Esme's breath caught in her throat as Wise, or rather Theron, stared into her eyes. For whatever reason she could not look away, it was as though he was locked in a trance.
He was assessing her, using his dragon senses to probe every part of her and determine if she was a threat to him.
'Is this how it feels like to be in the presence of a dragon?'
Both times she had encountered dragons at close range, they had always cloaked their presence, and now she knew why.
Theron watched her for a while longer before speaking.
"You are not a dragon… half-elf? Sorry, I don't seem to—"
He suddenly paused and his eyes turned sharp, then Daphne suddenly burst into the room, pushing Esme behind her.
Aofie and Freya arrived a second later.
The shadows in the room began to swirl, moving towards Daphne and forming a makeshift wall of tendrils.
"What happened?" Daphne asked, but Esme's eyes were still locked on Theron.
Thwack!