Three days after the Last Rebel's dissolution, as Selena and Dante prepared to leave the scattered remnants of his camp and return to check on Ashborne, they felt a presence approaching through the wastelands. Not hostile exactly, but undeniably powerful, carrying the familiar wrongness of marrow essence that should no longer exist.
The child-king emerged from the ash dunes, but he was transformed from when they had last seen him. His translucent form was deteriorating rapidly, the marrow bones visible beneath his skin fragmenting like the Last Rebel had described. He walked with difficulty, each step seeming to cost him tremendous effort, and the dark crown that had sat so confidently on his head was flickering, threatening to dissolve entirely.
