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ing the ground hard as his body bent forward in awkward

ike a grotesque air bubble that seemed to grow only larger with every greedy gulp of air he took. E

ed through the woods. Low hanging branches like gnarled fingers tore at his face an

through the hilltops. They echoed across

and burning. He felt a sharp prick on the back of his neck, his hack

from the hunters that had found his hiding spot, away from the traps hidden b

hat needed release. It was speaking to him again. His beast. That ugly, grotesque formless

had him struggling for scraps and normalcy in a

g low and stumbling over roots that interlocked

ere was an edge to it, a sliver of impatience that propelled him faster, harder. The beast was never wor

rnible shift in its tone ha

r. Fa

n l

ht

eding. Sto

past his ear before the blinding white pain clouded his vision.

nd that sloped gently down the hill. He rolled and rolled without break,

od. Rising unsteadily, he stumbled the rest of the way just as a flash of light beamed abo

." A cacophony of laughter and one long whistle later, he heard the poun

every other voice of doubt and agony, stifling even the pounding ache that began t

d hard as a sharp breath p

a l

it as a stopping motion. He could feel the fatigue creeping thr

.. not... beast... there..

crept along his peripheral vision insidiously swallowing him in darkness. He shook awake

a doll to the side. Shadow collapsed hard, he bounced and rolled gasping as the claws detached themselves as they separated. His

fic mouth spread open and revealed rows of teeth small and sharp like sharks. It

feel it

a violent blur of shadows until he found himself pressed on his back and the beast's gaping jaw snapping hastily at his thro

gth did not leave him. He could feel the tension of the beast within him rising up to the occas

u have ten seconds to find something and pi

abbed the wolf through the eye. It howled in pain and shock, struggling to rear back but the grip around its throat did not yield.

held on and continued until the huge lump of flesh slumped across h

up.

up and made for the edge of the woods

gun! He ki

hounds. Brin

e chief

but the chief ain't

loser still. Had the gunshot not burst his eardrums, Shadow would have heard

de him had gone si

that soon dropped to horror at the sight of the cliff edge. He slid to a halt and whipped around, rea

hem, pacing back and forth as

the help of his beast. And he was considering it, when the

u