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There was a shadow above Lakashtai’s corpse, a mass of pure darkness. Daine could see shapes hidden within—

Lakashtai risen again.

His father with a sword in his hand.

Children slaughtered in the streets of High Walls.

Terror and despair rose within him, and he felt a mad desire to cut his own throat. But Jode was at his side, and Lei and Pierce needed him. He threw his will against the frightful storm, and it abated.

Most impressive. I had so hoped to watch you kill yourselves. But you cannot fight me.

Tendrils spread out from the cloud, serpentine tentacles of solid shadow. Some bore the heads of vicious beasts, while others were tipped with razor-edged blades. They crawled toward Daine and Jode, moving slowly but inexorably, and Daine knew no blade could touch that darkness.

But fire could.

Daine’s arm rose up of its own accord, his sword dropping from suddenly nerveless fingers. Energy surged within him—the dragonfire, the gift of the draconic eidolon. The darkness collapsed in on itself, bound in a web of prismatic light. And the shadow howled.

“What are you doing?” Jode whispered.

Daine had no idea. He felt the power growing within him, but it was none of his doing.

You cannot harm me! The voice roared around them. I am a part of this realm, a part of the darkness itself! I cannot die!

Daine felt a terrible pain, as if acid were being poured across his back. He could feel the dragonmark searing his flesh, and a deep red glow filled the chamber—light from the mark, piercing his armor to fill the room. The agony built with each passing second. And then it exploded. A beam of energy burst out of his chest, a mass of twisted lines. It was as if the dragonmark itself reached out. This bolt smashed into the cloud of darkness, enveloped it, consumed it—and was gone, snapping back into Daine with another wave of pain. All that was left of Lakashtai’s spirit was a ball of glowing light—a crystal orb. The sphere fell to the ground and rolled across the floor.

“Moon,” Lei said. She rose on one knee, and Jode helped her rise, moving toward the sphere.

“What have … you done … Captain?” Pierce pushed himself to his feet. “Shira … says the spirit … is destroyed. Impossible.”

“I don’t know,” Daine said. Every nerve cried out in pain, and his back still burned. Far from fading, the dragonfire presence felt even stronger than before.

“Captain,” Pierce said. “Lei and I … only moments … Shira dies.” He staggered toward Lei.

The tower shook.

“What now?” Daine said.

Pierce knelt by Lei, who clutched the crystal sphere.

“Your work … not unnoticed,” he said. “The Dreaming Dark … rises.”

“I need time,” Lei said. The sphere pulsed in her hands, and her face was tight with concentration.

Jode took Daine’s hand again. “Just a few more moments, my friend. Let’s hold this place together.”

The walls shook. Every mouth opened, and a single inhuman howl of rage filled the room. The walls began to distend, twisting outward.

“Imagine,” Jode said.

And Daine did. As the tower collapsed around them, he imagined a secure place of shelter. A home. A welcoming fire. The voices of children, coming from below. The walls of flesh and ivory fell away, and only the floor remained. They were caught in the eye of a storm, and all around was howling darkness, a maelstrom of horror.

“Yes,” Lei said. “It wants to be destroyed. It’s a weapon. It was made to shatter, to break the bonds between the planes. All I need to do is find the right path. Just another moment …”

Her face was caked with blood, her clothes were torn, her skin scabbed and burnt. But she was still the most beautiful woman Daine had ever seen, and the light in her eyes gave him the strength to fight the storm.

And then she vanished.

The sphere was glowing, pulsing in her hand, and then it fell to the floor. Lei and Pierce were gone. Daine saw a shadow in Pierce’s place, then it was drawn away into the swirling mass around them.

“No!” he cried. Despair overwhelmed him, shattering his emotional