CRACK.
Aisling's hands came off the spear. Both arms dropped to her sides, and she stood like that for one full second — upright, held in place — and then Vespera's hand came back.
The spear fell.
Aisling followed it.
Vespera stood over her with the heart in her hand and blood running down her wrist and off her elbow, darkening the red carpet black.
"No—"
The word ripped out of Marcus, and it did not sound like a command.
Vespera raised the heart above her face and opened her mouth and let the blood fall. She held it there for a long moment. Then she lowered the heart, looked at Marcus, and bit into it while she held his eyes.
[AISLING BYRNE — EMERALD SPIRE — S-RANK] [LEVEL: 52] [STATUS: DEAD]
[VESPERA — HEART OFFERING: TRIGGERED] [HP RECOVERY: ACTIVATED] [VESPERA — HP: 1,588,100 / 1,900,000 → 1,744,100 / 1,900,000]
Finn stopped moving.
