Grimalkin- Kills Hecate

By now, Circe had Grimalkin on her back and was kneeling on her arms whilst choking her by the throat. But having absorbed their power, Thorne cast the bones of Hecate aside and attacked Circe from behind, placing an arm across her throat as Grimalkin had done previously. Now Grimalkin was on her feet and together, once more, they dragged Circe towards the bubbling cauldron.

They tipped her, head first, into the seething liquid, which heaved and hissed and bubbled. For a moment she was totally submerged beneath the surface. Then both of Circe’s arms reached out of that caustic liquid. The flesh had gone and nothing but bone remained, but the goddess still managed to grip the rim of the cauldron with both skeletal hands. It was as if, still struggling to survive, she strove to lift herself out.

It was the worst thing she could have done because they were now in a perfect position. Grimalkin drew a short-bladed knife and with two quick strokes severed both of her thumb-bones, which were eagerly grasped by Thorne.

Circe’s head burst briefly from the bubbling fluid. Her nose, lips and eyes had gone and so too had her hair. The skin on her face was steaming and bubbling and starting to shrivel. But her tongue emerged from the wide-open bone-cavern of her mouth like a snake and she screamed long and hard until her skull fell back into the boiling liquid.

Grimalkin and Thorne stared at the surface for a long time but the goddess did not emerge again.

It was over. They had destroyed her.

Wulf's Bane Chapter 31