Starglow Basin sons and daughters of city officials attend demonstrations

His safety was shattered. Like an mirage in the desert, perhaps it had never been real at all. Illusionary. The fur he tried to bury his face into quickly became the target of another; recognizable, even in his sorry state.

Gnarled and one-eyed, the same man who had come to taunt him now battered the coy; ragdolled her as he had been. The shake of limbs once again infects the boy, it froze him to the ground and trickled like ice through his veins; fear blossoming in his heart once more. 

He could not run if he wanted to. His captor's disregard had shattered his back leg against the marble, and now there was no adrenaline to keep him moving. 

He does all that he can, and lowers to the ground, still and silent, ears flattened against a blood-smeared cranium. 

He hoped the man would leave him. At least if death came to him, alone in the forest, slowly succumbed, it would've been more pleasant than falling into their clutches again.