Seeing the gigantic hound bounding towards her, and realising that she had no way left to turn to, Mana decided to hold her ground and fight in any way that she could.
With her back to the wall, Mana held out her hand and tried to summon the strongest shield spell that she could – and then she realised that she couldn't summon even the smallest spark of magic at all!
Stunned, Mana tried again, trying to summon the simplest and most rudimentary magic – but even that didn't work, to her dismay.
Meanwhile, the hound was barely three feet away from her.
Mana took a deep breath. "Hey," she said quietly. "Are you lost, too, big fellow?"
The dog stopped and blinked at her – and suddenly, the dog didn't seem all that fierce to Mana.
Mana put her hand in her pocket and pulled out a pack of biscuits – everyone in their family always had some food or the other in their pockets these days, thanks to the two gluttonous baby dragons that they were raising.