A bit late in posting, but here is my story for the prompt on July 26, 2023.
Music captivated the crowd despite the bard setting her lyre down. Her singing cut through the roaring bonfire and the ocean splashing against the cliffside below, each word lulling her listeners into her magic.
Another successful story sung, another successful meal.
The energy of her audience swelled around her as she sang, and soon the first person dropped, an elderly man tipping over as she drained the last of his life.
Power crackled within her, and she pulled harder. Another fell, then another, until only children remained.
They were her favorite, their small bodies full of vitality from the long lives ahead of them. They tasted sweet, like they’d eaten too much candy and it had tainted their soul.
A pair of eyes blinked, a small boy watching her curiously rather than enthralled.
Power hummed within the bard, surging with each child she took. She pumped more strength into her allure, tugging at the boy, but he remained unfazed.
When he was the last child remaining, the last human alive, the bard finally met his gaze.
“You, boy,” she sang, dropping her voice to a breathy ripple, “are different.”
He shrugged. “Mom says that a lot.”
“Did you not hear my song?”
He nodded. “I did, but mine is better.”
The bard scoffed. “You’re too young. With age, maybe your stories, your songs, will enchant others, too.”
The boy smirked, a hurricane raging within him. “I already have.”
Her storm shattered, the life sustaining her pulled away.
“Delicious.”
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