Felltree Marsh red duck

something changed in her demeanour. it was the woodland; it was the roundabout marsh. but more than that, it was him, and sun eater sensed this with the canny awareness of one who had come to hunt his own kind.

her flank passed and when the flicker of her tail showed the line of fleeing spine, lanzadoii hunter sprang in near-noiseless power.

claws aimed to drag her down; teeth catching toward her neck as he might a caribou. submission would end pain; fight would bring more.

and that sensation of knowing hummed fierce.