Heron Lake Plateau improve his shining tusks

Svalinn, Boy-Wonder -- for all his eagerness, and his incorrigible sense of adventure; for all his child-like bravado -- could not withstand the loud and unfamiliar violence that exploded before him like the first shrieking notes of a great and cacophonous symphony. His eyes bugged wide, and his tail kept like velcro to the inside of his groin. His bravery had never been tested in this way before, and blind puppy-instinct made him ill-suited for the job being handled swiftly by several pairs of shearing, adult jaws. He was terrified by the snarls, by the angry faces and murderous stares; but it wasn't until he realized that Caiaphas was there, full-tilt in the throes of savagery, did he understand his need to flee.

He skittered like a roach for the nearest place to hide, and safety, to his mind, meant finding a cramped place like a den to hole up in. But because he had no true awareness yet of his own ever-expanding size, the child wound up stuck, sideways, and struggling between the arms of several unyielding roots as he tried to free himself at the tree's feet from a dirt space that was two sizes too small for him to occupy.