"Wow... they look quite big in person... OW!" Zok mumbled as soon as he entered the stable followed by Suhi. Both Skah and Ahuli had stayed back to deal with the Commander Wolf.
"These are the young ones. The mature Tulaks are that way. So follow me." Suhi slammed his staff on Zok's head before leading the charge.
Zok and Suhi were the only ones there as the enclosure was void of any human presence. Most of them had left to watch the legendary father and son duo take down the Commander wolf.
"You could've told me so... no need to hit me like that-" Before he could even complete saying what he wanted he saw Suhi raise the staff again and immediately backed down, "Okay okay, I apologise. I won't open my mouth again..."
"Hm... You better not. The Tulaks don't like people who keep blabbing unnecessarily."
They continued to walk and walk. They must have crossed about a hundred Tulaks, all of different colours and sizes. But Suhi didn't stop. It looked like he had a special Tulak in mind for Zok. Soon it became clear to Zok what Suhi was looking for... the weakest Tulaks. He knew it because as they continued going deeper and deeper into the enclosure, the colour of the Tulaks got deeper. Suhi didn't stop walking until he reached the end where all of the tulaks having jet-black skin were kept.
'Well... I thought I would at least be able to get a Midnight or a navy blue one. But oh well, guess I'll just have to make do with whatever I get my hands on.' Zok thought as they finally came to a halt.
The Tulak in front of Zok was a black one, but it was by far the tallest Tulak he had seen the entire day. The black stallion had a crimson-red mane that started from his head and ended at the tip of his tail. It had a white stripe in the middle of his head that went all the way to his upper lip. Just from the look, Zok could say the stallion was no ordinary Tulak, but an aberrate one. Which meant even though it had black skin, he was one of the strongest Tulaks present in the enclosure.
"I know what you are thinking, young one. This is Huruk, the strongest black tulak our beast enclosures have to offer." Suhi beamed with pride, "I have carefully raised him ever since he was a little foal. Ah... those were good times. His mother was a White Mare while his father..."
Suhi kept talking but Zok didn't pay any attention to his old boring talks. He also thought that Suhi was too happy considering the Tulak was still on the lower spectrum of Tulaks. But in fear of the staff, he decided to keep his thoughts to himself. Still, him not paying attention was enough reason for the staff to get acquainted with his head once again.
"You filthy mongrel!? Didn't I told you to keep your eyes and ears open!?"
"Ow... you didn't!?" Zok raised his arms over his head to protect himself from another blow. But Suhi's staff didn't always hit on the head. Zok's sorry butt was its next target.
"Now I would have to tell every-darn-thing so that you can follow? Don't you have two brain cells inside that thick skull of yours?"
"If you keep hitting me like that, even those two cells would die!" Zok yelled in frustration, and Suhi suddenly stopped.
Zok carefully lifted his eyes to see where what happened as Suhi didn't look like a man who would have any mercy over someone like him. To his surprise, the stallion had jumped over the fence and was standing right next to him. All six eyes of the Tulak were fixated on Zok. As for Suhi, he was standing behind the Tulak. It looked like he wanted to tell something to Zok but instead of uttering a word, Suhi was using signs to communicate.
"What are yo-"
As soon as Zok uttered a sound the Tulak went crazy and whipped him with his tail. Tailwhip was a tulak's preferred way to engage in combat and by using it, Huruk, the tulak had started a duel with Zok. This was what Suhi had been wanting to tell Zok.
The Tulaks are extremely sensitive to noise. Especially when they were super focused. Generally, when Tulaks fight, they fight in silence. Once someone breaks the silence, the battle starts. And when the battle starts, to them, it doesn't matter whether their opponent is a beast or not. They tend to go all out.
The Zukira were normally trained to battle against Tulak from a young age. However, Zok had no knowledge whatsoever about these things. To him, all of this was a new experience and it didn't look like it was going to be a pleasant one. Although Suhi was a great tamer, he had grown old and could no longer take on a full-grown Tulak by himself. He could call for others to help, but he was afraid it'll be too late by the time they arrived.
"I have to help the boy before it's too late!" Suhi rushed over to try and calm Huruk. But Huruk was a young-blooded Tulak. Once enraged, there was no stopping him. The only way to calm him down was to use a sleeping dart... which was kept in the shed on the opposite end of the room, "Oh great Okun... save the boy till I get back from the shed."