From her position at the edge of the clearing, Johamma watched with growing concern. She could see words of Lodawg were having an effect on Jolthar, as he seemed more angry now.
Nearby, hidden among old trees, Cleora gripped her dress with white-knuckled intensity.
"What is happening there? I want to go there, but Jolthar wouldn't like that, would he?" Cleora said, and Maelruth, as if she understood Cleora's words, grumbled, steam flared from nostrils. It seems not only Cleora was worried about Jolthar.
Back in the clearing, Lodawg launched another attack—this time more measured, more calculated. Bronze talons swept toward Jolthar's midsection, followed immediately by a kick aimed at his knee.
The combination would have crippled any normal opponent.
But Jolthar was no longer entirely normal.
