The Siren's Scion
The peaceful, golden light I had begun to feel calling me flickered, dimmed by the invasive, greasy tendrils of her magic.
I felt myself being dragged back, not toward peace, but toward an eternity of conscious suffering. I screamed, a soundless cry of pure spiritual terror that tore through the room's silent frequencies.
"NO!" Liam's roar was raw, instinctual. He didn't charge Cordelia. Instead, he threw himself into the path of the emerald beam. It was a desperate, foolish, self-sacrificial act. The corrupting energy washed over him, and he cried out, collapsing to his knees.