Wordcount: 1110 words
Accomplished: the transformation of an ally, and the death of a king (yaaaay! I’ve been looking forward to killing off Marathey)
Excerpt:
Around them, the dead rose to their feet, mouths gapping open in horror. Some of them shuffled into place behind them, surrounding them. The stench was unbearable, and Ceris swallowed her gorge, willing herself not to vomit.
We are going to die here, Ceris thought. We have to—
She couldn’t move. Ithemis was screaming, almost drowning out the wet rustle of the dead dragging themselves upward around them. Nonhle was next to her now, and she clutched for her hand, squeezing hard. Jaye had stepped up on Ceris’s other side. She laid a hand on his arm, and felt him trembling hard as he stared at Kerrith.
Marathey was staring at Idris still, unable to tear his eyes away from her face. “What promise?”
“Just this,” Idris said. She reached down and stroked the fur between Kerrith’s ears. The glow from her hand flashed and spread over the rethi. Kerrith stood, the fur over her whole body bristling. “Clear the way.”
Kerrith threw her head back and laughed, the sound echoing off the walls of the chamber, and she began to change.
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