The staff flared once again. It lurched forward, dragging its user behind it, like dead weight.
Sonder didn't know how much of her magic remained, but it had to be enough.
When she stood before him, the shard lashed at her.
A sudden surge slammed into her chest and poured into her mind.
A command and hunger: to destroy. She felt it once before, but it wasn't her way.
She staggered, swallowing it back. But the darkness and pressure pressed into her thoughts, whispering like a thousand serpents slithering under her skin.
Her fingers twitched around her sword hilt.
She could end everything right now. She could-
No.
The light in her sword flickered, nearly smothered.
It was just the influence of the shards, working in concert to save themselves, or use someone else; to get her under their command.
Her arms trembled with effort, she reached forward instead of striking. She seized the staff with both hands. The brother clung to it with a whimpering strength born of terror, but she pulled it free.
There was a shriek, of man and something that wasn't living; a soundless cry in her mind.
The brother collapsed against her.
His weight felt like bones beneath parchment; nothing more than a shambling corpse with missing pieces, half melted away already. He sagged into her arms, face pressed to her shoulder. He smelled of dust and fear and a life that had slipped away long before his body realized.
He looked up at her, just once.
There was no monster in his eyes. Only relief.
His features softened. Sonder embraced him.
His arms were strong for a moment, and then they loosened. Then gave way.
He unraveled like a sculpture of ash collapsing into itself, his essence dissolving in the warmth of her embrace.
His final exhale was not a howl, not a roar. Just a sigh, and he was gone.
Sonder lowered what remained gently to the ground; nothing but remnants of clothing and a shape that used to be someone. Slowly, even those collapsed into ash.
The shard on the staff, ripped from its host, pulsed frantically in her grip, alive with malice.
She stared at it.
It stared back. Somehow. Her sword-light dimmed, wearied. But she was not.
She took the shard and with all her might, she ripped it from the staff.
All the power it had, all the darkness and malice, vanished in an instant.
The bloodhound woman stepped forward, staring at the broken fragments and ash on the stone floor.
Tears slipped down her muzzle. Not loud. Not dramatic.
She knew this was coming, but still, she had lost her brother,
Sonder looked at her, and the sword's light finally dimmed into a soft glow.
There was nothing left to fight.