39 Talons
Talons
Erryn stood with her back to Elijah, her sword raised.
“Stop this!” she shouted, her grip trembling as she advanced.
Lereaux kept chanting, clutching a pale stone to his chest, something darker held alongside it.
The stone was familiar, but Elijah couldn’t remember where he had seen it before. He wanted to call out, to tell Erryn this was madness, she couldn’t kill her own father, but a spike of pain tore through his skull. He gasped and collapsed to his knees.
The agony ebbed as quickly as it came, leaving behind a slow, heavy thrum in his veins. Then even that faded.
Shadows bled from the edges of his vision, swallowing the chamber, the torchlight, and the wavering outline of Erryn.
A laugh rippled through the blackness.
Is someone there?
Another laugh. Sharper. Closer.
Claws scraped the inside of his skull. He fought back with everything he had, but there was nothing tangible to cling to, nothing to push his will against.
The talons shredded through him in an instant.
Darkness swallowed everything.
Even his name slipped away—
until there was nothing left of him at all.