"A true predator doesn't play with its food. It simply eats."
***
But the pain never came.
Instead, he heard a soft clink-clatter from somewhere behind the transformed shaman.
A small, dark sphere rolled to a stop between the creature's feet. Barely visible in the dying torchlight. An innocuous thing. The kind of object you might overlook entirely if you weren't expecting it.
A marble, perhaps.
Or a child's toy that had somehow found its way into these ancient depths.
The creature looked down.
Its burning eyes narrowed in confusion. Its head tilted, almost dog-like, as it tried to process this interruption to its meal. The claws that had been descending toward Rhys's flesh paused mid-stroke.
The sphere erupted.
