"Why aren't they getting back up?"
Kael wiped blood from his mouth. His body hurt everywhere. Each breath felt like swallowing glass. The red runes on his arms were dim now. Flickering like dying candles.
Around him, bodies lay scattered across broken stone. Common Blood and Pure Blood mixed together in death. But something was wrong.
The corrupted nobles should be rising again. Should be healing like before. He'd watched them come back from wounds that would kill normal people. Watched them laugh as their hearts grew back.
But they weren't moving.
Kael limped toward the nearest noble corpse. Lord Vex lay twisted on the ground. His skin looked gray. Ashen. Like old paper left in the sun too long.
His veins were black. Not the healthy black of power. The sick black of rot. And his eyes...
His eyes were sunken. Empty. Like something had burned him out from the inside.
"That's not normal," Jorik said behind him.
