Valentina moved like a ghost haunting her own body. Every step she took was a visible agony, each footfall accompanied by a wet, ragged wheeze.
Haaa... wheeze... haaa...
Her legs trembled violently, the muscles spasming from the residual trauma of near asphyxiation.
One hand remained pressed against the bruised, purple column of her throat, not just for comfort, but as if she were physically holding her own voice inside her body, terrified it would shatter before she could finish.
Behind her, the sound of scraping stone announced Morwenna's arrival. Morwenna had dragged herself upright, swaying like a tree in a hurricane.
One arm was clamped tight around her own ribs, fingers digging into the flesh where bone had likely splintered beneath the surface.
CRUNCH. GRIND.
