Sparkling conversationalists that they were, the rats who had tried and failed to accost Morgen hissed at the sound of his voice and snapped yellow, gangrene-laden fangs in his direction. One tried to paddle back towards shore with limited success, but the other was a vicious cuss that continued to try and scrabble towards the human and foal even if the exertion only made it sink faster.
The slow rat paced back and forth at the edge, nose and ears twitching madly as it tried to determine what was happening. From the sucking sounds of the swamp the prey was indeed coming closer and it chittered eagerly, saliva dripping from its narrow jaws in plague-ridden gobs.
Boreal, meanwhile, had managed to get behind her opponent and blunt, heavy jaws closed on its neck. She shook her head viciously and her own thick neck bunched, muscles straining to lift the large rat as she sent a whipcrack down its spine. The beast went limp, its shriek suddenly cut off, and she spat it out with revulsion.
The third rat of their little group shifted back, head turning from dragon to man and hearing no other rat sounds close enough to matter. After another moment of hesitation it turned and fled, and Boreal tensed to go after it.
"No chase!" Tal called firmly to the dragon, struggling to move forward against the weight of the sand that went up to his knees. Boreal snorted her frustration but obeyed, huffing at him to hurry as he waded out of the shallow edge of the quicksand that he'd fallen into.
"How're you doin'?" He called out to the cowboy, not knowing that the other man was feeling a little breathless; all he could see was that he'd somehow ended up deeper in the sand than the courier had, but at least he had hold of the foal now.
The slow rat paced back and forth at the edge, nose and ears twitching madly as it tried to determine what was happening. From the sucking sounds of the swamp the prey was indeed coming closer and it chittered eagerly, saliva dripping from its narrow jaws in plague-ridden gobs.
Boreal, meanwhile, had managed to get behind her opponent and blunt, heavy jaws closed on its neck. She shook her head viciously and her own thick neck bunched, muscles straining to lift the large rat as she sent a whipcrack down its spine. The beast went limp, its shriek suddenly cut off, and she spat it out with revulsion.
The third rat of their little group shifted back, head turning from dragon to man and hearing no other rat sounds close enough to matter. After another moment of hesitation it turned and fled, and Boreal tensed to go after it.
"No chase!" Tal called firmly to the dragon, struggling to move forward against the weight of the sand that went up to his knees. Boreal snorted her frustration but obeyed, huffing at him to hurry as he waded out of the shallow edge of the quicksand that he'd fallen into.
"How're you doin'?" He called out to the cowboy, not knowing that the other man was feeling a little breathless; all he could see was that he'd somehow ended up deeper in the sand than the courier had, but at least he had hold of the foal now.
