05-31-2009, 11:48 PM
The predator had become the prey. It could turn and kill the female, but with both of the pack wolves together, the chance of death was too high. It fled through the underbrush. With so much bulk, despite its strangely out-of-place fluidity of movement, it was not a fast sprinter, and quickly had to take to confusing turns and rapid changes in direction in an effort to lose its pursuers. It was big enough that it was hard to run down once it got started, which it would try to use to its advantage. Nonetheless, if either of them got their teeth into it, it would be easier to stop than a deer of the same size, though it wouldn't be as easy to kill.
The predator's instincts saved it here, as well. Miraculously, it managed to evade its pursuers as it vanished behind dune after dune, taking advantage of the break from the pack wolves' vision to take turns in random and unpredictable directions, making the chase hellish, even though it was the slowest of the three runners. For the first time, the monster put all of its instincts for flight to the test. In a prolonged hunt, it would have needed to return to fighting before it extinguished its reserves of energy. But as things stood, it felt that it could last until it escaped the territory limit. The predator did not plan further ahead than that.
The predator's instincts saved it here, as well. Miraculously, it managed to evade its pursuers as it vanished behind dune after dune, taking advantage of the break from the pack wolves' vision to take turns in random and unpredictable directions, making the chase hellish, even though it was the slowest of the three runners. For the first time, the monster put all of its instincts for flight to the test. In a prolonged hunt, it would have needed to return to fighting before it extinguished its reserves of energy. But as things stood, it felt that it could last until it escaped the territory limit. The predator did not plan further ahead than that.