Fiona bolted to the left as fast as her legs could carry her, a full sprint using everything she had as she ran toward a crack in the road. The ground shook and quivered beneath her with every step of the woman coming toward her, the booming giggles of an unhinged and rather inhuman creature thundering overhead like a rumble of storm clouds. This was insane! It was completely mad! How could anyone hope to fight this? Certainly she could bet it didn’t matter what kind of hero someone was, something this big would just trample them with ease. 

“It's always so funny to watch and see how the new guests try and run. Scurrying this way and that as though it really matters!” The dark haired woman laughed. 

Fiona ignored the jeering from above and flung herself bodily toward the crack. Time seemed to slow in those moments as she watched a vast shadow fall over her from above. The dusty sole of a well worn boot was hovering overhead. It had bits of dirt and debris that fell from it, striking Fiona. It was going to come down before she could make it. It was going to slam down and crush her into paste. The fear seized her and she corrected course, trying to just not be squashed like a bug. 

BOOM!

Pain. Pain tore through her body almost immediately, Fiona letting out a loud and pitiful shriek. She had managed to clear the boot. Mostly. One of her legs unfortunately had not. An industrial press slammed down upon the blonde’s leg, squashing it flat beneath the boot. The pain… it was worse than anything Fiona could ever recall feeling. She squealed and screamed, her eyes wild and her fingers clawing at the boot to get it to lift up, writhing and actually feeling like she was about to pass out from the waves of agony. 

“Hmm? Ooopsie! Did I… yep, that’s your leg alright. Well darn.” The pale woman set a hand on her hip as she moved her foot away. 

Fiona saw her leg, or what was left of it. A crushed and pulped mess that no longer resembled a limb. The adventurer felt her mind going numb as she tried to crawl. “Ah… AAAAAAAAAAAAA!” She screamed at the top of her lungs, her throat scratching painfully as she tried to claw her way away from this. It had to be a bad dream right? A nightmare. Something that wasn’t real. This wasn’t real! It couldn’t be! 

“And up you go~” 

A shadow fell over her as a pair of massive pale fingers reached down and plucked her up from the ground. The blonde felt the air rushing past her and screamed as it struck her bleeding stump where her leg had been. Oh god make it stop! She wanted it to stop! She needed to wake up! To wake up from this nightmare. 

A pair of inhuman dark eyes glanced over her body between the fingers. A cruel smile filled with inhuman mirth split across her lips. “Well you won’t last long for fun times like that now will you? No, no, not at all. Such a pity, a real shame, nothing to really be done about it. Worry not though, little thing. I’m a merciful girl. I never leave things to suffer long.” 

What exactly she meant by that was clear very soon as Fiona started to feel a pressure build on her body as the pale digits slowly pressed in on her. The fingers of the woman were soft, cold, but still rather delicate in a way. And right now they were an inescapable vice! She couldn’t wriggle or squirm her way free from them! She tried, flailing, screaming, biting, and clawing. Then she felt the first rib crack. An explosion of pain washed over her mind, a soundless scream escaping Fiona’s lips. 

“Annnnnd, squish~” 

Just like that she applied the slightest bit more pressure and Fiona popped almost instantly between her fingers. Red stained pale skin in a little coating, pitiful really as the woman casually wiped it against her grey clothes like one might any stain. Right at the gates of Istrel was where Fiona found her end, completely obliterated by a slight misstep of the Jailor of Istrel. Crushed to oblivion between her fingers like a pathetic insect. 

(Ending Unlocked: A Small Mercy)