With one hand on the charred corpse of a gator man and the other gripping the magic chair,

Tim hurtled from safety to stare down the horrific creature Nessica called a carrion lion.

The smell choked Tim's nostrils, sour and acrid, but the physical effects were only part of it.

Each breath Tim drew within sight of the allegedly dead beast caused his head to feel lighter

and his concentration to drift. Tim squeezed his eyes, shook his head to clear it best he could,

and gripped the back of the chair tighter.

You won't mess with concentration, I? We'll say about that. But the beast couldn't hear his thoughts.

It could only see living flesh that suddenly appeared among the decay, threatening its meal.

It lifted its massive skull-like head and shifted its girth to square off with the challenger. Tim met its meal. It lifted its massive skull-like head and shifted its girth to square off with the

challenger. Tim met its eyes, remembering Horsemaster Jace and the lessons for dealing with strange

creatures, and forced himself not to blink. The stink stung his nose and his eyes watered,

but somehow Tim was able to fix his gaze on the sunken, dim

lights that stared back at him from wide, deep sockets. The lion removed its massive clawed

paw from the corpse it was desecrating and took a slow, predatory step toward Tim. The tight

leathery skin it had on its otherwise bald head pulled tighter as it bared even more razor-sharp teeth while emitting a low, menacing growl.

A glob of saliva and burned gator viscera dripped from its maw.

Behind him, Nessica dared a glance over the makeshift barricade.

"'What do you think you're doing? She whispered,

You're going to get yourself eaten,

and you wasted my first good spell in...

Well, in a long time.

Tim didn't take his eyes off the lion's terrifying visage.

...