Lost Creek Hollow stonefire

It was a ruse, he realized perhaps too late to scatter himself. The only thing that occurred to him the moment he saw the feline explode from the brush was that it had been stalking the coyote all along. An unpleasant situation turned thorny, he had little time to react to steer himself clear of the coyote; not that it mattered much with the speed of the feline that came arcing over its assumed quarry. He could not clear the reach from the long armed cougar nor evade the pierce of its cry, and felt the tear and deep burn of its claws through his shoulder.

The yelp that escaped him was suddenly cut off in his throat as he reoriented himself, a snarl followed in its wake. He knew that he would not have long to make sense of the things to come, and tried to prepare a defense against the much quicker feline. His body drew low to the ground to gain speed to circle, trying to stay out of the reach from another strike and hopefully prevent his predator from giving him chase. And if the opportunity presented itself for attack, it would be taken on either side.