Kael charged.
He went directly toward the oncoming dog with the committed energy of something that had decided offense was the only acceptable response, his wings driving him forward with a speed that contradicted his size entirely.
His mouth opened as he moved — wider than the proportions of his head seemed to allow, the jaw dropping in a way that suggested the small golden-horned creature had dimensions that its resting state didn't fully advertise.
The fire that came out was black.
Not dark orange, not the deep red of intense conventional flame — black, completely and purely, a torrent of it that poured from Kael's open mouth with the pressure and volume of something that had been waiting behind a door that had just been opened fully.
It moved through the air between them and hit the dog before the dog had completed its charge, consuming it with a completeness that left no part of the animal unaffected.
