The sky was growing darker and darker. Over the Dead Moon Inner Sea, the setting sun slowly sank into the depths of the boundless ocean, its lingering light seeming to evaporate the surrounding moisture and twist the clouds. In Little Female Dragon's golden eyes, it was a massive fireball sinking beneath the sea, encircled by a ring of emerald green.
Noisy voices and barking dogs reached her ears through the bushes nearby. Normally, she only needed to release a trace of her aura to make those hounds whine and crawl onto the ground, too afraid to take another step. But she could not do that now, because the pursuers would immediately discover that she was hiding here.
Even if she remained completely still, however, being discovered was only a matter of time.
A wave of despair washed over Aloz. Her body was covered in wounds, some deep and some shallow, and a few had even begun to fester. Her once-bright, beautiful golden eyes had lost their luster, as though they might scatter at any moment. Not all of those wounds had been inflicted by the humans, either. The deepest ones in particular looked as though they had been torn open by claws, with flesh turned inside out and the wounds pale around the edges.
The hounds finally caught the thick scent of blood from this direction. Their frenzied barking drew closer and closer. Before long, the bushes nearby rustled violently, and several hounds bared their teeth as they crawled out from beneath the grass, coming face-to-face with Aloz.
The beasts could faintly sense the unsettling aura around Aloz. They dared not approach beyond a certain distance, and could only bark furiously at Little Female Dragon.
"Get lost!"
Aloz swept out a hand, and a crescent of moonlight passed between the