The seven towers of the Palace Gigantic were silent except for the pak pak pak of bare feet on wet stone.
"Little monkey wizard, you have run out of tricks and Hormud is here."
Exhaustion sounded in his voice, but it served to break the tension of walking through the fresh offerings of the Tower of Awesome Carnage. He almost missed the distant screams of sacrifice, replaced by the lap and splash of their blood running in lazy streams down the stairs and walls. The entire city had turned out to offer anyone they could spare in their efforts to silence the gods.
A new sound, movement, from a nearby offering.
"The priests must be getting sloppy in their hurry, for you to survive their sacred mysteries."
After a moment of thought Hormud hacked at the source of this noise, "No good will find you after today, so I offer you a shorter future."
The body, head cleaved from neck, was pushed aside as a beaked priest launched himself from under it, gripping his side and screaming obscene secrets even as his blood spread and mingled with his congregation.
"Your little birds should hide better or they risk dulling my sword to uselessness on their hollow bones."
Running his thumb along the edge of his blade, it was indeed dull. Instinctively he went to wipe the blood away until realising the pointlessness of it in that place.
"Wizard, I'll still have my hands, and I will take your heart regardless."
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