Cupcake stood up rapidly, her fur bristling as crackling white lightning bolts appeared across her small form. Beside her, Elizabeth instinctively summoned her enchanted broadsword, the heavy blade gleaming under the parlor lights. Both their gazes were fixed intently on the massive, glowing eyes hovering in the smoke.
"Don't attack, both of you," Mirabella snapped at them, her command sharp and absolute, not shifting her gaze from the swirling anomaly.
"But?! What sort of scroll is that?!" Elizabeth yelled, her knuckles white around her sword hilt, staring at the eyes that felt distinctly predatory. This went against every magical law she knew.
