The arrival of Lestat

Muriel fingers were still in the bear's jaws, pulling and tugging as it let out an even more painful cry.

Muriel tugged at the corners of her mouth, and with a powerful twist of her hand, the bear's head flipped over, and the huge body plummeted to the ground without making any impact other than raising a cloud of dust.

Alice watched in disbelief as Muriel's skilful hands were brought to bear, but suddenly she was struck on the right arm by a tremendous force with such force that she was defenceless and her body flew up and down like a kite on a broken string.

Alice fell heavily to the ground.

The two impacts caused Alice's internal organs to feel like they had shifted, and she stayed on her side as she landed, spitting blood out of her mouth.

She expected to be greeted by a second attack from the giant bear in the next second, but a figure stepped in front of her, drawing the second bear's attention away.