Gritting her teeth and hoping Ghent would dodge fast enough, Elayra rolled out of the way of the red cat’s strike. Its claws scraped against the concrete with an unnerving, grinding screech where she had just been, leaving deep marks in the man-made stone.
	The glow in its eyes flickered.
	[i]Yes![/i] “What’s wrong, little kitty?” she taunted, emboldened by the sign of fading life. “I’m surprised you haven’t already been beaten by a mouse!”
	With a wavering hiss, it moved to strike at her again.
	Elayra pulled her legs toward her, rolled to her hands and knees out of the beast’s reach, and got shakily to her feet despite her protesting muscles.
	Meanwhile, before claws met boy, a glint of silver flashed in the dim light. The long blade of Drust’s katana propelled through the shadowmire’s scaly side and furry chest. The momentum of the attack threw the beast slightly off course, but not enough to prevent its weight from crashing with Ghent should he not manage to move out of the way, his dagger adding to the creature’s fatal wound. The moment it fell with a heavy [i]thud[/i], the glow of its eyes extinguished.
	Drust ran toward Ghent and the cat from near the doors into the bookstore’s storage room, looking no worse for wear. Reaching Ghent, should he still reside beneath the beast and not have managed to already pull himself out, Drust used a foot to lever some of the cat’s weight off him.
	“No sleeping on the job, boy!” Drust growled with a twitch, reaching down to pull Ghent free with a glance to Elayra and the red shadowmire.
	When the red cat’s claws dug again into the concrete, missing their target for the second time, its head collapsed behind its outstretched paw, followed by the rest of its body like a dying wave. The glow of its eyes flickered a couple times, then went out, leaving only an empty, dull crimson gaze covered with a milky film.
	With a wickedly satisfied grin, Elayra looked to Ghent, and gave a relieved sigh as she watched Drust yank his sword from the dead animal. With sluggish movements, she went to retrieve her saber. She tried to pull it from the cat’s neck with one hand, but gave a frustrated snort when her strength failed her. Using both hands, she managed to pull her blade free, the metal glistening with a coat of an unnaturally brilliant, thick red.
	Elayra moved to the wall nearest her companions, and leaned against it, suppressing a groan. 
	“You alright?” she asked, nodding toward Ghent, and trying to hide the weariness weighing her down. She looked him over for any signs of injury.