He grunted. “I know. But my people will be free.”

She laughed. “Your people? Ah, Orion, you always were a dreamer. We are no more your people, than we are hers.” She pointed at me and I took a step back. I couldn’t help it. I didn’t know if she was really Death or not, but I didn’t want to take the chance and find out the hard way.

A roar lifted the air around us and the death dragon swooped out of the sky, its claws narrowly missing me as I dropped to my belly. The corn stalks under me flattened and a few silk strands tickled my face. I rolled in time to see Death picked up by her dragon.

Orion was gone. Again. “Motherfucker!” I screamed as I pushed to my feet. “Ophelia!”

The dragon snaked her head toward me and I grabbed the scales on the back of her neck as she leapt into the sky and flipped me into the air. I landed near enough to the harness, but didn’t use it; instead, standing on her back, balancing. The poison from the demon blades, the wounds to my hands, the kicks to my head; every injury fought to pull me down.

You have strength still, Rylee. Center yourself, draw on your core. You are a warrior. Do not let the wounds define you.

Her words seemed to help block the pain and I refocused on the dragon flying ahead of us. One more horseman and we’d be down to Orion.

I pulled my crossbow off and raised it, sighting down the shaft.

I had only ten bolts, and they had to count.

“Ophelia, we need to take Death out before I can truly deal with Orion. He’s using her to stay alive, despite the injuries I inflict.” At least, that was what I suspected was happening.

Agreed. She snaked her neck out and roared, the sound shimmering over the horde below us. A battle cry, a charge of dragons. I felt the emotion from her, calling out the dragon that carried Death.

The demons fell back from her wings sweeping toward the ground, and the unicorns used the opening to push our people toward Orion at the ceremonial slab; a few feet at most, but it was in the right direction.

Death looked at me, her eyes a bottomless pit of darkness that, even in the growing night, were fearsome and black.

The death dragon lifted its rotting head and roared back at Ophelia.

Challenge accepted, dumbass. The beast launched toward us, Death never taking her eyes from me.

“You will die, Blood of the Lost. And with your death, we will rule.”

I smiled at her, and flipped her off. “Fuck you.”

Ophelia laughed and let out a roar. Yes, fuck you.

The dragons rose together, high into the skies above the battlefield. Lightning arced around us, dancing through the clouds, thunder chasing the forked death. I tucked my feet into the harness, wrapping the leather around my ankles, as Ophelia’s muscles bunched under me, her intent flowing through my mind.

She reared back and then shot forward like a slingshot, using her head as a battering ram right into the solar plexus of the death dragon. It grabbed at her, raking his claws down her sides, aiming for her wings. She tucked her wings back, keeping them safe; but also then taking away any lift we had. The two dragons spiraled downward, picking up speed with each loop we spun in the air. I went to my knees and slid my hands into the harness, clinging for all I was worth as the G-force continued to pick up.

The speed was too much and I slipped. “Ophelia!”

I’ve got you.

A front claw shot out and caught me as I was ripped from her back. She rolled in the air and the world inverted. I lost all sense of time and space for a few seconds. I couldn’t make heads nor tails of where we were until Ophelia got us straightened out and was winging after Death and her dragon, who seemed to be heading for the hills.

“We can’t leave the battle!” I yelled.

If we don’t take them out, Orion can’t be killed; I believe you may be right about that.

I couldn’t help the groan that slipped out of me. “Then let’s kick it into high gear, ‘Phelia.”

Stretching herself out, she shot after the death dragon. Within seconds, she had its tail in her mouth and she back winged hard enough to yank it to a stop. The death dragon spun in the air, its mouth open and jagged teeth coming straight for Ophelia. She flipped me into the air, toward the dragon’s back.

I will keep him busy; you take care of Death.

“Deal,” I yelled as I ran up the death dragon’s spine. Death waited for me, calmly.

I held up my sword, waiting for her to lift a weapon. She didn’t move. “What are you waiting for, Slayer?”

I paused. “You aren’t going to fight?”

“No. The words I spoke were for Orion’s ears, so he would not know what I planned. I do not wish Orion to win this battle. We do not belong here. And as long as I am alive, only a Slayer can kill a demon and send it back to the seventh Veil. You can injure the bodies they are in, but all that does is slow them down. Your people will die if I am not sent back.” She shook her head slowly, reached up, and pulled her hair loose from the overly tight bun. On her face, a pale scar emerged of two lines intersected by a single dash. She was one of Moloch’s friends. “My death will mean that you will truly have a chance at stopping this madness.”

In that light, the way her hair curled softly in waves around her face, she looked like Anna, the necromancer who’d stolen dying children to raise as her own. She knew she needed to die for the greater good, and had offered herself to me.

Now Death was doing the same. Her dragon slowly landed. She reached down and patted him. “It’s all right. This is the way it must be, my friend.”