"Bahaha! He brought a dog with him!"
The Guildmaster of Crimson Dominion crossed the staging plain with the stride of a man who had walked toward worse things and lived to complain about them, his coat still streaked with ash, one hand raised in a wave that looked more like a greeting between friends than a formal approach between world powers.
"We finally meet, kid. I'm-"
Pebble growled.
The sound rolled across the plain like a diesel engine idling inside a cave, low and sustained, and every soldier within fifty meters stopped what they were doing.
Lazarus glanced up at six burning eyes locked on him from above Kaiden's head, read the warning for exactly what it was, and kept walking anyway.
"Easy, big fella. This gramps just wants to talk."
He took one more step, and that step crossed whatever line the Guardian had drawn.
Kaiden hadn't gestured that it was okay to come closer, yet Lazarus was approaching.
This could not stand.
One forepaw.
