A Ballad of Sacrifice

In the low lighting of Caedes’ previously serene workspace, Sephiran had completely snapped. Glistening, mushy carnage coated his paws, dripping to the floor of his healers den as he raised them up for a final slam. The gut-churning sound of brainmatter squishing resonated beneath the force of his paws, his frenzied movements starting to slow until finally, he stopped.

Standing there, with his paws still in her, as he struggled to catch his breath. Each breath that came from him was short, ragged gasps, nostrils flaring with each intake. His heart was hammering in his chest, muscles quivering with the sheer force of his emotions. The quivering escalated into trembling, until Sephiran shook so hard he was forced to sit down on his rump, heaped over Aurelia’s mutilated corpse that was growing colder by the second.

His eyes are fixated on Aurelia’s face - or rather, what used to be her alluring features. His pupils were dilated to an unsettling extent, swallowing his heterochromatic irises in a pool of black. Previously filled with manic rage, they now contain an eerie emptiness- the light of reason extinguished, flickering with unpredictable intensity. “You did this.” Flexing his toes, he feels a warm gush of blood rewet his paws, pulsating from an artery he’d pulverized. “You did this” His shaking did not stop, the cries of his surviving pups echoing inside of the den, causing his ears to twitch. “You did this.” Sinking down, Sephiran slumped over until he was sprawled out over Aurelia, nearly squishing his own pups in the process.

His face started to become wet, tears weeping from his eyes but Sephiran showed no recognition of it. Was he feeling remorse? No, Sephiran Saxe couldn’t comprehend feeling guilty or apologetic. He is an insatiably possessive creature- even now, he is exuding his dominance over her corpse, reveling in her scent and the feel of her body against him. “I loved you.” He grits his teeth, clenches his jaw. “And you.” He’s still gasping. “Did.” Gasping erratically. “This.” Sephiran and his jaded sense of love.

Retreating into the labyrinth of his mind, the room is overtaken by a chilling stillness. For a while, Sephiran forgets Caedes is standing behind him, having bore witness to the brutal scene of his cousin murdering the mother of his children. Sephiran is seeking solace in the silence, tunneling in and out of his fragmented reality. He is not aware of it, but he’s repeating the same phrase over, and over, and over. You did this.

"Sephiran Saxe"