Finally.... finally.... the last thread came free, and she pulled it away from her mother's heart with a sharp, twisting motion. The curse materialized in the air between Shuyin's hands, a writhing mass of black thorns and shadow, pulsing with residual malice, still trying to reach back toward its host.
"You're done hurting her," Shuyin hissed and crushed it between her palms.
It dissolved with a sound like screaming wind, like something alive being torn apart, and then it was gone, dispersed into nothingness, unable to reform, unable to harm anyone ever again.
Shuyin's hands were shaking. She pressed them against her thighs to still them, drawing in deep breaths. One down. Two more to go.
But there was no time to rest. No time to recover. The other afflictions wouldn't wait patiently while she caught her breath.
The Second Affliction: Bone-Eating Poison
The Bone-Eating Poison required a different approach entirely, and Shuyin dreaded it even as she steeled herself to begin.
