it's my duty

It became clear that this was her older brother. Was she in trouble?

Lyra barely blinked as Tarnish scowled and strode over, his dark figure cutting through the eerie landscape like a moving shadow. His voice was sharp, full of irritation, but she didn’t flinch. Instead, she tilted her head slightly, studying him with the same calm, steady gaze she reserved for everything. He was taller than her, older too, though his bark didn’t seem to match the bite she expected from someone like him.

"What i'm doing here?" she repeated, her voice smooth and controlled, "I could ask you the same thing. There’s talk about this place, and I don’t like not knowing what’s close to home." Her gaze flicked briefly to the towering stone spires before returning to Tarnish. "I have to keep our family safe."

There was no need to justify herself beyond that. Lyra wasn’t the type to be scared off by words, and certainly not by someone like Tarnish. She let a brief pause settle between them, feeling the tension in the air, but also testing him in her quiet way. Would he force her to go home or would he understand that she wasn’t some helpless pup who needed to be coddled?

"I didn’t ask for permission."''

She would look at her big brother with a defiant look. A challenge in her steely eyes and small frame. She wasn't leaving. Was it because she was smaller than everyone? Then she would show him, show everybody. With that, she would run over to a spire and take a bite, perhaps a little illogical but she was a child after all. Lyra would have a look of satisfaction on her face as she backed up, her eyes would see a haunting and horrible terrifying monster trapped inside the spire.

Her legs began to tremble and her eyes widened and she would scream. The noise echoed off the spires surrounding.



"SPEECH"