Serene sunlight pierced through the clouds painted like coals. The city began to stir. Azanites of all walks of life were waking to yet another day ruled by the Imperium. The great onyx spire still stood in the center of Aza, a monolith to the Black Sorceress that used them for her own gain. It seemed this would never change. It seemed like this tower of darkness and the terrors therein would forever decide their fates. However, this would be the final day that the Imperium stood over their grim metropolis.
Crowds gathered. Parents hushed their children. Citizens left their homes to gaze upon the display marching through the streets. Having left the Church of the Goddess after a fair amount of drinking, chatting, and sleeping, the forty odd-sum members of the Tyranny Resistance moved with a singular purpose. At the back, the captain’s many soldiers clad in gray coats and armed to the teeth with powerful armaments followed the ones in front. Their leader, Third Captain Fatalinya, full of resolve, eyed the spire towering over them with faultless ire. Beside her was a pale warrior from the north, a tall burly man wearing a suit, a handsome man, an odd man wearing loose clothing, a young girl with strange limbs, two mercenaries, an assassin, and a gloomy girl with long black hair. Their plan to overtake the Imperium and destroy it from the inside had begun.
“Look at them all. They’re so confident. It almost makes me want to pity them.“ Within the Imperium, in the council room, the five officials watched the happenings outside. Zandos, who had cast the spell allowing them to view the oncoming attackers, peered into the magical screen with a gleam in his eye. “Let us show them the foolishness of their actions.“
A deafening alarm blared throughout the city. The Imperium’s siren struck every citizen’s ears without mercy. The alarm itself, and what it meant, sent many into a storm of panic and worry. Like a swarm of man-eating insects, waves of mages began flooding out of the great tower. The Resistance slowed their march as they neared the base of the Imperium. The base was a plaza of sorts, which once held many festivals and peaceful tidings before the Sorceress’s arrival. Now, it stood empty of peace and fun, and seemed to be the perfect battlefield on which the growing conflict would be resolved. Hundreds of mages, floating and on the ground, stood like a wall in front of the opposing faction.
A woman with auburn hair tied into a ponytail and wearing a gray coat stepped out from the crowd of Resistance members. In one swift motion, she unlatched the violet saber from her hip and pointed the blade straight at the building that was the target of their desire. “I am Fatalinya, Third Captain of the Tyranny Resistance! We have deemed your Sorceress and her Imperium to be a scourge upon the city of Aza and its people! This will be our third and final stand against your foul tyranny destroying the lives of all who seek to live freely!“
“Kill them,“ the Archmage ordered. Ilzathk transmitted his command into the mind of every Imperium mage at once. With not one of them flinching at the Archmage’s cruelty, the mages lifted their palms and pointed them at the Resistance. Archaic symbols began to float up from their arms. In just short of a second, the Resistance would be pummeled and dismembered by an unimaginable number of destructive spells. Their forces would be reduced to nothing with virtually no effort, as if they were no more than a fly on a wall. A pest that needed to be exterminated.
But the magic missiles, the blasts of flame, the bolts of lightning; they never came. In front of the Resistance, a woman had appeared out of thin air. She wore a black witch’s hat atop her head and a matching mantle that wrapped tightly around her body. They were adorned with azure accents that glowed the same color as the runes that swirled around her. With her hands extended, she had conjured a mighty transparent wall that shimmered in the sunlight. On the other side, the army of mages cast a torrent of elemental spells at the wall to no avail. The young witch’s ruby red lips curved upward into a half-hearted grin, and her indigo eyes glowed with the same intensity of her magic.
“Damn it, Eloise! Did you really have to wait until the last second!? We could’ve died!“ Fatalinya scolded her savior.
“But you didn’t, did ya? Now, let me work. It takes a lot of concentration to even keep this thing stable.“ Eloise spoke in a matter-of-fact, bratty tone. But the Resistance didn’t care one bit. She had saved all of their lives, and no amount of attitude would dismiss that fact.
The Archmage sat up at the sight of the witch. No emotion shown through his round, astral mask. But beneath it, he grinded his teeth in frustration. “That insolent runt… I never thought I’d see her again.“
“Who’s the brat?“ Venza asked Zandos, not a drop of concern in her soul.
“Eloise. A powerful caster I knew long ago. Before Aza. She and Esternn were my… rivals, so to speak. Never thought she’d stoop so low as to become a merc for a band of idiots.“
The torrent of energy didn’t stop, but neither did Eloise’s wall. Without falter, it absorbed every incoming spell the mages threw at them. Slowly, the army of casters realized how futile their attempts were, and ceased casting entirely.
A crazed laugh erupted from behind the wall. It was the witch who had created it. Eloise was laughing hysterically, her shrill voice cutting into their pride. “Hey Zandos! You should train your lackeys better! If you did, you wouldn’t lose ‘em so easily! Hahaha…“ As her laugh trailed off, a silence overcame the plaza. The wall had been creating an astoundingly loud noise, as if it was folding underneath a titanic amount of pressure. Eloise flicked both of her hands outward, then moved one up to sink the brim of her hat. “Get ready for some fireworks, folks!“
As her concentration on the shield wall faded, it began to warp and undulate violently. It collapsed onto itself, then converged into a ball of chaotic magical energy. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning shot out from the ball and penetrated a mage floating nearby. The ray of electricity instantly scorched and burned through the mage’s throat, killing him outright. His body fell dozens of feet into a crumpled, broken mess on the pavement, like a marionette who’s strings had been cut.
“No… it can’t be. A reversal spell that large? That’s impossible…“ Zandos pondered quietly.
The man wreathed in stars was quickly proven wrong. Every spell absorbed by the wall began to jettison from the orb of swirling elements. One mage was impaled by a massive ice spike that froze his entire body. He too fell to the ground, shattering into a hundred bloody pieces. Another was pummeled by a blast of rock, the sheer shock of the impact breaking his ribs and sending him down to the gathering corpses below. Yet another, despite his attempt to block it, was hit by an excruciatingly hot flame that incinerated his robes and flesh in an instant. One by one, the rapid torrent that once targeted the Resistance now deformed and mutilated its original casters.
Everyone on Eloise's side stared in awe of her arcane abilities. It was a combination of both wonderment and fear of the mad mage that called herself their ally. Though she didn't seem in her right mind, they figured they needed all the help they could get, and thus fully accepted whatever she may do next.
“Seems we are losing mages at an alarming rate. Shall we release our friends downstairs?“ Imagon, the undead wrapped in a silky robe, had turned to Zandos. The pale, shimmering lights that hovered in his orbits wavered like dying flames.
“Let us wait and see what they can really do. Eloise is powerful, there’s no doubt about that. However, the Tyranny Resistance is relying on her strength alone. Without her, they are nothing more than rabble in the street. Ilzathk, order all of the mages to target Eloise and Eloise alone. They should ignore the others.“
“Understood Archmage… relaying order…“
After the magical deluge had finished, just under half of the mages dispensed from the Imperium had perished. Now they lay atop one another in piles across the plaza, their lifeless bodies scorched, blasted, mangled, cut, and torn asunder. The survivors, not saying a word, all turned to Eloise with an untrampled urge to kill. Though their helmets didn’t show the malice they exuded, it was clear they meant to eliminate the Resistance’s trump card.
“Miss Eloise, be careful! They’re focusing solely on you!“ A Resistance member at the front spoke out.
“Don’t you worry, girl. I had expected Zandos’s pride and joy to be far more impressive than this. It’s sad, really. I’ll just mop ‘em up real quick.“
The closest mage, hovering a couple feet from the ground, fired multiple arcane projectiles at the witch. With little effort, the cackling woman dispelled them as if swiping them away with her finger. The mage, realizing Eloise’s imminent rebuttal, drew his sword and flew towards her with surprising speed. He reared back for a slashing strike, and upon contact, he realized he had hit his mark. At least, he thought he did.
Eloise had caught the blade with her bare hands, blood trickling down her wrists. “So weak.“ With a graceful motion, she ripped the weapon from the battlemage’s hands and wielded the sword backwards. She began to wordlessly smash the hilt against his helmet, metal shards violently splintering off of its frame. After one last swing, the helmet was destroyed and split apart into three distinct pieces, each of them falling to the ground with a metallic clank. Eloise looked upon the mage’s revealed face and winced. “Abominations. All of them!“ A monstrous look appeared on her face. It was not the face of a scholarly witch, but a deranged animal. Eloise gripped the sides of the man’s head with her bloodied hands and pushed him down onto his knees. Without another utterance from either of them, an electric conjuration began to emanate from the witch’s fingertips. Lightning left her palms and pierced through the mage’s head in all directions, violet light scattering across his twisting body. “So you do feel pain, at least.“ Torturous seconds passed as the witch electrified the man’s cranium, and after a couple culminating sparks, it suddenly exploded. A bucket of blood, shards of a decimated skull, and bits of brain launched in all directions around Eloise, covering her ashen clothes in a terrifying splatter of red. The mage’s headless, burnt body fell from its crouched position and landed in its own refuse.
“Ahahahaha~ Oh, what fun! Anyone else!? Come and face me, monsters. Come and die by my hand!“
The mages, ignoring attacks made by various Resistance members, drew in close to dogpile her with overwhelming numbers.
Eloise was as calm as ever, the swarm of magic users closing in on her instilling no amount of fear nor anxiety at all. She made her right hand into a fist, and gazed down at strands of runic writing that materialized on her forearm. “Against the sins of man, the chains of Icozen are immovable.“ As she finished intoning the phrase, two openings tore holes in the bloodstained concrete. Two portals, one an auburn orange and the other a midnight blue, ripped reality open to reveal a black void in both.
The mages were upon her now. Their swords burned in various colors, having been enchanted using spells moments before their conclusive charge. The twenty-sum warriors of the Imperium were inches away from cleaving the mad woman into a dozen pieces. It was only a matter of time.
A loud, metallic, grinding sound sprung up from the portals Eloise had summoned. It was the sound of chains. Innumerable chains, grinding and unraveling at an unbelievable pace. Before the mages could dissect Eloise, large obsidian constructs launched out from the two dimensional rifts. The sheer number of them cast a dark, linked shadow across the scarred plaza. They rushed upward like the scorching water of a geyser, then fell to entangle their targets. The chains quickly subdued every mage one by one, wrapping around their arms and torsos. They were completely restrained within such a short amount of time that they had no idea what course of action to take against such a threat.
“There we are. Fatalinya, was it? Have your men kill the trapped mages. I’d rather not expend any more effort on these disgusting vermin.“
Fatalinya was at a loss for words. She knew Eloise the Witch was powerful. She had heard many rumors around Aza that all said the very same thing. It was the sole reason she had hired her in the first place. But she could have never imagined she was at this level. This was far beyond anything she had seen before, not just from casters, but humans and monsters alike. She can’t be human, she thought. If she is, she must have done something unthinkable for this kind of power. It was as if she were witnessing the whims of a god being displayed before her. But she couldn’t let this stun her. She had to give orders, and quickly. Though Eloise had defeated all of the mages the Imperium had thrown at them, she knew there were only more where the others came from. She steeled her resolve once more, and her mind returned to reality. “Tyranny Resistance! Execute the mages!“
The Archmage’s mask flashed with swirling starlight in the gloom of the council room. His fury went unnoticed to everyone but him. Eloise had gotten to him, and that fact only made him more wrathful. A clawing feeling ravaged the core of his being, and a ferocious heat burned in his chest.
“Seems your plan didn’t quite work out, boss.“ Venza eyed Zandos through her shadowed visor. Her wispy cloak seemed to waver with each syllable she uttered.
“Thank you, Venza. I can tell as much.“ Zandos grumbled. “Fine. It seems they… she has forced our hand. Release all of the prisoners except Graves.“
The Tyranny Resistance, having killed all of the mages held by Eloise’s chains, turned their attention to the ominous spire. With the alarm off and the mages sent slaughtered, it stood silently like a towering obelisk.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
In all the commotion, Ceres and her gathered allies could only look upon the chaos before them. The plan they had all put together went nothing like they had envisioned. If anything, it wasn’t their plan at all. The battle had been dictated solely by Eloise and Eloise herself. Ceres averted her eyes from the grim state of their surroundings. Upon seeing Eloise’s massacre, especially after she had executed one by annihilating his brain, Ceres was racked with a crippling nausea. She held back the rising urge to vomit. Grovalt must have felt the same, albeit not as severely, because he cupped his mouth as if to keep something from spilling out. Before this, Ceres had only seen magic being used to heal and fix what was broken. Now, she had seen the darker side of it. The realization that humanity had the potential to cause so much pain and suffering in so little time disgusted her beyond belief. The memories she had of the villagers being torn apart by wolves resurfaced after being pushed to the back of her mind. It was all too much for her in the present moment. Ceres bent over and puked onto the ground, holding her stomach in a tight grip. Lumi and Rook looked away, and Darriel stared at her with his same unchanging expression. Nakir patted and rubbed her back with one hand, and held firmly onto her shoulder with the other.
Zenzi, having been excited to meet someone she idolized, now looked at her with bewilderment. Her vision of Eloise as a smart, sophisticated, elegant witch was shattered and replaced with this blood-drunk monster before her. It didn’t seem like Eloise felt even the slightest pang of guilt or remorse for any living thing at all, human or otherwise.
After a long period of deliberation and silence, the main gate of the Imperium rose with a deep, echoing rumble. Nothing appeared at first, but at last figures could be seen moving out from the umbral passage. While some appeared to be human at a passing glance, it was quickly understood that what the Imperium had sent were not human anymore. The grotesqueries emerged from the shadow of the tower, their forms challenging everything the Ravens and the Resistance had seen before.
A little girl wistfully walked out into the fray. She was the incarnation of the very shadow she had just appeared from. Her entire body, except her eyes, was an inky black void. It was as if she ate all light that attempted to grace her presence. Her eyes, however, were two white circles that hung in the darkness where her face should have been. With a glance, they pierced the profundities of the heart. Floating around her form were hunched, gray-skinned bodies. Their eyes leaked some kind of fluid the same color as the girl they surrounded, and their mouths fell agape, as if trying to convey something. Her eminence sounded in the minds of her foes.
Everyone around me dies.
I must be some kind of curse.
Maybe if I were gone, people would be happier.
“That’s…“ Lumi started to speak, but was lost in the girl’s enigmatic visage.
“Yes. The result of a breakdown that occurred not long ago. Seems they seek to use their prisoners against us.“ Darriel finished Lumi’s thought and cracked his callused knuckles.
Out of the Imperium came another strange being. It resembled a massive hound with rustic fur, except dozens of wretched limbs grew out of its back. Its eyes were dull and faded, as if it were blind. It lumbered out from the dark and stood near the girl. The various jagged arms and legs jutting out from its body seemed to grasp for something. Its eminence stirred the souls of its foes.
All those who I have eaten haunt my dreams.
Every night, I hear their screams raking my mind.
Why must I feast to live when it causes others so much pain?
Why does my happiness only hurt those around me?
Grovalt shuddered at the sight of the creatures. “I heard about that one. Before I came to Aza, I think it destroyed a whole city block. We need to do something. We need to get to the Academy as fast as possible, or this whole city’s doomed.“
“Leave them to us,“ Fatalinya cut in. “Just like the plan, we’ll distract them while you all head for the Academy.“
“You don’t stand a chance-“
“I know that. I told you, didn’t I? No matter the odds, we have to make a stand. If we do nothing, nothing will change. Now go, all of you. Leave them to the Resistance. And remember who covered your asses on the day the Imperium fell.“ Fatalinya winked, and forced a smile. Her body revealed her fear, but her eyes were as fierce as ever.
“Come on, Grovalt. Let’s go.“ Darriel pulled the apprehensive man from the battlefield. The Ravens and the mercenaries left the Resistance and Eloise to the terror ahead. The monsters that the tower had birthed steadily approached their prey.
“Okay. Eloise, we’ll be counting on you.“
Eloise laughed. The blood that caked her face and clothes only accentuated her psychotic tone of voice. “For a price.“
“What?“
“I believe you paid me enough to tackle the Imperium’s mages, right? It’s only fair I’m paid for this too.“
Fatalinya’s fear bloomed, its vines constricting her throat. “No, no. We don’t have any more money!“
“Ah, that’s a shame. Really, it is. I was having a lot of fun. Well, I’ll be going then-“
“Stop! I’ll pay you! I’ll pay you afterwards! Anyway I can! Just, please, help us! Don’t leave us to die.“
Eloise’s skinny figure and young face told Fatalinya that she could be bargained with. Even after seeing what she had done, after seeing the kind of person she really was, she still had hope that this woman had some amount of pity for her and her allies.
Eloise only laughed her horrible laugh. Her cackling only drove the creatures to approach faster. “I’m sorry, girl. Really. Truly. But that’s not gonna cut it. Hope to see you again! But I doubt it~“ A chime rang out from Eloise’s heart, and a white light enveloped her. When it vanished, so too did the mad witch.
Fatalinya’s heart dropped, and her shoulders sank as she turned to look at the faces of her allies. “We’re with you, captain. To the beginning or the end!“ They hadn’t lost the faith they had mustered. They still believed in her. To her, it was unfathomable, but she accepted their faith with open arms. Her spirit reignited somewhat.
“On yer orders, captain.“ Breven appeared at her side, his halberd raised. The kindness Fatalinya had shown him after bandaging the wounds inflicted by Grovalt was a memory he would not forget so easily. “To the beginnin’ or the end.“
The Third Captain of the Tyranny Resistance mustered the last light of hope in her chest. She pointed her sword at the monstrosities nearing them, just as she had done before toward the Imperium. “We will defeat you, fiends! And we will free Aza all the same! To the beginning or the end! Charge!“
The men and women swathed in gray coats ran as hard as they had in their entire lives, focused on the freedom they all fought for. Hope drove them as if it were pushing them from their backsides, giving them the final push they needed to exact their beliefs onto the city they called home.
You should die, too.
The umbral girl’s white eyes met with a Resistance member’s. At the same moment, one of the hunched bodies floating around her fell into a goopy mess on the ground. The Resistance member stopped in his tracks completely. His eyes rolled into the back of his head, and he began convulsing violently. Tar-like liquid began spewing from his every orifice, dripping down his body like a waterfall. His skin turned from a healthy shade to one identical to the floating bodies. Pale and lifeless, he slowly floated upwards and joined the girl’s grim congregation.
“No! You bastard!“ A female member ran towards the girl, her rapier aimed straight at her head. Before it struck her foe, a great maw clamped down on the woman’s upper half, tearing it from her lower body. The many-limbed hound chewed the woman’s bones in its gnarled teeth, then swallowed the half whole. Staggering for a bit, it howled out into the bright blue sky. A new mangled limb grew out of its back with a revolting crunching noise.
No. Fatalinya’s despair had resurfaced at the sight of the deaths. She had failed her comrades, and now they were gone forever. That bitch! She left us with nothing. She left us to die!
“Captain! Snap out of it, will ya?“ Breven brought her out of her stupor once again. “I’ll draw its attention, so you go for its flank! Hit it with everythin’ you got!“
She nodded with a decisive look, though fear for Breven's life clenched her in a tight grip.
The bandaged man wielding a halberd stood against the drooling abomination. He never thought he’d be standing against such an enemy for the woman he admired so. Such a thing a mere week ago would have seemed like a fool’s errand. His rough life in the alleyways and backstreets had taught him to look out for himself and only himself. He wasn’t a hero. Never was, never would be. Even so, life had brought Breven to such a point. For once, he was putting his life on the line for someone he cared about, and that idea was incredibly frightening. It was also incredibly cathartic. After so many years alone, he could finally let go of the dire need to survive. He could focus on someone else for a change, and that brought him some solace, even while facing a foe that could easily tear him to shreds. Gripping his weapon as tightly as he could, Breven stood in front of the beast.
The hound reared back and prepared one of its massive claws to attack. With a low growl, the claw lashed forward.
Ching! Ching!
Breven’s halberd barely held its own against the thunderous claws rushing at him. He managed to deflect them, at least, but he was already losing ground. His body weakened and his stamina drained. Each hit sent an aching reverberation throughout his entire being, shaking his body and bones to their core.
Though she felt a burning desire to help him, Fatalinya didn’t let this opportunity go to waste. Swirling, violet light encircled her and her blade. Her eyes seemed to glow a dark purple for an instant. The light flowed from her chest through her arm, and finally, into her weapon. Her saber glowed more brilliantly than ever before, and as she charged a thrust, hovering visions appeared in front of her. They were echoes of her, portraying a multitude of thrusts at the beast’s belly from a variety of angles. No sooner than they had been conjured, they disappeared, and Fatalinya dashed forward in a veil of nightshade. With what seemed like a single pinpoint strike, dozens of piercing gashes tore the hound’s side open. A flow of blood and human bones seeped out of its gaping wounds.
With a cry, it anguished from the pain, then turned to unleash its fury at the attacker.
Infiltrating thoughts pummeled Fatalinya’s mind, the strain causing her to put one hand up to her forehead. It was pounding.
Just let me eat.
It’s the way of the world, after all.
The strong devour the weak.
As the hound turned around to face Fatalinya, Breven called out to it and heaved a mighty slash into its other side. More blood and bones fell to the ground in a crimson puddle. But the beast ignored him and jumped away from the duo. With its massive claws digging cracks into the ground beneath them, it went for a gathering of Resistance members. They were attempting to make a charge toward the sinister girl meters away, averting their gaze. After a couple more of their friends had fallen to the girl, they had realized the trick to her power.
With their eyes turned wayward to avoid an instant death, the gathering was unaware of the lumbering monster heading their way. Bits of concrete and bloody fur were left in its wake, and with a pouncing lash, one of its front sword-like claws cut a dozen members cleanly in half in one great sweep. Their entrails splayed across the battlefield and their stunned colleagues, painting the ever-reddening plaza in yet another gruesome color.
The battle was nearly over. The Resistance was losing, and bad. Only a couple handfuls of members remained, and those who did were quickly losing their sanity. The placid faces of the people they once shared stories and drank with the night before induced an intense panic. Although, there was hope yet. Not everyone who dared to face the umbral girl was murdered by its protector, and they finally met their mark. With half a dozen thrusts, their rapiers gouged the little girl’s head, unleashing an inky river that covered their feet in seconds.
To the Blissful Sleep, friends.
I’ll see you once more… across the ravine.
The umbral figure melted into nothingness before its killers. They did it. They managed to defeat one of them, at least. It seemed like an impossibility moments before, but through their many sacrifices, they managed to turn the tide somewhat in their favor.
The rustic beast growled with a renewed ferocity. The sight of its defeated ally only seemed to make it angrier. With the same adrenaline-fueled speed it showed previously, it launched at the remnants of that same attack. Exhausted, the Resistance members couldn’t find the will to resist the fate thrust upon them. Like the girl they had all just worked to reduce to nothing, in seconds they too would meet the same horrifying end. Any second now. The beast’s claws scraped along the ground. The sound grew louder and louder. Each powerful paw shook the earth with all the fury the hound felt deep within. Any time now.
But the pain and the death didn’t come. In fact, the sound of the beast charging at them had vanished before they could even register it. They opened their heavy eyelids to see their compatriot, Breven, holding off the beast with an unbelievable strength. The hound snarled, launching all of its weight into its attacks against the lone man. Still, Breven managed to deflect its strikes with unparalleled rigidity.
“The rest of you, go! Get inside before it closes! You too, captain!“
Fatalinya, struggling to maintain her mentality, denied him fervently. “If anyone is to stay and stand against this creature, it’s me! As your captain, it’s my duty to protect all of you while you carry on the mission!“
Breven shook his head. At a closer inspection, some of the hound’s attacks had gotten through his defenses. Red lashes across his chest oozed scarlet liquid and his right leg seemed to be giving out. This was his last stand. It took everything he had to even reply to Fatalinya’s dismissal. He made his wishes clear. “Captain. No… Fatalinya. Thank you. For everything. But please, let me do this. Let me be useful to you this once. Our mission hasn’t even started yet. We need to at least get through the front door, eh?“
Fatalinya felt as if she were balancing on a tightrope suspended hundreds of feet up in the air. With one teetering step, she would decide the balance of her life.
“Just give that bastard Grovalt a kick in the head for me, okay?“ A faint smile graced Breven’s rough face. It was the first time Fatalinya had ever seen him smile since she’d met him just a couple days prior.
She fought back the tears welling in her eyes. “Understood. We’ll see you on the other side.“ With that, the captain of the Resistance and its few remaining members exeunted from the plaza.
Breven watched as their backs disappeared into the darkness of the Imperium. With a coarse, deep breath, he turned to meet the many-limbed hound’s wrathful look. After managing to save someone, anyone, let alone many from it, the beast didn’t seem as horrible as before. If anything, the man only felt pity for the creature. Even as his leg gave out and his body was mauled by razor-sharp fangs, Breven wondered what a world they must live in for a man to become such a thing. For all his wonderment, he met no answer, and his consciousness faded. Breven was gone. A new limb grew out from the hound’s back, joining the many others that grasped for something unseen.