Dodge didn’t like the smells here. Didn’t like the way the air felt. Hadn’t he been somewhere peaceful before? The Untamed Lands or.. Something like that, yea? So where in the ever loving fuck was he now?
The coyote opened golden eyes, and dread clawed into his belly. He very slowly crouched low, tail drooping between his legs and ears lying flat against his head as he cast a white-rimmed gaze about at the desolation. People were calling, shouting, moving. He recognized them. What were they all doing here?
His heart was a wild and unsteady racing in his chest, and the sandy-furred canine remained perfectly still against the shadow of a collapsed wall. He couldn’t seem to make himself move. Where had the wall gone? The forest? The town? And what in the five bleeding hells was that black spike looking thing shooting up towards the sky? His thoughts were tumbling faster than he could keep up with, and he found himself desperate for anything familiar to hang onto.
Then he heard perhaps the most encouraging voice he’d ever known. The coyote rose forward, ears swiveling forward and eyes flicking about the faces as rain began to fall, soaking his pelt and… there. Dodge let out a sound that might have been a yip or a whine, his chest tightening painfully when he spottedKoel a short distance away. Koel would know what to do, what was happening. If he didn’t know either of those things.. Well, he sure as all hells had a more level head than the coyote did.
He surged forward to race after his friend, but he let out a sharp yelp as pain lashed down his back, sending him stumbling forward and into the rough dirt with a huff and grunt of air. He didn’t stay there long, scrambling to get back on his paws - why did his back hurt, and so badly? It was a sharp, deep ache.
He turned his head to look at his back as he panted for breath, and he tilted his head at the sight of a long wound across it, neatly stitched and just barely leaking red. Canine brows furrowed - what the fuck happened? He turned his head back again, but when he did.. Koel was gone. Shit! he cursed. He tried to cast out a mental call to his friend, but.. Nothing. Nothing at all.
His breath was coming faster now, panic rising like bile in his throat, and the small canine stood alone, frozen in the madness and ash and rain.
The coyote opened golden eyes, and dread clawed into his belly. He very slowly crouched low, tail drooping between his legs and ears lying flat against his head as he cast a white-rimmed gaze about at the desolation. People were calling, shouting, moving. He recognized them. What were they all doing here?
His heart was a wild and unsteady racing in his chest, and the sandy-furred canine remained perfectly still against the shadow of a collapsed wall. He couldn’t seem to make himself move. Where had the wall gone? The forest? The town? And what in the five bleeding hells was that black spike looking thing shooting up towards the sky? His thoughts were tumbling faster than he could keep up with, and he found himself desperate for anything familiar to hang onto.
Then he heard perhaps the most encouraging voice he’d ever known. The coyote rose forward, ears swiveling forward and eyes flicking about the faces as rain began to fall, soaking his pelt and… there. Dodge let out a sound that might have been a yip or a whine, his chest tightening painfully when he spotted
He surged forward to race after his friend, but he let out a sharp yelp as pain lashed down his back, sending him stumbling forward and into the rough dirt with a huff and grunt of air. He didn’t stay there long, scrambling to get back on his paws - why did his back hurt, and so badly? It was a sharp, deep ache.
He turned his head to look at his back as he panted for breath, and he tilted his head at the sight of a long wound across it, neatly stitched and just barely leaking red. Canine brows furrowed - what the fuck happened? He turned his head back again, but when he did.. Koel was gone. Shit! he cursed. He tried to cast out a mental call to his friend, but.. Nothing. Nothing at all.
His breath was coming faster now, panic rising like bile in his throat, and the small canine stood alone, frozen in the madness and ash and rain.
