Rattleskin Redoubt raptor

They tried.

Minsang’s green eyes flashed beneath her lowered lids.

They failed. It has been a full pass of seasons since. She had watched the last remainder of her family struggle and hiss in the blistering sunlight, unable to walk another step, stuck on their back like a beetle.

But she hadn’t gone for mercy. She had just watched, beady eyed and silent, as their twitches finally stopped, and she was alone.

I was fast. Fast enough to live on while they all died.