Warren's POV
Sela was still completely out of it when he reached the final stretch to his den, the rain still pouring down over them, hardly slowed by the thick canopy above. He fairly collapsed at the entrance, his back ankle throbbing and radiating dull fire through him; he wasn't sure if he could move any further, not with his ribs or Sela on his back.
He crawled on his stomach a few paces, unable to fully rise to his feet before he collapsed into the mulch of leaves and mud.
Sela whimpered, her body rolling off him and trapping his wing under her.
Warren could go no further, he had no idea what had gone wrong, only that it had. Whatever was wrong with Sela must have hit him too, and hit him hard at that; he felt as if he couldn't even move a muscle.
A baleful, deep howl interrupted the steady tapping of rain, rolling through the trees like distant thunder, steadily growing louder, others joining turning it into a chorus of wavering highs and lows.
Warren's pulse quickened, but he still couldn't manage to move even as bulky forms began to appear in the shadows, the dense foliage doing nothing to hide them for what they were. He withheld a shudder at the thought of a malenue tearing into them, keeping as still as possible;
The malenue were pack animals resembling wolves, a hard bone mask covering their faces leaving their eyes in the recessed shadows of the sockets. They had two rows of teeth, the canines on the outside fused with their mask, and the rest on the inside of their mouth, all curved back for the sole purpose of taking a bigger chunk out of their prey. They were fast, smart, their claws sharp, and their focus unbreakable. Malenue were almost as bad as the sicora, had it not been for their poor eyesight and less murderous tendencies, meaning if they were full, they'd ignore even an easy kill.
He held his breath as the sloshing of one of their footsteps grew closer, the musky scent of wet fur blowing in from his left; he was an easy kill, Sela was an easy kill, and the malenue were hungry as proven by the fact that they had tracked him down. He could only hope that the rain had muddied their scent enough for them to think it was an old trail, it was unlikely though. If there was anything else in the forest that could smell anything, even a sicora, it was, of course, those blighted, cursed, hellish malenue. It was unlikely they would mistake it even with the rain and mud.
Hot air brushed over the top of his head, a claw digging into the edge of his wing.
The malenue moved on as if it hadn't smelled them, pacing at the opening of his den before leaving his line of sight.
Time froze in Warren's mind, everything seemingly blurred into one unmoving blob; he didn't let himself relax or let his guard down, and he didn't sigh in relief. He waited, mustering all the strength he could while listening for the malenue, just in case they were still watching out of his line of sight, waiting for him to return to his den.
He breathed in a long, deep breath, forcing his body to obey his commands as he shoved to his feet, and, Sela still on his wing, staggered dragging her with him inside the protection of the hollow at the base of a tree. They tumbled down the steep incline into the large open room, Sela landing heavily without so much as a whimper despite landing on her bad wing.
Warren huffed, shoving back to his feet and dragging himself to his emergency supplies, his eyes blurry in the dim light cast by the never-dying flame in the middle of the room. His legs almost buckled under him again, but he managed somehow to grab the food and detox.
***
Sela's POV
Sela woke to a stabbing pain in her stomach and intense nausea. She was too weak to move anywhere, so when the bile rose in her throat she turned her head to keep from choking. It burned her nose and throat, her stomach twisting and squeezing, forcing the vomit out with more energy than what she had. Tears of pain slid down her face, her stomach practically being turned inside out and her wounds protesting with each additional heave. She blacked out the moment it stopped, entering an unsettled, swirling darkness filled with nightmarish creatures.
***
Her eyes drifted open, her throat scratchy and burning, her mouth as dry as a desert, and pain radiating from each and every inch of her body. This time luckily, the nausea was bearably low unlike the last who knew how many times, and she could lift her head slightly, though she was still weak.
Blinking in confusion she noted that she was somehow in Warren's den, how she could only guess, but he wasn't anywhere around. Her head tilted as she examined the large open area, the sharp putrid smell of vomit lingered in the air, but there was no sight of it.
Shards of a broken pot poked out of the sand near the far wall, bits of something else laying with it. The air was hot, almost stifling, making each breath she took hurt worse, the sand looked disturbed, as if it had been recently changed; most likely where the vomit went.
She lowered her head, the muscles in her neck wavering too much for them to be reliable for much longer, and the pull of sleep beckoning for her to go back to it. Her eyes drifted down heavily, fluttering a moment before closing, her brain shutting off with the light.
***
Something smelled fishy, literally, and Sela forced her heavy lids open, her stomach grumbling loudly, clenched at its lack of substance. "Warren?" The warble was barely that, being rough and scratchy, hardly audible even to her own ears.
Apparently, he hadn't caught the sound, continuing to stare blankly into the flames, his head resting on the ground. He grimaced and visibly struggled to stand, limping her way with a few small bits of fish in his grasp. He looked surprised but relieved the moment his eyes fixed on her as if he had been afraid she was going to die; "Sela... you're awake. That's good."
She hummed her response as he bumped her shoulder with his snout as a quiet 'hello' setting the fish by her. Her stomach grumbled loudly, and if she wasn't so dehydrated she was sure she'd be drooling, something akin to Niagara Falls. Restraint would have been hard had it not been for her weak condition, as it were she managed several small bites out of one thin strip before he stomach couldn't handle anymore and she settled back into a comfortable sleep.
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Fight or Flight
Fanfiction'Fight or Flight' is a fanfic based on ChristalScherer's book Upon Wings of Change. I recommend reading it first, as there is a spoiler for the end in chapter 18 of 60. Btw, this is my first fanfic, but not my first time writing. Scientists acquir...
