Page 147 of Crowned In Venom

It does not try to squeeze through.

It simply turns to block the entrance.

My stomach lurches.

"What are you doing?" I whisper.

Varkos stumbles forward, grabbing onto his father.

"Make it bigger!" His voice is frantic, shaking. "You can fit—just move the stones, come with us!"

The monster does not move.

Instead, it smiles.

Or tries to.

The expression is twisted, ugly, barely recognizable as anything dark elf.

But there is warmth there.

"I am proud of you."

Varkos freezes.

His father reaches out, the massive, ruined hand brushing against his face.

"I love you, my son."

A lone tear falls from its disfigured eye.

Then—

With one final, monstrous effort?—

It brings the tunnel down.

Stone collapses.

The passage is sealed shut.

Varkos lunges forward, screaming, his hands clawing at the rubble, trying to rip it away.

"NO!"

I feel the moment he breaks.

The anguish in his voice?—

The raw, unfiltered pain.

"I CAN STILL SAVE HIM!"

His fingernails bleed as he digs into the debris, his entire body trembling.

I grab him.

"Varkos—"

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