Bounded by shadows

had fused with her skin. The march had been endless, the cobbled stree

h cold, detached eyes. She stumbled. A hand fisted in her tangled hair yanked her upright before she could collaps

suffering from the mome

sneered, his boot slamming into he

heek. The square loomed ahead, a towering monument of suffering, whe

rn flesh. A whip cracked in the air, the first lash searing across her back. The crowd roared. The second blow came, and the

e. A shadow moved at the edge of the square. Something ancie

ts. The crowd had quieted, sensing something shifting in the air. The torches flickered, t

oling beneath her in a dark, glistening halo. Then, the sound. A deep, guttural growl that didn't belong to any man. The executioners hes

rward, his crimson robes bi

laimed, his voice steady, though his eyes darte

ith an unnatural grace. It did not belong to this world. The executioners scrambled back, their bravado faltering. She tried to lift her head, but her strength was failing. And

wing. Her cracked lips parted, but no words came. A single claw traced her jawline, t

marked her. A searing heat, a brand burned into her skin, i

someone whisp

ghed nothing. The last thing she saw before the world blurred into darkness was the faces o

d to someth