Sleeping Dragon If you trust your rebel heart, ride it into battle

A lot had happened in the past few days, yet Wildfire didn't think of any of it just now. Each and every brain cell was currently preoccupied on the physical world around her, all of her senses thrumming as she tracked the porcupine through the thin trees just east of the geyser fields. This type of prey was especially challenging for obvious reasons. The trapper's blood pumped hot in her veins as she slowly, carefully trailed it while simultaneously formulating a strategy to kill it.

The scent grew stronger and stronger as she moved westward, leading her to the base of a maple whose leaves were already tinged with the fades of fall. Wildfire paused, sniffing among the roots, then tracked her eyes up the smooth trunk. There was a hole partway up the tree. Porcupines could certainly climb. It was probably tucked up there, safely out of Wildfire's range. Her jaw set in disappointment, her ears fanning backward as she realized this was a fruitless lead.

But then movement caught her eye and her amber gaze flicked to her left. She saw the porcupine at the exact same moment it saw her. It stopped shuffling and stared, then began loudly gnashing its teeth and rustling the quills along its back. Wildfire pivoted to square off with the prickly creature, though yet another movement beyond her quarry distracted her. The she-wolf squinted over the porcupine, watching as a dark figure roamed against the backdrop of geysers.