Creatures shrieked and scattered at the sight of her. Men and shadowbeasts alike tripped over each other in their haste to escape the fabled cruelty of the demon queen. She threw back her head and cackled, reveling in the moment.
Viran’s left hand sought through the mud, desperately trying to find a weapon, though there was no weapon that could stand against her wrath.
“I’ve been waiting for this moment, flesh-rat,” Ashétyn sneered, fixing on Viran. She lowered her wing knuckles to the mountain of dirt beneath the dragon and descended. “Is it pride or a misguided sense of moral superiority that keeps you from fleeing?”
I think it’s just stupidity. Viran was the only one who’d stood his ground. Everyone with half a brain had fled, even the shadowtroops. His heart hammered in his chest, a
