'No!'
Songbird's massive claws tear through the air but an inch from my face, and I hear Elizabeth scream.
'No! Please don't hurt him!'
The bird's enormous head twitches to the side, its claws pausing millimetres from my throat. It seems to be listening.
'I'm sorry!' Elizabeth pleads, and I see her stumble to the bird's head, stroking the rusted metal with a pale hand. 'I'm sorry... I should never have left...' She raises her hand to Songbird's great yellow eye, touching the glass with a finger. 'Take me back,' she says steadily. 'Take me back to my tower. Take me - take me home.'
A moment's silence follows her words, and the bird's eye rolls back to face me. I open my mouth and croak, 'Elizabeth. Run...'
And then -
The yellow eye suddenly glows red. The metal talons come slicing down through the air and I feel a terrible, unbearable pain explode in my chest and throat as the claws rip straight through the flesh. I hear shouting, and it takes me a few moments to realise that it's me.
'No!'
I open my eyes ever so slightly, feeling blood soaking through my shirt and pooling on the floor beneath me. The pain is so bad I can barely stop myself passing out.
'No, no, no -'
Staggering footsteps echo in the empty room, and I see Elizabeth running towards me, her eyes wide and terrified, her face horrorstruck.
'Booker! Oh, Booker!'
I stretch out a shaking hand to her, trying to stifle a groan of agony -
- and the Songbird snatches her up in a bloodied hand and smashes through the wall.
'Elizabeth!' I cry, and fear snatches at my heart to hear how weak my voice sounds.
'Booker!' she screams, reaching out desperately to grab my hand - but the Songbird dives out through the hole it made and swoops away through the night, Elizabeth's screams ringing in the darkness.
I haul myself to my feet, clutching at my chest, and stagger to the hole the Songbird disappeared through. 'Elizabeth!' I roar, feeling blood gushing through my fingers.
'Elizabeth...'
But the pain is so bad now I can't even keep my feet. With a rush of self-disgust, I slump to my knees, my head drooping.
'El-iza-beth,' I croak -
- and blackness engulfs me entirely.