Redtail Rise L

The stakes were higher than Riley realized. As he bent to the bush, he heard the tiniest scuttle of feet.

Rapid breaths.

The sweet musk of mouse.

He struck — but the mouse was quicker, and it retreated underground.

There was another scent, beyond that of fescue breath and spoilage.

He glanced to his silent partner before he began to dig the earth. Tills of dark soil exposed, Riley nosed each new scoop. Somewhere, here, was something far more rewarding than a single crunchy mouse —

His next pull of earth released the spoils. A dozen small pink things, squalling as they were exposed to the hungering eyes of the world. He turned to the stoic face of his leader, watchful.

The mother would live, today — but her children would not.