The instant of silence hung in the air like the Sword of Damocles. Noah’s bow hung limp against the strings of his violin. Fuyin’s fingers twitched as they found nothing but air within them. Tren stared, lips parted in disbelief, at the empty shelves surrounding them all.

And, from within the pages of the massive grimoire lying on the floor behind Noah, came a single, satisfied burp.

Noah’s Formation fractured.

Shit!

He raced to start playing again. Missing a beat this badly was devastating. He hurriedly adapted the song, twisting new notes to fill the silence as he fought to keep everything he’d built from collapsing around him and ending with an explosive finish.

More cracks raced through his Formation. Magic spilled out at an alarming rate, pouring into the air and filling it with sparkling motes of energy. Noah desperately worked to fix the pattern, salvaging as much of the stored energy as possible.

Every single scrap of focus he had shifted to the fraying magic swirling around him. The amount of magical energy he’d gathered was probably enough to send everyone in the hall with him to kingdom come.

Formations did not take kindly to breaking this close to the end. If he’d been even slightly less experienced with the craft, it probably would have been too late to do anything. But Noah managed to act just in time. The worst of the cracks stopped before they could spread too far. He stitched them back together with hurried notes, rescuing the Formation just moments before it reached the point of no return.

Only then did he let his attention flick back to the actual matter at hand — where Fuyin and Tren were still staring at Grim like he’d just eaten their favorite cat. To be fair, he basically had.

“What have you done?” Tren demanded, spinning to Fuyin. “What demon did you bring to this place, you traitorous fool?”

“The council are the real traitors!” Fuyin said as she finally snapped free of her stupor. “I have proof!”

“What proof?” Tren snarled. “You think I’d listen to a traitor? We’ll hear you out in chains, Fuyin — and that’s if you surrender here and now. You have committed crimes against more than the Inquisition. You are an enemy of this entire world.”

“The council approved a book that had been modified!” Fuyin yelled. “They’ve tampered with the records!”

“You’ve destroyed them!” Tren roared. “You think I would believe you? And even if the council had modified something, then I am certain it would have been for good reason. I’d trust a rotting pile of shit before I’d believe a traitor.”

“Blind faith should be reserved for gods, not men,” Fuyin replied. Her features darkened. “You cut out your own eyes to remain ignorant.”

“And you bring demons into our greatest sanctum. You are worth less than the ground beneath your feet. The council will thank me for grinding you to a paste. You are unforgivable, Fuyin. Any trace of your name as Inquisitor will be wiped away. You do not deserve to be remembered as anything beyond the worst of what our race has to offer.”

Fire erupted over Tren’s body, a dozen times hotter than it had been before. It tore through the shelves with a thunderous roar. Wood cracked and shattered beneath the sheer force of the magic screaming to life around the large Inquisitor.

The shelves finally caught, bursting into flame and blackening as Tren’s magic tore through them. He’d finally stopped holding back. The Rank 6 mage was going all out. There was, after all, absolutely nothing left to protect here.

Fuyin raised her sword as frost carved into being around her. The ground at her feet turned a frosty, dead white and the shelves at her back froze solid. White mist billowed out from her, hissing as it met the molten air rolling out from Tren.

It only took a single look to realize that she was no match for Tren. The area swallowed by the larger Inquisitor’s magic was nearly twice that of Fuyin’s. She was at a huge disadvantage against him. Ice couldn’t do much when it got melted away. It would have been a difficult enough fight if they’d been at the same rank — but now, the difference in their ranks was painfully apparent.

And as for Noah, he continued to play as fast as he could to regain the time he’d lost. His Formation still hung in the air around him, even more precious seconds away from being completed than it had been before.

Grim, you little shit. You got your payment. Time to help out. Buy me some time! I don’t think Fuyin can hold Tren off on her own.

The pages of the book behind Noah shuddered. Then a satisfied sigh rolled through the air like a rancid breeze. The book jerked like someone had kicked it. Pages whipped as they flipped themselves.

And from within the grimoire, a pitch black hand erupted free. It was sewn of sinewy black flesh, pulsing and undulating as slender fingers scraped against the ground to find purchase. A second hand emerged after the first.

An abomination pulled itself free from the grimoire’s pages.

Portions of its body bent in on themselves like it had literally been folded up within the book that it called home. The monstrosity’s warped body seemed to stand taller than Noah had ever seen it before, nearly reaching twenty feet tall and looming over all of them like an ominous shadow.

Empty eye sockets peered down at Tren as the monster’s mouth twisted into a ghastly smile to reveal wide, flat teeth that were somehow even more unsettling than sharp ones. They were the kind of teeth that should have belonged to an herbivore in the mouth of a creature that was most certainly not one.

But Grim was not the same as Noah remembered him. Beneath the abomination’s skin flowed rivers of twisting words. They shifted and changed so quickly that actually trying to read them would have driven a man mad.

“Now that was a meal,” Grim rasped, delight dripping from his words like poisoned honey. “I can’t remember the last time I’ve gotten to eat like that. Delicious.”

Tren faltered as he looked up at the enormous monstrosity. He took a step back, his attention drawn away from Fuyin. He could see Grim. Noah wasn’t sure if that was because the huge monster was making itself visible or if it was because he was a powerful Inquisitor.

Ice screamed as jagged spikes shot out from the air around Fuyin, slicing toward Tren only to melt a half dozen feet before they could even grow close to him. The heat radiating from the huge man was just too much for her magic to penetrate.

Tren snarled in anger and spun to Fuyin, thrusting his hands forward. Flames leapt over his shoulders and crashed down toward the ice mage. She took a step back and crossed her arms before herself an instant before the magic slammed down. Ice exploded up around Fuyin, twisting into a glistening dome that rose to meet Tren’s magic.

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There was a furious hiss as the magics met. Steam exploded into the air and rolled through the halls in a huge wave. It didn’t hang around long. The immense pressure rolling out from both mages’ domains sent the steam running like hell itself were chasing it, clearing the air in an instant.

A thud rang out through the archives.

Fuyin fell to her knees, breathing heavily. Her arms were badly burnt. Melted ice walls lingered all around her, rapidly falling away to slush that gathered to soak into her feet. She’d managed to weather the attack, but only barely.

“Do you want me to deal with both Inquisitors?” Grim asked casually. “Or just the one? I wouldn’t mind eating a few Ice Runes as well.”

“You’ve eaten enough for today,” Noah snapped. The power he had gathered in the air around him seemed to seep into his words, making each one slam into being like the strike of a smith’s hammer. “Get Tren. Kill him if you can. Stall him if you can’t. Do not touch Fuyin.”

I just need a few more seconds to finish this Formation. I’m almost done — but neither Fuyin nor I can take another attack.

Grim’s smile widened. “Very well, Herald. As you command.”

Tren spun toward Grim, thrusting his hands forward with a roar. Fire exploded out, tearing through the air where the abomination had been. But Grim wasn’t there anymore. Tren’s magic ravaged the shelves as it found nothing but wood in its path. The gangly monster appeared directly behind Tren, lengthy fingers falling on the Inquisitor’s shoulders.

“Trenburn Voss,” Grim whispered, his words a ragged hiss as his neck folded down so his head was directly behind the Inquisitor’s. “Sixty seven long years of service to the Inquisition… for what? Do you have anything to show for it?”

The flames covering Tren’s body faltered for an instant. Then he spun with a roar, sending a whip of fire lashing through the air. Grim vanished before it could strike, reforming several feet away as his laughter echoed through the air.

“Your taunts cannot work on me, demon,” Tren roared, sending another wave of fire screaming through the air toward Grim. “You do not know me!”

“Wrong, Trenburn Voss,” Grim hissed, slipping out of the way of the magic once more. “Apprentice to Inquisitor Achival, Inquisitor First Class. Deceased. Son to Inquisitors Bismuth and Krin. Deceased. Deceased. Brother to Inquisitor Breen. Missing. I do know you. I know you well. But do you know me?”

Tren’s face paled a shade. “The archives. You didn’t just destroy them. You consumed their knowledge.”

“Very good,” Grim said, his laughter echoing through the halls. “Perhaps the marks on your exam were wrong. Perhaps you should have been granted better runes — given a better post — but the council couldn’t have that. Your family’s legacy is tarnished. Your mother was a traitor. She let a demon live. She had to be killed, of course. And poor little Breen. He had to dig for information. He had to go as well, didn’t he? It was for the good of the Inquisition. I’m sure you understand.”

“Be silent!” Tren screamed, sending an enormous wave of flames roaring toward Grim. He thrust his hand into his pocket and ripped a bone rosary free, gripping onto it with white knuckles. “Your lies will not affect me, demon!”

The abomination vanished before the magic could connect with him once more. He reformed beside Tren, but Grim made no moves to try and rip the rosary from the man’s grip.

“Lies?” Grim asked. “Oh, no. I don’t need to lie to you, Tren. But I can’t blame you for not trusting the words when they come from my mouth. Perhaps you would prefer another?”

The rosary in Tren’s hand ignited with holy light. Pain tore into Noah instantly. Sunder was reacting to the magic.

He burst into a run, still playing as fast as he could as he shoved the pain aside.

Just a little more. I’m almost there. I have to get in range. Buy me a second longer, Grim.

The abomination’s mouth split open. His jaw unhinged like that of a snake. And it kept opening. Sickening cracks filled the air as something pushed its way free in Grim’s mouth. Color bloomed as flesh knit itself together, forming into the face of a woman trapped between his massive teeth — and her features bore a striking similarity to Tren’s.

For an instant, Tren’s fingers went slack as his grip on the rosary loosened. He stared at Grim in horror.

“Mom?”

“No, Tren,” the woman whispered. “I’m dead. Why did the Inquisitors keep a drawing of me? They only keep drawings of criminals and traitors. Inquisitors are interred in name and deed only. Why does the demon know what I look like? Why did they kill me for sparing a child? Why am I here?”

“You lie! I will purge you!” Tren screamed. He lunged for Grim with a wordless cry of fury.

Grim’s mouth slammed shut, swallowing the woman’s face in the blink of an eye. He jerked out of the way, appearing several feet to the side and letting Tren stumble past him harmlessly.

“And you lose,” Grim whispered. “Thank you for the meal, Inquisitor.”

Tren froze.

Far too late did he realize that something in the air had changed.

The music had stopped.

He spun toward Noah — just in time to catch a fist straight to the face. It was like striking a brick wall. The blow barely even staggered him. If anything, it did more damage to Noah’s knuckles.

Noah stumbled back with a pained curse.

“Illusions and trickery,” Tren snarled, grabbing Noah by the collar of his shirt and yanking him into the air. Pain seared Noah’s chest as flames scored across his uniform and bit into his flesh. Tren’s grip tightened. “You are going to suffer, demon-worshipper. You will beg for the end.”

“No,” Noah said quietly. “I don’t think I will.”

Tren’s head snapped up as his domain finally screamed a warning — but it was far too late.

An enormous black spear hung in the air above the Inquisitor, swirling designs carved along its obsidian surface. There was a mural hidden somewhere within the designs, buried within the spear like an unspoken promise. Noah knew it was there — but for some reason, he couldn’t have said what it was.

Undeniable power radiated from the head of the weapon like it bore the weight of an entire world in its tip. It was the most detailed that Noah had ever seen the physical manifestation of Sunder.

Tren’s eyes went wide as he stared up at the inevitable end hanging above him.

Then the spear fell.

Magic erupted around Tren — and it split apart like a peeling banana. Sunder drove down into the top of the Inquisitor’s skull without so much as a sound. It carved through him in a black line and pierced into the ground of the archives, cutting straight through it like there was nothing there.

For an instant, Tren stood perfectly frozen in time, one hand still holding Noah in the air aloft before him.

Then the two halves of the Inquisitor separated. They fell to the ground in unison, landing with a final thud.

And then the archives were silent.

The only sound that broke the still air was Noah and Fuyin’s ragged breathing. That, and the sound of blood trickling out of the corpse as the life faded from within it.

Runes twisted up from the corpse to rise before Noah like a lingering specter. He didn’t even look at them. He didn’t have the energy to.

“Grim.”

“With pleasure,” the abomination rasped. It swept a hand through the air, collecting the runes like they were ripe berries. “They will be waiting for you when you call for them, Herald.”

And then Grim was gone. All that remained in the archives were Noah and Fuyin and a sea of destroyed shelves.

Fuyin slowly rose to her feet. She wiped her mouth with the back of a burnt hand. Her gaze bore into Noah like twin glaciers had been trapped within her eyes. Tren’s blood trickled to stain her shoes, but she didn’t even seem to notice.

“It’s you.”

“What?” Noah asked wearily.

“Spider,” Fuyin said. Then she swallowed. “Vermil. Spider. They’re the same person. You—”

She didn’t get a chance to finish her sentence.

A footfall broke the heavy silence hanging over what had once been the archives.

Noah and Fuyin both froze. Power prickled against Noah’s domain for an instant before he shaped his soul, yanking it back as he bound what little magic he still had in an attempt to conceal his presence.

Shit! Not now! We don’t have a way out of here!

It was too late. Rushed footsteps raced toward them, tearing through the silence like a thunderstorm. There were far too many to belong to just one man. The Inquisition’s reinforcements had arrived.

They were out of time.