(...continued)
Autumn collapsed to her knees beside Orion's colossal frame.
Her trembling hands spread over his blood matted fur.
Her eyes squeezed shut.
The night held its breath.
Blue fire erupted.
It didn't just spark this time. It roared.
The sand beneath Orion's body ignited in a sudden, furious circle, hissing as each grain turned molten.
Heat warped the air, waves of it rippling outward, forcing everyone to stumble back, shielding their faces with their forearms.
With a violent crack, the wolf's massive form lurched upward.
The flames coiled beneath him like a living force, hoisting his body into the air as if the very elements bent to Autumn's grief.
Gasps echoed along the shoreline.
The red wolf's body rotated slowly, almost reverently, suspended in the inferno. His massive paws dangled, claws glinting under the wash of unnatural light.
Her blood, caught in the fire's pull, spattered in burning droplets that fizzled into the sand below.
