Hajin coughed, and thick blood spilled over his lips before running down his chin.
The black needle remained lodged through his torso as if the worm had pinned a specimen for display.
Its point protruded from beneath his ribs while the length behind him held his body at an angle above the sand.
Each breath became a fresh drag of barbed metal through tissue already flooding with blood.
Pain arrived several heartbeats after the wound, delayed by the shock of seeing his own blood.
It spread through his chest with white heat and turned every attempt to breathe into a shallow struggle.
'Of course the thing was never actually finished at all.'
Hajin stared at the blood dropping from the needle in thin lines.
'I saw it go still and let my guard down like an amateur.'
His Divine Eye had warned him about countless hidden threats, yet no gift could compensate for the instant he decided a beaten enemy was harmless.
