The soldiers were frozen, fear and uncertainty etched on their faces.
Their eyes darted between the monstrous beasts towering above them, their breath catching as every primal instinct screamed at them to flee.
The beasts seemed ready to strike, each one more fearsome than the last.
They braced themselves for the fight of their lives, their hands gripping weapons with white-knuckled intensity.
Suddenly, breaking the tension like a lightning strike, Lyerin burst out laughing. It was a deep, hearty laugh, echoing off the cavern walls and mingling with the growls and roars of the beasts.
His laughter was so unexpected, so jarring, that it took a moment for the soldiers to register what was happening.
The sound of his amusement was so incongruous with the dire situation that it left them dumbfounded.
They could only stare, slack-jawed and speechless.
