I awoke in that decaying place again. My head pounded as I gathered my bearings. Isgarren was crumpled on the ground nearby, nearing death but still hanging on by a thread. Peitha's voice rang in my ears, but my attention turned to the demon before us: Cerus. Cerus circled, mocking us as he closed in the same way the lumbering beast had tried to kill me before. He celebrated his impending victory: he'd returned to Nayos with Eparch's prized bounty, Isgarren, and a prize for himself. The champion of an Elder Dragon. The scourge of Tyria. Blood-tinged saliva dripped from his jaws in anticipation. This fight was done. As Cerus gloated, Isgarren called me to his side. With his last remaining strength, he cast an enchantment on me before Cerus took notice. But expending the energy rendered Isgarren unconscious. With Isgarren incapacitated, the demon's attention snapped to me. This time, he wasn't going to let me crawl out of here alive. We fought viciously, but it felt like an unwinnable battle. I was knocked to the ground, death threatening me once again. Before Cerus could land the final strike, a sardonic chuckle broke his concentration. I knew who she was before she stepped from the shadows. My blood turned cold. Was this what Peitha wanted, to serve me on a platter to her brother? The siblings mocked me as they danced, Peitha maneuvering between her brother and me. For a sliver of a moment, I was all but sure she was preparing to steal her brother's kill. Regret flooded my thoughts—I should've told Zojja. I should've told any of them. But it was too late. But Peitha did not raise a hand against me. Once she was positioned between us, she instead dragged the tyranny of Cerus and Eparch into the light. She'd had enough of their treachery. Of their disregard for their own kind. Peitha snarled at me to get me to my feet. Even with a Kryptis lord in my corner, the fight ahead would prove a brutal one. While we fended off Cerus's blows, they traded verbal jabs. Peitha had abandoned their king, and I'd walked straight into the meat grinder of sibling rivalry. From what I could parse, Eparch has done as much harm to Nayos as Cerus and he have done to Tyria. The battle persisted and eventually we weakened Cerus enough that Peitha called on me to land the final blow. "He did not deserve to dream," she growled, and I purged the life from her brother's body. Isgarren stirred awake but didn't recoil at the sight of our new "friend." I suppose little can faze someone whose lived for millennia and wrestled with demons for as long as he has. ***