The Belstone Fox -

He was not like the others. Where his siblings were cautious, Tag was curious. Where they saw the hounds of the Belstone Hunt as a distant, terrifying thunder, Tag saw them as a puzzle to be solved. He grew lean and powerful, his coat the color of a dying ember, and his mind sharper than the flint stones of the moor.

At the edge of a sheer drop overlooking the valley, Tag stopped. He turned to face his pursuers. Merlin skidded to a halt, his chest heaving, his golden eyes meeting the amber gaze of the fox. In that moment, the predator and the prey recognized each other—not as enemies, but as two halves of the same ancient story. They were the last of their kind, relics of a wilder world that was rapidly fading into the smog of the industrial valleys below. The Belstone Fox

They ran for hours across the treacherous mires. The sound of the hounds was a rhythmic drumbeat against the silence of the wilderness. Tag led them upward, toward the high peaks where the wind screamed through the rock formations. He was not like the others

The final chase began under a blood-orange moon. Asher was older now, his hands stiff on the reins, and Merlin’s muzzle was frosted with grey. They found Tag near the ruins of an abandoned tin mine. There was no clever trick this time, no playful feint. Tag was tired. The long winters had stiffened his gait, and the endless pursuit had worn his spirit thin. He grew lean and powerful, his coat the