They had locked their attention onto their feeding, which meant their consciousness had narrowed to the immediate vicinity of the ground.
They had created a tactical gap around their bodies, spaces where danger could have been waiting, perfectly camouflaged, perfectly patient.
The Panthers emerged from invisibility.
They had been invisible not through magical concealment, but through a form of predatory camouflage that transcended mere optical tricks.
They had positioned themselves on the bodies of the diving dragons before the assault had even begun.
Clinging to scales, anchoring themselves to the ridges that ran along the creatures' flanks. They had waited in perfect stillness as the dragons dove and consumed and committed fully to the act of feeding.
Now they revealed themselves.
The first Panther tore the eye from its host dragon's socket.
The attack was so sudden, so violent, that the dragon's scream bifurcated reality itself.
