Beneath the Silver Moon
Death has a smell. I never knew that before—not really, not until now. It isn’t the soft, faded scent the elders sometimes mention in old tales, a gentle closing of the world. This is something raw and searing: sharp as scorched iron, sour as rain that’s soaked through grave dirt, wrongness etched into the air. It clings to the fallen scout’s body, seeps into the cracks between the stones, settles at the back of my throat, thick and unforgettable, while I stand over him, trying not to gag.
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