Cold winds swirled around her. Icy, invisible fingers tugged and poked and prodded, seeking every weakness in her defenses, leeching away her resistance, her hope.

"Your soul, girl. I'm the father of your soul. I created it, and now I've come to claim it."

On the lawn surrounding the cathedral, Fey warriors battled what appeared to be an army of demons. Many-too many-warriors lay dead or dying on the ground, and the others fought a grim battle for their lives.

As Rain ran, he saw yet another demon rising out of the ground and tasted the cold sweetness of Azrahn. He slammed a concentrated five-fold weave at the spot, and the selkahr crystal buried there exploded.

«Fey, follow the scent of Azrahn. Selkahr crystals are buried in the ground. Destroy them to close the demon gates. Miora Felah ti'Feyreisa! »

"Miora Felah ti'Feyreisa!" The shout echoed from all corners of the embattled isle.

Rain took the cathedral steps four at a time and burst through the carved double doors leading to the nave.

In one glance, he took in the shattered altar to the left of the door, the unmistakable signs of battle, and the group of six Fey weaving powerful magic at the back of the nave. Frost was forming on the pews near Gaelen, and the entire cathedral was filled with a sweet smell so thick Rain's stomach churned. The former dahl'reisen was weaving deliberate, powerful Azrahn.

Rage rose up inside Rain. A billowing gray mist surrounded him, sparking with the powerful magic of the Change.

A tremendous roar shook the cathedral, filtering through the small breach in the Solarus shields and making the crystal sconces rattle. Lauriana flinched and cried out.

"The Tairen Soul has arrived," Nivane said. He raised a brow "I wonder if he'll scorch the Fey wielding Azrahn, as Fey law dictates.”

The second hinge melted, and now scorching tongues of tairen flame licked voraciously at the door frame. A sardonic smile twisted Nivane's mouth. "Apparently not. So much for Fey law. Grab the girl and let's go.”

Den bent down to grab Ellie, then hesitated when she moaned and her eyelids fluttered. "She's waking up.”

"She's got enough sel'dor in her now to be no trouble to us. Pick her up. I'll open the portal." Nivane yanked the long, wavy-edged Mage blade from Father Bellamy's back and dragged the exorcist's crumpled form to the far side of the room.

He gave a short laugh and glanced back at Den. "The Guardians are so used to pocket-sized bits of flesh, Bellamy will be quite a banquet for them." He jabbed the Mage blade deep into the dead man's chest. The large, dark crystal in the pommel of the knife flickered with ominous red lights.

Nivane backed several paces away from the body, and Lauriana heard him murmur something in a foreign tongue. The dead priest's body began to smolder. A small black pinprick formed in the air above. Dark shadows swept out of the small opening, hissing and circling around the body.

Ellysetta cried out at the sudden familiar sensation of ice spiders crawling over her flesh. The feeling was much stronger than ever before.

"You see?" the Mage whispered. "You can feel it, can't you? The darkness in your soul. The great gift I gave you when you were still a child in your mother's womb. Open yourself to it, girl. Embrace it.”

«Do not heed him.» A strong voice, familiar yet not, penetrated her consciousness. A man's voice. «Don't grant him access to your soul. He uses your fears to hold you here when those you love most need you. Look at the truth he hides from you.»

Faint light penetrated the shadows enveloping her. The Solarus stretched out below her, as if she were perched above the chamber looking down through a tinted glass.

"You!" the Shadow Mage hissed. "You will regret your interference.”

Ellysetta cried out at the sight of Selianne holding Mama at knifepoint. Greatfather Tivrest lay sprawled on the marble floor, a knife protruding from his back. Den was hefting Ellysetta's own limp body over his shoulder.

And Father Bellamy .. .

The exorcist was obviously dead, his mouth open in a soundless scream. Above him, a dark shadow widened like a gaping maw.

In the swirling shadows, Ellysetta caught frightening glimpses of wild eyes, gnashing teeth, and wide, bloody mouths. She watched in horror as the priest's body was torn to shreds before her eyes. Flesh peeled back from bones. Blood sprayed up in unnatural red fountains. Bones splintered and turned to swirling white powder. Clicking, hissing, slurping, the demons consumed every last scrap of Father Bellamy's body and soul. In seconds, all that remained was a shredded red silk tunic, sucked dry even of bloodstains.

Above the remains, the dark hole widened rapidly and formed what appeared to be a doorway leading into utter blackness. The demons pulled back to frame the doorway, hissing, their formless shapes undulating like deadly shadow snakes.

The second exorcist, Nivane, motioned, and after a brief hesitation, Den walked towards the drowning blackness of the portal. Weeping, Mama stumbled towards it as well, prodded forward by the knife in Selianne's hand.

Ellysetta heard what sounded like a muffled groan, and a sudden sharp pain in her chest made her cry out.

"Listen to me, girl." The High Mage's voice was back, but where there had been crooning seduction, now there was cold command. "Everyone you love has betrayed you. No one is coming to help. They've all abandoned and reviled you. You are alone. Your struggles only postpone the inevitable. You cannot hope to stand against me.”

The oppressive weight of his will pressed hard against her own, urging her to give up and let the inevitable happen. She wavered on the knife's edge of surrender; despair washed over her in steady, unrelenting waves. She was no warrior, the despair whispered. She had neither the skills nor the strength to defeat him.