Staring Death in The Face (And Running)
Tuscany has a second encounter with the monster that killed her parents many years earlier.
Tuscany froze hearing breaking twigs directly behind her. She just wanted to be out of here. The young toskal slowly turned dread and a look of terror crossing her face seeing the grinning maw staring her down. Her flight or fight response kicked in and she ran. She left the bones of her parents behind, they'd been there many years now, so not much was left anyway, and weaved around the trees.
The only reason she knew it was still so close was the sound of the breaking twigs and crunching leaves. She felt claws tug at her mane narrowly missing her flesh. She didn't look back, didn't hesitate, didn't pause, if she did she was as good as dead. She just kept running.
She thought she heard the beast give up the chase and dived into the roots of a tree that made a sort of den around her. She warily watched the entrance. She had started nodding off when she heard a roar and seconds later there were jaws snapping less than inches away from her face. She helped and tore at the roots trying to break them before the grinner could squeeze in.
She narrowly succeeded and was running again crying all the while, her lungs burned and her muscles ached, but she couldn't stop. Didn't dare stop. She exited the trees a long while later. She hadnt heard the beast for some time, but she kept running the fear of it being near driving her onward. She ran until she collapsed her breath heaving, it hurt so bad.
She whimpered in pain and was ready to accept death when she heard footsteps. She never expected the gentle caress of a hand on her face. She opened her eyes, her eyelids felt so heavy. Before her was an alpha. He was something out of a story book, out here with a basket of herbs. She had finally found someone. She smiled as unconsiousness took her.