The Divergence

───

Lavinia held the blood bag up beneath the room’s bright ceiling light.

The dark red liquid shifted heavily inside the transparent plastic as she tilted it one way, then the other.

It was darker than ordinary human blood appeared in photographs, though perhaps that was simply because there was so much of it gathered together in one place.

She gave the bag a light shake.

The blood rolled through itself in thick waves.

"...Huh."

Across from her, Gwendolyn had already accepted her own bag from the nurse and was examining it with even greater fascination.

"It’s warm."

The nurse nodded quickly.

"We were instructed to preheat it before distribution. The guidance said vampires may tolerate cold blood, but warmed blood would be preferable."

Gwendolyn smiled brightly.

"That was thoughtful."

The nurse’s expression softened slightly, though her heartbeat remained noticeably faster than normal.

Lavinia looked down at the small capped opening attached to the blood bag.

It had clearly been designed with drinking in mind. Rather than forcing them to tear the plastic or pour its contents into another container, a short sealed spout had been added near one corner.

She hooked a finger beneath the plug and pulled it free.

A rich scent immediately spilled into the room.

Blood.

Warm.

Fresh.

Sweet.

Her ears twitched.

So did Gwendolyn’s.

For a moment, neither of them spoke.

Lavinia had smelled blood many times since the Divergence. She could hear it moving inside humans, could catch traces of it beneath skin, perfume, soap, and clothing. Even dried blood carried enough of a scent to draw her attention.

This was different.

There was nothing between her and it now.

No skin.

No distance.

No other scent to dilute it.

The fragrance filled her nose and seemed to settle at the back of her throat.

"...That smells incredible."

The words escaped before she could stop them.

The nurse shifted faintly in her chair.

Lavinia noticed but didn’t comment.

She raised the bag and let a small amount touch her tongue.

Her entire body stilled.

The first thing she noticed was warmth.

Not heat.

Just the comfortable temperature of something living.

Then came the flavor.

Sweetness, deep and rich, spread across her tongue almost immediately. Beneath it lay the familiar coppery tang she had expected from blood, but rather than making the taste unpleasant, it sharpened everything around it.

It added depth.

Warmth.

A faint mineral bite that only made the sweetness more distinct.

Lavinia swallowed.

Her crimson eyes widened slightly.

"...Oh."

Nothing she had eaten as a human compared.

Not meat.

Not fruit.

Not desserts.

Human food could be delicious, certainly, but this reached somewhere deeper than taste alone. The blood didn’t merely satisfy her tongue.

It seemed to settle into every part of her.

A faint tension she hadn’t even realized she carried began disappearing.

Her body grew more comfortable.

More complete.

She drank again.

This time in a longer gulp.

The blood flowed smoothly from the bag, warm and rich, spreading that same pleasant sensation through her with every swallow.

Beside her, Gwendolyn had begun drinking as well.

Unlike Lavinia, she took small sips.

Her eyes had slipped half closed, and she seemed determined to savor every mouthful.

Lavinia lowered her own bag briefly.

"...You’re taking forever."

Gwendolyn opened one eye.

"I’m enjoying it."

"So am I."

"You’re drinking yours like it insulted you."

Lavinia looked at the half-empty bag.

"...I’m enthusiastic."

Gwendolyn smiled and took another slow sip.

The nurse glanced between them.

She was trying very hard not to stare.

Lavinia raised the bag again.

Several more gulps emptied most of what remained.

The flavor never weakened.

If anything, her awareness of it sharpened the more she drank.

Warm.

Sweet.

Rich.

The faint coppery edge lingered pleasantly across her tongue.

A soft sigh escaped her before she realized she’d made it.

The nurse looked toward her.

Then quickly away.

Lavinia lowered the bag.

"...Sorry."

The nurse blinked.

"For what?"

"I think I made that sound dramatic."

"...It’s alright."

The woman attempted a smile.

"We were told you might react strongly."

Gwendolyn looked over with interest.

"What else were you told?"

The nurse hesitated.

"That vampires would probably find blood much more appealing than food."

"Accurate," Lavinia said immediately.

She tilted the bag back and finished the remainder in several clean gulps.

Not one drop escaped.

When she lowered it again, the plastic had collapsed inward around the empty space.

She looked at it almost regretfully.

"...That was good."

Gwendolyn hummed in agreement, still barely halfway through her own.

Lavinia stood and crossed to the marked disposal container.

She dropped the empty bag inside, then turned toward the nurse.

"Thank you."

The nurse straightened slightly.

"Y-you’re welcome."

Lavinia smiled.

The woman’s heartbeat skipped before quickly returning to its previous rhythm.

Lavinia decided not to mention it.

Instead, she looked toward Gwendolyn.

The silver-haired vampire remained seated with her bag held delicately in both hands.

"Slowpoke."

Gwendolyn gasped around the spout.

Lavinia laughed softly and stepped toward the door.

"Take your time."

"I am."

"I noticed."

She opened the door and slipped into the hallway, closing it gently behind herself.

The clinic sounded different now.

Not louder.

Simply fuller.

From the neighboring rooms, Lavinia could hear soft conversation and the subtle movement of blood bags.

Valerie’s fiery voice drifted faintly through one wall.

Rosaline laughed from another room.

Somewhere farther down the corridor, Evelyn thanked a nurse so softly that Lavinia almost missed it.

She leaned lightly against the wall and listened.

Most of the others were still drinking.

Gwendolyn, from the faint slosh of blood behind the door, had not even reached the final third of her bag.

Lavinia smiled to herself.

"...Definitely a slowpoke."

She glanced toward the nearest closed room.

Curiosity tugged at her.

She wanted to see how everyone else reacted.

Perhaps Valerie had finished already.

Rosaline almost certainly had something dramatic to say about the taste.

Lavinia pushed away from the wall and stepped toward the next door.

Her hand had barely lifted toward the handle when a sharp crack tore through the building.

Gunshot.

Her head snapped toward the lobby.

For the briefest instant, everything went still.

Then glass shattered.

The front windows exploded inward.

Another gunshot rang out.

Then several more.

Bullets struck the walls in rapid succession, punching through plaster and sending fragments scattering across the reception area.

The receptionist ducked instinctively.

Too late.

One round struck her in the stomach.

Her body jerked.

A choked sound escaped her lips as she collapsed behind the desk.

The scent of blood filled the clinic.

Fresh.

Hot.

Human.

Lavinia’s smile vanished.

Every door along the hallway opened almost simultaneously.

Valerie stepped out first, her nearly empty blood bag still held in one hand.

Rosaline appeared beside her, crimson eyes wide with surprise before her expression twisted sharply.

Adelaide emerged with a controlled, cold stare.

Celestine looked toward the lobby in alarm.

Evelyn froze in the doorway, clutching her bag against her chest.

Gwendolyn came last, her own bag still half full, confusion and anger fighting across her face.

Another burst of gunfire struck the outer wall.

The seven vampires stared toward the shattered lobby.

Some curious.

Some shocked.

Some furious.

And beyond the broken glass, engines idled in the parking lot while armed figures continued firing into the building.

Lavinia moved before anyone else did.

One moment she stood near the hallway corner.

The next, she crossed the clinic in a blur too fast for the receptionist to follow, dropped behind the shattered front desk, and caught the injured woman before her body fully hit the floor.

The receptionist gasped.

Her hands had already gone to the wound in her stomach, but blood seeped rapidly between her fingers.

Lavinia slid one arm beneath her knees and the other behind her back, lifting her in a princess carry as though she weighed almost nothing.

The woman stared up at her, face pale, breath coming in sharp little pulls.

"...You're alright."

Lavinia's voice was soft, though she wasn't certain the words were true.

Another burst of gunfire struck the front wall.

Plaster broke loose.

Glass fragments skittered across the floor.

Lavinia turned and accelerated back toward the hallway, carrying the receptionist so smoothly that the woman's head barely shifted against her shoulder.

She reached the nearest treatment room, pushed the door open with her hip, and crossed to the examination table.

The nurse inside had frozen against the counter.

Her eyes widened at the blood.

Lavinia lowered the receptionist carefully onto the table.

"Can you watch her for a little while?"

The nurse stared.

Then snapped back into motion.

"Yes."

Her hands immediately moved toward the supplies.

"Yes, of course."

Lavinia looked down at the receptionist.

The woman's heartbeat was weak, but still there.

"Stay with her."

"I will."

The nurse's voice shook, but her hands were steady.

Lavinia stepped away.

When she returned to the hallway, Gwendolyn stood near the corner with her half-finished blood bag still in one hand.

Her crimson eyes were wide.

"What is happening?"

She glanced toward the broken lobby.

"Is it the government?"

Rosaline shook her head.

Her face had lost nearly all of its playfulness.

"No."

Her nose wrinkled.

"They shot the receptionist."

Another gunshot cracked outside.

Rosaline's eyes shifted toward the entrance.

"And the security guard..."

Her voice lowered.

The warm smell of blood filled the building now.

Not stored blood.

Fresh blood.

Human blood.

Beneath that scent was something worse.

Stillness.

No heartbeat.

No breathing.

The security guard had been killed almost immediately.

Adelaide's expression hardened.

Valerie looked toward the lobby with a thin smile that carried no humor at all.

Evelyn held her nearly empty blood bag close to her chest, visibly unsettled.

Celestine stared at the shattered windows, her composure strained but intact.

Lavinia crossed to the corner.

She looked once toward the broken entrance.

Then the world seemed to fold around her.

She did not teleport.

She simply moved so quickly that, across the short distance between the hallway and the parking lot, human eyes could not follow her.

A flicker of gold.

A rush of air.

Then she was outside.

The other six looked at one another.

Valerie smiled faintly.

"Well."

"That answers that."

They followed.

Celestine remained behind for a few seconds longer.

She moved from room to room, opening each door just enough to speak to the nurses inside.

"Please stay calm."

"Do not come out yet."

"We'll call when it's safe."

The nurses nodded quickly.

One asked whether the police were coming.

Celestine glanced toward the lobby.

"I imagine someone called them."

Then she closed the door and moved.

Outside, the shooting had briefly slowed.

That gap was all the vampires needed.

They crossed through the shattered entrance in separate blurs, moving between muzzle lines rather than trying to withstand them.

Humans saw only streaks.

Black fabric.

Flashes of impossible hair.

Red eyes appearing somewhere new before disappearing again.

None of the bullets found them.

Not until Lavinia stopped.

She stood on the roof of a large truck parked near the entrance.

One finger rested against her lips.

Her head tilted slightly as though she were considering something.

The people inside the truck had already realized she was there.

The roof beneath her feet bucked as gunfire erupted from below.

One bullet punched through the metal and struck her calf.

Another tore into her side.

A third entered near her shoulder.

Her body jerked subtly with each impact.

Dark blood, so deep red it nearly appeared black beneath the parking lot lights, began dripping from the wounds.

Lavinia looked down.

The holes in her dress had already begun closing around the edges.

The wounds beneath them were healing faster.

Her attention returned to the parking lot.

She wasn't thinking about the bullets.

She was thinking about the security guard.

The man had been nervous when they arrived.

He'd tried not to show it.

He'd stood by the door anyway.

He had come to work expecting a quiet night.

Perhaps a strange one.

Not his last.

Then there was the receptionist.

Warm.

Human.

Trying to help vampires.

Shot in the stomach for doing her job.

Lavinia's smile faded completely.

The other six vampires spread around the vehicles.

Their crimson eyes glinted whenever the lights struck them.

Lavinia tapped one boot against the truck roof.

"Would those of you inside like to come out?"

A brief pause.

"And put down your weapons?"

More bullets punched through the roof.

Lavinia closed her eyes for half a second.

"...Apparently not."

She hopped down.

The door was locked.

She pulled once.

The handle tore free.

Lavinia hooked her fingers into the damaged frame and ripped the door open with a shriek of twisting metal.

A man inside tried to bring his rifle around.

She caught the front of his shirt and yanked.

He came out of the truck with a shout, flew nearly five meters, and struck the asphalt hard enough to lose the weapon before he stopped rolling.

All around the parking lot, the other vampires moved.

Valerie punched through a side window, reached inside, and dragged someone out by the vest.

Rosaline ripped a car door open and tossed it aside before pulling two armed men from the back seat one after another.

Adelaide caught someone trying to crawl out of a truck bed, lifted him by the back of his jacket, and threw him into the open space between the vehicles.

Gwendolyn shattered a window with one palm and leaned inside with a bright smile.

"Out."

The two people inside stumbled over one another trying to obey.

Evelyn moved more carefully.

She waited until a gunman aimed elsewhere, appeared behind him, and pulled the weapon free so sharply that his fingers bent backward around the grip.

His scream barely began before she kicked the back of his knee and sent him to the ground.

Celestine was the hardest to follow.

She moved like a drifting shadow between muzzle flashes.

One instant she stood behind a vehicle.

The next, someone struck the pavement.

Then she was gone again.

The humans continued firing.

Some shot randomly.

Some tried to track movement too fast to see.

Others simply screamed and pulled the trigger until their magazines clicked empty.

The vampires watched the muzzle lines.

Avoided them.

Redirected weapons.

Closed the distance.

Within less than a minute, fourteen attackers had been dragged or thrown into the open area of the parking lot.

Several still clung to weapons.

Others had knives.

One man scrambled backward while pulling a bottle stuffed with cloth from his bag.

A Molotov.

He fumbled with a lighter.

A normal-looking man near the center of the group raised his voice.

"Do not be afraid!"

His words were ragged, but forceful.

"We will triumph!"

He pointed toward the vampires.

"We will show these monsters that humanity is not beneath them!"

The attackers rallied slightly at the sound of his voice.

A few raised their weapons again.

The man continued.

"The government officials who protect them are traitors!"

"The people who work in these clinics are traitors!"

"They feed predators while betraying their own species!"

Evelyn looked at him.

Her expression wasn't angry.

Only confused.

"What did you think would happen?"

The man glared.

Evelyn's voice remained soft.

"If the government didn't provide blood..."

"If the workers didn't help..."

Her fingers tightened faintly.

"Did you think vampires would simply starve?"

Rosaline poked Evelyn in the side.

"Don't waste your breath."

A gunshot cracked.

Rosaline shifted several feet to the left so quickly that the bullet passed through the space where she'd been standing.

She looked back at the shooter.

"They're idiots."

Adelaide noticed another attacker raising a rifle toward Evelyn.

She moved behind him.

One hand closed around the back of his neck.

Before he could react, she threw him sideways.

His body slammed into the man holding the Molotov.

The burning bottle slipped free.

It shattered on the asphalt.

Fire blossomed across the ground.

Both men screamed and scrambled away from it, one already catching flame along his sleeve.

The parking lot erupted again.

Lavinia sidestepped a knife thrust.

She caught the attacker's wrist and turned it.

The blade drove into the side of another man rushing from behind.

Both froze.

Lavinia drove her knee into the original attacker's stomach.

He left the ground.

His body struck the side of a parked car hard enough to dent the door inward.

He collapsed below it.

Evelyn ducked beneath another muzzle.

The gun fired over her shoulder.

She gripped the barrel and pulled.

The sudden wrenching force broke several fingers wrapped around the weapon.

The attacker cried out.

Evelyn kicked him flat and threw the gun away.

Celestine appeared beside a man attempting to flank Adelaide.

Her elbow struck his ribs.

The impact produced a dense, ugly crack.

He folded.

Celestine caught him before he fell, turned, and used his body as cover as another gunman fired.

The bullets struck the man's back.

Celestine threw him into the shooter.

Both went down in a tangle of limbs and weapons.

Lavinia crossed the parking lot in another burst.

The leader had raised an assault rifle.

She caught it before he could aim.

Her hand clamped around the upper receiver.

She wrenched the weapon upward.

The burst of gunfire went harmlessly into the night sky.

Lavinia looked at him.

"Do you think a vampire being given blood is different from a vampire taking blood?"

The man tried to spit at her.

Lavinia's expression flattened.

Her free hand drove into his stomach.

He doubled over.

She tore the rifle from his grasp, turned it, and struck him with the stock.

He went tumbling across the pavement.

Lavinia dropped the weapon.

Around them, the fight was already ending.

Roughly half of the attackers still moved.

Several others lay motionless.

Two rolled near the spreading fire, badly burned by their own failed weapon.

Others had been struck or thrown too hard for their bodies to withstand.

Rosaline dodged another desperate shot.

She stepped inside the gunman's reach, placed her palm beneath his chin, and pushed forward.

His feet left the ground as his body rotated.

He flipped onto his back with a muffled thud and didn't rise again.

Valerie was less delicate.

She kicked each opponent once.

One strike to the chest.

One to the stomach.

One to the side.

Whether they survived depended entirely on how much force their bodies could endure.

Valerie didn't appear interested in calculating it.

Gwendolyn took longer.

She struck people with open palms, sending them flying several meters.

If they stayed down, she ignored them.

If they stood and reached for their weapons again, she repeated the process.

One man was knocked across the hood of a car three separate times before he finally stopped moving.

The leader forced himself upright.

Blood ran from the corner of his mouth.

He drew a pistol with a shaking hand and aimed it toward the vampires.

Every pair of crimson eyes turned toward him.

Several rolled.

Valerie sighed.

"You'd swear he was a hero..."

She tilted her head.

"...if you didn't know what he'd done."

Rosaline disappeared from where she stood.

A fraction of a second later, she was behind him.

Her foot came down against the back of his neck.

The force drove him face-first into the asphalt.

A crunch sounded beneath her boot.

Rosaline looked down with open irritation.

"I'm tired of seeing your face."

The pistol skittered away.

For several seconds, the parking lot fell silent.

Only the crackle of fire remained.

Car alarms screamed from damaged vehicles.

Blood spread in dark streaks across the pavement.

The vampires stood among the wreckage.

Their dresses had been struck, torn, and stained.

Already, the fabric had begun to mend.

Bullet wounds closed.

Cuts vanished.

Dark blood remained on flawless skin where injuries had been moments earlier.

Lavinia looked toward the clinic.

The shattered windows.

The dead guard by the door.

The faint heartbeat of the receptionist still struggling inside.

Then she looked back at the humans who remained conscious.

Six.

Some moaning.

Some shaking.

Some still glaring.

The others were dead or close enough that their heartbeats had become faint and irregular.

The leader pushed weakly against the ground.

Rosaline stepped away from him with a scoff.

Lavinia walked over.

She stopped beside him and looked down.

He twisted his head enough to glare at her.

"You..."

His voice was wet and uneven.

"...monster."

Lavinia rested one boot lightly against his back.

"Perhaps."

She looked toward the clinic again.

"But we came here to drink donated blood."

She spread her arms slightly.

"We followed the process."

"We registered."

"We waited."

"We thanked the workers."

Her gaze returned to him.

"Then you arrived."

The man coughed.

"Humanity..."

"...does not kneel."

Lavinia pressed down slightly.

He groaned.

"No one asked you to kneel."

Her voice remained calm.

"The blood clinic allows vampires to live beside humans."

"It lets us drink without hunting."

She glanced toward the dead guard.

"Wasn't that a good thing?"

One of the attackers nearby shouted.

"No!"

His face was pale with fear and anger.

"Giving in to monsters makes you traitors!"

Gwendolyn moved before he finished.

She crossed the distance in a blur, caught his jaw in one hand, and jerked sharply sideways.

A crack rang out.

His mouth hung crooked.

He collapsed, clutching his face.

Gwendolyn looked down at him with a bright smile.

"If people like you exist..."

She tapped one finger against her lip.

"...I think the lower limit of human intelligence is abysmal."

The man tried to speak.

Only a garbled sound emerged.

Gwendolyn tilted her head.

"Why do you think governments were so quick to open blood clinics?"

She looked around.

"Why do you think they're helping wolves afford food?"

No one answered.

Evelyn bent down and picked up a spent casing.

She rolled it between her fingers.

"Because they understood."

Her soft voice carried through the parking lot.

"Vampires and werewolves can be monsters."

She looked toward the attackers.

"So can humans."

The casing glinted between her fingers.

"If vampires don't have access to blood..."

"They'll take it."

"If wolves don't have enough food..."

"They'll hunt."

"Humans."

"Animals."

"Whatever keeps them alive."

Lavinia looked down at the leader beneath her boot.

"Those in power may have other motives."

She increased the pressure slightly.

"But it keeps everyone civilized."

"Vampires with blood don't need to hunt."

"Wolves with food don't need to hunt."

Her crimson eyes lowered.

"And you attacked the thing that lets us live peacefully."

The leader bared bloody teeth.

"Anyone who aids monsters is a traitor."

"Humanity is supreme."

"You are creatures that slink through darkness."

Lavinia's nails extended.

Only a few centimeters.

Sharp.

Perfect.

Surgical.

He kept speaking.

"You will all be..."

Her hand moved.

Her nails raked across his face.

They sliced through skin and muscle in one clean motion, snapping his head to the side.

The man fell back, clutching the ruined side of his face.

The vampires looked down at him.

Not shocked.

Mostly annoyed.

Gwendolyn frowned faintly.

"I really don't understand them."

She looked around at the bodies.

"If vampires, wolves, and humans fought..."

"Humans would lose."

Her smile faded slightly.

"I have humans I love."

"I don't want that."

She stepped toward the attacker with the broken jaw.

He tried to crawl away.

Gwendolyn kicked him flat onto his back.

Then brought her boot down on his neck.

The throat collapsed beneath the impact.

His body went still.

Rosaline picked up one of the dropped pistols.

She weighed it experimentally in one hand.

"This is easier."

She aimed at another attacker.

Two shots struck his chest.

He fell backward and didn't move again.

The remaining attackers broke.

Twelve more had entered the parking lot still capable of fighting after the first clash, acting as reinforcements.

Now the survivors scattered in every direction.

Celestine and Evelyn reached those who fled first.

Celestine caught one by the back of his jacket and threw him upward.

He rose nearly four meters before falling.

The impact left him twitching on the ground.

Evelyn did the same to another, though her expression remained troubled as she watched him land.

Rosaline walked calmly among the fallen.

She fired twice into each person who still moved.

The shots echoed across the lot.

Adelaide crouched beside two attackers who had fallen together near a truck.

Both were crying.

One raised his hands.

"We're sorry."

The other nodded frantically.

"We didn't know."

"We were wrong."

Adelaide smiled warmly.

"I believe you."

Relief flashed across their faces.

She reached out.

One hand closed around each of their necks.

Then she moved.

The world blurred around them.

A heartbeat later, Adelaide stood beside the dead security guard with both men thrown at her feet.

She gestured toward the body.

"Since you're apologetic..."

Her smile remained gentle.

"...you can repay him properly."

They stared.

Understanding came slowly.

Then panic.

One began shouting.

The other tried to crawl away.

Adelaide sighed.

"You're not sorry at all."

She backhanded the first.

His neck snapped beneath the force.

She caught the second by the throat and threw him several meters into the clinic wall.

He struck hard enough to crack the surface.

Before he could fall, Adelaide crossed the distance and kicked him in the stomach.

His body folded around the blow.

Internal organs ruptured beneath the impact.

He collapsed.

Adelaide looked down at him.

"How disappointing."

Then she walked back toward the others and sat casually on the hood of a damaged car.

Only the leader remained alive.

He breathed heavily.

Blood covered his face and mouth.

His eyes remained full of hatred.

Adelaide spread her arms.

"I don't know why you're looking at me."

Her tone was light.

"If you'd stayed online spouting nonsense..."

She shrugged.

"...perhaps the others would still be alive."

Then she glanced toward the clinic.

"Though they were foolish enough to attack a government facility and kill other humans."

Her smile sharpened.

"So maybe not."

Lavinia walked behind the leader.

Her hand closed around the back of his neck.

He tried to twist away.

She squeezed.

"I genuinely didn't want to become something humans feared."

Her voice was quieter now.

"We were being given blood."

"We weren't trying to harm anyone."

Her nails extended again.

The man spat blood onto the pavement.

Lavinia pulled.

Her nails tore through the side of his neck.

Blood poured freely.

She threw him several meters.

His body struck a light post with a sickening crack and fell beneath it.

Celestine looked toward the clinic.

"I'll check on the people inside."

Evelyn nodded quickly.

"I'll come with you."

The two moved through the shattered entrance.

The remaining five stood among the vehicles and bodies.

Gwendolyn still wore a small smile.

Her voice was soft.

"I didn't think we'd be killing anyone tonight."

Rosaline shrugged.

"They tried to kill us first."

Valerie stepped beside Lavinia and nudged her shoulder.

"It's fine."

Lavinia looked at her.

Valerie glanced toward the bodies.

"We could've spared them."

"But if people like this aren't stopped..."

She looked toward the clinic.

"Eventually, someone we care about will be in danger."

"Not strangers."

"Us."

"Your friends."

"Gwendolyn's mother."

At that, Gwendolyn's expression changed.

The leader beneath the light post still breathed.

Barely.

Gwendolyn vanished from beside them.

A blur crossed the parking lot.

She appeared over him and lifted one foot.

"I love my mom too much..."

Her boot came down on his chest.

The impact nearly passed through him.

His body jolted once.

Then became still.

Gwendolyn looked down.

"...to rely on human goodwill alone."

Spoiler

Not really a spoiler, buttt I feel like I'll definitely get complaints as to the fact they killed humans, seemingly easily, it's exactly for that reason it's written that way.

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