The Tsarevich's body burnt like a log soaked in gasoline. His dry tissues, overloaded by the energy of the Source, hissed and spat and started to break down. A chunk of jagged bone flew from one spasming leg. Patience was standing just below him'it fell on her and cut open her cheek. She reeled back in horror and pain, a scream pushing out of her lungs even as she dropped to her knees to retrieve the bone fragment. She clutched it to her breast like a holy relic.
Above her the Tsarevich's head slumped to one side and fell off. It hit the ground in a splatter of sparks and flame. A lot of people screamed then, and almost all of them moved backward, away from the scaffolding.
At the back of the crowd a male cultist in a blue paper shirt screamed bloody murder, much louder than any of the spectators at the Tsarevich's grisly demise. Ayaan grabbed Sarah's arm and yanked the girl along behind her as she rushed to see what was going on.
Through a gap in the crowd she could see the screaming cultist, his face a mask of agony. Four spikes of filed bone burst from his chest as a ghoul sank its exposed teeth deep into the back of the cultist's neck.
Ayaan shook her head. No, that wasn't acceptable. The ghouls couldn't disobey their orders. Their minds were too simple'they couldn't overcome the Tsarevich's command. The Tsarevich was keeping them under control.
The Tsarevich was dead.
A new ghoul, one of Gary's victims, came stumbling through the crowd, her face and hands bright red. She grabbed at Sarah but the girl twisted away. Ayaan swiveled around on one boot heel and blasted the ghoul's face with dark energy. The undead face cracked and peeled away from smoking bone. Ayaan didn't bother to watch her die a second time. 'Are you alright?' she demanded.
Sarah nodded unhappily.
Enni Langstrom, the green phantom, appeared at Ayaan's elbow. 'Enough of the concern for her well-being,' he shouted over the screams. 'Just kill her already!'
'No,' Ayaan said, 'no, that's unnecessary. she's harmless.'
Enni shook his head. 'She came here to kill him. Now he's dead. You can call it a coincidence if you want but I want her dead. Jesus Christ, look at this! This is Armageddon. We can sort out who did what later. Just kill her. Where's Erasmus?'
Ayaan frowned. 'Didn't you see? Gary ate half of him. He's dead. I'm sorry, I know you two were friends.'
The skull-like face turned even paler than usual. 'Then it's just you and me. We have to save as many of the believers as possible. They served him well, they don't deserve to die like this, not in this place.' He stared deep into Sarah's eyes and grabbed her face in one thin hand. 'Anyone we can't trust dies, now. I'll let you do it, but kill her! She's an unknown factor. She could ruin everything.' He knocked Sarah into the dust with a backhand slap. Then he stomped away, his femur staff clicking on the rocky ground. As he moved through the crowd he touched each ghoul he passed and they slumped to the earth, the life force drained out of them.