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(Scars do not appear to be cause of death –shock ... - Bad Request

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voice was trembling. She <strong>be</strong>gan <strong>to</strong> pull back the sheets...<br />

Preda<strong>to</strong>ry urges were never kind. They were merciless, inhuman, and<br />

bloody. If the simple need <strong>to</strong> tear apart and devour one's prey could <strong>be</strong><br />

called cruel, then Soego could think <strong>of</strong> no words <strong>to</strong> descri<strong>be</strong> the sheer<br />

brutality <strong>of</strong> his instincts.<br />

Be<strong>cause</strong> they were <strong>not</strong> even kind enough <strong>to</strong> grant Seladril a quick <strong>death</strong>.<br />

Her screams echoed unheard through the near-empty Mortuary, with the<br />

twisted irony that it was in the aban<strong>do</strong>ned apartment wing that Soego hid<br />

himself in <strong>to</strong> protect others from his condition, and now no one could come<br />

<strong>to</strong> his teacher’s aid. She struggled, clawing against Soego's thick, fur-covered<br />

hide, trying <strong>to</strong> shield herself from his long, yellowed fangs in that primal<br />

instinct <strong>to</strong> protect herself. Any other time Seladril would have embraced<br />

<strong>death</strong>, but she had long ago taken up the habit <strong>of</strong> setting aside her expertise<br />

and training for her pupil.<br />

Soego wept long after her <strong>death</strong> rattle was drowned out by the rip and<br />

crunch <strong>of</strong> flesh and bone. He wept as he <strong>be</strong>gan <strong>to</strong> eat.<br />

~~~~~<br />

Three small heresies were committed by the Dustmen on the day <strong>of</strong><br />

Seladril's funeral.<br />

First, they expressed surprise. It was the shock and confusion <strong>of</strong> the brutal<br />

murder <strong>of</strong> a Fac<strong>to</strong>r in the heart <strong>of</strong> Dustman power itself. It was the awe that<br />

cranium rats were responsible- <strong>do</strong>zens had <strong>be</strong>en found scrabbling over her<br />

body, swarming over her still-warm corpse in the hallway nipping and biting<br />

in a throbbing mass <strong>of</strong> black-brown fur. S<strong>of</strong>ter, though, was the<br />

<strong>be</strong>wilderment that so many Dustmen attended who had considered Seladril<br />

a friend.<br />

It was a closed-casket funeral.<br />

The second heresy was greater still. As that casket was edged slowly and<br />

gently in<strong>to</strong> the consuming flames <strong>of</strong> the crema<strong>to</strong>rium, the Dustmen chose <strong>to</strong><br />

remem<strong>be</strong>r Seladril's life. They remem<strong>be</strong>red her <strong>be</strong>auty, her odd smile and<br />

warmth despite her devout commitment <strong>to</strong> Dustman <strong>cause</strong> and Dustman<br />

ideology. They remem<strong>be</strong>red her for her grand work in guiding more initiates<br />

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