Maeva cursed and drew her daggers as the corpses came clambering out of the walls. This final trap was one none of them had foreseen. "Adara!" she shouted. The dwarf raised a dagger to cut the mage's binds, but Adara's hands were already swathed in flames that sent charred rope falling to the ground.

Maeva grinned. "Tricky."

"It made them feel better."

They spared no more energy for talk as the undead fell upon them. Louis and Theo had clearly fought together since boyhood. Maeva and Adara did not have so many years working together under their belts, but they had learned to work with one another, mostly by staying out of each other's way.

The corpses were slow but numerous. They crumbled into broken bones and dust beneath the heavy crash of metal shields and Fade-summoned stone. Maeva and Louis were already grinning with triumph when the corpse in the sarcophagus finally dragged itself to its feet. A frown pulled at Adara's face as she felt a stirring across the Veil.

"It's a revenant," she called.

Dry, stiff flesh pulled away from black teeth in a grin, and Maeva gaped. The dwarf tossed a dagger that skewered the dead thing through one eye, hoping to put out the demonic light that glowed behind it. The revenant staggered back briefly, but its grin did not falter. It picked up a greatsword from one of the many corpses now littering the room, the metal scraping against the stone floor.

"Don't charge it—" Adara called, but it was too late. Theo and Louis ran for the creature. Louis's shield smashed against the revenant's hips, and Theo swung high, aiming to separate head from shoulders.

The revenant blocked Theo's swing and shoved against Louis's shield with unearthly strength. Louis flew back into the remnants of the wall behind him and groaned. Theo met the demon's next swing, but it was clear that he was outmatched. Perhaps foolishly, he didn't try to break and run.

The room began to feel very hot, and Theo spared a glance for the elven mage who was wreathed entirely in fire. Arms held out, her hair blown back but unburned, the mage met Theo's eyes. "Maeva," she called.

Maeva tackled Theo, knocking the surprised nobleman sideways and away from the revenant just as the massive fireball flew over their heads. The revenant howled in fury as the fire enshrouded it, eating away at ancient flesh and bone until the demon had nothing left to grasp on this side of the Veil.

Its teeth bared in anger, the revenant reached out with a bony hand, pulling the strings of the Fade's power that it still controlled. Adara's heart sank as she recalled the rare ability of revenants to pull their unwilling enemies closer, but there was nothing she could do to avoid the grip of magic that dragged her through the air to be impaled on the end of its long, serrated blade.

It managed to chuckle low in its chest even as the burning flesh melted from its face. Her face pale with pain, Adara met the red glow of its eyes until they finally faded and the creature slipped back into the Fade. Its body crumbled, and Adara crumpled to the ground with the broad blade still buried in her chest.

For a moment, there was nothing but silence.

Maeva pushed away from Theo, coughing and watery-eyed from the heat of the flames. The ends of her hair were singed, but the dwarf didn't care. She ran to her fallen friend, falling to her knees and eyeing Adara with horror. The elf curled around the blade that had completely skewered her, silent tears running down her dirt-streaked face as she struggled to breathe.

"Oh, shit. Oh fuck, damnit, Adara. That was fucking stupid of you. You can heal it, right?"

Adara shook her head once.

"Don't be so damn cynical for once in your life. Theo! Louis! Get the fuck over here and help me," Maeva called over her shoulder, an unfamiliar note of desperation hitching her voice.

Louis knelt gingerly beside her, a hand cradling the ribs that had been cracked during the fight. Theo knelt on her other side, his face as grim and unreadable as ever. "She doesn't have very long," he said quietly.

"Don't say shit like that to me," Maeva snapped, shoving him roughly. Theo didn't react to the shove, and his face softened as he looked down at Adara.

"Thank you. For saving us. I don't know if it matters now, but… I won't forget. You will be remembered." A strangely terrified look crossed the elf's face at that.

Maeva brushed the heel of her hand across her eyes. "Stop saying that bullshit. She's going to be fine. You can't just kill mages like this, right? 'Dara, please. Do the blood thing. You saved me once with that, somehow. Right? Please."

Adara shook her head and grimaced as she struggled to speak. Her gasping breaths were pained and shallow, and they could all hear the horrible whisper of air escaping her chest. Maeva let out an audible sob and brushed hair from her friend's face.

It was to Louis that Adara's eyes flickered, though, as she finally found the strength for words. "What I said… price to be paid." Louis looked confused for a moment, and then with a jolt of alarm he recalled their conversation on the beach.

"You aren't talking sense, sweetheart," Maeva sniffed.

Adara held Louis's gaze, and her eyes were bright with terror. "Run."

Then her eyes closed, and Adara died.