Requiem's Prayer (Book 3) Read online

  "Jeid!" rose a distant echo of a voice, a voice from worlds away. "Can you see anything?"

  It was Laira's voice. Jeid couldn't even feel her weight anymore. Did she still ride him? He kept gliding down into the darkness; it seemed an endless pit.

  "Nothing!" he shouted. "Can you hear me, Laira?"

  His voice seemed to vanish into the nothingness. She did not reply. White scales flashed beside him, and he glimpsed Issari flying near, shouting to him, but he couldn't hear her words, and soon the white dragon vanished. Other dragons appeared and disappeared around him, ghosts flickering in and out of existence, only snippets of their voices reaching his ears.

  "Papa!" rose a voice. "Papa, please. My stomach hurts. Help me. Please."

  Jeid narrowed his eyes.

  He gasped, then roared with pain and rage.

  A small, fragile dragon was flying toward him, a mere toddler.

  "Requiem!" he cried.

  She flew, wobbling, trying to reach him. Her little claws stretched out. Blood dripped from her mouth.

  "Father!"

  Jeid's eyes watered. "My daughter!"

  The little dragon kept flying his way, reaching out to him but never getting closer. The blood gushed from her mouth, and her eyes dampened.

  "Papa, my stomach hurts. It hurts! I ate something bad. Help me." She beat her wings mightily but only seemed to be growing more distant. "Help me. They locked me here in the darkness. I'm scared."

  "Requiem!" he shouted. "Fly to me. Fly!"

  He beat his own wings, flying as fast as he could, streaming forward, shouting for her.

  "Father, they have me! They're dragging me back. Father, help!"

  Jeid watched in anguish as bloated, laughing, crimson demons emerged from the darkness, each several times Requiem's size. They grabbed the little dragon, wrapped their claws around her, and tugged her away. She screamed.

  Jeid roared, the horror pulsing through him. Little Requiem, dead all these years, was here—his daughter was here! Being tortured, afraid, needing him.

  "Requiem!" He tried to reach the demons grabbing his daughter, but they vanished into shadows, taking the little dragon with them.

  "Jeid, what do you see?" Laira shouted somewhere; her voice sounded marks away.

  Jeid kept roaring, kept flying into the darkness, trying to find her, to save his daughter. Did he see her soul here, trapped and cursed in an afterlife underground? He cried her name again, but she wouldn't answer, and all he heard was the demonic laughter that echoed all around him.

  "Jeid," said another voice, frail and weak. "Help me . . ."

  She materialized in the darkness. His beautiful Keyla. His first wife.

  "Keyla!" he cried.

  She hovered before him as a woman; she had never possessed the magic of Requiem. Her cheeks were sunken, her skin white and brittle, and instead of teeth, maggots filled her mouth. Her hair had grown wispy, and her fingernails had grown into claws. She was nothing but a corpse here, rotted away, rustling with worms, naked and shriveled, but her voice was the same. And she pleaded with him.

  "Help me, my husband. Save me, Jeid. Save me. It hurts so much. They're clawing inside me . . . the creatures . . . they've been clawing for so many years."

  Keyla tossed her head back and screamed. Demon claws reached out from the shadows, grabbed her, dug into her. Jeid howled as he flew, but he couldn't reach her either, even as the demons tugged her back, casting out cloud of blood.

  The voices of his fellow Vir Requis echoed around him. Laira and Issari were crying out to Sena, begging demons to release their brother. Dorvin was screaming and cursing at other demons, demanding they release his sister Alina. Other dragons cried out names of their own lost ones. Were the souls of the dead truly trapped here, tortured eternally, or were these only visions?

  "I can't see the other fallen," Jeid whispered. He heard Issari and Laira still crying out to Sena, but he couldn't see the dead prince. He couldn't see the fallen Alina, even as Dorvin screamed at the demons supposedly torturing her.

  "It's a vision!" Jeid shouted. "Dragons of Requiem, hear me. Follow my voice! Follow my fire!" He blasted out flame. "You see only dreams. Only illusions the demons cast to torment us. Fly with me! Blow your fire with mine."

  He blasted flames forward, a great shrieking jet. Maev emerged from shadows to fly beside him, his living daughter. The sight of her shot pride and comfort through Jeid. Requiem had fallen but Maev still lived, and she roared her fire with him. Red scales streaked above, and Tanin came flying to join them. It was the first time Jeid had seen his son in moons. The red dragon roared too and added his flames to theirs. The three pillars of dragonfire wreathed together, carving a path through the darkness. Other dragons joined their fire to the inferno, and the great stream crashed forward, lighting the darkness.

  Shadowy demons shrieked and fell back from the blaze. Their voices cried out in terror. Some burned and crashed down. Others dispersed into smoke. The firelight revealed craggy walls around them, full of clinging demons who screamed and burned and died. The visions were gone. The darkness was lit. The fire of Requiem carved their way, slaying all in its path. A thousand dragons flew together, lighting the darkness.

  DORVIN

  Alina. Oh stars, Alina.

  Dorvin shuddered as he flew through the darkness. His silver scales clattered madly like a suit of armor. He blasted out fire, and his eyes stung with the heat and rage. The dragonfire had banished the visions, but Dorvin couldn't shake the terror, couldn't stop seeing it.

  Alina. His dear sister. Dead and gutted, her lacerated belly rustling with ants, worms in her eyes, her fingerless hands reaching out to him, begging him.

  Please, Dorvin! she had cried. Please save me. It hurts. It hurts so bad . . . they're hurting me . . .

  Dorvin paused from blowing dragonfire long enough to bellow with rage. He sucked in breath and blew flames again, adding his fire to the others' jets.

  "It's only a vision!" Jeid was shouting, but the pain felt too real to Dorvin. Her voice had sounded too real.

  I should have saved you on the mountain, Dorvin thought, remembering how Ciana had killed her, how he'd held Alina in his arms as she died. I have to save you now.

  "Alina!" he cried out. "Alina, where are you—"

  "Dung Beetle!" Maev growled at his side. The green dragon slammed her tail against his cheek. "Shut your jaw. It was only a dream, damn it. Like in Bar Luan. Now fly straight and blow your fire."

  Dorvin winced but nodded. He kept flying with the others, kept roaring his flames. He was a warrior. He was a protector of Requiem. He would allow no fear or weakness to fill him.

  Only a dream, he told himself. Only a lie.

  The tunnel finally opened into a great cavern, a cave the size of a mountain. Dorvin thought that all of King's Forest, the woods surrounding the palace of Requiem, could easily fit into this place; the ceiling seemed as distant as the stars themselves. But this was no mere cave; the walls were not made of stone but fleshy membranes, veined and wriggling. They pulsed with blood and cast out a red glow. A sea flowed below, the water yellow and foul.

  "We're inside the belly of some great beast," Dorvin said, flying with the others. Even a thousand dragons seemed small in this place, like a flock of bats in a cave.

  Maev grumbled at his side. "Maybe the Abyss itself is a living creature, some great demon the size of a world, lurking underground."

  Dorvin nodded and pointed ahead. "And all demons are parasites living inside it."

  As if to confirm his words, a cloud of demons came flying their way, a thousand strong. Here flew creatures different than the ones that had swarmed to Two Skull Mountain. Here was not an unorganized mass but an army. Each demon was a soldier, a great insect coated with a metallic exoskeleton. Their claws reached out, embers filled their mouths, and red flames burned in their eyes. When Dorvin was young, he used to collect little roly polies—armored insects that would curl into a ball at his touch—and t
oss them on his sister. These demons reminded him of those creatures but a thousand times the size, unholy and screeching for his blood, come to demand revenge for his torment of their little cousins.

  At their lead flew a towering woman, large as a dragon, with stony skin that leaked lava through many fissures. Bat wings spread out from her back, and a ring of fire haloed her head. Her claws shone like swords, and her fangs gleamed with dripping saliva. Her eyes blazed white like smelters of molten metal, piercing Dorvin. He screamed under their gaze. The woman seemed to stare into him, to tear through his innards with those eyes, to peel back all his layers of skin, bone, organs, and the innermost secrets of his soul, leaving him bare, barren, a boy, frightened and alone.

  Hello, Dorvin. The demon spoke in his mind. Do you know who I am?

  He howled. He knew.

  Angel, he thought. Queen of the Abyss.

  She licked her lips and smiled at him. Her voice spoke again in his mind, high pitched like shattering metal, the shards of sound slamming against the inside of his skull.

  Yes, I know you . . . her brother. Alina spoke of you. She screamed your name as I tortured her soul.

  Dorvin roared with rage, beat his wings mightily, and shot toward the demon host.

  "You lie, Angel!" he screamed. "I'll rip your damn tongue out, demon!"

  He heard Maev roaring behind him, flying with him. Jeid bellowed above, Laira upon his back. Hundreds of other dragons shot forward too, and Dorvin flew at their lead, screaming, torn with agony and hatred. Angel's eyes bored into him, and her fire blasted out in rings, slamming against him. The shock waves knocked dragons into tailspin, but Dorvin righted himself and kept flying.

  Angel smirked before him, churning smoke and fire with her bat wings.

  Let's see how you like dragonfire, Dorvin thought and blasted out his flames.

  The jet blazed forward, shrieking like a storm, white-hot in the center, expanding out to blue and roaring red. The inferno crashed against Angel and sprayed out, an explosion of dragonfire.

  The Demon Queen only laughed. She flew across the cavern, swung her arm, and backhanded Dorvin like a parent cuffing a child.

  The blow cracked scales on Dorvin's cheek and slammed his head sideways so powerfully his neck felt close to snapping. White pain washed over him, strewn with golden flecks of light, and his ears rang.

  "Dorvin, damn it!"

  Maev's voice rose from somewhere above; it sounded marks away. Dorvin shook his head wildly, tugging the world back into focus. The other dragons, an army of a thousand, were fighting around him in the cavern. Wave after wave of armored, insect-like demons flew toward them. Claws and fangs sparked against their exoskeletons, and dragonfire washed uselessly over their shells. Jeid grabbed one creature's leg and yanked it off with a shower of green blood. Laira, her dragon form lost, rode upon Jeid's back, firing arrows at the demons. Beyond them, Tanin and Issari fought back-to-back, lashing their tails at demons, punching holes through the thick armor. A thousand other dragons fought above and below, killing and dying.

  "Dorvin, down, damn you!" Maev shouted.

  Angel's hand swung again. Dorvin dipped in the air, and the demon's second blow thrust over his head. Maev came swooping down, fire raining on the Demon Queen. Angel laughed as the flames cascaded across her.

  "Back, Mammoth Arse!" Dorvin shouted. "This one's mine. Go kill some smaller demon."

  "Shut up and help me, Dung Beetle!"

  Maev growled and swung her tail into Angel. The spikes drove through the demon's stone flesh. Lava spurted out from the wound, sizzling across Maev's tail. The green dragon screamed, tore her blazing tail free, and tumbled in the sky.

  "All right," Dorvin muttered. "She's fireproof and her blood is lava. Fantastic."

  He shot closer, braced himself, and swiped his paw, aiming at Angel's eyes. The Demon Queen raised her own claws so quickly Dorvin barely saw them. She blocked the blow, then thrust out her tongue. The wriggling muscle shot forward like a whip, wrapped around Dorvin's throat, and squeezed.

  He sputtered, swinging his claws, Angel just beyond his reach. The tongue squeezed tighter. Dorvin tried to blow fire but he couldn't even breathe.

  "Maev!" he managed to whisper. "Help!"

  She flew above, flicking droplets of lava off her tail; the tip was red and raw. "I thought you said she was yours!" Maev shouted down. "Go on, warrior, slay her!"

  Angel sneered, teeth gleaming. The tongue began pulling Dorvin closer to the waiting jaws. He thrust his paws, close enough to reach her now. His claws sparked against Angel's stone body. Only one claw tore through, and lava spurted out, burning Dorvin, and he couldn't even scream. Above, he saw Maev finally trying to swoop and help, but a crowd of flying demons, their armor dark with soot, crashed against the green dragon and tossed her back.

  Soon you'll be with her, boy, the Demon Queen said in his mind. Soon you and Alina will scream together.

  Rage pounded through Dorvin. Before he could pass out from lack of air, he raised his claws, gripped the demon's tongue, and twisted madly. The digit was elastic, wet, impossible to claw open, but Dorvin squeezed and tugged, and Angel screamed. He was hurting her. Good. The grip loosened around his neck, and finally he was able to blow fire.

  The blaze slammed into Angel's face, entering her mouth, her nostrils, her eyes, and the Demon Queen screamed again.

  It was no human scream. It was the sound of shattering souls, of crashing cities, of a million spines snapping together. The sound slammed against Dorvin so powerfully it ripped the tongue free and tossed him into a spin. His ears thrummed.

  He blew fire again.

  Maev swooped from above, raining down her own flames.

  Scales flashed below, and Tanin and Issari both soared, blasting out two new jets of dragonfire.

  Angel screeched, engulfed in the holocaust like a woman trapped within a sun. Within the flames, she writhed, kicked, struggled to fly, but her wings burned.

  With a deep bellow and thudding wings, Jeid flew toward the battle and blasted out his own dragonfire, the widest of the pillars. Upon his back, Laira stood up, tugged back her bowstring, and fired. The arrow sailed through the flames and slammed into Angel's eye.

  The Demon Queen tumbled down.

  She crashed through lesser demons, tearing them apart, and finally struck the cavern floor. Cracks raced across the stone. She lay, twitching, struggling to rise.

  "Burn her dead!" Dorvin shouted. "Dragons, slay the queen!"

  He swooped, blowing his fire. A dozen dragons joined him, and soon a hundred descended, blasting down streams of fire. The jets crashed against the Demon Queen, knocking her back down, an inferno of heat and smoke and death. Her stone body melted. Lava spilled in rivers. As the outer layers peeled back, they revealed the Demon Queen's inner organs. Within the melting stone pulsed three hearts, squirming entrails, maggoty lungs, and blue veins. Faces twisted between the organs, human heads sewn along the spine, their mouths sucking air.

  Dorvin hit the ground, claws clattering. Trickles of lava streamed between his feet. Angel writhed beneath him, still alive, her three exposed hearts pumping.

  The demon tried to speak, but her throat had melted, revealing tendons bustling with insects. The other dragons landed around her, staring down at the dying creature.

  Issari approached the demon. Blood coated her white scales. The dragon raised her head, then released her magic. Issari returned to human form—a woman clad in white, two lights upon her palms, her raven braid hanging across her shoulder. She stared down at Angel, her eyes hard.

  "This is for Eteer," Issari whispered, drew her dagger, and slammed the blade down.

  The dagger drove into one of Angel's three hearts.

  Even with her ravaged throat, the Demon Queen screamed. The heart burst, showering blood. Issari stepped back, painted red, staring with cold eyes.

  Laira stared down from Jeid's back, her face twisted with disgust. She nocked an arrow and tugged back her bo
wstring.

  "This is for Sena," said the Queen of Requiem. Her arrow flew downward and slammed into another one of Angel's exposed hearts.

  Blood showered. Angel convulsed. Red tears flowed from her eyes.

  "Please," the Demon Queen whispered. "Please. I am Taal's daughter. Show me mercy as he would."

  Dorvin too released his magic, returning to human form. He unstrapped his spear from across his back.

  "I know nothing of gods," the hunter said. "But my sister did. She worshiped the stars, and she was the kindest, bravest, noblest soul I knew. Your army killed her." He raised the spear high, and he roared with his rage. "This is for Alina!"

  He slammed the spear down, piercing Angel's last heart.

  The demon bucked and screamed. Her legs thrashed. The faces sewn into her innards cried out in agony . . . and fell silent.

  Angel's head tilted sideways, her stony flesh melting, running along the cavern floor in streams, until the Queen of the Abyss faded into nothing but a puddle of magma.

  Across the cavern, the thousands of demons screeched with fear. Panting, Dorvin raised his head. Many dragons had died, but hundreds still flew above, battling the minions of the Abyss. The demons, seeing the death of their queen, turned to flee. They fluttered into burrows and halls. They dug through rock, vanishing into the floor and walls. Many willingly bit into their own flesh, slaying themselves and falling dead to the floor. Within moments they were gone.

  The dragons of Requiem roared for victory and sang the songs of Requiem.

  Dorvin glanced at his friends. They stared back.

  "This isn't over yet," Dorvin said. "Where's that bastard Raem?"

  The cavern began to tremble.

  Light blasted out.

  Dorvin turned and saw a great tunnel gaping open like a cervix, leading into a womb of crimson light. Laughter rose from within, deep and cruel.