Alya screamed.
The sound tore through the house as she fought against the man restraining her, but he refused to let go. Leamor reached to the side as green energy formed around her head.
It spread across her face and hardened, muffling every sound that came from her until her screams became little more than broken noises trapped inside her throat.
The boy cried for his mother.
Larissa turned away.
She had watched bodies being pulled from alleys, families burned inside their homes, and victims left in conditions that no person should have ever been forced to see, but she could not continue facing the vision as the elf raised his hand over the child.
Ning did not look away.
He stared at every movement.
He saw Leamor's face, the calm features of the elf holding Alya down, and the cold indifference of the one standing over the boy.
