Blackfoot Forest and dawn comes

he has no place in this world now. not in her world, not in star eater's.

the sounds of his suffering are like music to gjalla’s ears—wet, pitiful, filled with the same fear that had once been the source of his power. the serpent, so confident in his schemes, so sure of his future, reduced to a broken thing, squirming and gasping for mercy that would never come.

he is arrogant, even in his death.

she leans in closer, her claws retracting and digging deeper into the soft tissue beneath his fur. “hann telur sig vera píslarvott,” she chuckles, flits her gaze upward to blackfell so she can catch her breath. “Þú veist ekki einu sinni merkingu orðsins.” her eyes flicker back down to the empty socket where his eye once gleamed, replaced by thick scarlet running down his cheeks. she does not feel remorse.

he continues to claw at the earth, desperate for some way out, but there is no escape. blackfell’s grip on his scruff is unforgiving, and meleys’ savage assault keeps him pinned. he is prey now, and the pack has come to collect.

'the seven may laugh at me, but they will never weep for you.' her lips curl into a cold, cruel smile, and she laughs again. she leans in, her breath warming his face. "þá er gott að við trúum ekki á sjöuna, já?"

and then—without hesitation, without mercy—she strikes.

her teeth tear through his throat, sinking deep into his skin and splits his flesh. the sound is horrific, a sickening crunch of cartilage giving way to bone, the gurgling choke of breath as the blood begins to pour, hot and thick, down her throat. his body convulses beneath her, the frantic thrashing becoming desperate as the last of his life slips away. his blood coats her fur, sticky and warm, but there is no satisfaction in it. merely the finality of justice, the destruction of a man who thought himself a god.

the taste of his blood is foul—bitter, poisoned with his lies and schemes. she reels back after a moment. he clings to life, just barely.

"do what you wish to him. leave his face."