[img]https://txt.1001fonts.net/img/txt/dHRmLjExNi5hY2FjZWYuUTJ4aGJtTjVJRkJoZEhKcFkycy4x/burn-out-fade-away.regular.webp[/img]
Luca [@FernStone], Adora, Doggo, Greenwood [@Mixtape Ghost N] & LaylAlizee, Aislin [@Estylwen]
[hr]

Clancy shrugged off Adora's dismissal. She [i]hadn't[/i] asked for his opinion nor demonstrate anything to suggest she'd follow it, and for all his efforts at trying to keep some of them alive, he wasn't her keeper.

For his part, he’d try and keep the pressing danger in front of them at arm’s length-

[hider=ambience][youtube]https://youtu.be/1wUnOhsCQxk[/youtube][/hider]

[i]-too soon.[/i]

Alizee and Layla, the [i]bound[/i] girls, rushed forward before the rest were ready, the dog's stone form grinding into motion.

[I]What happened to the plan?![/i] 

It was too late for that now.

Before the boy could press forward on the offensive, Luca and a few others slipped past the corner of his gaze, [i]too close[/i] for comfort as the dog snapped and bucked until it was crashing across the floor, threatening to bowl over them [i]and[/i] Layla. Clancy's first instinct was to offer a layer of separation between them and the dog.

As he moved alongside the beast, a loose strand of chain dangled from its side, and for a half-second the boy grasped at the link and pulled in hoping to steer the dog in the opposite direction, only to feel the burning,hains [i]flensing[/i] away at his strength.

As quickly as he'd grasped the white-hotmetal link, he let it slip through his grasp, the dog still flailing, and now moving ever-closer to Layla with each gesture to buck off the chains. [i]Stupid girl.[/i] The only other instinct that came to him was a [i]stupid idea,[/i] but it was likely no less idiotic than what he’d seen already. 

Changing direction, the boy shifted back into a sprint - circling around as Layla was just narrowly pulled out of harm’s way by her new [i]guest[/i], then [i]dropped[/i] to the floor, sliding along the marble floor so he could get around the creature’s bucking hindquarters as it kicked into the air, and then leaped onto the outcrop that counted for its neck and shoulders.

Clancy’s legs swung over the dog’s upper back as it rotated again to an upright position, heels digging in hard as the flailing creature shifted position in presumed response to his presence. The boy pressed his form downwards, one arm reaching to coil under the dog’s chin, while the other free hand temporarily grasped onto the stone facade of an ear for grip, uncertain of whether the strength and sheer force being exerted would just outright snap it off. 

Whatever the dog’s intentions, whatever its strength, he intended to [i]drag[/i] its attention onto him, [i]force[/i] it to deal with him, if it could.


[I]Buy them time.[/i]

[b]”Meat!”[/b] he growled, an ancient, primal energy amplifying his voice, barely audible over the din of barking, snapping, snarling and stone crunching against stone.

Fingers dug into the marble with equal strength, raking through the stone facade like nails to chalkboard. As Aisilin moved to make her play, with the chains falling away and giving him a window to force a movie, Clancy jammed a third of his forearm into the creature’s jaws, again to force its attention on him, only him, the [i]wretched[/i] flea atop its back.

[b]”MEEaAt!”[/b] he snarled, his voice distorted in its repetition of the word, as the ceiling collapsed atop them both. Along with the dog, the boy disappeared beneath a cascade of darkness, dust and debris.