Wonderweiss stared into the Wyrm's eyes. They looked tiny in the thing's massive head, but they were still huge, and they filled his world at that moment.

He blocked out all that was around him, pushing all of his strength of will against that of the Wyrm, focussing everything on it, and feeling the force of the Wyrm's own pushing back against it, like a wall.

Wonderweiss had known all along that this would be the longest battle he had fought, but the intense reality of the beast's gaze compounded that notion beyond belief. He balled his fists. Fear had no place here.