As Tal slowly slides his head through the jagged opening, his magical goggles cut through the impenetrable dark outside. The world beyond the shattered window is a void of black, but his enchanted vision reveals grim details: Bloody fingerprints smear the window’s frame, mingling with shards of glass clinging precariously to the ledge. Below, in the snow, a body lies crumpled—a young woman; an animal trainer from up north. Bundled in layers meant to defy the bitter cold, she now lies motionless. A single, wide slash cuts across her throat, a wound that looks entirely consistent with Tal’s poisoned dagger. Thick, dark blood pools around her, slowly soaking into the snow. Her eyes, once bright, now flicker and fade, their final spark extinguished in the relentless darkness.
Before Tal could do anything (such as make his way down and inspect her neck for traces of his own poison), a monstrous silhouette shatters the eerie stillness. The creature—the very embodiment of the void—rushes forward with terrifying speed. It looms over the fallen trainer, its skeletal form draped in swirling purple void energy. In a horrifying, almost ritualistic motion, it draws near and drapes itself over her limp body. With a predatory precision, it reaches out with a gnarled, bony appendage and plucks her eyes from their sockets. As if absorbing their lingering light, the creature's body begins to stain hers with a sickly violet ichor. In that final, ghastly moment, the void creature dissolves back into the darkness, leaving behind nothing but the memory of its vile presence—and a silence that screams of lost life and unspeakable horrors.
Raelyn has been killed.
Before Tal could do anything (such as make his way down and inspect her neck for traces of his own poison), a monstrous silhouette shatters the eerie stillness. The creature—the very embodiment of the void—rushes forward with terrifying speed. It looms over the fallen trainer, its skeletal form draped in swirling purple void energy. In a horrifying, almost ritualistic motion, it draws near and drapes itself over her limp body. With a predatory precision, it reaches out with a gnarled, bony appendage and plucks her eyes from their sockets. As if absorbing their lingering light, the creature's body begins to stain hers with a sickly violet ichor. In that final, ghastly moment, the void creature dissolves back into the darkness, leaving behind nothing but the memory of its vile presence—and a silence that screams of lost life and unspeakable horrors.
