Eyefifteen

1

Ironically, anxiety has kept me alive.

For anyone who's dealt with any kind of normal fear, like heights, spiders, or snakes, you probably don't understand why that's ironic. But for anyone who's had irrational fears, you get what I'm talking about.

I've never been afraid of ghosts or monsters. In fact, I didn't believe in them until a year ago, when a shape shifter took over my tribe by impersonating my dead leader. Within a few days, I quickly discovered that all the monsters regular coyotes were afraid of—wendigos, evil spirits, skinwalkers—weren't just tall tales to scare little pups into behaving.

I'm not scared of them now because I can handle them. Since I've left the Piedra, my adoptive tribe, I've learned a lot about fighting demons, but nothing about social situations.

It was a cold day, even for the winter season. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, but the sun didn't give any warmth. It weakly simmered in the sky, hiding behind a thin, gauzy fog. Even though I was in a desert, everything was cold. Even the air felt like dry, frozen stones.

I was far into Yootaw, and the scenery had changed drastically. All the extra foliage, no matter how scrubby it was, allowed for a lot of good hiding spots for evil creatures. They liked sneaking up on me.

Snap!

I ducked, avoiding the long, brown teeth of the monster above me. It glared at me with its beady eyes, smoke puffing from crusty nostrils.

I grinned and pounced to the left. "Come and get me, you skid mark!" I barked.

It roared with frustration, reared in its hind legs and charged. Right before it could run me over, I jumped vertically, twisting in the air and landing on its head.

It shook its head violently, trying to fling me off, but I bit it's long ear, hanging on like a stubborn flea.

It wailed with frustration, bucking and kicking. I grabbed its fur with my claws, but the muscular pelt was hard to hang on to. The monster bucked me loose, leaving me flailing in the air like a wagging tail.

I let out a muffled scream between gritted teeth, feeling my gut churn each time I went up, and my ribs groan each time I slammed down.

I hoped the monster would get bored soon and slow down, but it got smart. It bucked me into a nearby wall, crushing my face and shoulders against the crumbly red and white limestone.

I blacked out for a second. I must have let go, because I slid down the sandy wall, and the monster was standing over me, drooling and breathing heavily in my face.

I came to when the monster had my head halfway in his mouth. I moved quickly and shoved my paws down his throat, ignoring the rancid smell or the squishy tongue in my face.

Its gag reflex forced my paws out of its throat, but I wasn't giving up so easily.

The monster started pacing around, my butt hanging out of his mouth and wondering how he could dislodge a coyote from his throat. He tried to bite me, but he only had two long incisor teeth at the front of his mouth. They were only good for eating giant weeds or skinning the bark off trees.

Within a few minutes, the monster collapsed, spasming and choking for air. It's tongue quivered uncomfortably in my face.

Soon after, it stopped moving. I crawled out quickly, gagging with relief, but its jaws snapped around my waist.

"Are you kidding me?" I muttered. This one wasn't going down without some dirty tricks.

It stood up and shook me back and forth, making my head spin.