Ultowas stronger than simple emotions.It was an eternal, binding promise, tying us together in every way.Padru, the first turoch, had chased his mate for centuries across the plains of Oska.
Their courtship had shaped the very planet, leaving scars that became canyons, their battles had created the seeds for mountains and carved the paths for rivers.
Taz’s flight was as much tradition as the gentling I’d failed at.
She may not believe I loved her, but I’d prove it if I had to chase her until Earth wore the marks of my commitment.
The sun was rising when I finally spotted her.Her silhouette outlined by the pink stained sky as she plodded away from me.
A bit of my fear faded at the sight of her.At the very least she was safe.
I let my grip on my ax ease as I prepared to confront her.No creature had attacked her in the night, but that didn’t mean I wouldn’t have a fight on my hands.Not unlike a wild animal, my mate was prone to violence when she was cornered, and I didn’t plan on letting her leave me without one.
“Taz!”I roared.In the distance, I saw her jump and whirl to face me.
For a moment all she did was stare at me across the empty plain.The scene hauntingly similar to the terrain of my home world.A beautiful, stubborn female set against an unforgiving landscape.
If it weren’t for her very human features, she could have been born a turoch.She certainly fought as fiercely as one.My heart ached as she met my eyes, and I let myself believe she’d changed her mind.
Then she turned and started running.My pulse picked up and I charged after her.
The distance between us disappeared as I chased her.A flicker from the corner of my eye was the only warning I got before a pack of percer boars let out a warning bellow and a skinny sow streaked after my mate.
Taz had wandered into a breeding ground.
My heart clenched as I watched her spot the danger and veer to the side, desperately trying to outrun the percer.An impossible task as the lithe beast galloped toward her.
I poured on the speed, zeroing in on the young sow.Every muscle screamed with power as I prepared for battle.Unlike the percer in the human town, this one was healthy and young.The odds I survived this fight were low.
But I’d jump off a cliff for Taz, dying to protect her was an easy sacrifice.
I caught up to the sow as she leapt for my mate, grotesque body arching through the air as she prepared to pounce on Taz.
With a roar I slammed my head into the percer’s side, my horns punching through her thick hide, my momentum throwing us both to the ground.The sow shrieked in rage and pain, scrambling away from me as blood poured from the twin wounds in her ribs.She wheeled around, bulging eyes fixed on me instead of my mate and I rushed to meet her attack.
Praying Taz was finding shelter, I dodged to the side as a bony forelimb lashed out at me.My hooves skidded in the loose dirt, and the beast lunged for me.Fangs bared, it swiped at me.I landed a blow to one talon-tipped foot, my blade cutting through hide and muscle and catching on bone.
The percer’s jaws clamped down on my forearm and I felt my mind turn off.My thoughts drowning in the red haze of my blood rage.For the first time I welcomed the sensation, the unhinged power flowing through me as I fought the beast with every ounce of strength in my body.
My one goal was to kill the percer before I fell.If I killed the sow, Taz would have time to get back to the safety of camp and I would have saved my mate from a terrible death.
My ax fell again and again, my world devolving into a blur of blood and crushing blows.I fought until I couldn’t hear Taz’s screams or the shrieking of the sow under my blade.Secure in the knowledge that as my bonded mate, Taz was the one being I couldn’t harm in this state.
I fought until my body went numb from exhaustion and the toxic venom running through my veins.Time blurred around me, my mind retreating as I fulfilled my mission.
When the rage retreated I was standing over the ruined corpse of the percer, my arms aching from the battle I couldn’t remember, my skin buzzing with adrenaline as I sucked in gulps of air.
The bite on my arm flared to life, the burning venom streaking up to my shoulder.I stumbled forward, my strength fading with the final pulses of my rage and I crashed to my knees, still clutching my ax.
Taz appeared in front of me, her face pale as she grabbed my arm and tried to tug me away from the beast.
“Get up, dammit!”she screamed, pulling at me.
“You ran,” I mumbled, fighting the effects of the venom.I’d taken a bad bite, I could feel the blood flowing over my skin and the waves of weariness as my body tried to heal the damage.Pain racked me, everywhere at once and I couldn’t tell what other wounds I’d sustained in the fight.
“Dargo, please get up.”
Tears glimmered in her eyes, streaking down her face and I wanted to tell her it would be alright but my tongue wasn’t working and I could feel my body swaying.The percer was dead, and Taz was safe, that was all that mattered.
