G R A C E
I wasn't sure where I was going or where I'd been, but one thing and one thing only was clear to me. I couldn't stop, no matter what, I. Couldn't. Stop.
My limbs ached, the wounds on my wrists and ankles weeping blood with every step. I had attempted to bind them when I'd stumbled upon an abandoned house hours ago, but my attempts to curb the bleeding had been useless. The moment that I had resumed my running, the white fabric had faded into an angry red. The white bandages, which had been torn from a dusty blanket, had long since been discarded; hanging from a low branch to, hopefully, throw anyone off my trial.
But it was a stupid way to cover my tracks. The blood dripping from my ankles, my wrists were a beckon to the high guards and their terrifying steeds.
I stumbled at the thought of those riders, bracing to catch myself on a tree trunk. If they caught up to me, which was an extremely high possibility, I'd be mowed over. Eckis were nasty on a good day… but strung up with the thrill of a hunt and the unforgiving demands of their riders? Plus, add in the fact that my blood, which literally laid the path directly to me, was fogging their nostrils? All combined, they quickly became downright vile. And I wasn't just assuming. I'd seen how those creatures could tear apart anything. They didn't hold back when blood was involved. Unlike dogs, eckis didn't obey a master. In their demented minds, they were the ones in charge, and they weren't entirely wrong… Even if the high guards wanted me alive, they wouldn't be able to stop those beasts from tearing me to shreds. But they wanted me dead; I was a running fugitive with heinous crimes stacked against her… There would be no mercy for me.
Not that I deserved any mercy… But I didn't want to die. Not yet. Not like this.
Panting, I placed my hands on my knees and bent over. Fresh, crisp air filled my aching lungs. How long had I been running? Hours? Days? Weeks even?
My eyes glanced around. Trees, trees, and some more trees. Where was I? How far behind me was my home village? Or was it in front of me… Had I, somehow, gotten turned around?
A harsh groan left my throat. "Damn it. Damn it, damn it, damn it." I was in a world of trouble. A big, stinking, ecki-filled world of trouble.
"Think, Grace…" It was a growled demand on my tongue. "Think… I can't stay here forever…" But where could I go? No matter where I ran, where I hid, they'd find me. It wasn't like I had a whole lot of space available to me, either. The god-damned human settlement was surrounded by monster filled lands; monsters that had claws, wings, scales, fangs, fur, venom, tails, and other horrible, horrible characteristics. But would my chances of survival be higher in the beyond…? I knew for a fact that the high guard, and really any human in their right mind, wouldn't inch a toe beyond our side of the barrier. Not if they wanted to keep their lives. The second I stepped foot onto that clear strip of land, they wouldn't pursue me any longer. They couldn't pursue me, not if they wanted to maintain the treaty… And since the high guard was a service that was maintained by the high council, the ruling head of the square's government, it would be a big, fat violation of the treaty. I'd be a free woman, one running away from a rabid dog and right into the jaws of a wolf.
"I'm so screwed." It was all I could say. And it was the truth.
I needed to get running again. Maybe find some cliffs that would get me up and off the ground. Hopefully said cliffs had some caves or at least some decent overhangs that would shield me from the elements. Although the ecki were fast and ridiculously strong, they weren't the most agile, nor were they small enough to scale the cliffs. I had more of a chance escaping the high guards themselves. There was a chance of escape as long as the eckis were removed from the equation. That much was obvious.
I turned to start running again, but glanced down at the forest floor when something brushed against my calf. My stomach damn near plummeted past my toes.
Night-blooming poppies.
The plant swayed gently to the breeze and my disturbance of it. Its delicate flowers smiled up at me, condensed petals splaying slightly. It was in full-bloom… Bright blue with flecks of white sprinkled throughout.
"Oh shit…"
Wherever I was, whatever village I was venturing towards, was just hours away from the stealing. My home village had succumbed to it just a few days ago. The screams of terrified women, accompanied by the roars, howls, and deep cackles of terran males, had filled my little jail cell. The whole night I had huddled in the corner, wrapped tight in a blanket in an attempt to both stay warm but also prevent as much of my scent from hitting the breeze as possible. And in the early morning, when the last sob of a girl had long since faded into the night, I had seen the wilting, blackening flowers as I fled; had crushed those crisp, drying petals beneath my feet.
I was such an idiot. Usually my home village was the last to fall victim to the stealing; the night blooming poppies surrounding it always held out a few days longer than the rest of its species. But for the first time in my life, and possibly the ancestors' before me, my village wasn't last. The last village to succumb to the stealing just so happened that the very village I was attempting to find refuge in. Just my freaking luck!
Now, instead of high guards and their horrible steeds being my immediate threat, I needed to run from massive, animalistic males that wanted me for their own. Nobody knew what happened to the women after they were taken over the barrier, but they were never seen again. Many of the kidnapped women are ripped from their homes, their screams drowning out the cries of their helpless families. You didn't need to be a genius to guess what their fate was once they were carried into the beyond; they either lived out the remainder of their days as a baby factory, producing huge babies for their equally enormous kidnappers, or they were ravaged and then murdered. Although that was bad, there were many accounts of two males taking a single female. I shuddered with that thought. Being torn away from your home and then being abused by one male was horrible enough; but experiencing that at the hands of two…
I needed to get out of here. Needed to get away from these horrible flowers that marked the start of a night of brutality and pain. I'd sooner die at the hands of a herd of ecki than be subjected to the fate that the kidnapped women were given. No matter what, I wasn't going to be taken. At least not alive. The high guard wasn't going to take me alive, and those monsters certainly weren't going to either.
The dagger strapped to my hip was a heavy, cold weight against my skin.
I spun on my heel and started running to the east, away from the flower and away from the eckis no doubt in pursuit. There was no telling when they'd catch up to me, but I prayed that I'd be high enough up to ward them off until the night came… When the sun set, casting darkness across the sky, I had no idea what I was going to do. Hide away and hope that a terran doesn't sniff me out? What would I do if one does come after me? If I tucked away in a cave or under a rocky overhang, I'd be out of sight but completely and utterly trapped if a terran did find me.
I stumbled again when my ankle nearly rolled, catching myself on a tree. The bark bit into my skin, drawing forth a rash of bloody pin-pricks.
"Dammit!" The snarl erupted without a thought. Immediately, blood began to well and collect on my flesh. It'd be a beckon to those monsters; it was bad enough that I had wounds on my wrists and ankles… Add in the fact that I just opened a new wound? I was doomed! Now, not only did I need to find a place high enough off the ground to hide out, but I needed to try to wash off as much dried blood as possible. There was also the dreadful reality that my wounds weren't clotting, my constant running prevented any scabbing from taking place. If I wanted the bleeding to stop, which I so desperately did, I'd have to stop and rest, as well as try to bind them. I'd be nothing more than a sitting duck… A bleeding, exhausted, stranded duck with no water in sight.
My head, which I hadn't realized had dropped past my shoulders, lifted. I would not be a sitting duck. I was alive and breathing, and as long as I continued to do so, there was hope. That was what my sister had always said, and she'd been the strongest person I had ever known. The wounds needed to be cleaned and then bound; and then, once I took care of myself as best I could, I needed to haul my ass off the ground. Everything important and crucial to my survival was at my side, on my back. There was nothing I needed to worry about, beside myself.
Shielding my eyes with a hand, I gazed out at the sun. It was probably only an hour or two from setting, the dying embers casting the sky to a bluish-pink. Wisps of clouds glowed a pretty peach, wandering across the heavens. A few birds dotted the sky, and I'm certain that that's a good sign… The second trouble arose, birds were usually the first to disappear. As long as birds sang and fluttered about, I was safe. The moment they fell silent… that was when I needed to worry. I had time. Hopefully.
With one last glance to the heavens high above, I resumed my jog… hunting for the sound of water.
Surprisingly enough, it hadn't taken me too long to find a creek. It was a twisting, winding thing and quite shallow, but it was better than nothing. I wasn't complaining; water was water. The bank was steep and slick with clay, so I ventured further downstream, eyes scanning for a safer place to descend with ears cranned for the sound of predators, human and terran alike. I couldn't risk getting caught in the creek, I stood absolutely no chance.
I had always been small, my arms and legs shorter than most of the other women my age. At times, my lacking height had been a blessing, especially when my growling stomach had forced me to start swiping goods at village markets. My smaller frame allowed me to melt into large crowds, allowed me to squeeze through gaps in fences. It was too easy. The merchants that frequented the market were oftentimes older men with beer-guts bulging from their abdomens. They weren't fast, nor were they agile. My small size had kept me alive all these years… But this time, it could be my downfall. I wouldn't be able to scale the clay bank if a terran or mounted high guard caught me down there. No matter how hard I may climb and claw, I was no match against their much larger bodies.
Like a cautious deer, I emerged from the foliage just above the bank. The creek trinkled below, crystal-clear water moving over a bed of pebbles and rocks. At the sight of the crisp water, my throat burned. It had been hours since my last sip of water, and hours longer before that since my last real, fulfilling drink. Apparently, another thing needed to be added to my expanding list of "things-to-do-that-will-hopefully-help-me-live-another-day."
Continuing downstream, my throat screaming with thirst the entire time, I finally found a safe spot to enter the creek. It was still quite steep, but the incline was gentler and the clay was littered with rocks. It would still be a slippery climb once I was done, but the rocks would allow me purchase.
With a quick look over my shoulder, I descended the bank. Only slipping and sliding twice, my boots splashed into the clear water. A moan damn near escaped my throat when, after scooping some water into my cupped hands, it pooled in my belly. Cool and refreshing. It was wonderful, and almost made me forget about everything I was facing and running from. Almost. It was that good!
Glancing around to ensure no one was glaring down at me, I ventured towards a deeper part of the creek. It'd feel great to scrub clean my hands, but that wasn't what I needed to do. The dirt-crusted and weeping wounds needed to be cleaned first; scrubbing clean my body would have to be placed on the backburner as it had so many times before. In fact, the dirt clinging to my skin might actually help to disguise my scent…
I had only taken a step when I was brought to my knees, agony biting into my ankle. Slicing into it. Piercing it. Crushing it.
A metallic snap sounded, sending a spray of water into the air. My ankle, which had already been raw from weeks of friction, released a plume of red into the creek. Blood got washed downstream just as quickly as it poured out, but it did nothing to lessen the pool of red around me. The scream that tore from my very soul set the birds, which had begun to settle in the trees, racing back toward the sky.
A darkening, empty sky.
Pain. Such soul-crushing agony seared me. It wasn't anything I had ever experienced before. I'd been hurt before, numerous times, but nothing compared to the feel of unforgiving metal crushing my ankle.
Absolutely nothing!
Screams escaped me, my body twisting and turning and twisting some more in an attempt to alleviate the pain. I had once tried to be as silent as possible, but I was silent no longer. There wasn't a care in my mind; the only thing revolving over and over in my head was the fact that my ankle was mere mush between the jaws of a steel trap, and there was no escape.
R H O E
My mate.
My female.
My soul needed me!
Hours ago, a horrible dream had torn me from my sleep. Although our past dreams weren't exactly pleasant, this one… This one was different, worse. So, so much worse. So bad, in fact, that it had taken everything within me to keep from just up and running to her side. I had a good idea of where she was, knew that the odds were in my favor, but nothing good circulated in my mind.
I was a rabid beast now, with one thing and one thing only on his mind.
Mate…
There would be no stopping me. Not now, not ever. I had waited the necessary time, and I was done waiting. Tonight was the stealing, marked by the delicate unfolding of night-blooming poppies. Their blue and white petals were a sign of the gods smiling down at me, their hands cradling my very future. I would not spit in the face of their kindness, especially not when my female needed me.
And she definitely needed me.
She was… trapped. I had never seen such metal contraption before, but especially one that bit through bone and flesh. Ursidae, and all of the other terran races, fought with their hands and claws and teeth. We didn't rely on mere objects to do our dirty work. We may be a dense, brutish bunch, but we had honor. And laying metal traps that blended into the rocks it laid upon was not a sign of honor. It was a sign of cowardice, of laziness. Now, due to the cowardice of someone of her own kind, my lovely mate was stranded out in the open, bleeding and scared. She was hurting! Agony consumed her very soul; had forced her to be a writhing, fearful creature. Every sound, every sway of the trees had paled her face. When a bird squawk in the distance, she had clawed at the jaws crushing her; when a twig had snapped, she had clawed at the jaws; when silence had reigned, she'd still clawed at those horrible jaws.
In the dream, I had been helpless... helpless to stop her from causing more blood to spill from her body. I could only kneel at her side and beg for her to stop struggling, but I could not touch her nor could she hear my pleas. I could only watch as she tore at the metal contraption, tearing her pitiful claws from their beds and causing more blood to flow.
I would not be helpless any longer. Now was the time to retrieve her; now was the time to pull her into the safety of my arms and shield her from the life she did not deserve.
I moved about the supply room like a mindless beast, my ears pressed flat against my skull. Any creature in their right mind wouldn't disturb me in a time like this, and if they did? Well, their demise would be a painful one. Nothing would distract me now, nothing would pull me away from my mate's side. I didn't care if the pellomidae lord summoned my presence this very moment, I would not heed his call. Every organ and bone in my body screamed 'mate!'
The thoughts of her flooded my mind, swarmed my very being so much that I didn't even register the scrape of claws against the stone beneath my feet.
"By gods," Baird growled. "What the rot are you doing?"
The male took a single step backwards when I settled my attention on him, glaring. Words didn't need to be exchanged. He was a smart male, smart enough to recognize the volatile male before him for what he was. At the sight of me, his pointed ears flicked back, the fur along his shoulders and neck bristling. He flashed canines at me, and if I hadn't been so on edge, I would've laughed. He was no match for an ursidae, but especially one of my size. There was a reason why canidae males always pair-bonded and the other, larger races, hardly ever. And, with a quick flare of my nostrils, I knew that he had come alone.
I mirrored the snarl. "She is in great danger." I lifted the satchel, "I'm retrieving her." Short, simple, and firm. There would be no room for argument.
A frown twisted his features. "Rhoe-"
The snarl that erupted from my throat silenced his protests. I turned my back to him, my muscles burning with the need to physically shut him up. A nice punch to his skull would drop him to the floor like a stone... a few gnarly slashes would teach him the valuable lesson of minding his own business, especially in instances in which he didn't know what he was talking about. I was the first male in the entire cadre to have ever dream-shared, I was the only one with the responsibilities of a female thrust upon me. He would not understand; perhaps he never would. I did not care. All that mattered was finding my poor female before another did and healing her thin, wounded body until she was healthy. Then, once she was well fed and healed, she'd be strong enough to submit to my claiming, and eventually my taking.
At the thought of the two ceremonies, my cock began to harden, threatening to emerge from my sheath. Thank gods that I had turned away from the male, I didn't need him to witness my growing lack of control. I had to stay calm and collected, or as collected as a male pining after his fated mate could ever be.
"You do not understand the torment, Baird." I snarled, stuffing a thick strip of hide into the satchel. I would need to bind my female's wound, that much was obvious from our dream. "I do not understand it myself, but I know that she needs me. She is injured, her foot caught between the jaws of a metal trap. She cannot escape. I cannot stand knowing that she is hurt. I will not wait here any longer, knowing that she needs me now more than ever. I will not."
Silence reigned as I stalked around the room, stuffing dried meat, pouches of water, healing salves, and whatever else I deemed necessary into the leather bag. He knew that it was the truth. He did not know what it was like; he had never experienced the emotion that came with dream-sharing, had never experienced the dread, fear, yearning, excitement, and pure predatory instincts to chase and claim. I was the first, and perhaps only male, in our lord's cadre to have ever linked with their destined female. Even our pellomidae lord was unmated, too busy with political affairs and temporary pleasure to ever settle for something so permanent. It was uncharted territory, but one I was aching to explore.
"You are right, Rhoe." The male relented. "I do not understand what you're experiencing, but I am your friend, and as your friend, I do not want you to get hurt. Our lord will not appreciate you running off like this, you do realize that? When you return, your punishment will be severe. He might even go after your female."
Endless, unwavering ice filled my blood at his words. Our lord wasn't an outright cruel male, he allowed his cadre more freedom than most pellomidae lords ever dared, but he addressed acts of foolishness with poison-tipped claws. I'd only been disciplined by him once. I was a young, bold male then, chest constantly puffed with arrogance. After the punishment he dealt me, that chest had been thoroughly deflated… I still bore the scars of my beating all these years later.
Gods… What would he do now, once I returned with my fragile female in tow? I was much stronger and bigger now, well trained and hardened by years of fighting… There was no doubt that my female would be used to punish me, in ways that I dared not think of.
The smile that twisted my lips was a cruel, cold one. The satchel was lifted into the air once again, bulging with water bags, herbs, furs, blades, and whatever else my female and I needed for survival. "Who said I was returning?"
Like I predicted, he stumbled backwards, eyes flashing. "Gods, have you gone mad?!"
"Perhaps."
"He will go after you! The entire cadre will be sent for you; Soran, Drakkal, Stone, Angus, Lucien… You will not stand a chance! You're a fool; a rotting fool!"
A slight narrowing of my eyes was my only answer.
"Think about your female, Rhoe!" he snarled in exasperation. "What will happen to her if you desert? It's no secret how territorial Drakkal and the others are; she is not terran. They will tear her apart once they find her!"
"Not 'once,'" I corrected. "If. They will not find her."
"How can you be so certain?" His ears were practically plastered to his head now. "You are but one male. You may be strong, much stronger than the rest of us, but you are no match for them. You cannot fly, nor can you climb well. You may be a strong swimmer, but you are no match against Stone. Think about it, Rhoe. I beg of you; wait! Someone will find her in time. Just think about it."
I was done discussing this with him. This decision had been on my mind for days now. Ever since our first dream-share, I had known that I would not be returning to the cadre. I could and could not stomach the thought of returning with her in tow. As Baird said, she would be torn to shreds. After years of witnessing the cruelty Lucien, Stone, Killean, and even my canidae friends bestowed upon trespassers, there was no trusting them with someone as precious as my mate. She was defenseless and soft, feminine and small, thin and injured. There was no way in hell that I was ever going to subject her to a territory filled with irritable, territorial, unstable males. I would never trust them around her, and I would never trust myself around them either. If they so much as looked at her wrong, I'd gut them.
So, with a heavy breath, I focused my attention back on him. The satchel, bulging and heavy, was shouldered. "I have thought about it, old friend. Many times, in fact. Which is why I am sorry."
I slammed my fist into the side of his head.
As his body lay on the floor, I slipped into the night. The air licked through my fur, cooling the overheated flesh beneath. Nothing more than a shadow amongst the trees, not a single soul roused. Even as I stalked past den after den, nothing disturbed the silence. I was one with the trees, one with the moon that shone high above. She, in all of her pregnant glory, smiled down upon me. Her embrace surrounded me, lighting the path in which I was fated to take. The Moon herself had blessed me and my female, of that I had no doubt. After all, she was the master behind such decisions; she was the only god that still cared about their creations. And now, as I ventured towards a scarred tree, its ancient hide criss-crossed by my lord himself, I truly felt her blessing upon me.
"Thank you," I whispered, "I will never take your sacrifice for granted."
Never.
That human female was mine, and there was nothing anyone could do or say to change that. I may be a foolish male, but I wasn't foolish enough to laugh in the face of fate herself. The Moon, resting in the heavens amongst her many twinkling children, was the goddess of the night as well as fertility and love. And with fertility and love came family…
A family!
I never knew that I had always wanted a family until this very moment. After years and years of solitude, I had resorted myself to a lonely existence. Ursidae, unlike canidae and many other races, weren't social by nature. We didn't cooperate well, oftentimes resorting to physical fights when tensions ran too high. That was the ursidae way, and always had been. There was a reason why cubs, hardly into their maturity, left the den and, eventually, their parents' territory all together. Thinking about it, I couldn't even recall the last time I had seen my siblings, or even my sire and dam… The only time my kind ever interacted with each other was to fight, rut, or mate. There was no need to interact beyond those reasons, no need to run the risk of inevitable injury by associating with others.
My eyes glanced down at my hands. I had long, thick claws. My hands were calloused and scarred. Fur ran along the back of my hand, wiry and dark. I looked about as sociable as a wet panthera...
"I pray that you know what you are doing," I whispered up to the Moon. "I am a beast amongst beasts…"
And, yet, you have handed me a flower to muddy… A flower to drag through the mud that is my life, my world.
As I passed over the boundary line, she continued to beam down at me, glowing despite the darkness all around.