Blizzardstar froze, feeling horror rise in his chest. Honeyblaze reached a paw out to him, her eyes wide, as blood dripped out of her mouth and ears from the internal damage. The wolf bit down again and she went limp.
“F-foolish child…” Blizzardstar spoke, his voice quivering like a leaf in the wind. The wolf dropped her lifeless body to the ground like she was nothing.
Turning to the wolf, the leader hissed, “Let us bring her back, and we shall not bother you any further.” He could sense Mapleshine’s burning anger, his desire to kill, but it would just make everything worse.
For a moment, the wolf stared at the two cats with thoughtful eyes. It licked Honeyblaze’s blood from his muzzle. It made Blizzardstar dig his claws into the ground, fighting the urge to lunge forward and attack. Don’t. It’ll never give us her body if you do that.
With a scornful bark, the wolf looked Blizzardstar directly in the eye. “No.” Then, while maintaining eye contact, the wolf lowered its head and sank its yellowed teeth into Honeyblaze’s skull. In a single movement, it ripped the top of her head away.
Blood and viscera sprayed across the clearing, chunks of brain and bone falling from the mutilated top of Honeyblaze’s head. Blizzardstar felt suddenly lightheaded, watching as Honeyblaze’s golden eye dangled and fell, splattering wetly on the leaves.
“N-no…” Blizzardstar staggered backward. The blood was already coagulating, turning into a jelly-like pile of gore and bone. Beside him, Mapleshine vomited.
“You’re a monster,” Mapleshine hissed.
Blizzardstar shakily nodded in agreement, feeling every muscle in his body tense with disgust and horror. Still holding the top of Honeyblaze’s face, the wolf kicked the rest of the corpse over to the cats. What remained of her brain and nerves spilled out and coated the ground.
The wolf tossed its head back, snapping up the mangled skull like it was a snack.
Licking its lips, the wolf said with cruel delight, “How about another?”
With a cry, Blizzardstar felt his resolve falter and break. He lunged towards the wolf with claws outstretched. “I’ll kill you!” He shrieked.
Yet, as hard as Blizzardstar tried, he couldn’t get his claws into the wolf. It danced nimbly away, trampling the innards that had spilled out of Honeyblaze’s defiled body. “You’re brave!” It crowed, then lunged forward. “I’ll kill you next!”
Blizzardstar’s heart jumped to his throat as he saw the yellowing fangs, still glistening with blood and chunks of flesh, flash towards him. The stench of rotting food filled his lungs a moment before pain exploded into his body.
The fangs dug mercilessly into the tom’s back, creating deep and bloody furrows. He saw his own blood go flying as the wolf tossed him in the air, the world spinning wildly before him, and then with a crack he hit the ground.
From the intense popping in his back, Blizzardstar knew something was broken. He blinked slowly as he tried to fight the oncoming darkness. I need… Mapleshine… run… The thoughts screamed in his mind, but his muzzle wouldn’t form the words.
A malevolent furry face came into Blizzardstar’s view. The glinting yellow eyes of the wolf was full of ghastly delight. It made eye contact with Mapleshine who, to his leader’s horror, was frozen in place. After a moment, it barked and sank its teeth into Blizzardstar’s throat.
The pain of losing his breath to the beast nearly drove Blizzardstar over the edge. He desperately tried scratching at the wolf’s face and eyes, but his paws wouldn’t even move. Intense agony ripped through him again and again as the wolf toyed with his jugular, refusing to actually kill him so it could prolong his suffering.
Once the wolf’s sadism had been sated, it finally wrenched its head back. Blizzardstar stared, feeling his life seep away, at his own throat dangling from the wolf’s mouth. A deluge of his own blood splattered his face, hot and sticky, from the artery vainly pumping blood.
“Blizzardstar!” Kestrelripple’s agonized cry dragged Cottoncloud’s attention away from her own battle. The two cats had been focusing on the larger coyote together, leaving the warrior to defend against one of the brutes herself.
Cottoncloud growled and swatted the coyote back, only to turn and scream. Blizzardstar was lying limply in the jaws of the bloodied coyote, blood streaming out of his mouth and dripping to the leave-covered ground.
The young warrior was so absorbed with watching that she almost got caught by her own coyote. It snarled viciously and snapped its jaws dangerously close to her head, but she managed to evade it at the last moment. I need to get to Blizzardstar! But how?!
With a malicious growl, the coyote lunged and sank its teeth into Cottoncloud’s body. She screamed and turned in its grip to claw its eyes. The delicate orb popped wetly under her sharp claws, tearing away, and the coyote let her go to howl in pain.
Heart thudding, Cottoncloud used what little strength she could to scramble away. With her entire body screaming in pain, she slowly climbed up a tree, whisking her tail out of reach of the coyote’s fangs just in time.
When she was able to look, Cottoncloud’s heart sank and a scream tore from her throat. “Kestrelripple!”
The she-cat, so dignified and gentle, was a bloodied lump on the ground. Bones stuck through her pelt like white thorns, clearly crushed by the powerful jaws of the coyote. Intestines had spilled out from her stomach where the ribs had slashed the delicate flesh open completely.
Now the coyotes were sniffing at the corpse, tearing and trying to eat the flesh.
Rage filled Cottoncloud and she looked around desperately for something to help. Her eyes caught on something that made her heart stutter, but a sense of perverse justice filled her. It’s for them. She thought grimly, climbing up to the top branch. Careful not to attract the attention of the creatures above or below, she began to chew on one of the branches. It quivered and shook until it finally collapsed.
The wasp’s nest that had been peacefully balanced on the tree branch exploded on the ground below. Hundreds of angry red insects rose out of their ruined home and honed in on the coyotes. Their pained yelps brought a grim satisfaction to Cottoncloud, but she dug her claws into the bark when she realized what was happening.
StarClan… they’re killing them! Indeed, the wasps were swarming over the coyotes’ eyes, mouths, and ears. She could even see the swelling from her vantage point high above and the way the coyotes desperately bit and tore at their own skin to try and get the wasps away.
In an instant, it was over. The wasps, still angry, buzzed away in search of a new target while the coyotes lay on the ground twitching. Their throats and faces were so swollen that they couldn’t breathe and were now suffocating.