When the paw lifted, there was nothing recognizable left of the four elite guards.
Armor, weapons, flesh, storage rings. All flattened into a dark red smear across cracked soil.
Kristof stared upward.
The enormity of the creature towered above him, breath steaming like winter wind from a glacier's mouth.
His fingers trembled.
He understood then.
He had miscalculated catastrophically.
Kiara rose slowly, brushing dust from her clothing with calm deliberation.
"Whether you belong to House Drake or the imperial family," she said evenly, stepping forward beneath the looming shadow of the bear, "offense carries consequence."
Confidence flowed back into her posture as fear overtook him.
Kristof's lips parted.
"If you kill me," he blurted, voice cracking despite himself, "House Drake will not spare you. My master is the House Head of Sky Clan. You will face their wrath."
Kiara laughed lightly.
"I have offended many powerful people," she replied. "Adding one more is trivial."
