The demon girl froze on the ridge as dust swallowed the road below.
"Damn it all," she whispered while her tail went completely rigid.
She seized the boy's shoulder and drove her claws through his jacket.
"Tell me you saw that. It came out to meet them," she demanded as she shook him.
"I saw it," the boy replied while keeping his gaze on the crater.
"It guards the inner village and should never enter the outer rings for minor intruders," she said as panic quickened every word.
"Perhaps it was bored," the boy replied without looking at her.
"Do not joke," the demon girl warned as her claws pressed deeper.
The boy folded his arms and watched the towering shape rise from the dust.
The guardian had originally begun as a simple four-Shard template. Then the demon girl poured too much essence into it and watched the creature mutate beyond every designed limit.
