Chapter 21 #2
I’d seen him shortly after we’d crawled out of the water, just after I’d discovered that Zeidon’s injuries were getting the best of him.
The stag. He was there on the edge of the woods.
I knew it was the same one that Zeidon had healed because of the shape of dark gray fur along his forehead; it was exactly the same.
It felt a little too much like it was there to pay his final respects to a dying friend and I shoved those thoughts away.
I was going to save Zeidon, I just had to make it to Outcast Haven and back again as fast as I could.
Zeidon had passed out, his breathing slow and labored; he did not have long.
Turning my back on him and starting to run along the cliff wall he’d indicated was one of the hardest things I’d ever done.
I’d seen it in his eyes when he pointed at it, his only thought to send me to safety, but I wasn’t going to abandon him.
If he thought he could die on me now, he had another thing coming.
He had come back from the dead once; I was going to demand he do it again.
I was going to make sure of it, this wasn’t going to be luck, this was me taking control of our fates.
I had been healed by the robot, and I felt stronger than I ever had before, even after a draining swim in that raging river.
That did not mean I was in great shape. I’d spent most of my life on Earth working at a daycare with such crazy hours that cooking healthy food had often been beyond me, let alone getting enough exercise.
After barely a few minutes, my thighs were screaming in pain and my breathing came in hard sharp pants.
A stitch was starting to develop in my side but I refused to give up, I had to get to that camp as fast as possible.
Every second that ticked by could be another nail in Zeidon’s coffin and I refused to let him die.
I pressed my hand to my belly as I ran over the uneven, rocky terrain.
With my eyes on the ground, I tried to make sure I knew the lay of the land and did not end up rolling an ankle in my sneakers.
I could not afford that kind of a mistake.
Any delay could be Zeidon’s doom. My breathing was so labored that I could not find the breath for outright crying, but tears streamed from my eyes, drying on my heated skin.
If I failed… The idea was too terrible to contemplate, but my brain bombarded me with all kinds of images and possibilities anyway.
If I lost him, I’d be alone, and I’d never get to see his cocky grin or hear his growls.
I would never lay curled up in his arms and tail again, and I could never have that family we both dreamed of.
What if I was already pregnant? He was certain it could happen.
So what if I was? I’d have to raise our son or our daughter alone and that thought was just so sad.
And at Outcast Haven? How would the others respond, would they expect me to find a new mate at some point?
I didn’t want anyone else, I just wanted my Zeidon, my stoic guy with the big, lonely heart.
A heart that fit with mine so perfectly that it had erased all obstacles between us like they were nothing.
From language to race, none of it mattered to me. I just wanted him to survive.
Then I stumbled over a rock I hadn’t seen in time and I went ass over teakettle, my body skidded a little down the sloped ground before coming to a stop against the base of a purple fir tree.
My head spun dizzily and scrapes and bruises were making themselves known.
My palms had been skinned when I tried to break my fall and my knees were on fire, but I couldn’t pause to lick my wounds.
I used the tree for support to get back to my feet with a groan, my eyes already darting along the rock wall to see if I had made any progress. A sob wrecked my chest with cramps as it fought to get out through my rapid breathing. It didn’t look like I’d gotten far at all.
Buzz chirped then, circling above my head on his pretty purple wings.
He’d been shadowing me and now his sounds seemed to tell me to keep going, urging me on.
I did not have the breath to respond to him but I gave him a weak little wave as with determination I put my foot in front of the other and got moving again.
He chirped again, dive-bombing down on me and I yelped in shock. “What…are… you… doing!?” I panted at him in shock. He dove again and caught a lock of my hair in his paw, pulling my head to the left as he flapped his wings. Ow! That really hurt. Then I saw what he wanted me to see: the stag.
I had been so focused on moving forward, on reaching Haven as fast as I could, that I had not noticed that the majestic animal had followed after me.
The stag was just inside the treeline, his big black eyes focused on me and his nose moving as he sniffed at the air.
Why was he looking at me like that? What did it want? Was he here to help me?
Buzz landed on my shoulder and nuzzled his snout into my hair, an apology for pulling on it.
He was making soft chirping and purring noises to reassure me, or maybe to encourage me to do something, but what?
I didn’t have time for this, whatever this was, but at the same time, I felt frozen in place.
The stag’s gaze held me trapped. I noticed it wasn't black, but a deep, dark purple, with its horizontal, oblong-shaped pupil exactly like that of a horse.
A horse. Could it… I was afraid to even finish that thought but even just that light flutter over my brain made all my aches and pains worse.
The idea that I could ride to Haven, instead of making my sore body run, that was a bit too good to be true.
And then the stag moved closer on his long, elegant legs.
He moved evenly, with not a hint of the broken leg that had seen him end up in Zeidon’s care.
His feet were tipped with hoofs, much like a deer’s, cloven and with dewclaws above and behind them.
His body was elegant yet robust and tall, like a horse’s or perhaps even closer to something like a moose’s, while his head was shaped like a gazelle’s and tipped with sharp, spiraling horns.
He was definitely strong enough to carry me wherever he wanted to go.
With slow steps, he came out of the treeline and approached me, his big nose working as he pulled my scent into his lungs and stared at me with those big eyes.
When I opened my palm and held it out to him, I simultaneously felt a big wave of awe and impatience.
I had to keep moving, but I could not stop this encounter.
I felt a bit like one of those virgins in mythical stories that were approached by a unicorn. Like this moment was rare and sacred.
And then the stag lowered himself on his long, elegant legs right at my side with a huffing noise and a shake of his magnificent head.
My still rapid breathing stilled for a moment as I contemplated what this meant.
He did not move to get up or away when I reached out and touched his shoulder, my fingers sinking into thick, lavender fur.
With my breath stuck in my throat, I kept my eyes on his and leaned closer until I could sling my leg over his back.
The stag was much bigger when you were trying to sit astride it.
He rose to his feet with an ungainly lurch, nearly causing me to topple off his back.
My fall was saved only by lunging forward over his neck, grabbing hold of his fur on either side.
Then we were moving, and I clutched the hints of a mane along his neck and squeezed with my thighs to stay on him.
That stride went from walking to a trot and then a gallop in the space of thirty feet, and then the ground was flying by with such dizzying speed that I knew I’d die if I fell now.
He wanted to veer into the woods, as if he just wanted to carry me away with him, and I had to yank hard on the fur closest to the rock wall to maintain our direction.
I had little to no experience on a horse, but it seemed to work.
“Sorry stag,” I muttered. I hoped that hadn’t hurt him, but it was the only way I could think of to make him go where I needed to go.
He had no issue with the uneven terrain on his cloven hooves, and I could not even tell if his fast gallop was making any impression on him.
All I knew was that this was both exactly like riding a horse—he had a smooth stride now that he was galloping—and nothing like it at the same time.
He was so big that it did not compare to the few pony rides I’d been on as a kid, and he was a wild animal to boot, I had only the barest semblance of control.
But my heart was soaring with hope at the same time. The ground was flashing by at such speeds that it made my run from before look like a snail’s pace. If he kept going this fast, I must reach Outcast Haven soon. Maybe even quickly enough to find Zeidon aid in time.
When the palisade that Zeidon had described to me suddenly came into view, I could almost taste that victory.
It was better than the massive hole of despair that swallowed me up when I contemplated my odds of saving my mate.
He could have already bled to death internally by now, so I simply pushed those realities away and focused on the here and now, on the things I needed to do.