Felltree Marsh red duck

nightfall coat blended to wintertide shadowing. sun eater waited in anticipation, ragged ears cupped as the girl set foot inside the copse. that same pulsation of knowing radiated in the chieftain, as much as it had for the green-eyed captive, and a muscle leapt in his chin.

i have no mother, the first had said. sun eater took up a cunning hunter's crouch, waiting for her to pass by his standing-place.

there was pleasure in hunting, in seeing her own seeking mien; they vied with one another, but surely only he was able to prevail.