Aikkul awoke fiercely hungry. His eyes throbbed red and he dragged himself out of his coffin. He found himself at the feet of Drazhan.
“Drazhan!” he raged. Aikkul felt a heartbeat pulsing sweetly nearby. Drazhan stepped back and pushed a small girl to the floor before him. Aikkul scrambled for her, ending her struggles by grasping her soul through her eyes. He drank and drank- feeling her tiny marvelous heart beat thud slower and slower- then stopped. Drazhan frowned.
“My lord Aikkul, you seem dreadfully a-thirst,” he said cruelly. “Kill her.”
'kill her... kill her... kill her...' echoed through his mind in a mad whisper. The bonesword quivered with joy.
Aikkul shook his head and got weakly to his feet. “A king must have subjects. I see now why father chose me to lead. You have the sen
