Who knew what exactly was going through the mind of the dragon lord's aide?
But as if to add insult to injury, the very first thing the newly revealed magical being chose to say was, "Sorry about that, Lyra. I didn't think you'd appreciate being left out of the experience, but I figured that was enough, wasn't it?"
Riley tilted his head apologetically toward the elf.
For a brief moment, the officers trembling beneath the overwhelming pressure thought the dragon fear was finally about to be lifted. Relief began creeping onto several faces, only for them to realize, to their horror, that Riley hadn't been addressing the room at all.
He'd only been talking to Lyra.
The pressure weighing down on everyone else never lessened.
Lyra, meanwhile, wheezed as though someone had finally rolled an entire mountain off her back. She remained on one knee, breathing heavily as she looked up at Riley before weakly raising a thumbs-up, silently assuring him that she was still alive.
