[ …continued
Jasper watched, frozen.
The shadow did not strike.
It circled.
Roanoke's form bled into the air like smoke…like a tide of black crawling through sand and water alike. The ichor hissed and seethed as he moved, tendrils dragging across the shoreline, hemming Jasper in.
Each step was deliberate…slow…like a predator savoring the fear in its prey before the bite.
Jasper's erratic blue flames twitched and sputtered, throwing nervous sparks that fizzled too quickly against the night. His little boots scraped back in the sand, but every retreat brought him closer to the water's edge, closer to that stinking, writhing sea.
The whispers returned.
Soft at first. Almost kind.
"…little flame… come to us, sweet little baby…"
Jasper whimpered, hugging himself tighter.
"I am not a fool. I am not! You are the fool… for scaring me! Mama says only cowards hide in the dark!"
