It bucks and rears beneath her, roaring its outrage at the fragile fluttering thing it can't catch and tear from its back. She's too small for it, too nimble and swift. She ducks the great hand that swipes for her, its movements slow enough for her to predict the arc of its reaching fingers with ease.

The human vanishes through the door. That will have to be enough time - she can't hold this thing down forever. It's not at all like Jasper. At least then she had some measure of control. But here, now, this thing is too wild and uncontained.

She releases it and wings sharply upward, away. There's a sharp crack from below and a terrible pain slams into her leg. Something has - has lodged itself there. Something small. It feels like it's burning.

Lapis twists, wheeling away, and shoots through the door through which the human fled. She lands in an inelegant skid, tumbling down the alleyway it opens to. She collides with something but can do no more than lie there, winded.