Sarah and I jumped into the battle. It was easy enough to tell the difference between the elites from the other coyotes, but it became harder to pick out the lean bodies from the bony ones as the battle raged on.

I looked for any of the Guerro or the Piedra, but I couldn't find them. Everything was so confusing and hot and loud . . . and yucky coyotes kept touching me . . .

"Look, there's Verde!" Sarah said, pointing to the russet coyote fighting a yellow elite.

We jumped in to help him. I quickly pulled off the elite by her scruff, and she jumped onto me.

We fought while Sarah and Verde quickly conversed. "Help find everyone then meet up behind the rock again! If we have more coyotes, we can fight off an ambush!" Sarah yelled as the yellow coyote cross-faced me.

"Fine!" Verde yelled back.

I tried to quickly pin the coyote and run, but she was tough. I won't admit how long it took for me to get away from her.

As soon as I could escape, I ran around, searching for coyotes I knew. "Sego! Mountain! Negrita! Hare!" I called out.

I was scared for Hare. She was tough, but her fighting days were long gone. And her missing toes didn't make things easy for her.

"Sego!" I called out again.

"Astor!" I heard someone call to me from the fight. It was Sky.

She bounded over to me, swatting at a coyote in her way. A gash on her temple was bleeding. "Astor, how'd you get out? What's going on?" She panted.

"No time to explain, just look for the others and meet behind the big rock!"

She nodded, then went to search for the Guerro. I was about to slither away, but a large coyote attacked me.

Oh, come on! Why can't I get a break? I thought, the coyote pinning me to the ground and snapping at my face. I rolled onto my back then kicked him off, turning onto my stomach once he was gone.

I ran another two steps before another coyote attacked me. Then another. Then two ganged up on me. I could escape every time, but it was getting harder. I was tired and didn't have the energy to fight anyone. When I found my way out of the battle, I ran behind the rock and didn't look back.

This time, a group of Guerro and Piedra coyotes were waiting behind the rock, talking quickly about possible battle strategies.

"Astor's here!" Sarah yipped.

I awkwardly squished in the circle between Negrita and Mountain. Those two, Sarah, Verde, Sky, Horizon and Delta were the only ones there.

"Where's Sego?" I asked, interrupting Horizon as he was blabbering about his stupid idea.

Horizon glared at me, annoyed for interrupting him.

"Haven't seen her since we got ambushed." Negrita said.

I growled. "Okay. We gotta find her. And Rabbit. And Hare. And Bat. And—"

"Yes, where is my mate?" Negrita said quickly, looking nervous. "Our pups are coming soon, and I have no idea where she is!"

"It's okay, she's with the other females. As soon as there was trouble, I told her and another pregnant female to stay put." Sarah said, trying to calm him down, but he didn't relax.

"We get it, let's move on!" Delta said impatiently, his normally cheerful voice now anxious. "What were you saying, Horizon?"

"Just that we could talk to all the regular coyotes, have them fight with us, then you guys beat the elites while I go take on the Shifter."

I rolled my eyes.

"Horizon, it isn't wise for you to fight him by yourself. The Shifter is unpredictable. How do we defeat him anyways?" Negrita asked.

"You don't." Verde said.

Everyone looked at him in disbelief.

What do you mean we can't defeat him? I thought.

"Unnatural creatures don't die the way we do. There's always a special technique needed to kill each unnatural creature." Verde said. "To kill the Shifter, we would need to neutralize his powers. The only way to do that is to speak his true name."

We were silent for a second, unsure of what to say. I broke the silence and said "When we went over the original plan, I said we needed to kill the Shifter. We have to stop him."

"Astor, I don't know how to stop him. I wanted to tell you, but we can't stop him forever. We simply don't have the resources right now."

"But . . ." I mumbled, unsure of what to say. I growled in frustration, cursing to myself. "Fine. Fine."

I growled to myself. I knew killing the Shifter would be impossible, but my heart wouldn't accept it.

"Alright then. Let's decide on some logical action." Negrita said.

"Teaming up with the other coyotes would make sense, but we don't have time to dictate a plan to all of them. I think if we lead by example, they'll eventually pick up on the plan." Sky said.

"Such examples we are." Mountain grumbled.

"We're all they've got. And time is running out. the weaker coyotes are tired and can't fight forever, we have lives on the line." Sky replied.

"I agree. We need a real battle plan." Verde said.

We thought for a moment, listening to the angry yips of the battle until Horizon spoke up. "I've noticed that there are four captains. They're all Fuegos, a dark gray male, a yellow female, and two skinny brown males. If we can take them down, the rest of the elites will loose their courage. Those cowards will run away with their tails tucked between their legs."

"That sounds good. But we wouldn't be able to recognize those coyotes." Sky said.

"We can." Delta said. "Let's team up. A Piedra with a Guerro. When we find each captain, we'll take them down."

"I think I killed the dark gray one." I spoke up.

Everyone looked to me with surprise. Sarah bit her lip and turned her ears back.

"You killed someone?" Verde asked. His green eyes pierced me to the center, making my heart ache.

"I—I don't know, I hurt him pretty badly. He was attacking Sarah, and I got mad, and . . ." I trailed off before Horizon spoke up.

"Finally found himself a backbone."

"Horizon!" Negrita barked, flashing his sharp teeth and him. Horizon flinched back in surprise.

"Astor, that was very brave of you to defend Saguaro, but there is no honor in unnecessary death. And such a young coyote shouldn't need to kill anyone." Mountain said.

I sunk my head shamefully, full of guilt and anger. I didn't feel guilty because I might have killed someone, but because I had disappointed everyone.

"Well, that's one less coyote we need to deal with." Verde sighed. "Lets pair up and find the captains. Don't kill them, but disable them enough so they can't give orders. Once you've disabled your designated captain, get the wounded to safety. That is your first priority, don't look for the other captains. When the battle field has been cleared, we fight until their surrender."

They all nodded, ready to finish this. Sky went with Negrita to get the yellow female, Horizon went with Mountain to get the brown male, and Delta went with Sarah to get the other one.

"Astor, come with me. But I have something to tell you."

As the others left, I turned around to face him.

"What—I mean, yes?" I mumbled.

"Astor, you are supposed to be leading us. You didn't plan any of the battle strategy just now." He said.

"I'm trying my best! And it doesn't help when you're all butting in! I'm not good at making plans or leading anyone, and I never will be." I said.

He frowned. "I know you think that, but being a leader takes practice, and there will always be someone else with a better idea. But you can't let your self doubts get in the way."

"Easy for you to say." I growled. "You haven't been to war in years. Things haven't been to hard for you in your dumb little cave."

"I expect better manners from you, Astor." He growled, making me stoop even lower. He sighed. "It hasn't been easy. Just different. Every leader has their own trials, just as you'll have yours."

I looked up at him, confused. Did he know something?

"Let's go help the wounded. Watch your flanks." He said, getting up and running to the battle.

I nodded and followed.

To our dismay, there was a lot of dead coyotes. For every one we dragged out alive, another was dead. My heart crumbled apart as I carried out the female pup I had seen earlier, now limp and lifeless.

I wanted to help take down the captains, but Verde has already warned us to stay focused on our own tasks. I saw Negrita and Sky drag the unconscious female to the outskirts of the camp, and Sarah attacking the brown male.

"We just about have the field clear!" Verde barked to me over the commotion.

I set down an elderly male with a bad cut on his face. "Okay! Let's finish this!"

Verde dove back into the crowd, but he was toppled over by a large coyote.

"Verde!" I barked, running to help him.

He was pinned to the ground, avoiding the foaming jaws of Snake.

"Blood! Blood! Blood!" Snake screamed, his eyes wild and bloodshot.

I jumped onto Snake's back and his scruff, but he bucked me off and I landed on my neck. I felt dizzy for a moment, unsure of which way was up or down.

Something snapped, and I heard Verde scream. I rolled over to see what happened, feeling sick and seeing stars. Snake had grabbed Verde's paw and was shaking it violently.

"Verde!" I stood up, ignoring the head rush and body slammed into Snake, but he didn't even move.

Verde roared in agony, trying to free his paw from the half-wendigo's grasp. I tried scratching and biting Snake, but nothing fazed him. All he wanted was blood.

I finally grabbed his ear and wrenched it down. The movement made a ripping sound and twisted his head enough that Verde could get out. I also bounded away, making sure he couldn't grab me. I had left a pretty good tear against his skull.

I rushed to Verde. "Can you stand?" I asked.

He nodded, and I supported him with my shoulder. We limped away as fast as we could. I had to drag him by the scruff most of the way.

I set him down by the other wounded. His paw didn't look anything like a paw anymore, and it was bleeding profusely. I felt dizzy again looking at it.

He breathed heavily for a moment, then looked up at me. "Help the wounded."

"B—but—but you're wounded!" I stammered.

He shook his head. "I fear my fate is secured. Help those who could escape death."

I stood there, shocked. How could he be so selfless, especially when I had just complained about how hard it was to be a leader.

I gave a shaky nod, unsure of what to say, then went out again.

A brown coyote stopped me in my tracks. I tried to step around him, but he grabbed my scruff.

"Hey!" I barked, twisting and clawing at him, but he held tight.

He dragged me to the rock wall, then quickly pulled me into a cave. I snapped and bucked with all the strength I had left, but it wasn't much.

"Lemme go!" I barked, swiping at the air.

The coyote shook his head. "Hey, shut up! If you want to get out of this alive, listen to me!" He said between clasped teeth. It was Prick.

He set me down, but I didn't run. "What's going on?" I asked.

"Listen. The elites have targeted your group and they're rounding them up. Once we get this crowd settled, you'll all be executed. The Shifter's planning on killing you last, but we can save everybody here if you and I cooperate."

I hesitated for a moment, then allowed him to speak. "I'm listening."