Rosewater Oasis red desert dunes

The widower's next words were seen as an insult to the sun. Meridian strained to keep her cool, all the while silently cursing the coyote. The sun can do many things, but I don't expect a child of shadow like you to understand its importance. She looked scornfully at the other's dark pelt.

The interloper seemed to be reading for a fight, and Meridian reckoned she would get more than she bargained for. The amber spiritualist wasn't an excellent fighter, but she would hold her own against a fellow coyote. She snarled, revealing a set of sharp, but scarcely used canines.