"We'll soon know," Vasen said.

They darted in a crouch across the fields toward the abbey.

The sudden flash of a light in one of the windows of the eastern-facing tower of the abbey caught Sayeed's eye.

"There is a light in the eastern tower," he said, pointing.

Zeeahd nodded, the flesh under his robe roiling and bulging, and continued his countercharm, using a silver wand to trace glowing symbols in the air.

Vasen, Orsin, and Gerak sheltered behind one of the outbuildings used to house visiting pilgrims and peeked around the corner. Smoke fogged the air, but the light of the flames allowed Vasen to see the marauders.

"Spined devils," he said.

The spined devils, which were about the size of a mastiff, prowled about on all fours. Hundreds of sharp quills, about the length of a man's hand, coated their hides. As Vasen watched, one of the creatures growled, tensed, and fired a half dozen spines from its back at a storage shed. The spines burst into flame as they flew and sunk deeply into the wood of the shed, the flames licking at the timbers.

Another spined devil burst through the fence of an animal pen, carrying the leg of a goat in its mouth. A second devil bounded into view from the right and tried to take the goat haunch from the first, the two fiends scrabbling over it like dogs.

"I can't see how many," Vasen said. "More than a handful, though." "There were at least a dozen cat skins," Orsin said.

Vasen eyed Gerak, to see how well the man was holding up. Gerak met his gaze, nodded.

There were too many to try and cut their way through.

"We're looking for men, not devils," Vasen said. "We need to get to the abbey undetected."

"The smoke will help," Orsin said.

"Where is everyone?" Gerak asked.

Vasen could only shake his head and try not to lose hope. He looked out from around the building and saw no devils, although he could hear them above the crackle of burning wood. Just as he was about to give the order to run for the northern courtyard, a powerful impact shook the timbers of the shed. The three men flattened themselves against the wall, looking up, as they heard the chuff of a devil, the sound of claws on roof tiles.

Shadows poured from Vasen's skin.

Moving silently, Gerak drew an arrow, nocked, and took a knee a pace away from the wall, his bow trained on the roof.

The chuffing changed to a low growl.

Vasen met Orsin's gaze, gave him a nod. The deva nodded in return. They readied themselves and Vasen cleared his throat.

The devil lunged forward and the moment its head appeared past the edge of the roof, Gerak let an arrow fly and Orsin lunged upward. Orsin looped his hands around the fiend's neck and flipped it from the roof. It fell on its back, snarling, claws flailing wildly, an arrow sticking from its throat. Vasen hacked downward with his sword and split its throat. Stinking black ichor poured from the wound, stained the grass, and the creature went silent.

The three men sheltered behind the building again, listening. They heard nothing nearby. The devils appeared to be elsewhere on the grounds, burning and destroying.

"We move now," Vasen said. "Ready?"

"Ready," Orsin and Gerak said in unison.

They dashed out from behind the shed and made for the courtyard. Through the smoke and darkness, the large arch leading into the courtyard looked like a screaming mouth. The moment they broached it and set foot on the flagstones, Vasen saw the two men they sought.

They stood near the north-facing double doors. The smaller of the men held a thin rod in his hand with which he traced glowing runes in the air. He made a gesture of finality with the wand, and the jambs around the abbey's double doors flared white as the protective wards winked out.

Gerak drew an arrow and Vasen whirled his blade over his head. Anger and faith combined, flowed into his blade, and ribbons of rose-colored light trailed the weapon's arc.

"Get away from that door," Vasen called.

The men turned to face him. Behind and above them Vasen saw a light glowing in the upper window of the Saint's Shrine, the only light in the entire abbey.

If the Oracle was still in the Abbey, that's where he would be.

The man who bore sword and shield was the largest human Vasen had ever seen. A battle-scarred breastplate covered his barrel chest. Shaggy hair and a thick beard obscured all of his features but his eyes, which looked as lifeless as coins.

The other man, also tall but thin as a willow reed, looked like a walking corpse. Parchment-colored skin was drawn tight over sunken cheeks and deep-set eyes. His thin lips parted in a snarl to reveal snaggle teeth.

"Kill them, Sayeed!" the thin man said to the large one. "I'll get what we need from the Oracle."

Before either man could move, Vasen swung his blade in a wide, final arc and flung the ribbons of light across the courtyard. The energy slammed into the thin man like a hammer blow, knocking him from his feet and leaving him stunned on the ground.

"You'll never set foot in the abbey," Vasen said.

The large man roared and rushed them. Gerak fired twice in rapid succession, but the large man blocked his shots contemptuously with his huge shield, never slowing his advance.

Two devils, perhaps hearing the shouts, bounded into the courtyard from the far side. When they saw Vasen, Gerak, and Orsin, they coiled, arched their backs, and a dozen flaming spines hissed across the courtyard.

Vasen jumped before Gerak-the man was unarmored-and protected both of them with his shield. Orsin leaped high into the air, and the remaining spines slammed into the stone wall behind them and fell to the ground, flaming.

Gerak drew, fired, and an arrow slammed into one of the devils. Meanwhile, Orsin leaped skyward on a column of shadow, the arc of his leap carrying him over the huge man, who halted in his charge to watch him sail overhead. Orsin landed in a crouch a few paces from the thin man, and a disc of shadow exploded a short distance outward in all directions from his feet. The wave of dark energy slammed into the thin man and sent him careening into the doors. Orsin clenched his fists, dark energy surrounding them, and advanced on him.

Vasen charged Sayeed, blade and shield readied and blazing with light. Sayeed whirled, his mouth a twisted snarl, sword and shield ready. They collided with a shout, a clamor of metal and flesh. The impact made Vasen's teeth ache, but he managed to slam his glowing shield into Sayeed's blade and loose an overhand strike at the man's skull. Sayeed parried with his shield, pushed Vasen back, and unleashed a vicious overhead strike that Vasen sidestepped.

When Sayeed's missed strike put the tip of his blade in the earth, Vasen stomped on it even as he slammed the edge of his shield into Sayeed's cheek. The combination should have snapped Sayeed's sword and skull, but the man barely flinched and the steel of his blade resisted Vasen's stomp.

Sayeed levered his blade up, knocking Vasen off balance, then swung his shield hard into Vasen's side. The blow sent Vasen stumbling sidelong.

Sayeed bounded after, stabbing for Vasen's ribs. Vasen managed an awkward parry with his shield, spun, and slashed downward with his blade, catching Sayeed's calf behind the protective plate of his armor. Blood spilled, and Sayeed grunted with pain but didn't fall. Instead, he stabbed at Vasen's chest, his blade slipping past Vasen's shield and scraping armor. Horrifyingly, the blade vibrated like a living thing, as if burrowing for Vasen's flesh. But the force of the blow knocked Vasen backward and the blade did not penetrate his armor. Sayeed advanced, blade held high for a killing stroke.

A hiss, thunk, and grunt of pain accompanied one of Gerak's arrows slamming into Sayeed's back. The big warrior roared, turned, and tore the arrow from his back. Vasen backed away and regathered his wits.

He glanced around, just in time to see a column of flame explode from the thin man's hands, slam into Orsin's chest, and send the deva careening backward across the length of the courtyard, where he crashed into a wall and sagged to the ground. His chest smoked as he struggled to rise. Another spined devil sprinted into the courtyard and charged him.

"Orsin!" Gerak and Vasen called as one.

Gerak's hands were a blur, firing again and again, as he backed toward the wall His bow and one of the devils charging him fell in a tumble, but the second shot went wide and he fumbled his sword free as the devil closed and slashed with tooth and claw.

Behind Vasen, the thin man opened the double doors of the abbey. Vasen cursed, torn between aiding his friend and pursuing. Before he could decide, the huge warrior loomed before him, roaring, and unleashed a flurry of blows that drove Vasen backward and prevented him from doing anything other than keeping sharp metal away from his flesh.

"Shoot him, Gerak!" Vasen called. "The other one! Shoot him!"

But Gerak was pressed against the wall, stabbing and slashing with his blade at two devils.

Anger flared in Vasen. Shadows whirled around his flesh. He channeled all the power he could into both blade and shield, causing both to glow, and lunged at Sayeed, loosing his own flurry of strikes, stabs, and slashes. The ferocity of the attack drove the larger man backward, toward the double doors, and the power infusing Vasen's weapons gave his strikes the force needed to knock Sayeed's shield and blade out wide, exposing his chest. Vasen put a straight kick into the larger man's torso, staggering him, then drove the glowing line of his blade to its hilt in Sayeed's chest.

He went nose to nose with Sayeed, whose mouth was filling with blood.

"We just want the Oracle," Sayeed gasped. "We need the son of Erevis Cale."

Shadows swirled around Vasen, around Sayeed.

"You've found him," Vasen said. "Know that as you die."

Sayeed's dead eyes widened with surprise and his mouth split in a bloody smile. He laughed, spraying Vasen with blood, and fell to his knees. He closed his hands around the hilt of Vasen's sword.

A pained shout pulled Vasen around. He tried to jerk his blade free as he turned, but Sayeed held it in a death grip.

A spined devil had Gerak pinned up against the wall. The devil lunged at him, but Gerak sidestepped the attack and slashed down with his blade. The weapon bit and sent several spines flying. The devil squealed, more with anger than pain, and not before catching Gerak's side with a claw that came away bloody. Gerak backed off, wide-eyed, his breath coming hard.

Orsin had regained his feet, and clouds of shadow clung to his fists and the ends of his staff as he battled with a spined devil. His weapon hummed, trailing a line of shadows.

Vasen turned, kicked Sayeed flat, put his foot on the man's abdomen, and tried once more to pull his blade free. Still it would not come loose. He cursed and left it.

Slipping out of the straps of his shield, he rushed toward Gerak, shouting the name of Amaunator as he ran, putting the power of his faith into his shield. The devil whirled as Vasen neared, and Gerak took the opportunity to stab it in the hindquarters. The creature snarled and loosed a handful of flaming spines that pierced Gerak's face and chest, sent him stumbling back against the wall, shouting with pain and frantically trying to pluck the flaming projectiles from his flesh.

Vasen held the shield with both hand, the metal and wood warm in his grasp. The devil leaped at him, jaws wide, and Vasen slammed the edge of the shield down on its neck before it reached him. The blow drove the devil flat into the earth, cracking bones, and the power infusing the shield poured out into the creature. It screamed, spasmed, and died. Vasen grabbed the now-dim shield and hurled it to Gerak.

"Take it!" he said. "You know how to use it?"

"I was a soldier," Gerak said, catching the shield. He was bleeding from his face. "What're you doing?"

"Going after the other one."

Gerak looked past Vasen, over his shoulder. "We haven't even gotten the first one."

Vasen turned to see Sayeed-inexplicably, impossibly-back on his feet. Vasen's blade stuck out his chest and back like a pennon. Sayeed stared at them, grinned, and slowly extracted Vasen's weapon in a gout of blood. The moment the weapon cleared his skin, the bleeding stopped.

"Gods," Gerak said.

"I have to go help the Oracle," Vasen called to his friends.

"Go," Gerak said.

"Go," Orsin said, pummeling a nearly dead spined devil with fists that dripped with dark energy. "We'll follow."

That was all Vasen needed. He sprinted for the double doors. As he did, he heard a hiss and thunk as Gerak put an arrow into Sayeed. The big man roared and fell to his knees.

Vasen leaped onto the portico and barreled into the side door. It burst open and he cut left, sliding to a stop and cursing.

A wall of fire blocked the hallway from floor to ceiling, the flames licking hungrily at everything within reach. Vasen felt the hair of his beard and eyebrows melt. He scrambled backward, blinking in the heat. The thin man must have conjured the wall of flames to prevent pursuit. Vasen did not hesitate. He covered his face with his hands and charged through the flames. Skin blistered and hair burned, but his armor protected him against the worst of it. Ignoring the pain of his charred skin, he stripped off his burning cloak and beat out the flames on his trousers and tunic.

The skin of his face felt raw, blistered. He would have channeled the light of his faith into healing energy, but he was without a focus-no holy symbol at this throat, no shield emblazoned with Amaunator's rose, no sword with his god's symbol cast into the hilt.

He drew a dagger and ran through the abbey's halls, speeding past the meditation cells, the storerooms, the library and study rooms, the stairway that led to the lower level.

He knew the thin man was heading toward the Saint's Shrine in the eastern tower. Vasen could cut through the central worship hall and cut him off before he got to the eastern stairs.

He shouldered his way through the double doors that led into the main worship hall, running too fast to hear the noise until he'd entered.

Chapter Eleven.

Drawn by the sound of the combat, devils swarmed into the courtyard, a roiling wave of spines, teeth, claws, and savagery.

"Shield me," Gerak said to Orsin, who'd moved to Gerak's side. The deva used Vasen's shield to protect them both as best he could.

Gerak fired rapidly, answering volleys of flaming spines with shot after shot from his bow. He shot Sayeed a few more times, too, keeping the big man on his knees, although he stubbornly refused to die.

Soon Vasen's shield was quivering with dozens of flaming spikes, while six spined devils and the seemingly unkillable giant had arrows sticking from their hides. The wounded fiends pelted wide around the courtyard, perhaps intending to come at them from both sides at once. Meanwhile, the huge man pulled Gerak's arrows from his chest, rose, and strode toward them.

"Gods," Gerak said. "Bastard won't stay down."

"We need to go!" Orsin said.

Sayeed shouted and charged.

Gerak double-nocked his bow draw and took aim at Sayeed. "Let's see how you like two."

He let fly and both arrows hit Sayeed squarely in the side. The impact knocked him down and he spun to the ground, shouting with rage. He sat up immediately, growling as he pulled the arrows clear of flesh and bone.

Two devils charged at Orsin and Gerak from either side. Orsin's staff hummed as he spun it overhead. Orsin ducked under a devil's leap and it slammed headlong into the stone wall. Bones crunched and the creature squealed. Orsin stomped on its head as he swung his staff at a second one leaping for Gerak. He hit it squarely in the side, and the impact sent it sprawling into the earth. Gerak put two arrows in its side and it rose on wobbly legs, snarled once, then collapsed.

Another hail of flaming spines hissed into the area, peppering their flesh. At least three caught Orsin and two hit Gerak in his chest. Gerak pulled them out before they burned his cloak, searing his fingers in the process.

"Aye," Gerak said. "We need to go."

"That way," Orsin said, nodding at the arch behind them, the one through which they'd entered the courtyard. Orsin reached into his belt pouch for something as they ran. A volley of flaming spikes whistled after them. At least one of them hit Gerak's side and stuck there, but Orsin pulled it out as they sprinted.

"Keep going," Orsin said. "Keep going."

The deva held a glass flask filled with a dark fluid. Flaming spikes flew all around them. The growls and tread of the devils sounded loud in their ears. Sayeed shouted challenges as he, too, gave chase.

Orsin threw the flask on the ground in front of them and smashed it with his staff as they ran by. A cloud of darkness exploded outward from it, so deep and inky that Gerak could not see his hand before his nose. A hand closed on his arm and pulled him along.

"It will only slow them!" the deva said. "Keep moving!"

Twenty paces later he and Orsin burst through the edge of the magical darkness.