x marks the spot

Redrum's heart pounded as he faced off against the onslaught of the coyote pack. He was being flanked, two were circling him, the other two hanging back to jump in when needed. He snarled and warned them off, the one he had clawed right in the snout was facing him head on, overconfident and vengeful. It snapped at him, Redrum recoiling his skull back and out of reach before it could return the wound, but at the same time a searing pain tore through his hip. He snapped his head to the side, his golden eyes aflame with anger as he caught sight of a coyote with its teeth firmly latched into his flesh. The boy bit back a whine, his lips pulled back fully to bear those pearly whites as he spun to grasp the yote. His teeth made purchase, but the damn thing wasn’t letting go! Just when his luck was getting bad, it got worse. The first coyote was back, its teeth taking hold of a mouthful of Redrum’s side scruff, the three of them locked in a three-way tug o’ war of the very painful kind. The vermillion boy was shaking his skull, trying to dislodge either one of them, wishing for his brother, his mother to come and help him-!

Just when it seemed like the odds were really, really stacked against him, a sudden roar echoed through the swamp, catching both him and the coyotes off guard. He could scarcely turn his gaze toward the source of the sound, but Redrum tried to force his peripheral vision to see what was happening. (He really hoped it wasn’t yet another predator. Were they all going to play with the Redrum ragdoll?) He saw something big and white? There was a flash of blue too, but he couldn’t be sure. He was clever enough to take advantage of the confusion, surging forward to topple over the coyote at his hip, forcing it to let go of him. Once his maw was free, he chanced a glance towards the rest of the coyotes – only to see a bear facing off with the other two coyotes. What was happening???