The Hidden Hybrid’s Redemption
I shrieked, my teeth bared in a primal, animalistic snarl as the fragile ember of hybrid fire in my chest flared in response to the blinding light below.
"You aren't leaving me," he growled back, his amber eyes locking onto the dark shadow hovering directly above us. "You’re anchoring me."
The gargoyle reached the limit of its drop. Rearing back on its massive hind legs, its featureless brass head tilted downward, its jaw splitting open to reveal a massive, high-pressure liquid-aether nozzle designed to flush the shaft with superheated slag.
Before the mechanical nozzle could ignite, the beast lunged, its massive brass weight descending directly toward the space we occupied.