The cry of the enormous owl rolled through the forest like thunder trapped between the trees.
Both sorcerers froze where they stood.
The younger mage still had his staff raised toward the Moonshade family, yet his arm slowly lowered as the sound echoed again through the clearing. His face turned pale as he stared toward the smoking crater where his final spell had struck.
"…That…"
His voice trembled.
"That's impossible."
Beside him, the injured sorcerer who had been maintaining the bubble shield felt his stomach tighten with dread.
"It… it survived?"
The smoke from the explosion slowly drifted away with the night wind.
The forest grew quiet.
Even the insects that had been chirping earlier seemed to have fallen silent.
Then a pair of glowing eyes appeared through the fading smoke.
Dark crimson light burned inside them like two coals buried deep in a furnace.
The massive shape behind those eyes slowly spread its wings.
