Inside the control room, the tense sounds of overlapping arrays and humming mana abruptly faded into an uneasy silence as the door slid open.
Every head turned at once.
Yue Qinglan stepped inside without announcing herself.
She moved slowly inside; perched calmly on her shoulder was a slim cat. Its fur was pitch black, and its violet eyes scanned the room with unnerving awareness, but it still looked like a normal cat.
Yue's right hand gripped something heavy.
The body of a dragon woman dragged behind her left a thick trail of blood across the polished floor.
The sound of flesh scraping against stone was quiet, but it echoed loudly in the strained silence of the room.
The woman was barely conscious, her breathing was shallow and irregular, and it was clear that she had been beaten badly.
Black scales covered much of her body; some were cracked and broken freshly, with blood seeping from the gaps.
