The sound of the weapon entering the body was startling.
She'd killed dozens--hundreds before...but it was always surrounded by the clangor of battle. Shouts or screams or other noises. But in the throne chamber of the Garlean emperor, there was no such interruption. The room was dead silent, and so the thunk of her blade's weight, the wet, ichorous sound of flesh parting, the grunt and soft exhalation of a final breath...It all came to her ears clearly. Each sound as dull and loud and prominent and measured as footfalls in the snow of a quiet forest.
Now, it was quiet.
She stepped backwards, releasing the haft of the greatsword with a grunt of effort as her fingers had become frozen to the grip. Her chest heaved inside of her black armor, sweat running down her face and pooling at the gorget of the breastplate.
It was unheard of. A battle that would probably become the stuff of legend. An entire empire, felled by the blade of one woman....but all she could think of was her husband. And all she could see was disgust and horror in his face.
Steel crumpled to her knees, the sabatons clanking against the throne room floor, as she doubled over and wept.
She'd killed dozens--hundreds before...but it was always surrounded by the clangor of battle. Shouts or screams or other noises. But in the throne chamber of the Garlean emperor, there was no such interruption. The room was dead silent, and so the thunk of her blade's weight, the wet, ichorous sound of flesh parting, the grunt and soft exhalation of a final breath...It all came to her ears clearly. Each sound as dull and loud and prominent and measured as footfalls in the snow of a quiet forest.
Now, it was quiet.
She stepped backwards, releasing the haft of the greatsword with a grunt of effort as her fingers had become frozen to the grip. Her chest heaved inside of her black armor, sweat running down her face and pooling at the gorget of the breastplate.
It was unheard of. A battle that would probably become the stuff of legend. An entire empire, felled by the blade of one woman....but all she could think of was her husband. And all she could see was disgust and horror in his face.
Steel crumpled to her knees, the sabatons clanking against the throne room floor, as she doubled over and wept.
