Blackfeather Woods the haunting

He managed to stand, eventually. When he did he couldn't raise his head without his neck muscles protesting, as if he'd been laying there for quite a while and gone stiff — dead. The smell of death was ripe around him but it was stronger as he moved, and with a glance Titmouse saw the dulled red of blood running down his chest; the instant revulsion he felt was carried away swiftly when the snarling of an approaching aggressor caught in his ears, startling him. He raised his head to shoulder-level in time to see the angular shape of Abraxas lunging from the trees for him.

Abraxas, stop! — Maegi? What was she doing here?

She was beside him, moving on an intercepting route between the two wolves. Titmouse wasn't sure what to do at first but, in that split-second as he recognized his beloved, he remembered what they'd done together; the lives she carried. His reaction was quick and brutal, as he threw his shoulder against her to drive her out of the way. If Abraxas was coming for him, let him come — but Maegi was living for more than herself now. She couldn't put herself at such a risk.

There was no time to argue in the chaos — as soon as he felt Maegi faltering from his blow, something slammed in to him and he was brought right back to the bloodied earth.