Book One – Chapter 10

Unfazed by her futile struggles, the shadebeast lunged forward to sink his teeth into Midnight’s throat. In his first strike, he tore the messenger strings from her neck and flung them aside, down the chasm. With his second bite, he sank his teeth deep into Midnight’s throat, ripping Rothar from her with savage force.
  

Too full of yourself, to fully commit

This little shadow is still half-lit

Half-darkness, half-fit, an utter dim-wit

Of you he’ll get rid, before you get it
  

He was ripping her apart, eating her alive. Midnight convulsed under the brute force with which his darkness rippled through her and tore at her Rothar. His intrusion shook her to the core, from where he tore one fragment of essence after the other.
  

He got you, he got you now

Good show, good show

But time to take a bow

             So we can take your bones
  

Amidst all the excruciating pain and the disturbing sensations, there emerged a part in Midnight that wanted to welcome this death, a part that acknowledged she had been bested by a stronger beast of darkness who had hunted fairly and given her many chances to defend herself. This part of her truly wanted to surrender herself to this male, and at the same time understood that he did not need to be given. He was a taker and he had earned her. He deserved to devour her.

The other part of her had noticed the torn messenger strings and remembered her bond and duty to her wizard. This part clung to the decision and demand she had made for their shared path when embracing the darkness. In the same way he must not cling to the loss of light and sight, Midnight’s life must not end with her torn beast essence. She must not lament what she had lost to the shadebeast, but instead emerge from what remained — the God-gifted essence.

As the shadebeast descended once more to wrench the last fragment of essence from her trembling body, Midnight seized control using the darkness within her. There was no external darkness to manipulate or weave around her; the shadebeast pressed down on her entire form, his massive shape fully engulfing her. But Midnight harboured darkness within herself, all those currents that she had sensed coursing beneath her skin.