CONTENT WARNING:
This chapter contains explicit descriptions of graphic violence, gore, and body horror. It is intended for mature audiences only (21+). Reader discretion is strongly advised.
The heavy, doors groan under the strain as they finally swing inward, signaling the return of the contingent. After a period of agonizing silence that hung in the chamber like poisonous gas, the guards shamble back. There is no triumph in their step, only a hollowed, broken cadence.
At their head, the Captain stumbles forward, his armor clattering in a way that suggests the man inside has completely collapsed.
He hits the stone floor before Evangeline with a sickening, heavy thud, his knees cracking against the cold marble as he descends into a deep, shaking kowtow.
Evangeline leans back on her obsidian throne, her fingernails tapping a predatory rhythm on the stone armrest. Her voice, when it comes, is a serrated edge slicing through the stagnant air.
