A Reaper’s Fall excerpt:It made sense, Adrien thought with dark humor, that neither road would
A Reaper’s Fallexcerpt:
It made sense, Adrien thought with dark humor, that neither road would be easy. Akinari’s hands on his face made him flinch but he didn’t pull away. Memories of Thistle flashed in his mind, the last person he’d been close to, and it had been months ago now.
So, continue to fight or sever his connection completely. Black magic had always come easily to him. Fire, ice, lightning, the power to create and destroy… he’d loved it since he was a boy. It was something he’d excelled at, been noticed by his teachers in Ul’dah, granting him prestige, knowledge and recognition. At his height, the warnings of Mach rang on deaf ears and when Thistle left, he got desperate.
Arrogant fucking fool.
Malphas had been hollowing him from the inside-out. Corrupting everything he once held so dear. What was once movement and energy, black magic now felt like sludge in his hands. It had been over a year since he’d picked up his staff, trading it long ago for the scythe. What he was so afraid to lose… it was already gone. Long gone and he hadn’t even noticed.
Adrien closed his eyes, feeling tears welling up, his face growing hot with shame. He barely knew the man whose room he’d invaded in the middle of the night, yet here he was breaking apart in front of him.
“I’m so tired.” He whispered. “I-I can’t fight anymore.”
Adrien’s vision went black.
N̵̳̬̈́̈́͑̈́͂̾̄̏̓̚ö̴͇̰̘̘̙̣̳͓́̈̄̀̈́̓͝.̷̛̛̮͇̪̙͕̼̣̥̙͎̘̇͐
Adrien screamed, his eye flashed violet, and he was tipping back in the chair to fall hard against the wall. He scrambled, groaning, a feverish “No no no no *gods NO*” spilling from him before being abruptly cut off. Adrien snapped his head up at Akinari from where he crouched, unnaturally on all fours.
T̸̟̀h̶̢͝ḙ̵̓ ̸̧̃g̷̠͆o̸̮͠d̶̞͒s̶̲͐ ̶̨͗c̸͍̈́a̴͕͝n̶̟͘’̸̣́ť̸̥ ̴̝͂h̷̙͋e̵͚͌l̴̤͋p̴̗̽ ̵̖̅y̵̹̔o̴͈͠ù̷̬ ̵̜̾n̵̟̂ȍ̴͍ẃ̶͙ ̸̖̃b̸̗̐ò̵̲ý̴̢.̷̰̚The creature said.
