Chapter 410: Fight like a girl
ALDRIC
She made a sound that ca out wet and broken, sothing that barely resembled anything human.
Her hands flew to her throat as she pressed hard against the torn flesh, trying to force it closed even though the damage had already gone too far.
The blood did not slow.
It pushed through her fingers in heavy streams and kept spilling no matter how tightly she pressed.
She tried to get up, her body jerking forward as her legs strained against the ground, but whatever strength she had left was fading too quickly to hold her up.
She was not healing fast enough.
I straightened and looked around until sothing caught my eye.
A large stone sat half buried in the dirt, its edge rough where the earth had held it in place.
I walked over and pulled it free, then tested the weight in my hands as it settled, heavy and solid, more than enough to finish this.
When I turned back, she was still moving.
She dragged herself forward with shaking arms, each inch gained with effort as blood marked her path behind her.
I walked up behind her and raised the stone, then brought it down hard across her back.
The sound ca sharp and imdiate as bone gave way under the impact.
She tried to scream, but it broke apart into a strained rasp that never fully ford.
Her body went slack after that, her arms collapsing beneath her as the last of her strength gave out.
I let the stone drop beside her, then reached down and grabbed her shoulder before turning her over onto her back.
Her eyes found mine at once.
They were wide with fear, fully aware now of what was coming.
Her mouth opened, and blood bubbled up as she struggled to speak.
"Papa," she whispered, the word thin and broken as it slipped through what remained of her voice.
"Please."
I picked up the stone again and lifted it above my head, holding it there for a brief mont as everything around us seed to still.
Then I brought it down.
The impact crushed through her skull with a final, sickening force, and the bone gave way as blood burst outward and spread across my hands and the ground beneath her.
Her body jerked once, then went completely still.
I stood there for a mont as my breathing ca hard and uneven, my chest rising and falling while the aftermath settled around .
Blood covered my hands and stretched up my arms, staining my chest in dark streaks that had not yet begun to dry.
I looked down at her, or at what was left of her, and even though I knew exactly who lay there, the face no longer resembled anything I could recognize.
Bone had given way beneath the force, and flesh had torn where it should have held.
I released the stone.
It slipped from my grip and hit the ground beside her head with a dull, final sound that seed louder than it should have been.
I crouched as the stillness settled in, forcing myself to act before anything else could take root. There were trees a short distance away, thick enough to break the line of sight from the open clearing, and I moved toward them before hesitation could catch up with .
I dragged her by the arm and took the stone as well.
Her body resisted at first, catching against the ground, then gave way as I pulled harder, leaving a dark trail behind that I imdiately regretted. I stopped, looked at it, then shifted course, choosing a path where the earth was softer and the marks would not hold as clearly.
It took longer than I wanted.
By the ti I reached the trees, my breathing had deepened again, though not from effort alone. I let go of her and stood still for a second, listening, making sure there was nothing but the quiet of the night around .
Then I went back for the leaves.
Dry ones lay scattered beneath the trees, brittle and light, and I gathered them in armfuls before dropping them over her body, covering her from head to toe until the shape beneath began to blur. It was not enough, so I added more, pulling from nearby patches, breaking branches, dragging whatever I could find until she disappeared beneath it.
Even then, I did not stop.
I crouched again and scooped up loose earth, mixing it with sand where I could find it, then spread it over the darker patches of ground, working it in with my hands until the blood lost its shine and sank into sothing dull and indistinct.
I moved outward from where she had fallen, covering the trail as best as I could, saring, breaking, blending until there was no clear line left to follow.
The stone slipped from my hand again and landed beside the disturbed earth with a dull, final sound that seed louder than it should have been.
Only when I was done did I step back.
My chest tightened again, and my breathing faltered in a way that had nothing to do with the fight, nothing to do with the effort it had taken to end her.
This was sothing else.
Sothing I refused to examine too closely.
I lowered my gaze to my hands.
Gabriel’s hands.
They were soaked through, stained with blood that had not yet cooled.
Her blood.
My daughter’s blood.
For a mont, I did nothing but stand there with that realization pressing in, threatening to take shape in a way I did not want to allow.
Then I forced myself to breathe.
Forced myself to think.
Forced myself to move past it before it could beco sothing I would not be able to control.
She had made her choice.
She had chosen them.
She had chosen to stand against , and worse, she had been ready to expose everything I had worked for.
I had done what was necessary.
That was the truth I held onto.
That was the only version of this I would allow to exist.
I had no choice.
I turned away from the body and began to walk, leaving her where she lay as I moved toward the forest and the path that still remained ahead of .
I found the shirt and tucked it beneath my arm, happy that it was sohow untouched by everything that had just happened.
It was what I needed the most right now.
Elara had been collateral.
Necessary.
Unavoidable.
I did not slow.
The forest rose ahead, dark and silent as it waited, its shadows stretching outward as though inviting
back into sothing deeper and less forgiving.
I stepped into it without turning around.
I kept moving.
Each step carried
further into the dark, away from what I had left behind and toward what still mattered.
Toward the witch.
Toward revenge.
Toward everything I had fought for, no matter what it had cost
to get here.
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