[Third POV - General]
The Grave Choir Thrall convulsed.
Its mouths opened wider and the tones climbed into a piercing scream. It was no longer layered bells. It was a sustained note, impossibly high, slicing through the chamber.
Kyren staggered half a step, eyes narrowing. Astrae pressed a hand to her temple.
Theo's body arched violently against the stone, fingers clawing at nothing. A thin line of blood slipped from his nose.
"End it," Astrae rasped, forcing herself upright. "Now! Or he will not come back."
Kyren's expression lost all trace of playfulness.
The Thrall pulsed, its bodies swelling and shrinking like a single breathing organism. The mouths trembled and the scream intensified. Old voices slipped into the sound now. Whispered words layered inside the tone.
Theo's own voice.
Screaming.
Dying.
Again and again.
Kyren's jaw tightened.
"This is enough."
He moved.
