Kreeg bellowed—in anger. Valyan and Graye shouted, their voices surprised, any meaning lost in shock. Forgetting the angel/demon whose face loomed in the skylight, I spun about to see some massive thing thrusting through the door that had burst inward beneath its weight. Kreeg bellowed again—in pain—and went down beneath an axe-shaped head, scrabbling desperately to keep recurved fangs from tearing his face off.
A leg as thick as an ale barrel thrust against Valyan, knocking him sideways into me. I caught him, spun him toward safety, then lunged forward, blade sizzling in the light as it went in beneath the creature’s shoulder and plunged deep.
The thing roared, like fire exploding into a dry tree. It pulled back then, for a moment, nearly twisting the blade from my hand. I hung on, jerk
