[ This time, the sword finds its mark. Ichor explodes from behind the curtain of feathers that fall around Howl's bestial face, a mix of fluid from both his eye and his skull. Collapsed as he already was, the blow is accompanied by no cry of pain or final clamp of his jaws. He simply goes still.
For a few moments, Howl's transformed body is nothing but that: a body. There is ample time for Syrlya to free himself from Howl's jaws and for Bunny to come running, a minute too late to save his friend. But then, suddenly, the feathers covering Howl's body shed and break away into millions of light, airy fragments and swirl into nothingness, as if swept up in a ghostly wind blowing against nothing but the dead wizard. As the transformation spell dissolves, the human that was buried underneath it is left behind — battered, burnt, and covered in deep puncture wounds from arrows, one of which is clearly still embedded in one shoulder blade, where a broken arrow shaft is emerging from the wound.
It is clear now that the fatal wound was, to some extent, overkill. Howl's empty socket oozes a mix of blood and plasma, but the gash drawn by Syrlya's sword traces from Howl's ear to the knob of his throat. This wound alone would have killed him, but even Howl would admit that when a monster has its teeth in you, no strike is overkill until it lets go.
Once every feather has faded away, Howl's body starts to blacken and fade. The smoke that rises as his body dissipates mixed into the mist blanketing the city. All that remains is his blue-grey Shard and the half-dozen arrow heads that were embedded in his flesh. ]
cw: eye trauma, extreme injury, death
For a few moments, Howl's transformed body is nothing but that: a body. There is ample time for Syrlya to free himself from Howl's jaws and for Bunny to come running, a minute too late to save his friend. But then, suddenly, the feathers covering Howl's body shed and break away into millions of light, airy fragments and swirl into nothingness, as if swept up in a ghostly wind blowing against nothing but the dead wizard. As the transformation spell dissolves, the human that was buried underneath it is left behind — battered, burnt, and covered in deep puncture wounds from arrows, one of which is clearly still embedded in one shoulder blade, where a broken arrow shaft is emerging from the wound.
It is clear now that the fatal wound was, to some extent, overkill. Howl's empty socket oozes a mix of blood and plasma, but the gash drawn by Syrlya's sword traces from Howl's ear to the knob of his throat. This wound alone would have killed him, but even Howl would admit that when a monster has its teeth in you, no strike is overkill until it lets go.
Once every feather has faded away, Howl's body starts to blacken and fade. The smoke that rises as his body dissipates mixed into the mist blanketing the city. All that remains is his blue-grey Shard and the half-dozen arrow heads that were embedded in his flesh. ]