The cavernous Gothic throne room was steeped in an unnatural, suffocating chill.
The tall, wrought iron candelabras sputtered violently, their sickly violet flames flattening against the wax as an invisible, reality distorting pressure seeped through the thick flagstones.
Sitting on her throne, Da Xiaomi suddenly opened her eyes.
Her plush purple fox ears twitched forward, the velvety fur bristling with alarm as her magnificent violet fox tail went completely stiff against the blackened bone of the armrests.
Her gaze instantly snapping toward the empty center of the hall, piercing through the gloomy shadows beneath the soaring ribbed arches.
"Show yourself."
Her voice dropped into a low, guttural growl that carried the commanding, unyielding gravity of a sect master.
And, at her words, a sound of flesh falling down was heard.
THUD. SLAP.
