Tsagaglalal’s eyes broke the water first. Her pupils narrowed to slits as she spotted him with eyes more dragon than fox. Her head followed suit, bursting from the water in a great geyser of froth that rolled down her scales in rivers and splashed to the ground in lakes. Her body was a dragon in all but wings.
The mind of a fox, the body of a dragon, Coyote mused, backing away. The universe does despise me.
He waited until her head rested level with his before striking. Her yellow eyes brimmed with hate as she snapped at him, teeth crashing down with the force of sycamores.
Coyote all but danced on her muzzle, her teeth only inches from him. He aimed for her ears, her eyes, her snout, drawing further and further away from the river each time.
When he was certain she could not return, Coyote turned tail and bolted across the plains. As expected, the River Devil made after him, her claws and tail gouging great canyons into the earth as she roared her fury to the sky.
“Come, demon! Monster! Vile wretch!” Coyote flung the words at her like poisonous barbs. “I have made you what you are. Now, let us end this!”
“You disgusting little brown rat!” Tsagaglalal roared. “I’LL KILL YOU!!!”
With that she leapt, her body taking flight for half a heartbeat before falling to the earth. And falling, and falling, and falling.
For twenty leagues she fell, her body finally hitting the ground with a force great enough to shake the world. Rocks fell in cascades along her head and body. The River Devil opened her wide maw and roared her pain and grief to the stars.
Coyote settled himself on a rocky outcropping where he could better observe his trapped foe. The wheels in his mind began to turn.
