Her scream had been unintentional when the beast surprised her. That upset her.
As the red eyes and snarling jaws came closer and closer, she drew the silver blade she had been carrying, and pointed it out.
The lykos snapped, and she swung, just missing, so that the blade hit the rock and sent sparks into the air. The beast lunged again and retreated, avoiding her flailing blade.
Talia prodded and poked, as a child tries to tease a dog with naught but a stick, but she wanted the beast to come closer.
The lykos tired of the standoff, saliva dripping from its blood-hungry teeth. It lunged high for Talia’s head, but she dropped and pushed up with all her strength into the soft belly.
The creature crashed into the rock face, gripped by seizures as the wound sizzled around the silver-edged
