Heat shimmered around its limbs, distorting the air as if it carried a furnace within its bones. Jagged dorsal ridges ran from its hunched shoulders to the whip thick tail, which dragged across the sand with a searing hiss, leaving scorched furrows in its wake. Its legs were bowed and muscled, ending in talons like molten iron, each claw gouging half moon craters with every step.
Its head was wedge shaped and brutish, eyes like burning coals sunk deep in ridged sockets, unblinking and cruel. From its half open mouth, thin threads of smoke curled, followed by a low, guttural hiss that scraped across the arena like the groan of shifting earth. When it opened its jaws wider, a line of glowing orange spit dripped to the sand and hissed on contact, leaving a blackened stain behind.
The crowd shifted uneasily, the mood darkening. This wasn't just a beast, it was a walking ember pile, a creature forged in the belly of the earth.
