This was going to be fun.
They circled, exchanging blows again. He moved with brute strength; she moved with a dancer's grace. With every attack, her strikes chipped away at him, prodding his defenses, mapping out the places he’d eventually fail.
She could already see the final opening. The stumble. Her sword finding its way home.
A smile touched her lips.
Striking again, she forced him back, drinking in his desperation.
He knew he was going to lose.
Almost there. Her insides tightened at how his eternal life would flee, searching for a new home when she carved his heart from his chest.
“Keep that foul blade from me!” He stumbled, trying to retreat. “You’ll take my life and my power but not my soul,demon!”
He hurled his weapon down between them, the blade sinking into the earth with a dull thud. Then, without hesitation, he drew out a long butcher knife from his belt.
Rynna lowered her stance, teeth bared, ready for the last mad charge of a man with nothing left to lose. But he didn’t come at her. Instead, one hand braced against the ground to keep himself from falling. The other drove the blade into his own chest, straight through flesh and bone.
The knife bit deep, carving past muscle with a wet, tearing sound. Air caught behind gritted teeth, then burst free in a broken gasp as he dragged the blade sideways. Sawing through cartilage with brutal resolve, blood poured over his hands, hot and fast, pooling at his knees.
Rynna’s jaw dropped.
He tore out his own heart, and, with the last of his strength, he threw it right at her.
What?she thought, raising a hand on reflex.
It landed warm in her palm, pulsing weakly. Mesmerized, she brought it to her lips, leaving a kiss to the steaming flesh—one final taste to seal it—as his knees buckled and he collapsed, eyes wide and empty.
She exhaled, and a shimmer of pressure rolled over the ground, raising gooseflesh along her arms. Static crawled over her skin, snapping at her fingertips and dancing up her spine like lightning.
TheDevouringhad begun.
Every ounce of power and wisdom the giant had accumulated across his unending life, and every immortal he'd claimed for himself, was building into a storm that now swirled directly overhead. Eyes closed, Rynna raised her arms, welcoming the small chance to be anybody other than herself for even just a moment.
The gale answered. Lightning crashed into her, and she was suddenly flooded with the giant’s power and memories. Lifetimes flashed before her eyes like a whirlpool draggingher to its center—a sturdy woman, black-haired and bosomed, cradling a child close to her chest.
Stars above.Rynna’s whole body swelled with peace and a fierce sense of belonging.Is this love?
Then, just as suddenly, the moment shattered. The woman and the serenity she offered vanished, leaving only the searing bolt of electricity splitting through her.
Her legs gave out as the surge rolled her, driving her to her knees. Dust clung to sweat as she dragged in breath after breath, lungs heaving for something solid, something clean.
Eventually, she let herself tip back, rolling onto the ground. Gravel burrowed into the back of her head as she stared up at the sky, images of the woman and her child flashing in her mind on repeat.
How could something so beautiful exist in a world such as this?The thought rose before she shoved it aside.
When she opened her eyes again, the Horsemen stood over her in a loose circle, the flicker of firelight catching on their skin, their leathers, their grins. Their pants were tight. There was no mystery as to what the Devouring had stirred in each of them.
“Back off, you godsdamned perverts.” She groaned and threw an arm over her face. “Let me enjoy the afterglow in peace.”
They laughed low among themselves, clapping shoulders and muttering praise, while Rynna lay sprawled in the dirt. Her pulse still thudded in her ears like the final beat of a war drum.
Malekar and Kaelric stepped around her, making their way to the fallen giant. The body lay crumpled, limbs heavy and slack, blood cooling around it. Brow furrowed, Kaelric studied the ragged wound in the man’s chest.
“Why’d he take his own heart?” He reached to his own chest as he grimaced. “Horrible way to go.”
Malekar remained silent, still as stone, eyes fixed on the body like it might move again.
