Bones - Part 16

Raxem lay, broken and bleeding, on the smooth shoreline. She was on her stomach, head twisted to the left, leg twisted out behind her at an unnatural angle, still encircled by vines. Her left hand was lying on the sand near her face, the crystal in her armband glowing faintly. The magic had spared her from dying on impact, but nevertheless, her injuries were fatal. Her ribcage was crushed, splintered bones punctured vital organs and tore through her skin, leaving her lying motionless in a pool of her own blood, the shredded cloak settled overtop the limp form.

Pain. Her leg was broken, and her hip shattered. Raxem struggled to breath as her lungs slowly began to fill with blood, and shards of bone dug into exposed flesh.

She saw a small creature scuttling towards her on the sand. It was a bone crab, a species which thrived in calcium rich waters of flat sandy deltas. It required the intake of calcium to maintain its milky-white shell and had been known scavenge and feed on the bodies of unfortunate creatures that wind up on these shores. The small, round crab flaunted two pudgy claws protected by the grayish-white armor, bright round eyes, and a few darker spots on its back.