Chapter 45

Dianna struggles with her resolve to act alone, hearing echoes of Gabby, Neverra, and Samkiel warning she cannot do everything herself. Facing Tobias’s crowned-serpent form, she remembers Samkiel’s training: every creature has a weakness, even gods, and scaled beasts often expose softer undersides at points of movement.

Flashing back to a session at Drake’s, Samkiel shows Dianna his throat scar to illustrate vulnerability, teaching her to look for soft points such as eyes or bending plates. Snapped back to the fight, Dianna studies Tobias and spots an orange glow beneath his armored scales—a likely weak spot—just as he prepares another charge in the cramped factory.

As Tobias barrels through the ruin, undead descend. Dianna cuts down two winged corpses, while Logan and Neverra fight in seamless tandem, carving through the reanimated with practiced coordination. Tobias vows to hold them until Kaden returns and to make them watch as the celestials are butchered, tightening the time pressure.

Dianna forms a risky plan that requires enraging Tobias, so she taunts him by mocking Alistair’s weakness. Tobias takes the bait and lunges, mouth open. Banking on his exposed underside to align with the orange glow, Dianna leaps toward her target.

The attack fails to land. Tobias engulfs Dianna in a single swallow, cutting her off from Logan and Neverra and leaving her isolated inside the serpent as the battle rages on.