforcements.

I looked up at the floating island lodged into the city wall. It had flown too far after my plummet for me to expect any timely assistance from my family. More of Irene’s undead would be here before they could.

I sighed as I eyed the nearby creatures. “What now Irene? What is your plan? Have you thought it through? Kill me and I will simply be reborn again. Try to capture me and I can simply stab myself. I will have to start over but I have done that plenty of times before.”

There was a moment of pause as the two undead starred at me. Intelligence flickered to life in the alligator’s eyes as it opened its mouth. Instead of a roar, a very human voice rang out.

“I have plenty of ways to prevent you from killing yourself, Aurielle.”

“If you were here,” I replied with a dismissive wave of my hand.

“Oh, but I am here,” The voice said with a chuckle.

Sweat ran down my back as an invisible pressure started to radiate from the center of the city. It was a power greater than anything I had felt since my rebirth, like the weight of an entire continent was suddenly pressing down on my shoulders. Even breathing became difficult and my muscles started to shake uncontrollably.

“Your little floating island is not very fast. Once I knew what direction you were going, I decided to get here first.” Irene’s voice was like drums beating in my head with every word she spoke. “Come, I think it is time we met face to face.”

The invisible pressure faded slightly. I gasped for breath while clutching my chest as the power retreated. I could feel it still watching me, trying to worm its way into my skin, but at least it was not crushing me anymore.

The alligator motioned towards the center of the city, urging me to walk forward. With my muscles still shaking, I obeyed. Drained as I was from the previous fight, I had no way to resist a domain that powerful.

My mind started to spin as I deliberated what to do. A direct fight was suicide. I had a few ideas but most of them were beyond reckless.

I bit my lip as I followed behind the alligator. The walk to the city center was several minutes and I started to wonder why Irene did not simply come to me. Why did she not act in the fight before?

I wondered countless thoughts as we approached the keep in the center of the city. An increasing number of corpses lined the road with every step. The soldiers in charge of defending the city, civilians, children… none of them had been spared.

There were undead here too, human undead. They completely ignored me as they furiously worked. They were drawing glyphs into the ground, houses, and walls, more complicated than anything I had ever seen my dad use. Glyphs that were drawn with blood.

People ripped apart just so the undead could use their blood as paint. It was a gruesome sight that sent chills down my spine. I tried my best to keep my expression calm and devoid of emotion as I passed the massacre and stepped into a large courtyard in front of the keep.

There, Irene floated above the ground. She was a near-perfect, seductive beauty wearing a form-fitting elegant black dress that suited an exquisite dinner, not the field of carnage that surrounded her. Black lustrous hair that had a shine of purple when it reflected the sun, trademark of the Corvus family.

Seeing that hair, rage boiled up within me. Memories of a man with that same hair made me want to rip it from her skull. However, the immense pressure that weighed down on my shoulders the moment I stepped into the courtyard prevented me from being able to move.

Irene looked at me with a smile on her bright red lips. “How long I have waited for this day. Four hundred years… Four hundred of planning and preparation all for this moment.”

“Skulking and hiding you mean,” I replied through gritted teeth as I tried to fight against the pressure constricting me.

“There was that too,” Irene said as she floated down to stand in front of me. She reached out with her hand under my chin. I instinctively recoiled at her touch, but her power surrounded me, preventing me from moving away. Her words were barely a whisper as she leaned close. “Oh, the things I am going to do to you. The agony you will suffer. I can barely wait.”

The flame in my right eye flared to life as I tried to strike out in any way I could. The pressure bearing down on me became suffocating as Irene smiled. She put her hand against my chest and pain racked through my body. I could not even scream as all my muscles spasmed out of control.

“None of that now. There will be plenty of time for us to enjoy this soon enough.”

I collapsed to the ground as Irene released me. My muscles were all still cramping from Irene’s energy.

Irene floated back up to the center of the courtyard. “Work before pleasure, unfortunately. Envy has been somewhat impatient with the progress we have made creating a doorway to this realm. So, I devised this little event as our reunion.”

I forced myself up, despite the muscle spasms. My legs shook in pain as I looked at Irene. “What are you going to do? Why have you slaughtered all these people?”

With a single motion from Irene, hundreds of corpses that littered the courtyard began to rise up into the air. With a wave of her hand, they all shredded into a fine paste until Irene was surrounded in a sea of red. She reached out and a drop of blood landed on her finger.

“Did you know that the Ninth Division uses the blood of Demonkin to create their glyphs?” As Irene spoke, the sea of blood that surrounded her started to form into a series of extremely complicated glyphs. “There is power in blood. Human blood is no different. It just takes a bit... more.”

Irene paused as a familiar figure stepped into the courtyard. Orias walked towards Irene carrying something wrapped tightly in cloth. The giant of a man knelt down on one knee in front of Irene and offered up the bundle of cloth to her.

Irene smiled and the cloth fell away to reveal a familiar charred corpse. It was the Demon I had killed back at Nebula Tower.

“Of course, for the most powerful glyphs regular blood is not enough,” Irene said as the corpse of the Demon levitated up to her. She touched the corpse with her finger and it shredded into mist. “The most powerful glyphs need the blood of a true Demon.”

The blood of the Demon mixed with the sea that surrounded her and the blood began to glow with a bright ruby light. Thousands of complicated glyphs continued to form around Irene as she weaved them into a pattern only she understood.

“Irene, don’t do this,” I said as I struggled to take a step forward, “No matter what leverage you think you hold over Envy, he will betray you. I am right here. Take your revenge and be done with it. Do not drag this world down with us.”

Irene chuckled as the glyphs continued to form without slowing down. “No, it is far too late for me to turn back now.”

The glyphs of blood started to take shape into a circle in front of Irene. The entire city began to shine with a bright red light as all the glyphs drawn on with walls and streets came to life.

Purple lightning crackled through the air as the sound of glass shattering echoed across the city.