Heron Lake Plateau Wait, there's no such thing as unicorns?

Niamh felt ashamed that Raven had had to stop by to talk about Screech. If only she'd been doing everything right, she wouldn't have had to stop by- and she wouldn't have been attacked. It might have just taken a few more days for Screech to get back to normal, as he'd at least ventured out of her den on his own, so perhaps he'd been close to recovery...There was no way to tell. But she still felt guilty that this had all happened. She heard gratitude in Raven's voice when she was mentioned, but she didn't look up. She was probably just mentioned because it was a necessity, and Ceara was mentioned as well, so Niamh felt slightly discouraged. 

She looked up, though, when Towhee asked about the puppies, and it was with strain that she admitted the puppies weren't good, and this was news to Niamh. Ultimately, she assumed that if Raven knew anything about the puppies, it was because they'd gone still, and at this point, that was a very bad sign. She'd hoped it wouldn't go that far, but Raven would know best, and her confession caused Niamh to see dark spots. Nothing had prepared her for this, and she cracked her mouth open slightly, a wild look of panic slowly spreading onto her features. Niamh did her best to avoid hyperventilating, but the only thing she could do to keep that from happening was to hold her breath. 

She caught Towhee's question about Screech, but missed the sign that had been directed her way as she continued to stare at the ground, where the grasses began to weave and sway, as though pushed by some breeze she couldn't feel. She only had a moment to recognize how odd that was, for the grass to dance without wind before she realized what was happening; the air she'd been holding screamed to be released and she was unable to keep it held in any longer. She did her best to exhale silently, but felt her muscles begin to tremble and shake from lack of oxygen, and felt a slow cape of coldness drape over her. Where was Screech now? That could only mean one thing- that Towhee intended to kill him.