The sound she makes is far from a shriek, but only thanks to no small effort to lessen the response, it's more a sob than anything else. It's ridiculous for even one second that she's wishing this woman were genuinely a panther, or a lion, or any monster in a human shape she knew were among them. Anything, anything, but something with a dog's teeth.

"Why would I s-sneak up on anything?" Syllona manages, frozen with fear for the moment.