#luxnoctis

 The being cried out in abject anguish as hollow bones shattered beneath skin, and the fragments buried themselves where they could. Its body shuddered, shock setting in, as it lay alone on the cobbled road.

 A moment was all it took for the tormented screech to reach the inquisitive ears of those who stirred nearby. Curious stares crept through cracks and crevices, alleyways and windowpanes, falling upon the damaged beast. The ones who watched remained as motionless as the ground on which they stood, content to simply observe the suffering on display before them, as the mysterious thing vainly endeavored to crawl. 

 It squeezed down on coarse ground with shattered fingers and made to drag itself forward in dazed confusion. Every contraction of distorted muscle, and every twitch of tortured nerves burned with the intensity of a bloated star. Its fractured form was too far-gone, its situation, hopeless. The being let out another inhuman scream.

 The voyeurs, emboldened by the presence’s incapacitated state, crept from their dark corners in order to view more clearly what lay upon the way. They closed in en-mass with ghostly strides, encircling the warped figure, until a solid wall of shadowy forms surrounded it. Their eyes shimmered, reflecting what little light fell from the pale sky. The mangled mass at their feet stared back at them, and pleaded in an unintelligible tongue. A fluid so dark that it neared the blackness of the void leaked from its lips as it spoke, brought forth by ruptured lungs.

 It seemed as though those arcane words had gone unheard however, for the ones gathered maintained their vacant observation, expressing neither sorrow, nor fear, nor intent. The creature’s desperation grew, as its body and mind gradually began to succumb to grievous wounds. It whimpered and began to choke, slowly suffocating as its airways filled with viscous blood.

 From those amassed, a solitary silhouette stepped closer. A youngster, less than half as tall as the others. He approached the fallen with soft, mute movements and stooped low when he reached it, placing a petite hand on its trembling frame. The thing winced, sore to the touch, and for a short while they merely looked at each other. No understanding seemed to come between them, no connection through humanity or the relative parity to it, for they were similar and yet somehow worlds apart.

 The young one's expression remained unchanged as he severed their interlocking glare and ever so gently leaned forward, sinking blunt teeth into the fading entity. It wailed in agony, but lacked the strength to fight back or flee. A weak and hopeless beat of its great, broken wings did naught to halt the little one as he began to devour unworldly flesh. Soon thereafter the others joined him, and on hands and knees, they too would feed.  The being’s incomprehensible protest gave way to soft, somber weeping, until finally that too was lost.