He tried to protect himself by pulling his limbs out of the tortoiseshell as he passed, but Mel didn't even turn to look at him. His target was the red-bearded lizard running on its four short legs, spewing fire with its tail, trying to keep it from being followed.
The wild creature wasn't slow, and someone who saw the process of forming the corridor from the fire it created might have called it fast, but he too, like a toad, tried to bite off a bit larger than he could chew.
He was running for his life, and it didn't seem like he would make it without sacrifice. Just as Mel was about to hit his three-times-normal claw onto his back, the lizard ripped its tail from his body.
