Sky Mesa Ladrón

The bag’s impact against the hound’s dark skull reverberated through Machi’s bones, but the beast barely flinched. In a heartbeat, the hound tore the bag from his jaws and shredded it with ruthless efficiency, his fangs reducing the pelt to nothing in seconds, rations scattered over the sand.

No time to think. Safiya.

Machi whirled, scooping up a pawful of gritty sand and flinging it toward the beast’s gleaming golden eyes. It wasn’t much, but if it bought him a heartbeat of time, he’d take it. His pulse hammered in his ears as he lunged toward the small Mazoi, whatever paternal instincts existed inside him screaming to protect her.

Everything blurred into chaos. The world moved too fast, each second a blur of snapping teeth and pounding adrenaline. Machi’s head jerked toward the cream-colored stranger as Safiya’s voice cut through the fray, her command ringing sharp and desperate. She urged him to run. To make it to the palace for help.

He barely had a chance to process her words before the world tilted violently. Pain exploded up his leg as the hound’s jaws clamped down with a sickening crunch. Machi screamed, the sound torn from his throat as white-hot agony flared through him. Without thinking, he snapped back, teeth aiming for the storm-beast—any part of him he could reach, desperation guiding his strikes.

His eyes searched for Safiya, pleading. They were outmatched, and he knew he wouldn't make it. But she could— she was small enough to make it into crevices the brutes couldn't reach.
Please.

A final desperate snap for the jaguar's tail, if only so that she might have a second's head start.