Escape

The howls of Guards on hunt shatter the air. Trinity can't let them catch her outside of the encampment or she and her family will be executed. She has to hide but where? She's surrounded by river and forest. A splash draws her gaze and the river-man's flipper slips under the water. Forest it is, because there's no way she's going into the river. She races into the woods, backpack slamming against her shoulders as the calls of the Guards draw closer. Brush breaks and crashes behind her. They're too close. There's nothing for her to do but surrender. She raises her hands to her shoulders and slowly turns, but it's not the Guards who have caught her. A Tracker, the deadliest of predators, stands on its back two legs, towering above her, front legs hanging down like arms. Brindle fur covers its body and its eyes glow yellow in the shadowed forest. Its tongue lolls out the side of its mouth,...