Greykin Valley

| 3 | Humanoids

"W-wh—"

"Shift back!"

Lalo groaned and did as he was told. He shifted into his human form.

Sebastien crouched down and ignored the feeling of embarrassment that was beginning to consume him. "Get him on my back."

Jackson and Julian helped Lalo climb onto his back, and once he was securely between Sebastien's wings, Sebastien got up and started running.

But the rotting stench was closing in on them. Sebastien tried picking up the pace, attempting to outrun the cadejo on his trail, but he could hear the savage snarls and pounding footsteps. Whatever was coming was big, and as much as he wanted to get back to the van, he couldn't risk their only transport back to Silverlake—he had to ensure that Jackson got back to the Venaticus.

He stretched out his wings, but before he could take off and grab Jackson, something huge burst out of the fog and smashed into him, throwing Lalo off his back as the force of the collision sent him tumbling across the snow and away from Jackson.

With a pained grunt, he hit a tree, but before he could even try to get up, the creature which threw him off course sunk its teeth into his front leg and threw him through the air.

Sebastien yelled painfully as the monster's venom entered his bloodstream, ensnaring him in agony. He hit the ground, tumbled through the snow, and came to a halt after rolling through some brush.

Thumping footsteps were coming his way.

Despite the burning, throbbing pain, he grunted and climbed to his paws. He turned to face his incoming enemy, and it was unlike anything he'd seen before. It looked like a bear with a wolf's head, and just like the cadejo, it was rotten and missing huge chunks of flesh, exposing its bones and organs.

The creature was charging at him faster than any other cadejo he'd faced, and the sounds it made were distorted and similar to those a bear would make. But whatever the hell it was, Sebastien was evidently going to have to fight and kill it before getting back to Jackson.

When the creature reached him, Sebastien used his wings to propel himself up, and as the beast skidded in the snow and tried to turn around, he descended on it and dug his claws into its back. But before he could try to lift it, it reached its head back, gripped his left wing with its teeth, and pulled him off.

Sebastien recovered the moment he hit the ground. He got back up, turned to face his foe, and dodged its charge. Then, he swiftly swung his right wing around and sliced the beast's side with his carpal spike. The creature shrieked and howled as its body tore, and when it abruptly turned to face and try to attack Sebastien, he pulled his carpal from the monster's flesh and leapt onto a nearby tree. He dug his claws into the bark, enabling himself to grip the tree and remain there while the rotting bear-wolf tried to reach him.

But something else snatched Sebastien's attention. A flurry of dark blurs was moving through the fog below, and the longer he focused, the clearer they became, and he wasn't sure what to make of it.

They were people. Groaning, stumbling human figures shifted through the murk; some of them were missing limbs...and he spotted one of them with its insides hanging around through its stomach.

And they were heading in Jackson's direction.

Sebastien snarled in frustration. He needed a little longer for his wounds to heal, but he couldn't risk the Venaticus' asset. He looked down at the bear-wolf, which was trying to climb up to him, but its huge, heavy body wouldn't let it get further than a few inches off the ground. Then, he glanced at each tree around him. Flying wasn't an option with his injured wing, so he was going to have to use the trees.