The temple doors gave way under Elector's push. He knew that building by heart: the stale smell of cold incense, the rows of half-consumed candles, and the cavernous echo of the empty naves. No one prayed in the pews. No one suspected what awaited above their heads.
He crossed the central nave and took the side service staircase. He climbed the spiral steps at a quick pace. With each step of his boots on the stone, his heart pounded harder against his chest.
He reached the attic. The icy night wind slipped through a loose wooden window. Elector stopped short.
*What will I say to her?* he thought, clenching his jaw. *Will she kill me as soon as she sees me? I should have planned something better.*
He advanced with hesitant steps toward the frame. He stuck his head out. He looked up. The bell tower was not yet visible, but the drop into the void of the square gave him an instant dizzy spell.
He rested his boot on the ledge and climbed onto the tiles. The bronze of the great bell began to gleam under the moonlight. And she was still there.
Elector drew his sword with a rigid hand. He tried to slide forward stealthily, but the weight of his armor betrayed his clumsiness. A row of tiles creaked loudly under his feet.
Lilith turned her neck slowly.
Elector paled. They stared at each other in silence, separated by barely three meters of steep rooftop. Her face showed no emotion.
"What are you doing?" asked Lilith.
Elector puffed out his chest, trying to disguise the trembling of his legs.
"Are you the demon that has been prowling the city?"
Lilith curved her lips into a dry, almost mocking smile.
"Is there any other? Humans always ask obvious things."
Her red eyes lowered toward the steel blade.
"Do you intend to kill me with that?"
Elector clenched his teeth. His fingers creaked on the leather hilt.
"Don't worry," she continued in a listless voice. "If you leave now, nothing will happen to you."
"What do you mean by that? Do you intend to keep destroying the city?"
"The city doesn't matter to me," Lilith ran her fingers over the surface of the tiles where she sat. "Only what's in this building."
"What for? Do you want to replace our god?"
Lilith rolled her eyes in annoyance.
"You bore me. Leave, or you'll fall when I blow this sky-high."
She stood up on the cornice. The wind stirred her long white mane.
"Wait!" shouted Elector, taking a clumsy step forward. "Stop, it's not necessary! If you're only looking for something in there... does that mean you'll leave afterward?"
"Yes," she replied. "I don't have the mood to keep wasting time here. Perhaps I should have done it from the beginning, but like you, I didn't want to be so violent."
In the palm of her hand, a sphere of purple fire began to form. It grew with a constant hiss, illuminating the tiles with a spectral glow. Lilith raised her arm, pointing directly at the temple's dome.
Elector's breath caught. Panic froze his blood.
"Wait, I'll get it for you!" he shouted.
Lilith stopped short. The flame hung suspended in her hand. She fixed her gaze on him, serious.
"Why? Why would you help me?"
Elector lowered his gaze, unable to hold her eyes. He hid part of his face with the collar of his coat.
"Stop... it's all I have left. If you help me, I'll help you."
"I don't need you," Lilith tilted her head. "Don't you see I have much more power than you?"
"Yes, but you yourself said that at first you didn't want to do this. You didn't want to take it by force. With me, you won't have to destroy anything."
Lilith closed her fist. The sphere of purple fire vanished in a curl of black smoke. She placed her hands on her hips.
"Fine. What is it you want?"
Elector clenched his teeth so hard his temples ached. The weight of what he was about to ask closed his throat.
"I want everything to return to normal. For everything to be as it was before."
"As before? Why would you want that? You mean the monarch, the church, and those things?"
"Yes. That's what I want."
Lilith took two steps toward him down the rooftop slope, without losing her balance.
"You don't seem very loyal to your principles. Are you really going to make that contract with me?"
Elector didn't respond. He only trembled beneath his coat.
"Say it!" she demanded, raising her voice.
"Yes," he let out, his voice breaking.
Lilith smiled, showing sharp fangs. Her right hand caught fire with dark flames, crackling in silence, and she extended it toward the soldier.
"What is that?" asked Elector, stepping back a centimeter.
"It's a guarantee for me. If you don't bring me what I want, you will become my servant. Forever."
"What? This is..."
"Too risky? It could be, but it's not so bad. You would be immortal and could be my coachman, for example."
Lilith brought her burning hand close to Elector's chest, forcing him to feel the scorching heat.
"And in return, I commit to bringing your king back to the palace, yes?"