As Captain Seret drove the hardened steel blade of his trench dagger into the bronze anchor collar, the sheared locking pins snapped with a piercing metallic shriek.
The narrow maintenance fissure acted as an acoustic horn, amplifying the high-frequency scream of tearing metal against ancient bronze to deafening proportions.
The acoustic resonance vibrated in the marrow of his teeth, producing a terrifying auditory duplicate of the whistling shadow needles that slaughtered young Lansa in the northern blizzard.
A blinding flash of terror detonated behind Captain Seret's eyes, threatening to drag his conscious mind straight back into the dark snowdrift of ten years ago.
His chest seized with agonizing suddenness, his throat constricting into a tight knot as the phantom stench of black sulfur and arterial blood overwhelmed his senses.
