As Cassie reached the third floor of the Ebony Tower — the floor where Nether's workshop had been — the windows suddenly exploded into a hurricane of crystal fragments, and a swarm of black crows poured inside like a torrent of hungry darkness.
The crows surrounded her in a deafening choir of cries, a myriad of sharp talons and cruel beaks tearing at her face and sinking into her body, making her bleed.
Cassie raised a hand to protect her eye and let out a short cry, staggering toward the wall and slamming into it at full speed.
'Wake of Ruin...'
The swarm of crows barred her path, cutting off her only path to salvation.
Looking at the stairs leading to the fourth floor, Cassie gritted her teeth and readied her dagger.
Her exhausted voice sounded hoarse when she spoke, her tone full of dark determination:
"Out of my way, Cor. I... don't have time for mercy today."
The crows did not listen.
***
