I'm Weak, and What's Wrong With That?

Since his encounter with the fox and the imprudentgirl, Sephiran found himself lingering within the territories that neighbored the beach. Not only because he found her scent intertwined with the forestry here and there, but he also couldn’t help the curiosity that bubbled inside of him. There was so much to explore and so little time before the season would change from summer to fall. And, if he were to ever run into the girl again, he knew it would bring some thrill to these long, desolate days. Of course, this wasn’t because he sought a degree of friendship with her or cared about her wellbeing. His interest manifested from the desire to torment her, and prove what a Saxe was capable of. The scene he had left her on the beach wasn’t enough to erase the bitter taste she left in his mouth. She needed far more guidance than that, and who better than the young Saxe lord to teach her? Or so his grandiosity told him.

So when he found her scent scattered along the riverstone that created the border between the trees and the water's edge, he simply couldn’t help himself. Like a moth drawn to a flame, the boy pivoted on the embankment where he had stopped to get a drink and rushed off into maze-like forest. She must have stayed within earshot of the river, as Sephiran could still hear the water crashing against stone, despite how deep into the woods she had traveled. It was the only sound he could hear in the forest, aside from the drone of his heavy breaths. As he drew closer to his target, his mind was racing to conjure possible outcomes of this encounter. He wanted her to be alone. Possibly even injured, to make her odds of running away again much slimmer. Or maybe she would have a kill he could steal to taunt her, or he could ruin her chances of making a kill, if she was in the midst of a hunt. But what he found wasn't anything he had been expecting.

The chatter of barking canines echoed around him, and above their incessant yipping, he heard the frightened sheik of the girl. His hackles immediately rose along his neck and spine, and his tongue flopped from his mouth to slide across his fangs. The sound of her scream excited him. He didn’t hesitate to barrel towards the commotion, trying to calculate how many coyotes there may be, based on the different barks he heard. One, two, three… No, four, five? He didn’t have time to decide on a number before he had erupted from the brush, leaping in front of the girl. His gaping jaws wrapped around the side of the coyote's neck that was standing in front of her. Using his front paws to pin the coyote down, Sephiran started to violently thrash his head from side to side, as he sought to slice through enough flesh until his fangs could penetrate the arteries deep in its neck.

A scream that morphed into a gurgle came from the coyote, but before Sephiran could deliver a final squeeze of his jaws to end its life, another coyote lunged from the treeline and grabbed the hock of his left back leg. He snarled and released his current opponent, jaws snapping at the new attacker who had already started to dart away from him.

(890 / 1500 Words)

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