An hour after the shadow guard left, two figures slipped into the ice cave. They passed the headless bodies and approached the prison warden. ''Here are their heads; I kept them fresh.'' She sang, tossing a bundle toward them.
Creeping the lifeless Rose in the closer cell. With every breath she took an excruciating pain surged through her. Her back was a puddle of flesh, and the bones were visible; it was a miracle she could even be alive, or it was from the prison warden's skilful torture. Her eyes lost the vibrant light it once had, leaving behind a dull despair.
As she gasped from pain and cold, the only thing left in her heart was regret.
The shadows took the severed heads and departed, each flying off in different directions, their mounts slicing through the sky.
