The demon girl stood frozen on the ridge. Her eyes were wide as she stared down at the massive cloud of dust currently settling over the ruins below.
"Fuck," she whispered, her voice barely carrying over the wind.
She grabbed the boy by his shoulder and shook him, her claws digging into his jacket.
"Did you see that?" she snapped, feeling pure panic. "Tell me you saw that! That thing just came out to meet them personally!"
The boy did not answer immediately. He kept his steady gaze fixed on the towering figure standing in the middle of the crater.
"I saw it," he said, his tone completely flat.
"Why is it out there?!" she yelled, letting go of his shoulder and starting to pace frantically along the edge of the ridge. "It is supposed to stay inside the village! It is supposed to guard the inner core! Monsters like that do not just walk out to the outer rings to deal with minor intruders!"
The boy crossed his arms, watching the standoff below.
