Crimson candles glowed ominously in the chamber as they littered the darkness like malevolent stars.
There was great silence and stillness within.
And yet that silence was broken by the sound of space shifting, as the figures of Krael and Adler appeared—Adler holding the girl, her body trembling from exposure, her bones bare to the world. They seemed to scream from inside her flesh, as graying ichor bubbled over her skin like corrosive venom.
Adler suspended the girl in the air using his control over reality so that she would not be harmed by his touch, and that seemed to bring her great relief, for her shuddering lessened.
The Count watched the girl tremble, and somewhere deep in his heart, there was a pain—for her suffering, for her beaten and broken body barely clinging to life—a pain he did not recognize, a hollow ache.
While Krael did not notice it, others noticed more.
