Wapun Meadow grind to a halt

Any relief Riley felt to see his mother turn away (insane, she's just as insane as him --) was bled from him the moment he set his attention back to Merrick. Merrick, ghoulish -- full of venomous hate, which pooled in that singular eye like a glimpse of an abattoir's charnel keep -- the yearling felt his bravery quaver, his good sense withering away like a soft cloud on the breath of draconian wind. 

He was too slow to dodge the swipe of Merrick's teeth. The boy, still concerned for his broke-wit mother, felt teeth tear down his cheek and broadside him. He staggered back as if to raise his hands against his assailant, feeling terror seize his heart. Terror for him, for his mother, for his survival -- yet in that moment, Riley seemed too stupefied to fight back.