Page 189 of Crowned In Venom

And then?—

Varkos strikes.

His blade sinks deep into her chest.

The world stills.

The Matriarch gasps, her body arching backward, clawing at the wound as if she can will it shut.

Her lips part in a soundless scream—her power collapsing, imploding upon itself.

She begins to burn.

The shadows that once obeyed her turn to cinders, curling away from her form. Her skin blackens, cracking like shattered porcelain.

She reaches for Varkos, for me.

But there is nothing left for her to take.

"Varkos," she whispers—but it is not his name she speaks with love.

It is his father’s.

And then—she is gone.

Her body crumbles, dissolving into nothing but ash and screams.

The throne room is silent.

The darkness that suffocated these walls for so long is broken.

I look at Varkos.

His sword drips with the last remnants of her reign.

His chest rises and falls, his breath heavy, his eyes unreadable.

He looks at me—truly looks at me.

And I know.

We are free.

A clap interrupts the uplifting moment followed by laughter.

Kareth puts down his axe by the door and laughs, his eyes twinkling.

“Finally. It’s over.”

59

VARKOS

The palace is falling apart.

The walls tremble, the very foundation groaning like a dying beast. Magic ripples through the air, unstable and violent, the remnants of the Matriarch’s unholy power devouring everything in its wake.

I barely have time to react before the throne room erupts into chaos.

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