The lion is Karnage, as the gif below pays respect to the Chinese Lion Gargoyles (shí shī) that were created as silent guardians during the Han dynasty in China. They’re magnificent pieces of art, and I’ve incorporated their history into Pagan and Karnage’s love story.

I’d introduced the Xian gargoyles (Havoc and his dad Pathos) in my 2012 YA ebook titled RAZHER. Karnage is a major player in the sequel to that novel, which has a sneak peek up on Amazon from 2014. But since the story kept getting kinkier and darker, I realized the deleted scenes I’d created were more for an erotic romance featuring older characters.

I’m narrowing Karnage’s final look down, so here are two more finalists:

This version of a gargoyle by Dmitry Parkin is a masterful piece of 3d artwork, and is a fave of mine: 

As far as his lady love, the witch Pagan, this gargoyle enjoys seeing her wearing little to nothing:

But when royal duties call, Pagan’s right by his side, dressed to impress: