I didn't draw the picture at the top, I found it on Pinterest, but this is Kind of how I imagine Sarah looks. And it's such a beautiful illustration 😍😍😍

The sand was muddy and the sky was gray, but we couldn't waste anymore time. We ran, even through our pelts were stained red and the rain wouldn't give up.

I glanced to my left as we passed the cliffs where Sarah and I thought the Guerro were. I could see the opening to the cave and the slot canyon next to it. The thought of those ugly white creatures still made my fur crawl . . . I could still feel their ragged claws and hear their horrible voices. What were those creatures?

I'd have to ask Sarah later when we weren't running. I could barely breathe in the rain and mud, let alone speak understandable words. Sarah wasn't doing very well either.

She was panting heavily and lagging behind the pack. Her strides were clumsy and slow, causing her to trip in the mud. She tumbled into the ground face first, splashing water all over herself.

"Sarah!" I yipped, turning around.

She was covered to her ears in red silt. I grabbed her scruff and pulled her up.

She coughed. "I'm fine, I'm fine!"

"You are not fine. But you've got to keep up." I said, setting her on solid ground. "Run with your shoulders and your thighs, not your ankles."

"I can run how I want to, thank you very much." Sarah sneered.

I looked her in the eyes. "Not if you want to get to the Piedra tribe anytime soon. Now get up and run the way I told you too."

She did as I asked with lots of muttering and mimicking. "You're grumpy today, aren't you?" She yelled over the rain.

"I'm always grumpy." I yelled back.

We ran until Sarah and I couldn't go anymore. I was used to running, but even I had a hard time keeping up. I was secretly expecting the Guerro to be out of shape, but they were fast and strong. As for Sarah . . . I'll just say she wasn't good at exercise.

"Verde, can we stop soon?" I asked. He was trotting at a leisurely pace behind me.

"If you find shelter, we will stop." He called to me.

I scanned the dark landscape between squinted eyes. It was hard to see in the dark rain.

A small grove of juniper trees and sage brush clustered together near the red cliffs.

"Over there? Under the juniper trees?" I asked Verde.

"That's your decision. You're the leader." He said nonchalantly.

I growled. I didn't like making decisions.

"Let's head over there!" I said.

"What?" Sky yelled.

"I said," I hollered back, "let's head over there by the JUNIPER TREES!"

"We need to keep moving, I thought we were in a hurry!" Mountain called out.

"Sarah needs to stop!"

"No I-" she flopped over herself mid-sentence, covering herself with mud again.

Mirage helped her up, lifting her by the scruff.

Sarah was too ashamed to argue again. We headed to the juniper trees and tucked down for the night.

Sarah curled up in a corner next to me and Mirage, rubbing the sand from her face and licking her raw paws.

"Ouch!" She yipped quietly, her tongue barely touching her foot.

"Sore feet?" Mirage asked.

Sarah nodded painfully.

"It's going to hurt tomorrow, but it will make your feet stronger." She replied. "That's the amazing thing about our bodies . . . we feel pain, but we become stronger once we have recovered. That's something the unnatural creatures can't understand."

"What do you mean?" I asked. "They don't become stronger?"

"No." She said. "They don't feel pain, so they can't become stronger. They see this as a strength, but it is actually their greatest weakness."

"What do you mean they can't feel pain? Are they invincible?" Sarah asked.

"Not invincible. Just . . . numb. They don't feel anything."

"I'd like that sometimes." I mumbled.

Mirage nipped my ear. "Hey!" I yipped.

"Don't say that. The ability to feel is a gift, and one that shouldn't be taken for granted. Your passion, determination, anger, sadness and love will be the forces that save you and your tribe from the Shifter." Mirage growled.

I growled back. I was kind of tired of my mom giving me advice. She spoke so naturally, as if she had weaned and raised me herself. She may see me as her child, but I didn't see her as my mother. If anyone filled that title, it would be Hare.

I tucked my tail under my nose and tried to get some rest. Luckily, the Guerro were quiet when it was bed time, unlike the Piedra tribe. They would yip and bark and howl all night.

As much as I enjoyed the peace and quiet, it was kind of eerie. As soon as I decided it was time to go to sleep, they all became silent. I couldn't even hear them breathing. I wondered if they were dead.

<——-•••——->

I was shaken from a dream by Verde.

"Wha?" I yipped, lifting my head to see who had touched me.

"Astor, we need to go. We're running out of time." He growled.

I looked at him, trying to remember where I was. It was still dark outside and the stars had been blown away by the soft black clouds.

It came down on me like a cold storm. I needed to save my tribe, and we had another day of running ahead of us.

I nodded to Verde and yawned. Before I could fall asleep again, I got up and walked around, stretching my legs and body.

As I was stretching, Verde glared at me.

"What?" I asked, feeling uncomfortable under his harsh stare.

"You've been a loner for too long. You aren't fit to be a leader." He growled.

I stood up, confused why he was saying this. "I . . . I guess so, but what's wrong?"

"You didn't assign any watches during the night. You slept in. You pranced around, stretching your legs before waking anyone up. You don't know what it means to be a leader."

I sat down, still confused and tired. "Okay, yeah, I definitely made some mistakes, but I'm not perfect. I've never been a leader. I'm not even that good at talking or being with other coyotes, if you haven't noticed."

"I have." He said. "You are horrible at talking. And any other kind of socializing. I won't sacrifice my coyotes to a leader who doesn't care about them. If you don't shape up soon, we will be returning home."

I growled, not sure what to say besides Okay I'll do that. I went to wake up the others, fuming to myself. What happened to Verde during the night?

I shook Sarah awake. "NO NOT TODAY." She moaned, rolling onto her back and covering her face with her paws.

"Get up, we're going." I said.

"But I'm so tired. If I could sleep ten more minutes, I would feel SO much better!" She moaned again, pulling on her eyelids with her paws to show me how tired she was.

I noticed Verde watching to see how I would reply.

"No, get up. You'll never wake up if you fall asleep again." I grumbled.

"Fine! I'll get up." She rolled over and picked herself up, scowling at me.

"Help me get the others up please." I asked her.

"Fine!"

We shook the others awake. They woke up with far less moaning and complaining than Sarah.

We sat down together before leaving to discuss our travel plans. After my little chat with Verde, I wanted to prove to him that I could be a decent leader. Maybe.

"Okay, so we need to go to the North, but the Piedra territory isn't very large. We could easily miss it if we veer off track. Sarah, you led us to the Guerro. Do you know the way back?"

She thought for a while, crossing her eyes in concentration. She exhaled quickly. "No, I don't have anything. The spirits only showed me how to get to the Guerro's old cave, not how to get back."

"Great Spirits," I cursed under my breath.

"Do you still remember the way? We could retrace our steps." Sky offered.

Sarah thought again for a moment before speaking. "I can't remember that anymore. I'm sorry." She replied with disappointment.

"What good are the spirits if you can't even remember the way to get back? Have they cursed your mind?" Mountain said.

Sarah stood up quickly, her hackles bristling. "Hey! They're my family, and they know more than your vulture brain could even handle!" She barked.

Mountain growled at her sharp reply, lurching forward to attack but Sky held him back.

"Stop!" I barked, my voice cracking a little.

"He's right, Astor, we cant trust the spirits. Every single demon we've come across isn't from our world. Where do the spirits come from again? Space?" Mirage growled harshly.

"No! They're from . . . from . . ." Sarah started, her pelt trembling, but Verde interrupted her.

"Perhaps we shouldn't trust the spirits. Or those who give us false information."

"SHUT UP!" She roared, jumping at Verde.

I dove into the flurry of white teeth yips of anger, biting Sarah's shoulder and dragging her away, fuming and boiling with rage. Her wild teeth nearly hit my eyes and they clamped hard onto my ear.

"STOP!" I roared, nipping at Sarah's face.

She realized it was me and backed off, still steaming with rage.

"STOP IT! I DON'T CARE WHERE THE SPIRITS ARE FROM OR IF THEY'RE DEMONS OR WHATEVER! The point is, we're running out of time, and that shifter is doing Great-Spirits-know-what to innocent coyotes! Elders and warriors and young pups!" I yelled at the Guerro and Sarah. "You guys are being idiots! Let's hug it out and get out of here!"

"I'm not going to hug anyone." I heard Mountain murmur.

"We'll head to the north, following the river. We'll have to stay clear of it though, I don't want to deal with those dryads again." I sighed angrily.