Neverwinter Forest up in smoke

His apology might've been meek, but it was heartfelt too. It felt on deaf ears either way and would be forgotten in the long run. They did not care for him and he did not expect them to, but to show some mercy — especially when he had done nothing wrong and had already been punished according to their distorted sense of justice — seemed only fair. But nothing about this was fair.

It was Sorina's voice that broke through next; she made her own demands, lifted her voice in opposition as if it had any weight at all, and Hydra cut her down with a few chilling words. Screech did not want more enemies. He wanted this to be over and he wanted to go home; however, there was no bringing the pale girl back from death and these wolves of Moonspear were going to exact more than their pound of flesh if he didn't stand up for himself. Sorina, in a way, was right (but he'd never say that).

The elder dark wolf - the one who had him staring fearfully in to the space between his body and the next, this malevolent force composed of righteous fury and hurt - she spoke and gave him one last caveat; then she threw herself at him with jaws gaping, and the trembling pissbaby that was Screech let out a pitiful sound, collapsing backwards. The woman was going for his throat and he had no chance in hell to evade it — not unless he ran, or —

Screech didn't think, but he reacted. The woman's teeth grazed at his neck and he turned his head to snap back, squealing from the pain as something caught in his silver scruff and he felt the flesh rip; but he also tasted blood, felt the thud of his teeth hitting bone, his smaller body shoulder-checking her more practiced dark one. His motions were fevered while she was fluid — all that Screech wanted was to live and he would not let these black-furred bitches take anything else from him.

The boy reacted — there was blood — but there, somewhere inside of him, he felt a certain strength beneath the shock of adrenaline. His spine grew three sizes that day; but in the end he was only trying to fight back enough to be free, and at the first opportunity he threw himself towards the trees and tried to get the fuck outta there.