It Has a Thing for White Fur! (Part 2)

Ava had no way of gauging how long she had walked before reaching the target chamber—this immense interior was less a mechanical construct than a moving...

They finally stopped before two massive blast-proof pressure doors, with a burly armored guard standing on either side.

Ava did not recognize the bulky silhouette of this armor. Most Orks she had encountered wore only crude patchwork or riveted scrap-metal armor; she had never seen armor so finely made.

The extensive modifications were trimmed with silver-drinking edges. The guards wore distinctive helmets, their beast-shaped faceplates fitted with slit-like visors, and curved silver horns rising from their crowns.

As Evely approached them, the guards nodded, then grasped the two heavy bronze handles on the doors.

"Are you ready?"

Evely turned and asked.

Ava did not answer immediately. She could feel her heart pounding wildly as light gradually spilled from the crack between the doors while the guards on either side moved them.

"Not—not yet."

But the doors had already opened.

For a moment, Ava could see nothing. Her vision was overwhelmed by sundial-like light, dancing before her in a way that made the Grand Duchess feel as though she were underwater.

As a Harpy of royal blood, Ava had been born a Wizard—or rather, a psychic—and she could sense the immense energy.

Before her, vast amounts of energy burned away and vanished. The sound of Thunderclap rattling in shackles vaguely resembled a reactor core confined within a cage.

At that moment, she could not tell whether she was sensing his true form—whether that unfamiliar gaze had passed through carefully woven veils to reach the reality buried deep within him—or whether the brief flight had merely muddled her senses.

Even when she had met the highest-ranking storm priests within the Void Temple, she had never felt