Wake up, Canyon!Timber was shouting again and again.
I’m trying!Canyon shouted back in ruhi, whacking at the bug.I can’t hit it!
Wake up! Wake up!
Wake up?
Canyon wrenched his eyes open, hoisting himself out of sleep with sheer willpower. The night was still dark but in the light of Wulf’s screen he saw a walking nightmare—a dark-colored spider, flat like a tick, the size of an elephant, colored an unnatural silver and gray. Wulf was zooming around underneath it, poking it with his mechanical arm, while it chased Timber in wolf form. Timber ran up a rock outcropping andjumped on the spider’s back, growling, snarling, and snapping. The spider ran up a group of trees, then spun around, scraping Timber off of its back with a tree branch, then turned and pounced on him, hissing and roaring.
Canyon jumped up and launched himself into the fray with a fierce howl. He grabbed a spider leg, chewing, yanking, tearing.
Timber howled in pain.Fuck, it got me,he said inruhi.
Canyon raced for his brother. Timber was fighting for his life, his teeth buried in the underside of the spider, while his legs dug for guts, except for his front left foreleg, which hung limply.
:CANYON, TIMBER, GET CLEAR OF THE BUG, NOW—Wulf commanded inruhi.
Canyon jumped for his brother, hearing the finality in Wulf’s tone.
:10, 9, 8, 7, 6—
Canyon shifted into a man, rolled under the spider, grabbed his brother around the middle, telling him, let go, we’re clearing this spider,then rolling out the other side, with his brother in his arms.
:5, 4, 3—
He stood and hoisted his brother behind a tree, then threw him on the ground and shielded him with his body.
:2, 1—
BRRRRZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZRRRRRTTTTT
The night lit up like lightning. Electricity flashed all around, crackling and zapping. Canyon’s hair stood on end, and the smell of burnt bug surrounded them, and then it was quiet. Timber lay panting in wolf form at the base of the tree, with Canyon splayed naked on top of him.
Get off me, man,Timber said.
Canyon shifted into wolf form and rolled off his brother. He peeked around the tree. The spider lay flat and motionless asif dead, with Wulf also motionless, on top of him. Wulf lay on his side, his screen dark, his mechanical arm buried in the spider’s back. One of his tires spun lazily, then stopped.
Timber shifted from wolf to man, then man to wolf again and again, his left arm held out in front of him, a nasty gash across the forearm.
Head low, nostrils flaring, Canyon headed for the spider, wanting to make sure it was dead. It stirred, then got up and moved so fast it made Canyon’s stomach flip. The bug grabbed hold of two trees next to each other, then climbed up to the treetops, making the leaves rustle, Wulf dangling limply from its back. Canyon craned his neck but soon couldn’t see it anymore.
Damn. Wulf,he said.
“Little buddy saved our bacon,” Timber said.
Fuckin’ hero.
“Like Reynard.”
Just like Reynard. How’s your arm?
“Not healing.”
Damn.
“Damn.”
We’re in trouble, bro.
