The words were delivered with absolute arrogance, not as a question seeking an answer, but as a statement of profound certainty.
Jack's tone carried the weight of someone who had just nullified the most powerful attack their opponent possessed and was genuinely unimpressed by the magnitude of the effort.
His wings folded inward against his body.
Not in preparation for assault. But in response to a creature attempting to make itself smaller, attempting to present less surface area to something that was about to destroy it.
The wings that had been spread to their maximum extension just moments before contracted until they were pressed completely against his body.
The Herald's breathing came in sharp, uncontrolled bursts.
The dragon's massive frame began to hyperventilate, his consciousness unable to process the magnitude of what had just occurred, his body responding to the panic with the instinctive patterns of an animal in the grip of absolute terror.
