Tee hee I'm so funny. I found this while looking for coyote references. Enjoy.

We looked at each other in disbelief. I was really there to rescue Sego. She was really there to rescue me.

We ran to each other and embraced. Golden dust stirred around us, catching in the light. I began to sob, and Sego silently weeped.

She was so fragile . . . her once strong and lean body felt weak and broken next to mine. I was afraid she would crack with every breath she took. I was so happy to be there with her. My tail wagged gently and I licked her face and ears, cleaning off layers of blood and dust.

"Astor . . . I'm so sorry." She said once she caught her breath. "I missed you so much, and I was so scared and I—" her voice cut off, and she started crying again.

Besides as a pup, this was the first time I had seen her cry. She was a strong girl and would rather be caught dead than seen crying. Everything was just too much for her to comprehend.

I just held her, not saying or asking anything. Her heart beat was all I needed to hear.

She sniffled, and I stepped back to look at her face. She looked back up at me. "I'm sorry I doubted you. I was wrong . . . I shouldn't have trusted that Shifter. Not for a heartbeat. I was a fool. I thought you had left us to die . . . why are you here? We exiled you."

"To save you guys. And I guess everyone else here." I grumbled, and she smiled. "And did you really have so little faith in me?"

She hesitated, stumbling over her words. "Well, uhm, I really thought so—because you're like antisocial—or because you hate us—I know you hate my mom—but now you're here, and I feel so stupid—"

"Hey, hey, you're not stupid. Don't say that ever again." I interpreted her.

She tried to give an excuse, but I put a paw over her mouth. "I'm the stupid one, I can't even help the Guerro come up with a proper
battle plan."

She pulled my paw from her mouth. "Wait, like the Guerro? The great warriors from the south?"

"The bed-time story guys? Yeah, that's them. I found them, but they weren't doing so hot. I was only able to recruit Verde, Sky, Mountain, Rabbit and my mom." I said.

"Your mom?!" She barked.

"Uhm, yeah. I think I better get you caught up, a lot has happened in the last few days."

We lied down on the cold sandstone and told each other about the worst four days of our lives. I told her about Sarah and her crazy flock, about the dryads and the wendigo, about the flash floods and those creepy things in the slot canyons . . .

"Those must have been skin walkers." She commented when I got to that part.

"Skin whats?" I said.

"Skin walkers, they imitate voices. But not many creatures have seen them, because they get ripped limb from limb before they can get a good look." She replied.

"Well, they tried to do that to me." I grumbled. "It hurt. After that, I passed out . . . I think I had a vision."

"You think?" She asked.

"I can't tell exactly what it was. It could have been something I made up, but I don't know. It felt so real." I said.

She licked my face. "Was I in your vision?"

"Uhh, not . . . particularly. It was by Eyeseffendee, and your dad was there. He told me that you guys were in trouble, and I needed to protect the tribe. He also said . . ."

I paused, unsure whether or not I should tell Sego that he wanted me to be her mate. She looked up with expectant yellow eyes.

"Um, that I'm a good kid. Yeah."

"Okay. Whatever you say." She rolled her eyes, knowing I wasn't telling her the full truth. I'm glad she didn't press for it. She would have been angry at her deceased father for pairing her off without her permission. Or she would have thought I was crazy.

"Then that wendigo showed up again, and it almost killed me, but then the Guerro saved me and my father ripped its heart out."

"Oh. That's nice." She muttered with shock.

I told her about our plans to save the Piedra, chase out the Fuego and stop the Shifter.

I was frustrated that nothing had gone to plan. "And now we're stuck in the Fuego camp, and things are worse than I could have imagined." I sighed. "How have your days been?" I asked.

Her ears drooped, and she looked to the floor. "Ah, not great. Lots of stress, and tears, and yelling."

She scooted up close to me and tucked her paws close to mine. I felt a jump in my chest, making my paw jump, but I played it off in a cool, supportive-boyfriend-kind-of-way and put my paws on hers.

"We discovered what the Shifter really was soon after you left. I thought he was my dad, but . . ." she hesitated. "it wasn't. It . . . it really hurt when I realized he was gone, and the Shifter has been using my dad as a puppet. He's disgraced my father. Joining forces with the Fuego, giving them my family's territory, imprisoning us and several other tribes . . ."

"Yep. I'd like to rip out his eyes and feed them to snakes." I replied.

"Snake!" Sego barked. "Snake is Hawk's brother, he's been helping the Shifter all along!"

"Yep." I replied.

She looked up at me. "You . . . you saw them, didn't you? That night my father left the den. You must have seen Snake and the Shifter kill him."

I nodded sheepishly. "I—I'm sorry. I tried to tell you earlier, before I had to leave. I should have killed the Shifter, then and there." I cursed. "None of this would have happened. Your dad would still be here."

Sego sniffled. She was quiet for a moment until she spoke. "No. That Shifter is a nasty creature. He would have killed you too, and we'd be slaves forever, trapped under this giant stone like spiders under a rock. I'm glad you're here. I've missed you."

She nuzzled my face and licked my neck.

I looked back at her. "Okay. If we're gonna get out of here, we'll need a plan. Any ideas?"

She wrinkled her eyebrows in concentration. "No . . . this place is crawling with the elite. They're the Shifter's army. Not all are completely loyal to him, but you can't always tell who's side they're on. The weaker coyotes and the females could help us, but getting out of here and talking to them will be impossible."

"Great Spirits. What about this hole?" I asked, pointing to the light with my nose, blinking the dark sun out of my eyes.

"No use, I've already tried. The walls are too steep to climb, and you can't tell whether or not it's guarded."

"Hmm." I hummed.

I got up and looked around. There was the entrance we came through, but the dark shadow of an elite blocked the blue light streaming through. The hole was too high to jump to, and the walls were unclimbable.

"I think we're stuck here." I sat down and huffed.

"Giving up so soon?" Sego purred, standing up. "Is that the kind of mindset that got you here?"

I frowned at her. "Tee hee how funny."

She sat down next to me. "Listen. You can't leave, but I can. It's super nasty, but the Shifter thinks I'm his concubine or whatever." I started gagging and she elbowed me. "Yeah, I know. But it gives me leverage. If I tell the guard I need to go see him, he'll let me out of the cave and I can talk with the Guerro and Piedra."

"What if the Shifter's in the cave up front?" I asked, rubbing the shoulder she hit.

"I don't think he is. If you've brought the Guerro, I assume he's sizing them up. He wants good warriors, but he also likes teasing important coyotes, like the other chiefs. Makes him feel good about himself."

"Okay, so if he's not up there, how will you talk to the Guerro if the Shifter's crawling around them?" I asked.

Her forehead creased again, her face stern and thoughtful. Great Spirits she was hot.

"I have an idea." She grinned maliciously.