By now Enlil, the Demon King, was nearly twice as large as he had been when he had first appeared. His body had become a grotesque mass, heavily muscled; his fingers had turned to claws; and his skin had gone from white to pink and then to bright red. His face looked more like a lizard's face now than a man's, his nose having reduced itself to a pair of nostrils, and his eyes had turned black and reptilian. Whether this was his true form or whether something had gone wrong with Vex's resurrection spell, Arai could not say, but this larger form, which possessed a great deal more mass, and which seemed capable of even greater speeds, was quickly proving itself to be the most difficult and dangerous opponent they had ever faced.

  Lillandra, who had been battling the monster for the last several minutes, was bleeding from a dozen wounds, including one on her scalp; one whole side of her face was covered in blood. But she was still on her feet, still fighting, still holding up Helene. Odo, wielding his enormous axe, and Maya, with her staff, were charging to her rescue.

  Shell stayed with Arai, who was struggling to regain his feet. "Are you going to be all right?" she asked him.

  He felt his side, which was soaked with blood. The stab wound was painful. "I don't know." He gave her a little grin. "I thought you were dead."

  "I found the cellars," she provided helpfully. "And I used the Griffin's Down to reverse the spell on your friends. But then the whole tower collapsed, and the big guy, Odo, had to dig us out." She paused. "I...explained the situation to them, as best I could."

  "Good girl." He finally managed to make it to his feet. Grimacing, he retrieved Silus and forced himself to stagger forward, to join the others in battle.

  "Where do you think you're going?" Shell demanded.

  "I have to help them."

  "You're hurt."

  "I can still fight," he growled.

  Enlil, roaring, smashed a giant fist into the ground. Odo dove out of its way, quickly righted himself, and swung his axe at the demon's arm. Odo's incredible strength ought to have been more than enough to sever the limb, but the axe merely rebounded off the demon's body. Surprised, and staggered by the back-shock, Odo stumbled back. Enlil, turning, raised his fist and tried to backhand him, but missed -- Maya had grabbed the back of Odo's shirt and pulled him out of its path just in time.

  In that moment while Enlil was occupied with Odo, however, Lillandra managed to step forward and slash his leg with Helene. The demon howled and turned its attention back to her, slashing at her with its claws and forcing her to scramble away from it.

  Arai joined Odo and Maya. "What the hell is this thing?" Odo wondered, still shaken.

  "Enlil," Arai told them. "The Demon King."

  "It's tough."

  "It's a demon," he reiterated. "It's impervious to human weapons. Spells won't hurt it, either. The only thing that can kill it is Lillandra's sword, Helene." He looked at the two of them. "We have to distract it. We have to give her an opening."

  "Whatever you say, boss," Odo said, grinning fiercely.

  Shell pulled her Witch's Dagger out of its sheath. "I can help, too."

  He knew better than to argue with her. "Let's do it, then."

  By now, however, Enlil was no longer relying solely on his size, strength, and ferocity; he was calling upon his demonic powers. The earth shook, and a whirlwind of snow and ice began to rise, making it difficult for them to approach. Lillandra, protected from these demon-magics by Helene, was unaffected by them, but the others were pushed back. Frustrated, Arai shouted to Odo: "We need to get closer!"

  "Hang on," Odo grunted. Arai, Shell, and Maya grabbed hold of him, and he began to fight his way into the wind, step by step, inch by inch, as though he were back at work, pulling a barge up the Tuv. Finally, they broke through, into the eye of the storm. Odo, exhausted by the effort, fell to his knees, while Arai and Shell went on the attack: Shell threw her Witch's Dagger at the demon, and then, for good measure, hit him with a miniature fire spell. Neither attack bothered him in the least, but he did turn to glance at them, annoyed. "Tricks," he snarled, and then he snorted and spat a green fire at them, forcing them dive out of its path.

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  Arai rolled over the snow, doing his best to ignore the screaming pain in his side. He got to his feet right next to Lillandra, who winced when she saw the agony in his face. "You're bleeding."

  "I'm not the only one."

  "How are we going to stop him?"

  Enlil was steadily growing; he stood nearly twenty feet tall now, a mountain of misshapen muscle. He was beginning to look something like a cross between a dragon and a man, with horrible, reptilian features, three sets of eyes, and armored scales. His jaws had elongated as well, and his teeth had sharpened, making him look vaguely crocodilian. "I have an idea." And he explained it to her.

  She nodded reluctantly. "All right. I'll try to get around him. But...are you sure about this? If I can't get high enough--"

  "There's no time to argue," he told her. "Go."

  "I love you," she said.

  "Go!"

  And she went. Arai called out to Odo and Maya: "To me!"

  The two of them joined Arai -- Odo on his right, Maya on his left -- and they faced down the demon together. "Enlil!" Arai shouted, trying to get his attention.

  The Demon King spun around to face him, spitting more green fire and causing the earth to shake with every step he took. Although their weapons couldn't hurt him, they could annoy him; Arai, ducking beneath his raking claws, struck him with Silus, and taunted him to try again, while Odo attacked one of his legs with the axe. It didn't do any damage, but it did cause the monster to try to kick him away, giving Lillandra the precious seconds she needed to slip around him. Maya, meanwhile, batted at him with her staff, until he called up a great wind which lifted her off her feet and sent her tumbling down the snowy hill.

  By now Lillandra -- her face still covered in blood -- had managed to maneuver herself around the demon. She spoke a word to Shell, who gave her a determined nod.

  Enlil, aware of the threat that Lillandra posed, started to turn to face her, but Arai and Odo continued to run interference, shouting at the Demon King over the roar of the wind and attacking him -- ineffectually -- with their weapons. It was like trying to hammer at a brick wall, and they were forced to dodge puddles of bubbling green fire all over the terrain, but they kept at it, forcing the monster to keep its attention on them. A few more moments...a few more seconds...

  "Now!" Lillandra shouted to Shell. The elf girl spread her fingers, releasing the spell she had been calculating -- a levitation spell. Lillandra, clutching Helene, was suddenly launched upwards, twenty feet into the air. Enlil tried to turn, but he wasn't fast enough -- Lillandra, holding the Bright Hope with both hands, slammed the blade into the back of his neck, burying it to the hilt.

  Enlil bellowed and began swinging his head from one side to the other, like a huge, wounded animal. Lillandra tried to keep her grip on Helene, but the Demon King's thrashing threw her off, and she flew into a snowbank. Arai went to her immediately, helping her up, and the two of them watched Enlil try to dislodge the sword stuck in his neck. His arms were too large and muscular, and his body too misshapen, for him to reach back and pluck it out, so he flailed around wildly, all the while black slime oozed forth from the wound. Finally tiring himself out, he fell forward, landing flat on his face, the sword still upright in his neck. He gave one final croak, then went still.

  Lillandra wasn't convinced. She climbed up onto the demon's body, drew the sword out of him, and stabbed him a few more times, to make sure that he was dead. Enlil's body did not immediately disintegrate, like a monster's, but it did decompose much faster than a man's, his flesh boiling away until nothing was left of it but bones and bubbling slime. The whirlwinds that he had called up gradually dissipated as well, and the earth ceased to shake. The Demon King was definitely dead.

  "Is everyone all right?" Arai called to his comrades.

  Odo staggered to his side, as did Maya, who was using her staff to support herself. Neither of them appeared to be seriously injured.

  From the other direction came Lillandra and Shell. Lillandra was fairly covered in blood, just as Arai was, but her wounds seemed to be superficial. Arai was the only one who had been badly hurt, and with Enlil dead, and the danger now passed, he once again fell to his knees, exhausted. All four of them reached out to him, asking him if he was all right, and Maya rolled him over onto his back.

  "I don't...I don't think it's as bad as it looks," he stammered.

  "Let me see," Maya said, bending down to examine the wound.

  Odo, meanwhile, was regarding Lillandra suspiciously. "So you're the Night Queen?" he asked.

  She did not flinch from his gaze. "I was called that, yes."

  "But you're just a kid."

  "She's not what we thought she was," Arai told him. "Not even close." His eyes fell on Lillandra, who had sheathed Helene and was now kneeling beside him, opposite Maya. "I think it's pretty clear now why Maximine chose you," he told her. "I was never the hero of this story, was I? It was you, all along."

  She smiled. "Heroes and villains. You really are naive, aren't you?"

  He smiled back...and then he passed out.