Page 131 of Ecliptic

Despite the deathly chant, Mithrion was a comforting weight in my hand.

I glanced at the soldiers around me. I couldn’t ask for braver souls to die beside, unlike Maddock, who was a coward through and through. I hated that I had ever grown to like him or call him a friend, but the worst part was that I had started to trust him.

Alvar was about to signal for me to show myself when suddenly, a single demon emerged from the line, hunched and hulking.

What was Erovos’ plan in sending out one Voro-Kai? We weren’t stupid enough to charge one demon. We needed to lure them farther away from the tree. They were still too close!

My eyes narrowed, searching for the world eater, but he was nowhere to be seen.

Suddenly, a scream pierced through the grey sky. It was a wailing unlike anything I’d ever heard, and it was coming from our side of the battlefield.

My eyes darted back to the lone astral demon when a flash of silver bounced off its bulging arms, and my breath caught in my throat.

Silver cuffs encircled the Voro-Kai’s wrists, their design unmistakable. They were the exact same cuffs Demil wore the day he helped Erovos kidnap me.

A chill slithered down my spine. One bite from a Voro-Kai could turn you, but had Demil been turned? Or had his cuffs been stolen off his body like a sick war prize?

It could be a coincidence, but when it came to Erovos, there was no such thing as coincidences, and when the Voro-Kai raised its boar-shaped head, terror gripped me like a steel claw.

Yellow eyes peered at me—Demil’s eyes.

The wailing persisted, and I realized it was Dyani. She’d recognized her twin within the twisted demon face.

Demil raised his blade as a bleeding darkness swarmed his irises. The silver circlets that once sat high on his arms were now snug around his wrists from how much he’d grown.

Suddenly, a slash of white bolted from our ranks.

“Dyani, no!” I screamed as she charged across the field toward her brother. “It’s a trap.”

“Hold the line!” Alvar screamed as Dyani continued to run, losing us precious ground.

I wanted to chase after her, but as I took my first step, Rowen pulled me back to keep me hidden. “If we charge, she dies.”

I knew he was right. Dyani was too close to the opposing forces. If we charged, the Voro-Kai army would swarm her, and no matter how skilled a warrior she was, no one could survive that. She had a better chance of beating her brother one-on-one.

I fell back in line, though the dread twisting my gut did not lessen. We all remained rooted in terror as the siblings collided on the battlefield.

Demil slashed at his twin, but she ducked just in time, narrowly missing a blade to the chest.

She spun back around, but his yellow eyes were fixed on her dual blades. “Demil, it’s me, your sister,” Dyani coaxed, tucking her swords within their sheaths. “You don’t have to do this. We can find a way to fix you.”

My heart seized. There was no cure for a Voro-Kai bite this far along.

Demil grunted, banging his chest with his monstrous arms.

“Please, brother. Remember me. I promised Mother I would keep you safe.” The pleading in her voice broke my heart.

Sadness seemed to engulf his eyes, which still looked so humanon the face of a demon. Suddenly, Demil attacked, barreling his blade on his twin sister, but Dyani had always been faster, and in a move that was so swift, I almost didn’t see it, she pulled her knives out and blocked him with a cross-blade formation.

“Demil, please,” she grunted, holding up both her arms as Demil pressed down on her with his blade—his Wyn warrior blade. “Remember who you are, my brother.”

He released his weapon and struck again, but Dyani deflected the blow.

“Kill her!” Erovos shrieked in a tone that made everyone cover their ears. His voice rang out like it was everywhere, in all our heads.

As if on cue, the last traces of humanity vanished from Demil’s eyes. Now a mindless demon, he brutally attacked his sister. Blow by blow, she defended herself, but only just. Dyani was fighting for her life.

The siblings crashed like thunder, and sparks rained down upon them as Ever-burn crystal met steel. Dyani had always been a better fighter, but now, Demil was twice his original size. His body bulged with unnatural muscle and brute demon strength.

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