The golem’s booming footsteps shook down bits of rock while Adeya pelted between the alley walls. Gasping for breath, she stole a glance over her shoulder.
The golem, towering over the ruins, had passed the alley. It lifted an arm high in the air.
The fiend caladrius swooped between them and grinned down at her.
Adeya paled and ran harder.
Overhead, the fiend drifted back and forth, following her from above as she ran. It outstripped her with a flap of its wings then circled back.
The alley opened into a street and, across it, a small staircase ascended to the middle tier of the city. Sprinting to it, Adeya scampered up the steps. An earth-quaking thud and crash from the golem sent her stumbling. She caught herself on the balustrade and half-pulled herself to the top of the stairs. She drew her blade and whirled around.
The fiend caladrius, bursting into black fire, dived at her. Princess and fiend collided—Adeya’s sword swinging, fiend’s claws outstretched—with a flash of blue light. The flash extinguished the fiend’s aura. The sword struck and lodged in the fiend’s body as it pummeled her into the ground.
Adeya landed hard on her back with a cry. The fiend struggled and flopped about on top of her, beating its wings and shrieking. Her sword, stuck in its body, wrenched back and forth, but she hung tight to the hilt, tugging to get it loose. Blacks feather whipped back and forth on either side of her. Half-sobbing, she wrested the sword sideways. It jerked free.
The slash left in the fiend’s body by the blade sealed itself up. It regained its footing, trying to pin Adeya down. It poised its neck back, opened its jaws to strike, but several shouts made its head snap to the side.
Wynne, Oda, and Inen charged in with swords flashing.
While the fiend was distracted, Adeya lobbed at it. The strike, made awkward by close range, fell too slow. The fiend ducked and hopped backwards. With a shriek, it winged into the air. The Blades’ swords arced high to catch it but the fiend flapped out of their reach.
Wynne seized Adeya under the arm and hauled her upright.
“Are you alright?” She glared at her.
“Yes—”
“Watch out!”
The fiend, circling overhead, roared into another ball of black flames. It dived.
All three Blades shied away, but Adeya stepped forward, hefting her sword.
The fiend squawked and tried to bank to the side, but Adeya’s amulet flashed out again. Its light incinerated the dark aura. The fiend swung back out of reach and flapped above them. It gave off a shrill, shrieking wail as it frowned down on them.
“This way!” Wynne grabbed her arm, and the four of them fled. They followed the street as it skirted the rim of the middle terrace.
The fiend flew after them, swooping back and forth to keep pace.
“How did you stop its miasma?” asked Oda.
“My summoner’s amulet shields me against fiends,” said Adeya.
“Is that why it’s after you? I thought the fiends were after Kyen!”
“Your guess is as good as mine!” cried Adeya. She squeaked and ducked her head as the fiend dive-bombed. Its claws just missed her hair.
But it didn’t miss Inen behind her. He stood waiting, sword upraised. With a deft swing, he carved the bird out of the air, and its body smacked into the wall behind them as two pieces. Still, the fiend fluttered and shrieked and fumbled after them.
They sprinted away. Together they ran out onto the middle landing of the central stair. A crashing thud from lower in the city trembled the ground and brought Adeya to a stop. She looked back.
Over the tops of the ruins, the golem stood vine-bound to a tower on the bottom tier. As she watched, the golem’s body lost shape, and the tower fell with a rumbling crash that echoed back and forth through the city. Her eyes widened.
“Kyen!” She started forward, but Wynne grabbed her arm to stop her.
“You’re no help to him dead!” She nodded down at the canyon entrance.
The horde of fiends crowded and blackened the entrance circle below. A group pulled away from the main body to bound up the stairs towards them.
“Go!” Wynne shoved her forward.
Adeya ran after Oda and Inen as they crossed the platform. A ruined dome with half a roof rose to meet the lip of the middle tier. The warriors of Avanna crowded inside, blocking the entrance, fending off the pressing line of fiends.
Oda and Inen ran between a break in the balustrade and leap through the hole in the roof.
“Wait! Wait!” Adeya cried, but Wynne grabbed her wrist. She jumped, dragging Adeya with her, right into the front lines.
Wynne hit the ground at a crouch and sprang up to slash the nearest fiend; but the impact threw Adeya to her hands and knees. Oda and Inen slashed and hacked at fiends on either side of her.
“Back! Get back behind the line!” Wynne screamed at her.
Stumbling to her feet, Adeya cried out as a fiend lunged at her. She slashed it down, and Wynne whirled to help hack it to the ground. Leaving her to finish it, Adeya fled to the back of the dome, dodging and ducking through the battle. She reached the huddle of elders and children sheltered under the remaining roof. Despite their age, the oldest Blades stood at the ready with swords drawn. Adeya looked over the bulk of their force that crowded the dome’s entrance, attempting to block the push of fiends. But even as she watched, the fighting milled deeper and deeper inside.
Movement from above caught Adeya’s eyes. She looked up.
On the second tier, Kyen bounded up to the balustrade. His gaze swept the hordes of fiends, the Blades losing ground, the elders and children huddled in the back. His eyes found Adeya.