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calmness, but even the
king couldn't silence the voices.
    Only Laira and Issari remained silent, sitting under the column. As
the others shouted and waved their hands, Laira touched her sister's
cheek.
    "Do you know who I am, Issari?" whispered. "Do you
recognize me?"
    Issari stared at her, confused. Her eyes widened and tears streamed
down her cheeks. She reached out a shaky finger to touch Laira's
hair.
    "Are you . . . You're her." Issari gasped and pulled Laira
into an embrace. "You're Laira. You're my Laira. You're my sweet
sister. Thank Taal."
    Even as the others shouted, as fear and rage flowed across their
camp, Laira smiled as she cried. She held Issari close and kissed her
forehead. "It's me. We're together again."

 
 
JEID

    For
a long time, Jeid stood silently, listening to the others speak,
shout, and whisper.
    Some demanded to take flight now, to find the demons, to face them
head-on. Others cried to flee, to hide in the forests in human forms,
to dig holes and tunnels and wait until danger passed. Alina the
druid, her eyes gleaming, kept speaking of a fabled settlement of Vir
Requis in the west, Vir Requis who would help them. Hearing the
commotion, several riders of the Goldtusk tribe joined their council;
the fur-clad hunters normally camped farther east in the forest,
serving Laira, their new chieftain, but now they too joined the
argument, shouting that they could defeat any demonic army crawling
across their land.
    And Jeid stood, listening to them all.
    What do we do? he thought, a chill inside him. Fight? Flee?
Seek others to help us? He looked at his people: a couple dozen
Vir Requis. With them fought only seventy rocs.
    Not even a hundred flying beasts, Jeid thought, heart sinking. Against a thousand demons. It had taken four dragons to defeat
the demonic octopus; how could they face a thousand of those
creatures?
    He closed his eyes, thinking of all those he had lost. His father.
His wife. His daughter. He thought of the others who had died: the
young man who had lost his leg, Prince Sena, Laira's mother, and many
others across the world.
    So many Vir Requis already fallen. Will the last of us die now?
    He opened his eyes and looked at his people again. Dorvin was
shouting louder, demanding they fly now to battle. Her staff raised,
Alina was speaking of finding more Vir Requis in the west. Others
were demanding they hide.
    Jeid ignored the calls, ignored the hands that grasped at his cloak.
He turned back toward Issari. The young woman was sitting down,
propped up against the column, wrapped in a cloak.
    Stars, she's so young, he thought. Barely more than a
youth, yet she carries the fate of a kingdom on her shoulders.
    "Issari." He knelt before her. "Tell me everything you
know of these demons. How did your father summon them? How does he
control them? Why do they obey him?"
    The southern princess took a deep breath. She clutched her braid like
a drowning woman holding on to a rope dangling off a boat. "I
read about them in ancient clay tablets. All royal children of Eteer
know the tale. Many years ago, the first Eteerian King imprisoned the
Queen of Demons, the creature named Angel. She was once a being of
great piety and light, a daughter of Taal himself, banished from his
realm for her cruelty. In her underground prison, she bred and
festered, creating a host of many creatures. She and her minions are
bound to the throne of Eteer. Whoever sits upon that throne can
command them." Issari took a shuddering breath. "For
generations, no king or queen dared free this unholy legion. Until my
father." She grimaced. "He hates Vir Requis so much—those
he calls weredragons—that he summoned the demons to hunt us. I
myself am one of your number."
    Shakily, Issari rose to her feet, took a deep breath, and shifted.
White scales flowed across her, gleaming like mother of pearl. Snowy
horns budded upon her head, and her claws clattered against the
marble tiles. She looked at Jeid with deep green eyes. When