Still attempting to stall, Uldyssian looked around again. Despite there being only signs of Lilith in the chamber, he suspected that once the walls had been covered with markings dedicated to beings equally vile. “What is it about this place? You sought it out.”
“This? This place is a nexus, my love, important to the making of Sanctuary, all those centuries ago! Here was set one of the first points of reality—you might say hammered down—that allowed this world to hold together! There is power beyond belief here, the contribution of every angel and demon who built this refuge, including him. So strong are the forces inherent here that you see that even your kind sensed them and built this.” Indicating herself, she merrily added, “And this…more than three of your lifetimes ago…is where I found my way back to Sanctuary!”
It startled him to hear that Lilith had been in his world for that long without ever being noticed. That raised anew his fear that the demoness just might be able to accomplish all that she planned. If even the angel who had cast her out had not sensed her in all this time…
But before he could discover more, Lilith’s turned edyrem began filtering inside. So many of the faces—male and female—were known well to Uldyssian, which pained him further. He saw both Parthans and Torajians and assumed that a few Hashiri were also among the gathering. All told, there were at least a couple dozen.
“Stand along the edge of the room,” Lilith commanded.
Uldyssian used her distraction to try one last time to free himself. He had little hope of success, but could not bring himself to merely accept what appeared inevitable—
Then, to his surprise, he sensed the magical forces binding him weaken in a few places. Managing to cover his pleasure at this, he focused on those points…and then noticed that they were where Romus’s blood had splattered him.
Cautiously, Uldyssian sought to exploit them. He worked at the spell holding him, gradually feeling it unravel here and there.
But the effort went too slow. Lilith already had most of her pawns in place for whatever ceremony she had planned and now the demoness again positioned herself above the dead Parthan.
From her lips erupted sounds that no mortal creature could utter. They were evidently words of power, for he sensed the chamber immediately fill with invisible but potent forces rising from deep beneath.
Something else rose…blood from Romus’s wounds. It streamed up into the air, reaching at last the dagger. This time, Lilith desired far more than just enough to cover the blade; Uldyssian suspected that she would drain the corpse completely before her task was finished.
As she did this, her edyrem turned their palms up. Energies from within each sparked to life over the palms. The edyrem moved with such perfect coordination that he wondered if Lilith now utterly controlled them.
He felt her spell upon him fade more, yet still not enough to enable him to fight her, much less her followers, too. Time was against him. Lilith was nearly done with her grisly task.
At last, she held up for all to see the insidious dagger. Even though it was drenched in blood, there should have been far more of the crimson fluid present. Uldyssian did not want to even think where the rest had gone.
The binding spell continued to weaken. All he needed was a minute or two longer…
But it seemed that Lilith had no intention of giving that to him. She strode to where he lay, paying no mind to the droplets left in her wake.
“Now it begins, my love,” she whispered, reaching to the side to take the goblet. “Retribution begins…”
Her mouth contorted as out of it again issued those inhuman sounds—
One of the edyrem let out a cry and fell back.
Uldyssian at first thought it Lilith’s doing, that she had intended from the start to use her other puppets as she had Romus, but then he saw that which had slain the man.
An arrow through the throat. An arrow encrusted in dirt.
Before the first body stilled, a second follower also collapsed, a shaft through his chest exactly where the heart was located.
Lilith’s followers broke ranks as some sought shelter while others looked for the source of the seemingly magical bolts. Uldyssian was the first to recognize their point of origin, the narrow slits above. How the archer had managed to avoid the guards outside or to be sensed by Lilith was a much more major question.
But the answer to that was something with which he could concern himself later…if possible. The momentary interruption had given him the time that he needed to at last extinguish the spell keeping him bound and helpless.
One of the nearest edyrem saw him rise. The dark-skinned figure started to point at Uldyssian, but the latter, not needing to focus, sent his would-be attacker flying up into the wall. Uldyssian then glared at two more just registering his freedom. They suddenly flung against one another with such force that both were knocked unconscious.
Another of Lilith’s followers screamed. The arrow that had slain him stuck out of his back, which meant that it had come from another direction. Whether that meant more than one bowman, Uldyssian had no chance to consider, for Lilith, face monstrously contorted, had resumed her chanting. Uldyssian could only assume that meant that she still had hope of fulfilling her plan and turning the rest of the edyrem to her cause.
Whatever the cost, he could not let that happen. The chamber shook as pure force radiated from him in every direction. Edyrem went tumbling, some crashing into each other and into walls. Uldyssian did not care if they lived or died, for they had likely been forever tainted by Lilith. What was important was saving all the rest.
Lilith, too, had been thrown back by his brutal assault. But as he leapt off the altar, he saw her rise. Serenthia’s blood dripped from a wound near the mouth and a dark bruise discolored the forehead.
Unfortunately, the demoness was far from defeated. She raised the dagger as if to throw it, but instead uttered another of the incomprehensible words. Uldyssian swore, fearing that Lilith had yet succeeded…
To his shock, though, it was her followers who cried out, then fell still all around them. Uldyssian sensed Lilith quickly draw something from them into herself.
“My foolish, foolish love…” the demoness rasped as she stood up. “Always a little shortsighted. Always not doing quite enough. From these I’ll still have my way with but a moment more. You can’t stand against me enough to keep me from taking the rest of your precious flock with what I’ve grasped from these fools! A greater sacrifice than I planned, but their loss is paltry compared to what I gain!”
He did not speak, answering instead with a force that should have pounded her to the ground. However, although she shook, Lilith remained standing.
They both knew the reason why. As much as he wanted to, Uldyssian could not bring himself to slay Serenthia, the only certain method to stop the creature possessing her body. That hesitation meant that, despite the shift in circumstances, Lilith would still in the end win.
And Sanctuary would surely be doomed.
“Poor, sweet darling,” she cooed. “Always seizing failure at the moment of victory! Still, I promise you some delights with this body, once I’ve made you mine again…”
Something struck the blade of the dagger with such force that it ripped the weapon from the distracted demoness’s grip. Blood splattered the area around Lilith as the dagger and what had hit it clattered against the back wall.
And as both pieces stilled, Uldyssian saw that what lay near the dagger was another arrow…again covered in dirt.
“Serenthia…” a voice called from the entranceway, a voice that despite its grating, was so familiar to Uldyssian that it made the hair on his neck stiffen. “Serenthia…” it called again, closer now. “Come back…to us…to me…”