>>30213
Thanks for the helpful feedback LordofPancakes.
You've got a good point. My original intention was to focus more on the action and false hope before the boys are killed off but I see how most readers here want more. I'll definitely add those kinds of details going forward. It's fun to write them, too.
Just for fun, you can picture that in "Death Battle", the boy was hard the whole time he was trying to win, especially once he could see nothing but her shirt. And yes, when she snapped his neck she felt him pulse against her leg. In "The Son of the Warlord" it's possible that the boy came as she buried the dagger in his chest. Proximity to death, girl contact and clenched muscles might have that effect.