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Description
My Demon Eyes
Issue 1: The Dragon
Written by M.R.Maloney

Page 1:
Panel 1: Full page. A whimpering young maiden sits chained to a post not fifty meters from the gloomy mouth of a cave in the distance. The maiden, Lune Franke, has a chartreuse dress that is ragged and soaked, the wind and rain from the past two days seeing to that and some of the rain still making the dirt in the rocky path become mud and morning dew glistening on the grass to the side of it. Hher auburn hair, normally so meticulously clean, is a matted mess that covers most of her face, shoulders and back. From the distance of the foreground to the midground where she is, it might even seem she is naught but dress and hair, her pale, ripe skin covered in modesty despite the shame she feels.

Narr.: "Lune Franke had been left as tribute to appease the being inside the cavern, but the dragon had not even bothered to come out, except to scare off those who were sacrificing her. She thought at first that it had wanted to eat her in peace, undisturbed, but it seemed the creature had barely noticed her. Two days of the deafening silence of nature as few creatures were lacking the basic survival instincts to avoid a dragon's lair. Now her stomach growled incessantly. She had enough to drink due to the rain, but she wished that the dragon would just come out and eat her, if only to ease her hunger. She trembled in fear her life, but she no longer feared the dragon as before. It would be a quick death, if legend was true. Starvation, on the other hand, was a painful and long demise."

Page 2:
Panel 1: Lune barely able to lift her head, body shaking as she looks through her bangs of hair off into the distance. There we see a black stallion with Clare Fortier on its back, barely seeming to hang on, slumped over and swaying on the horse's saddle, appearing inebriated from the distance. Her cloak is patched up though it is still torn and tattered around the edges. There isn't anything showy or any flair to Clare's appearance, and her face is hidden by her hood and hair.

SFX (small): "Clop clop clop"

Panel 2: Similar, though closer up on Clare and her horse as she lands in the mud on the side she was previously leaning toward, the horse and herself now only about thirty meters from Lune which is visible by part of her head in the frame to help gauge the distance for the readers. Clare's chest is turned toward Lune so she can see Clare's upper body clearly minus the head which still has its hood on it, though the horse is in the way partially from the reader's perspective.

SFX: THUMP

Panel 3: Clare laying there, close up on her from the ground near her belly. The cloak is open and we see Clare's feminine if muscular curves. Her eyes are closed and she seems completely relaxed despite the fall. The hood still covers her face though. We can clearly see several packs slung over Clare's shoulder underneath the cloak.

Clare (soft, wavery, snoring): "Snnnnxxxtt..."

Panel 4: Lune glancing at the black stallion's saddle where the reader can see that it is improperly fastened, and there are many runic engravings on the saddle's buckle.

Lune (thought bubble): "Is she a wizard, or did she steal from one?"

Page 3:
Panel 1: Clare standing and stretching, yawning, the hood of her cloak thrown back. Seen from close up to Clare with Lune looking wearily surprised in the background. Clare's hair is shaggy, looking to have been haphazardly cut with a dull pair of scissors and covered with black dye, though azure roots were showing. In addition, like her face it was streaked with varied blood and other fluids of many creatures. Clare's pointed ears are pierced, as are her eyebrows, nose and two are in her tongue. Her teeth are extremely sharp and her lips ashen gray resting upon her porcelain skin. There are several cuts in her ears though they appear really old. There is a prominent rune tattoo on her right cheek just below the pair of goggles she is wearing over her eyes. It is made of thick black leather with red-lenses and silver trim, with the left lens cracked slightly.

Panel 2: Lune blushing and seeming like she is about to faint.

Panel 3: Clare splashing water on her face and hair from one of the large puddles on the side of the road closer toward the dragon's cave.

Lune (raspy, small, wavering): "Wait..."

Panel 4: Lune's face in the foreground, Clare tilting her head to look at her.

Lune (raspy, small, wavering): "Don't go in there... Dragon..."

Panel 5: Clare grinning.

Clare: "Heh."

Clare 2: "That's why I'm here, so just sit back."

Clare 3: "I'll be back shortly."

Page 4:
Panel 1: Lune's eyes in horror as Clare walks into the shadows and disappears.

Panel 2: Lune looking at the black stallion who stands serenely, waiting.

Panel 3: Lune finally allowing herself to pass out.

Panel 4: Clare lighting a torch in the darkness.

Panel 5: Clare holding the torch behind her. Wide, bottom of entire page. We see the tunnel is damp, the flame flickering and casting her shadow in front of her, lighting her back.

Clare: "Hmm♪ hmm♪ hmm♪ hmm♪~"

Page 5:
Panel 1: Clare walking in the darkness, brushing a few cobwebs out of the way, a few skull-marked spiders scurrying about, though fleeing her presence.

Narr.: "Old Elaizar had been stealing gold and livestock from the local lands for a few decades, and every time a powerful enough warrior was defeated by him, he would relocate to another cave, but still raid the populous, with twice the violence. They had given in to lore and superstition, chaining a maiden to a post for him to devour. Like most dragons, Elaizar probably couldn't care less about her. He preferred to eat animals and sentients that put up a decent fight or ran terrified. Adrenaline and sweat were preferred by Wrenix dragons. Very few dragons were actually a problem for humans and the other races, but Wrenix were by far the most dangerous. Their tails were agile with a hard armored shell with spiked ridges, their crests filled with horns and they could break boulders with a headbutt. Their underbellies were softer than their encrusted backs, but it was like comparing forged steel to a diamond. It didn't matter that their bellies were softer, they were still too hard for most conventional weaponry available in the lands they terrorized. Their snout was long, as was their neck, and they could thrust and manipulate it like a swan or a snake, their foot long teeth gnashing up their prey. While Wrenix Dragons couldn't breath fire like their more famous Aduron cousins, the Great Red Dragons, they were able to spit an acidic goo that would melt rock and steel with little difficult. All in all, it was as if nature had made Wrenix to be invincible.

Panel 2: Clare at a fork, sniffing the air.

Clare (thought): "Sulfur."

Panel 3: Clare heading down the left path.

Page 6:
Panel 1: A few crushed and acid-melted human skulls on the ground in front of her feet. Within the top left corner of panel 2.

Panel 2: Clare looking across Old Elaizar's treasure at the dragon himself, about seventy meters away. He is picking his teeth with a broadsword. His massive body towers over her and his treasure, her torchlight reflecting off of his gray, tan and green scales, as well as his treasure. His eyes are a deep shade of blue muddled with flecks of green and red, though not looking at her in this panel. There are a few boulders around, especially near Clare at the mouth of the tunnel.

Panel 3: Old Elaizar's eyes clearly looking toward her now, turning into slits.

Panel 4: Old Elaizar sniffing the air and continuing to pick his teeth.

Page 7:
Panel 1: Clare looking about the dragon's lair. In the distance we see pools of oil ablaze in the darkness as well as a few torches here and there, showing how large the cavern is and how much treasure he has, though still keeping most of the cavern in darkness.

Panel 2: Clare sitting on a small boulder, putting the torch into the eye of a broken skull and reaching into one of her packs.

Panel 3: Clare chewing on a loaf of stale bread.

Elaizar (coming from off-panel, guttural, and potent font): "Well, child, you certainly aren't a typical adventurer, now are you?"

Elaizar (same) 2: "Didn't attack me as soon as you entered, no..."

Panel 4: Old Elaizar tossing the sword aside and looking down at Clare.

Elaizar (guttural, and potent font): "You waited like a good little girl, didn't even interrupt me, like most of the idiots who came."

Elaizar (same) 2: "I can smell magic all over you, but you aren't even bothering to carry a sword or crossbow."

Elaizar (same) 3: "Either you're very arrogant, or very foolish.”

Page 8:
Panel 1: Clare looking up at Elaizar.

Clare (italicized, archaic and guttural font): "I don't mean to offend, Lord Elaizar, but I am neither."

Clare (same) 2: "I am here on a mission, and I don't need such tools for it."

Clare (same) 3: "If need be, I'll defend myself, but why ruin such a pleasant conversation so quickly?"

Panel 2: Elaizar's head moving back in shock.

Elaizar (same italicized, archaic and guttural font as Clare had in her speech bubbles): "Drake-speak from a mammal?"

Panel 3: The ridges around Elaizar's eyes hardening further in suspicion as he leaned forwards again.

Elaizar (italicized, archaic and guttural font): “Very accented, but still an effort."

Elaizar (same) 2: "I'd congratulate you, but I doubt that you're here for pleasantries."

Elaizar (same) 3: "State your business."

Panel 4: Clare's head really close to Elaizar's own. She is reaching into one of her pouches and Elaizar's neck shows that he is pulling back his head a little tensely.

Clare (italicized, archaic and guttural font): "I am here on behalf of the human rulers of the region with a request for negotiations."

Clare (same) 2: "Certainly you would like to be undisturbed, as would they."

Clare (same) 3: "They sent me to see what would be an agreeable arrangement for both parties, and have informed me what they would be willing to surrender to you."

Page 9:
Panel 1: Clare holding a scroll out toward Elaizar who does not respond except to narrow his eyes. Wide panel.
Elaizar (italicized, archaic and guttural font): "Negotiations, hmmm?"

Elaizar (same) 2: "Now, what could the humans offer me that I do not already have?"

Elaizar (same) 3: "Riches? Food? Freedom of movement? An end to occasional half-wit adventurers who only serve to give me a break from the monotony of life?"

Panel 2: Clare setting the scroll down on the ground in front of the boulder she had been on. Elaizar's lips curling back to show his glistening teeth and drool, his eyes a pale blue now with barely a hint of the green or red flecks, cold and uncaring as he sneers. Wide panel.

Clare (italicized, archaic and guttural font): "All of the land and forest from this cave to the eastern shores of Lake Ciret."

Clare (same) 2: "A tribute of eight livestock and a hundred dram of gold per week."

Clare (same) 3: "The occasional criminal to be released for you to dispense your own justice upon."

Clare (same) 4: "And a twenty meter high outer wall constructed around your lands to keep out interlopers and adventurers."

Panel 3: Clare's face impassive as she awaits Elaizar's decision while the dragon has reached into his treasure and is letting it sift back into his piles from one of his uplifted hands, seeming to mull it over.

Clare (thought bubble): "Even if he were fool enough to take the deal, Elaizar'd kill the wizards before they could finish warding him to a limited pen..."

Panel 4: Elaizar's eyes on his sifting treasure while he speaks to her, close-up from his head with her in the background.

Elaizar (italicized, archaic and guttural font): "What is in it for you as negotiator?"

Elaizar (same) 2: "And who are you, anyways?"

Elaizar (same) 3: "Obviously you know who I am, but that comes as no surprise."

Panel 5: Clare giving a light bow.

Clare (italicized, archaic and guttural font): "My name is of no consequence to the negotiations, but seeing as I do know who Lord Elaizar is, it would be fitting if he knew who I was as well."

Clare (same) 2: "My name is Clare."

Clare (same) 3: "My fee will be paid by the human rulers after negotiations are settled. I have received a modest sum as down payment, forty dram of gold, here with me now.”

Narr.: "In truth, she had been paid four hundred dram up front. Dragons could sense when a person was lying, and while she had kept part of the truth from him, she hadn't lied. She had forty dram of it with her, as she said."

Page 10:
Panel 1: Elaizar's eyes gleaming in the light, still sifting through his treasures with his monstrous hand, his lips curling back to show a viciously ominous grin. Clare's face is trying to keep from showing her shock.

Elaizar (italicized, archaic and guttural font): "Very well, I accept the terms of this negotiation.”

Panel 2: Clare rising up, extending a hand toward him which he doesn't respond to.

Clare (thought bubble): "What in the world is he up to?"

Clare (same) 2: "He has to know it is a trap."

Clare (italicized, archaic and guttural font) 3: "I shall let my employers know as soon as I return back to them."

Clare (same) 4: "Is there anything you would like me to add?"

Panel 3: Elaizar's smile turning more worrying and sly.

Elaizar (italicized, archaic and guttural font): "There is one more thing, but I think I can tell them myself, after I'm done with you, Miss Fortier."

Panel 4: Clare's eyes wide, show the reflection of the treasure being thrown at her.

Page 11:
Panel 1: Clare rolling to the right side of the panel (her left), dodging the treasure thrown at her, pulling a small spiked sphere from one of the pockets in her cloak.

SFX: "KSSSH!"
SFX 2: "PANG!"

Panel 2: Clare throws the grenade expertly and it explodes just half a meter in front of one of Elaizar's eyes, sending shrapnel into the eye before he had a chance to close it.

Panel 3: Elaizar clawing at his face, tearing off scales in the process of removing the enchanted shards of metal which burned at the touch. Clare is using the distraction to cover some of the distance between them and draws out more grenades and heading toward a shield she spies in the treasure.

Elaizar (exploding out of the bubble): "GRRAAAAAAGHHN!"

Panel 4: The additional grenades explode under Elaizar's underbelly, as Clare slides across the piles of gold on the shield, ducking as Elaizar blindly tries to hit her with his tail and thrashes about removing burning shrapnel from his underbelly, the magic runes on them trying to spread their spells like viruses, conflicting with each other, wrecking massive damage to his anatomy and brining him excruciating pain.

Elaizar (exploding out of the bubble): "FOUL MAMMAL!"

Elaizar (exploding out of the bubble even more) 2: "GRRAAAAAAAGHHNN!"

SFX (by the shield): "Kssssshhh"

Page 12:
Panel 1: One of Elaizar's arms manages to backhand her as it tore off more of the metal, sending her crashing into one of the cavern walls.

SFX: "SMACK!"

SFX 2: "THOOM!"

Panel 2: X-Ray of one of Clare's wrists breaking.

SFX: "KRRKT!"

Panel 3: Clare holding the wrist in place as magic swirls around it and heals it, standing in the foreground gritting her teeth. In the background, Elaizar is glaring at her and barring his teeth, neck pulled back as he readied himself to lob some of his acidic spit at her.

Panel 4: Once again Clare dives out of the way, this time to her left (as seen from slightly behind and over her right shoulder), which works in her favor as Elaizar had aimed slightly off to the side anticipating her rolling the same way as before. The acid melts treasure and rock alike, creating multi-colored smoke in the process.

Clare: "Nggh!"

SFX: SSSSSKKTTSSHH!

Page 13:
Panel 1: Clare rising from the ground, pulling out a chakram as another is already launched at his throat, his mouth open as he prepared to launch another ball of acid spit at her.

Panel 2: The chakram hitting Elaizar's gullet promptly exploding, tearing out the bottom of his jaw, preventing him from being able to spit or even speak properly.

SFX: "THOOOM!"

Panel 3: Elaizar's tail lashing out at Clare and missing barely with the tip of it causing the rock wall to explode outward from shock, creating cracks along its entire surface. His hands are clutching his mouth in agony, magic starting to grow back his jaw but slowly.

Elaizar (exploding out of the bubble more than any previous time): "AAAAHHN!"

Panel 4: Clare brushing some rock dust off her clothing with one hand and pulling the broadsword out of the treasure with the other with ease, the same one he had cast aside earlier after picking his teeth with it. Her eyes are glowing behind the goggles as she casts a simple spell over the blade.

Page 14:
Panel 1: Clare drives the entire blade through the thickest part of Elaizar's armored tail's tip, holding it fast to the ground. He roars in pain and tries to get free.

Elaizar (exploding out of the bubble): "HHHN!"

Panel 2: Clare walking up Elaizar's tail, brimming with confidence, as he tries and fails to reach her.

Clare (italicized, archaic and guttural font): "Elaizar, you've had a long good run, but you've finally met your match."

Panel 3: Clare leaning against the crest of Elaizar's head, kicking it.

Clare (italicized, archaic and guttural font): "I was hired to get you to agree to the negotiations, which you obviously suspected were a trap, but if you had simply attacked my employers instead, it never would have come to this."

Clare (same) 2: "Now, since you tried to kill me, the other side of my contract came into play: If you didn't agree to the negotiations, I'd kill you."

Clare (same) 3: "Obviously you thought you had heard as much about me as I had of you, but you were wrong, weren't you Laiz?"

Panel 4: Clare pulling her revolver, Susan, out of her cloak.

Clare (italicized, archaic and guttural font): "This, Laiz, is the end"

Clare (normal) 2: "Or, rather, your end."

Clare (same) 3: "This here is Susan."

Clare (same) 4: "Misleadingly named, Susan here is a weapon you've probably not seen before."

Panel 5: Clare checking the gun's revolver cylinder as she walks along the top of Elaizar's head.

Clare: "It's called a gun."

Clare 2: "Now, I know the quaint people of this valley might not get out much and you evidently don't so much either, but most of the world has moved on from crossbows and swords to more deadly nasty things."

Clare 3: "What good does a sword do against someone with a crossbow who can shoot them before they get in range, right?"

Page 15:
Panel 1: Clare turning to stand in front of Elaizar's good eye, pulling out a single bullet and putting it into the cylinder.

Clare: "Well, Susan here fires faster, hits harder, and reloads faster than any crossbow you've ever seen."

Clare 2: "She's is an auto-revolver, capable of taking ammunition ranging from three-twenty-seven to fifty caliber, but I'm sure that doesn't mean much to you, now does it?"

clare 3: "To put it simply, it, along with the custom bullets I buy and make, are more than capable of putting a hole through even your thick skull at point blank range."

Clare 4: "Any last requests?"

Panel 2: Elaizar's face with Clare standing on it at such an angle that his good eye is still visible to her left from the perspective, the magic in him still trying to heal his jaw and about halfway finished. His good eye is filled with rage, with disbelief. Her gun is still open in this panel.

Elaizar (whispered, wavery, italicized, archaic and guttural font): "Who are you?"

Panel 3: Clare pushing her goggles up for the first time in the entire issue, her hand covering her eye from the reader seeing it yet.

Elaizar (same) 2: "What are you?"

Panel 4: Barely more than Clare's eyes and their gaze. The sclera are black and pupils purple, tinged with flecks of blue and red, her irises thin slits with two circles on either side near the bottom. They are cold and remorseless, predatory, cold and empty voids, unflinching, drilling into Elaizar's very soul. They look upon him as if he were beneath her effort.

Page 16:
Panel 1: Clare putting the gun back together finally, close up on her upper body and face with the gun at the bottom of the panel.

SFX (small, near cylinder): "Kkt."

Panel 2: Clare lining up her shot with Elaizar's eye and pulling back the hammer. See that he seems to have lost himself, unable to even do more than stare forward, the image of her eyes explaining everything to one such as he.

Panel 3: Clare firing the gun and the bullet flaring with its spell activating as it entered Elaizar's eye, as seen from the side, exiting the other side of his armored skull after passing through the dragon's brain.

Description
My Demon Eyes
Issue 1: The Dragon
Written by M.R.Maloney

Page 1:
Panel 1: Full page. A whimpering young maiden sits chained to a post not fifty meters from the gloomy mouth of a cave in the distance. The maiden, Lune Franke, has a chartreuse dress that is ragged and soaked, the wind and rain from the past two days seeing to that and some of the rain still making the dirt in the rocky path become mud and morning dew glistening on the grass to the side of it. Hher auburn hair, normally so meticulously clean, is a matted mess that covers most of her face, shoulders and back. From the distance of the foreground to the midground where she is, it might even seem she is naught but dress and hair, her pale, ripe skin covered in modesty despite the shame she feels.

Narr.: "Lune Franke had been left as tribute to appease the being inside the cavern, but the dragon had not even bothered to come out, except to scare off those who were sacrificing her. She thought at first that it had wanted to eat her in peace, undisturbed, but it seemed the creature had barely noticed her. Two days of the deafening silence of nature as few creatures were lacking the basic survival instincts to avoid a dragon's lair. Now her stomach growled incessantly. She had enough to drink due to the rain, but she wished that the dragon would just come out and eat her, if only to ease her hunger. She trembled in fear her life, but she no longer feared the dragon as before. It would be a quick death, if legend was true. Starvation, on the other hand, was a painful and long demise."

Page 2:
Panel 1: Lune barely able to lift her head, body shaking as she looks through her bangs of hair off into the distance. There we see a black stallion with Clare Fortier on its back, barely seeming to hang on, slumped over and swaying on the horse's saddle, appearing inebriated from the distance. Her cloak is patched up though it is still torn and tattered around the edges. There isn't anything showy or any flair to Clare's appearance, and her face is hidden by her hood and hair.

SFX (small): "Clop clop clop"

Panel 2: Similar, though closer up on Clare and her horse as she lands in the mud on the side she was previously leaning toward, the horse and herself now only about thirty meters from Lune which is visible by part of her head in the frame to help gauge the distance for the readers. Clare's chest is turned toward Lune so she can see Clare's upper body clearly minus the head which still has its hood on it, though the horse is in the way partially from the reader's perspective.

SFX: THUMP

Panel 3: Clare laying there, close up on her from the ground near her belly. The cloak is open and we see Clare's feminine if muscular curves. Her eyes are closed and she seems completely relaxed despite the fall. The hood still covers her face though. We can clearly see several packs slung over Clare's shoulder underneath the cloak.

Clare (soft, wavery, snoring): "Snnnnxxxtt..."

Panel 4: Lune glancing at the black stallion's saddle where the reader can see that it is improperly fastened, and there are many runic engravings on the saddle's buckle.

Lune (thought bubble): "Is she a wizard, or did she steal from one?"

Page 3:
Panel 1: Clare standing and stretching, yawning, the hood of her cloak thrown back. Seen from close up to Clare with Lune looking wearily surprised in the background. Clare's hair is shaggy, looking to have been haphazardly cut with a dull pair of scissors and covered with black dye, though azure roots were showing. In addition, like her face it was streaked with varied blood and other fluids of many creatures. Clare's pointed ears are pierced, as are her eyebrows, nose and two are in her tongue. Her teeth are extremely sharp and her lips ashen gray resting upon her porcelain skin. There are several cuts in her ears though they appear really old. There is a prominent rune tattoo on her right cheek just below the pair of goggles she is wearing over her eyes. It is made of thick black leather with red-lenses and silver trim, with the left lens cracked slightly.

Panel 2: Lune blushing and seeming like she is about to faint.

Panel 3: Clare splashing water on her face and hair from one of the large puddles on the side of the road closer toward the dragon's cave.

Lune (raspy, small, wavering): "Wait..."

Panel 4: Lune's face in the foreground, Clare tilting her head to look at her.

Lune (raspy, small, wavering): "Don't go in there... Dragon..."

Panel 5: Clare grinning.

Clare: "Heh."

Clare 2: "That's why I'm here, so just sit back."

Clare 3: "I'll be back shortly."

Page 4:
Panel 1: Lune's eyes in horror as Clare walks into the shadows and disappears.

Panel 2: Lune looking at the black stallion who stands serenely, waiting.

Panel 3: Lune finally allowing herself to pass out.

Panel 4: Clare lighting a torch in the darkness.

Panel 5: Clare holding the torch behind her. Wide, bottom of entire page. We see the tunnel is damp, the flame flickering and casting her shadow in front of her, lighting her back.

Clare: "Hmm♪ hmm♪ hmm♪ hmm♪~"

Page 5:
Panel 1: Clare walking in the darkness, brushing a few cobwebs out of the way, a few skull-marked spiders scurrying about, though fleeing her presence.

Narr.: "Old Elaizar had been stealing gold and livestock from the local lands for a few decades, and every time a powerful enough warrior was defeated by him, he would relocate to another cave, but still raid the populous, with twice the violence. They had given in to lore and superstition, chaining a maiden to a post for him to devour. Like most dragons, Elaizar probably couldn't care less about her. He preferred to eat animals and sentients that put up a decent fight or ran terrified. Adrenaline and sweat were preferred by Wrenix dragons. Very few dragons were actually a problem for humans and the other races, but Wrenix were by far the most dangerous. Their tails were agile with a hard armored shell with spiked ridges, their crests filled with horns and they could break boulders with a headbutt. Their underbellies were softer than their encrusted backs, but it was like comparing forged steel to a diamond. It didn't matter that their bellies were softer, they were still too hard for most conventional weaponry available in the lands they terrorized. Their snout was long, as was their neck, and they could thrust and manipulate it like a swan or a snake, their foot long teeth gnashing up their prey. While Wrenix Dragons couldn't breath fire like their more famous Aduron cousins, the Great Red Dragons, they were able to spit an acidic goo that would melt rock and steel with little difficult. All in all, it was as if nature had made Wrenix to be invincible.

Panel 2: Clare at a fork, sniffing the air.

Clare (thought): "Sulfur."

Panel 3: Clare heading down the left path.

Page 6:
Panel 1: A few crushed and acid-melted human skulls on the ground in front of her feet. Within the top left corner of panel 2.

Panel 2: Clare looking across Old Elaizar's treasure at the dragon himself, about seventy meters away. He is picking his teeth with a broadsword. His massive body towers over her and his treasure, her torchlight reflecting off of his gray, tan and green scales, as well as his treasure. His eyes are a deep shade of blue muddled with flecks of green and red, though not looking at her in this panel. There are a few boulders around, especially near Clare at the mouth of the tunnel.

Panel 3: Old Elaizar's eyes clearly looking toward her now, turning into slits.

Panel 4: Old Elaizar sniffing the air and continuing to pick his teeth.

Page 7:
Panel 1: Clare looking about the dragon's lair. In the distance we see pools of oil ablaze in the darkness as well as a few torches here and there, showing how large the cavern is and how much treasure he has, though still keeping most of the cavern in darkness.

Panel 2: Clare sitting on a small boulder, putting the torch into the eye of a broken skull and reaching into one of her packs.

Panel 3: Clare chewing on a loaf of stale bread.

Elaizar (coming from off-panel, guttural, and potent font): "Well, child, you certainly aren't a typical adventurer, now are you?"

Elaizar (same) 2: "Didn't attack me as soon as you entered, no..."

Panel 4: Old Elaizar tossing the sword aside and looking down at Clare.

Elaizar (guttural, and potent font): "You waited like a good little girl, didn't even interrupt me, like most of the idiots who came."

Elaizar (same) 2: "I can smell magic all over you, but you aren't even bothering to carry a sword or crossbow."

Elaizar (same) 3: "Either you're very arrogant, or very foolish.”

Page 8:
Panel 1: Clare looking up at Elaizar.

Clare (italicized, archaic and guttural font): "I don't mean to offend, Lord Elaizar, but I am neither."

Clare (same) 2: "I am here on a mission, and I don't need such tools for it."

Clare (same) 3: "If need be, I'll defend myself, but why ruin such a pleasant conversation so quickly?"

Panel 2: Elaizar's head moving back in shock.

Elaizar (same italicized, archaic and guttural font as Clare had in her speech bubbles): "Drake-speak from a mammal?"

Panel 3: The ridges around Elaizar's eyes hardening further in suspicion as he leaned forwards again.

Elaizar (italicized, archaic and guttural font): “Very accented, but still an effort."

Elaizar (same) 2: "I'd congratulate you, but I doubt that you're here for pleasantries."

Elaizar (same) 3: "State your business."

Panel 4: Clare's head really close to Elaizar's own. She is reaching into one of her pouches and Elaizar's neck shows that he is pulling back his head a little tensely.

Clare (italicized, archaic and guttural font): "I am here on behalf of the human rulers of the region with a request for negotiations."

Clare (same) 2: "Certainly you would like to be undisturbed, as would they."

Clare (same) 3: "They sent me to see what would be an agreeable arrangement for both parties, and have informed me what they would be willing to surrender to you."

Page 9:
Panel 1: Clare holding a scroll out toward Elaizar who does not respond except to narrow his eyes. Wide panel.
Elaizar (italicized, archaic and guttural font): "Negotiations, hmmm?"

Elaizar (same) 2: "Now, what could the humans offer me that I do not already have?"

Elaizar (same) 3: "Riches? Food? Freedom of movement? An end to occasional half-wit adventurers who only serve to give me a break from the monotony of life?"

Panel 2: Clare setting the scroll down on the ground in front of the boulder she had been on. Elaizar's lips curling back to show his glistening teeth and drool, his eyes a pale blue now with barely a hint of the green or red flecks, cold and uncaring as he sneers. Wide panel.

Clare (italicized, archaic and guttural font): "All of the land and forest from this cave to the eastern shores of Lake Ciret."

Clare (same) 2: "A tribute of eight livestock and a hundred dram of gold per week."

Clare (same) 3: "The occasional criminal to be released for you to dispense your own justice upon."

Clare (same) 4: "And a twenty meter high outer wall constructed around your lands to keep out interlopers and adventurers."

Panel 3: Clare's face impassive as she awaits Elaizar's decision while the dragon has reached into his treasure and is letting it sift back into his piles from one of his uplifted hands, seeming to mull it over.

Clare (thought bubble): "Even if he were fool enough to take the deal, Elaizar'd kill the wizards before they could finish warding him to a limited pen..."

Panel 4: Elaizar's eyes on his sifting treasure while he speaks to her, close-up from his head with her in the background.

Elaizar (italicized, archaic and guttural font): "What is in it for you as negotiator?"

Elaizar (same) 2: "And who are you, anyways?"

Elaizar (same) 3: "Obviously you know who I am, but that comes as no surprise."

Panel 5: Clare giving a light bow.

Clare (italicized, archaic and guttural font): "My name is of no consequence to the negotiations, but seeing as I do know who Lord Elaizar is, it would be fitting if he knew who I was as well."

Clare (same) 2: "My name is Clare."

Clare (same) 3: "My fee will be paid by the human rulers after negotiations are settled. I have received a modest sum as down payment, forty dram of gold, here with me now.”

Narr.: "In truth, she had been paid four hundred dram up front. Dragons could sense when a person was lying, and while she had kept part of the truth from him, she hadn't lied. She had forty dram of it with her, as she said."

Page 10:
Panel 1: Elaizar's eyes gleaming in the light, still sifting through his treasures with his monstrous hand, his lips curling back to show a viciously ominous grin. Clare's face is trying to keep from showing her shock.

Elaizar (italicized, archaic and guttural font): "Very well, I accept the terms of this negotiation.”

Panel 2: Clare rising up, extending a hand toward him which he doesn't respond to.

Clare (thought bubble): "What in the world is he up to?"

Clare (same) 2: "He has to know it is a trap."

Clare (italicized, archaic and guttural font) 3: "I shall let my employers know as soon as I return back to them."

Clare (same) 4: "Is there anything you would like me to add?"

Panel 3: Elaizar's smile turning more worrying and sly.

Elaizar (italicized, archaic and guttural font): "There is one more thing, but I think I can tell them myself, after I'm done with you, Miss Fortier."

Panel 4: Clare's eyes wide, show the reflection of the treasure being thrown at her.

Page 11:
Panel 1: Clare rolling to the right side of the panel (her left), dodging the treasure thrown at her, pulling a small spiked sphere from one of the pockets in her cloak.

SFX: "KSSSH!"
SFX 2: "PANG!"

Panel 2: Clare throws the grenade expertly and it explodes just half a meter in front of one of Elaizar's eyes, sending shrapnel into the eye before he had a chance to close it.

Panel 3: Elaizar clawing at his face, tearing off scales in the process of removing the enchanted shards of metal which burned at the touch. Clare is using the distraction to cover some of the distance between them and draws out more grenades and heading toward a shield she spies in the treasure.

Elaizar (exploding out of the bubble): "GRRAAAAAAGHHN!"

Panel 4: The additional grenades explode under Elaizar's underbelly, as Clare slides across the piles of gold on the shield, ducking as Elaizar blindly tries to hit her with his tail and thrashes about removing burning shrapnel from his underbelly, the magic runes on them trying to spread their spells like viruses, conflicting with each other, wrecking massive damage to his anatomy and brining him excruciating pain.

Elaizar (exploding out of the bubble): "FOUL MAMMAL!"

Elaizar (exploding out of the bubble even more) 2: "GRRAAAAAAAGHHNN!"

SFX (by the shield): "Kssssshhh"

Page 12:
Panel 1: One of Elaizar's arms manages to backhand her as it tore off more of the metal, sending her crashing into one of the cavern walls.

SFX: "SMACK!"

SFX 2: "THOOM!"

Panel 2: X-Ray of one of Clare's wrists breaking.

SFX: "KRRKT!"

Panel 3: Clare holding the wrist in place as magic swirls around it and heals it, standing in the foreground gritting her teeth. In the background, Elaizar is glaring at her and barring his teeth, neck pulled back as he readied himself to lob some of his acidic spit at her.

Panel 4: Once again Clare dives out of the way, this time to her left (as seen from slightly behind and over her right shoulder), which works in her favor as Elaizar had aimed slightly off to the side anticipating her rolling the same way as before. The acid melts treasure and rock alike, creating multi-colored smoke in the process.

Clare: "Nggh!"

SFX: SSSSSKKTTSSHH!

Page 13:
Panel 1: Clare rising from the ground, pulling out a chakram as another is already launched at his throat, his mouth open as he prepared to launch another ball of acid spit at her.

Panel 2: The chakram hitting Elaizar's gullet promptly exploding, tearing out the bottom of his jaw, preventing him from being able to spit or even speak properly.

SFX: "THOOOM!"

Panel 3: Elaizar's tail lashing out at Clare and missing barely with the tip of it causing the rock wall to explode outward from shock, creating cracks along its entire surface. His hands are clutching his mouth in agony, magic starting to grow back his jaw but slowly.

Elaizar (exploding out of the bubble more than any previous time): "AAAAHHN!"

Panel 4: Clare brushing some rock dust off her clothing with one hand and pulling the broadsword out of the treasure with the other with ease, the same one he had cast aside earlier after picking his teeth with it. Her eyes are glowing behind the goggles as she casts a simple spell over the blade.

Page 14:
Panel 1: Clare drives the entire blade through the thickest part of Elaizar's armored tail's tip, holding it fast to the ground. He roars in pain and tries to get free.

Elaizar (exploding out of the bubble): "HHHN!"

Panel 2: Clare walking up Elaizar's tail, brimming with confidence, as he tries and fails to reach her.

Clare (italicized, archaic and guttural font): "Elaizar, you've had a long good run, but you've finally met your match."

Panel 3: Clare leaning against the crest of Elaizar's head, kicking it.

Clare (italicized, archaic and guttural font): "I was hired to get you to agree to the negotiations, which you obviously suspected were a trap, but if you had simply attacked my employers instead, it never would have come to this."

Clare (same) 2: "Now, since you tried to kill me, the other side of my contract came into play: If you didn't agree to the negotiations, I'd kill you."

Clare (same) 3: "Obviously you thought you had heard as much about me as I had of you, but you were wrong, weren't you Laiz?"

Panel 4: Clare pulling her revolver, Susan, out of her cloak.

Clare (italicized, archaic and guttural font): "This, Laiz, is the end"

Clare (normal) 2: "Or, rather, your end."

Clare (same) 3: "This here is Susan."

Clare (same) 4: "Misleadingly named, Susan here is a weapon you've probably not seen before."

Panel 5: Clare checking the gun's revolver cylinder as she walks along the top of Elaizar's head.

Clare: "It's called a gun."

Clare 2: "Now, I know the quaint people of this valley might not get out much and you evidently don't so much either, but most of the world has moved on from crossbows and swords to more deadly nasty things."

Clare 3: "What good does a sword do against someone with a crossbow who can shoot them before they get in range, right?"

Page 15:
Panel 1: Clare turning to stand in front of Elaizar's good eye, pulling out a single bullet and putting it into the cylinder.

Clare: "Well, Susan here fires faster, hits harder, and reloads faster than any crossbow you've ever seen."

Clare 2: "She's is an auto-revolver, capable of taking ammunition ranging from three-twenty-seven to fifty caliber, but I'm sure that doesn't mean much to you, now does it?"

clare 3: "To put it simply, it, along with the custom bullets I buy and make, are more than capable of putting a hole through even your thick skull at point blank range."

Clare 4: "Any last requests?"

Panel 2: Elaizar's face with Clare standing on it at such an angle that his good eye is still visible to her left from the perspective, the magic in him still trying to heal his jaw and about halfway finished. His good eye is filled with rage, with disbelief. Her gun is still open in this panel.

Elaizar (whispered, wavery, italicized, archaic and guttural font): "Who are you?"

Panel 3: Clare pushing her goggles up for the first time in the entire issue, her hand covering her eye from the reader seeing it yet.

Elaizar (same) 2: "What are you?"

Panel 4: Barely more than Clare's eyes and their gaze. The sclera are black and pupils purple, tinged with flecks of blue and red, her irises thin slits with two circles on either side near the bottom. They are cold and remorseless, predatory, cold and empty voids, unflinching, drilling into Elaizar's very soul. They look upon him as if he were beneath her effort.

Page 16:
Panel 1: Clare putting the gun back together finally, close up on her upper body and face with the gun at the bottom of the panel.

SFX (small, near cylinder): "Kkt."

Panel 2: Clare lining up her shot with Elaizar's eye and pulling back the hammer. See that he seems to have lost himself, unable to even do more than stare forward, the image of her eyes explaining everything to one such as he.

Panel 3: Clare firing the gun and the bullet flaring with its spell activating as it entered Elaizar's eye, as seen from the side, exiting the other side of his armored skull after passing through the dragon's brain.