Nile watched her go with them. Valeria disappeared into the shadows of scales and he thought her desperate, or mad.

Then he realized that the demons weren’t all in a solid line across the horizon. They were broken into two groups. One across the east where Valeria had gone, and another, darker legion along the west that was closing in—fast.

“Prepare yourself, boy,” came Ferdinand’s worn voice.

Nile startled and turned to find his old mentor staggering on his trusted staff to the entranceway. His skin cracked like worn leather and blood mixed with thick, black sludge as blisters welled across his arms and legs. “Master,” he said and rushed to support the old Hallowed. “Are you all right?”

“No, my boy, but there’s no time for me to recover. Look.”

A demon screeched and spread bat-like wings, launching into the clouds and swopping down with impossible speeds. He saw the wild, red blur of her eyes, a female, and one that looked ready to tear him apart.

Ferdinand whispered words of power, but he was too weak to form even the smallest of protective barriers. Nile, too, was incapable of offering his aid. His vows of celibacy were in place for good reason. He’d given Valeria so much of his Light. When he opened his heart, he opened the floodgates of his soul, and now he was vulnerable without power.

“I can’t,” Nile said. “We should get inside and hope that Valeria left this place protected.” He refused to believe she’d just abandon him. She’d told him that he’d be safe here.

The demons along the west rallied a cry and changed the beat of their drums. They marched, some with wings flung into the sky, and descended on the opposing force. The female demon kept her descent true, until she hit an invisible barrier and bones cracked against an impenetrable shield.

Nile smiled. “Valeria didn’t abandon us. We’re safe.”

Ferdinand frowned. “I wouldn’t trust the barrier to hold for long. This is from the Coterie’s stolen power. She doesn’t know how to use it.” He pointed a shaking finger at the female who’d just fallen. “Look.”

The demon twisted and groaned, shadows sweeping over her as she snapped her wings back into place. When she stood, her face smeared with blood, she bared fanged teeth and snarled with fresh rage.

Shadows wound about her ankles and she stumbled, a white bone still sticking through her armor, until she reached the barrier and straightened until it fused back into place. She spread her fingers along the invisible wall and found Nile’s gaze. Her manic grin sent shivers down his spine as he magic spread like tendrils and began to burn bright red.

Nile reacted out of instinct. It didn’t matter if he’d emptied his stores. He was still a creature of Light. He wrapped his fingers around his master’s and squeezed the wooden staff. “Take what you need from me,” he begged. “Make sure she doesn’t get in.” He couldn’t imagine what a demon like that would do with the Divine Material buried in this place.

Ferdinand gave him a woeful frown and seemed about to take magic from Nile’s soul when something slammed into the demon and her screech shook the ground.

Nile yanked his fingers over his ears and tried to follow the battle outside the barrier. A demon who didn’t look like a demon blurred with impossible speed, winding with magic and shadows that betrayed this was one of Mehmet’s generals. The way that the female kept up with him spoke of her own strength.

“By the Divine,” Nile whispered as he eased into the shadow of the entrance hall. He snapped his gaze to Ferdinand. “What do we do?”

Ferdinand frowned, but his shoulders relaxed and he straightened, returning to a familiar calm and collected stance Nile was used to seeing, even when shadow beat against Leocivat’s walls and the people cowered in their homes. Ferdinand knew when to be afraid, and when luck was on their side.

“Pay attention to this battle,” Ferdinand said as he leaned on his staff. “The one who looks human is Xorn. The female he fights is Nethara. They are the eldest of demons in this world. They won’t kill one another, but you must learn how they fight. You must watch and pay attention to how their magic works.” His golden gaze flared. “For one day, you will fight them, and I pray to the Divine that we will survive such reckoning.”

Nile widened his eyes and stared at the blur of demons. Their armies clashed against one another, sending a crash of blades and cries scourging the air. He searched for Valeria, but she was nowhere to be found. There was nothing he could do but obey his master’s command, so he watched the two demons blur and fight. Nethara slashed out with fangs bared, her claws missing Xorn’s face by the breadth of a hair. Her shadows kissed his skin where she’d missed, leaving a thin slice of black as she went.

Xorn’s movements were more fluid and confident than his counterpart. He flowed around her and had no qualms gripping daggers of black onyx from the shadows that appeared from the shadows that wrapped around his frame. The way the weapons gleamed and hissed betrayed their magical nature. Nile didn’t want to see what would happen to someone cut by such a blade.

“Listen,” Ferdinand commanded as he closed his golden eyes. His eyelids glowed with red as his magic flared.

Nile knew what he meant and closed his eyes as well. He opened his soul, not his ears. That’s when he heard the mournful song.

The Dark had its own melody, one that cried for refuge and hope. Nile had never realized the demons to be such lost creatures. But now he heard their desperation in the song of their magic. So many of them had been forced out of their home. But Nethara, her song was jagged and strange. She hadn’t been born in the sky. She was the last of a dying race. She’d been formed at the beginning of the world, free from Darkness. She’d only known the scourging flame of the Light. When Xorn came, he seduced her with his charming smile and soft caresses. Now, she knew what he was. He was what happened when the Light twisted. She’d branded herself, trying to go back to the way she’d been, but it was too late. She was a creature of Dark, and now she would make him suffer as she had suffered.

Nile flashed his eyes open, the tears burning as understanding spread through him.

Valeria had just as much rage and loss. She’d betrayed by the Light, and now she would search the Dark for answers.

“Valeria,” he whispered. “Come back to me.”