Bearclaw Valley tamerlane

a pack hunt! @Merrick @Astara @Aventus @Averna @Ashlar @Karst @Solaria (holy moly that's a lot of 'A' names) -- set for tomorrow morning

the dawn comes clear and crisp when a bugle sounds across the valley, reverberating off the stone walls. it rouses Avicus from her sleep, curled up not far from her mother. others must hear it too. her ears swivel forward, and then she is off, chasing the echoes of the racket toward the mouth of the territory.

a bull elk noses at the snow, long tongue seeking moisture. he has wandered into Bearclaw, perhaps from the fox glen; even from here, upwind but far off, she can smell the creatures on his pelt. and something else, too. . .

blood. Evien's face comes unbidden to her mind and she forces it back, squinting at the ungulate. he limps along, left rear leg coated with crimson. something has wounded him, grievously enough to break the flesh but not quite able to bring the bull down. he has escaped with his life intact—

for now. he has come to the wrong valley. 

Avicus hunkers in a cluster of bushes, watching him move. the others must not be far; they must have heard his cry. and if they can prevent him from leaving the territory, wear him down until he collapses. . .they soon will eat well.

she positions herself to his rear, near their border, and lets loose a howl, an eerie, shivering soprano note—sending him off at a gallop, inexorably and unwittingly into the heart of the bear.