[Red Flag Hunt] Loverboys

Zataro was wounded from the constant attacking. His health was declining fast - not only because of Furor himself but still, it felt like a personal victory. Even if he wouldn’t get anything good out of this but some new battle scars, the old puller male at least could say he had tried. He had done something.

  All of them were there; Nievel, Parhelion, Cirrhus, Io. Sirhael, the sweet thing, and Esaiah, that old grump. They were all proving to be very loyal to the cause - even Nievel was standing besides her companion, Jeremiah, even if the female couldn’t properly join the battle anymore. It was painful for Furor to watch her go but he wouldn’t say anything - she had to do this as much as Furor did.

  And then was that male. Raimshael. Somehow he was there as well, attacking and pulling the beast down with his magnificent set of jaws. It was odd to see the another puller here on the battlefield - and it also meant Furor’s mind would constantly try and escape to something else. Luckily Zataro was quickly hitting him back to the ground if he was dreaming of something else and Raimshael would let him now if he managed to fool around.

  It was night and Parhelion and Sirhael were tending the wounded with Esaiah’s help. Nievel, Jeremiah, Io and Cirrhus were scouting the areas - even if the swamps and the forest around it had become a familiar sight to all of them because the beast liked it here, there were always something new to find. Traps what to evade, spots what to use to their advantage. Too bad Zataro was familiar with the territory as well - even more so than the reoseans. But Furor and Raimshael had encountered the beast already and with wounded posture the whiskered beast could hardly live that long. But it didn’t mean they hadn’t had to be careful with all of this.

  Furor and Raimshael were standing ready, trying to see to the swamp that was Zataro’s domain now - they would need to be the ones to surprise it or all would be lost. But with the night’s edge and Parhelion and Sirhael being busy with the others, it could prove out to be a handful. Cirrhus, Io and Nievel were still out scouting with Jeremiah and Esaiah was doing as much as he could to help.

  It left Furor and Raimshael just standing there, side by side, together. They hadn’t exchanged any words to each other - Furor couldn’t even properly face the younger male. But he could feel his stare on his veined skin - and the stare made the older puller to shift his weight once again. The distant roar belonged to Zataro but they couldn’t see the beast - yet anyway. But it would come to them. The beast couldn’t keep evading them for that much longer.

  “You should retire to get some rest”, Raimshael said into the silence without turning his eyes to Furor. His voice was even and quite emotionless In truth he was worried for the older puller even though he didn’t know how to say it. Furor had been there, fighting, for longer than he had. He would have needed the rest - and some attention from either Sirhael or Parhelion or both even. But he couldn’t really say that aloud now, could he? Furor would just make it into an argument or something. Or he would flee.

  “Shut it”, the older male puller said as his ears tried to pick out sounds from their surroundings. Raimshael’s long tail whipped the air in annoyance but he did as Furor told him to. There was no room for argument, not really. They were standing on a small hill where trees were not covering anything from view - it was perhaps the only hill in a few miles’ radius. The fires in the swamp made enough light to see by even on the hill - at least enough for everyone to be able to tell if Zataro was approaching. Raimshael took a look over his shoulder in order to see how the others were doing. Sirhael and Parhelion were tireless in their healing and Sirhael’s companion, Theran, was very helpful as well. Esaiah was coming back on the other side of the hill, bringing more healing supplies to the medics to treat the wounded with.

  “Look”, Furor said and Raimshael’s attention turned back to the forest’s edge - he saw two figures approaching, one red and one white. Nievel, Io and Cirrhus were returning from their scouting trip. Jeremiah was in Nievel's saddle, lightning glowing in his fingertips as he kept looking over his shoulder.

  And they were in a hurry.

  “Gather the wounded! They need to be taken away immediately! Zataro is heading this way!” Cirrhus was not one to talk much but her booming voice was loud enough when it was needed. She, Io and Nievel ran up the hill in order to help with the evacuation while Raimshael and Furor headed to the exact opposite direction.

  “We will go and hold it down”, Furor said as the females passed them by on their way.

  “Be careful, both of you”, Nievel said before the two males could get too far. Jeremiah, Cirrhus and Io were already gathering the wounded - and not a moment too soon as Zataro was emerging from the swamped areas with hatred burning in his veins. He was maybe wounded but that didn’t make him anything less dangerous - in fact, it only made the battle even worse as the beast would fight like there was going to be no tomorrow on sight. And for the beast it might mean just that.

  Raimshael and Furor both knew they had to keep the beast still long enough for the wounded to move to another location. As Zataro leaped towards them with its long, snake-like body, both of the pullers steered away from it as they managed to dodge the attack. But Zataro just wanted to get past them, not to fight with them, so it meant both of the males had to turn around and attack instead. They just couldn’t keep dodging and landing small blows; they had to make a stand, right now, right here.

  Furor was the one to take the risky move and hit the beast to its legs; Raimshael took a chance with one of the sides as the beast had to turn before its advance would end up on the ground. With a low scream Zataro tried to rip Raimshael off from his scales - the puller didn’t give him that chance as he let the beast go before dealing any serious damage. But Furor, he was still keeping a tight lock on Zataro’s legs - and that made the beast increasingly angry.

  “Let go!” Raimshael shouted to the other as he jumped away from the immediate threat - he could hear Nievel and Cirrhus shouting from the distance that the wounded had already been moving away but still there was work to be done. Parhelion would most likely shout at them the whole time they were on the move. Sirhael and Esaiah would make it much more pleasant. And Io, well, Io would be Io. These thoughts were only existing to make Raimshael not to think and see the scene unfolding where the beast called Zataro was hitting Furor with all of its might, ripping the male out from his leg and tossing him to the side.

  This indeed happened. It was a nightmare. And Raimshael felt the hurt even before he could make himself move again. The older puller was hissing slowly and lowly as he tried to get up again - Zataro was hurting on his leg as the painful scream reached Raimshael at last. Furor had managed to make some real damage on the way but now the older man was needing a medic himself. If Raimshael could make the puller to actually listen to any reason, particularly his own.

  “Fucking idiot!”

  “Hey, it worked”, Furor only coughed as an answer - Zataro was slowed down and when the beast could finally move again, Cirrhus, Io and Nievel were already joining the fight once again. Parheion, Sirhael and Esaiah had found a new location in the meantime and now were somewhat safe again since Zataro wouldn’t leave the swamps anymore because of his state of mind. So the fight was on and with more manpower they would be able to keep the beast down at least for a while until more reinforcements arrived.

  Someone had managed to damage Zataro’s whiskers and there was no fear of getting poisoned from the stingers at their ends anymore - that was good news. The beast wouldn’t be able to hold on for much longer, maybe a day, perhaps two. This thought made Furor, Raimshael, Cirrhus, Nievel and Io to keep on attacking. Perhaps they would be the ones to bring the mighty beast down. One could never know for sure until it actually happened. Raimshael and Furor would keep coordinating the attacks as long as they were able to fight - and neither of them would give up even then.