Horns ✖

Fractured

Wrecker was losing.

Despite having a hard shell and a massive battering ram attached to his hind, the poor club-tail couldn't keep up with the raptors that overcame him. They tore at his legs, slashed through his underbelly, and wounded his precious flesh with ease. He was fresh-kill, perfectly set for the raptors to feast on, and long before I had even reached him he was downed, already. Splayed out on his stomach, his eyes closed, club-tail lowered, and limbs frozen. He wasn't dead, much to my thanks, but he was bound to be.

Greyfang, the leader of the pack, approached the broken club-tail with bared fangs, gazing at his exposed throat in hunger, but not before pushing his foot onto his snout.

"Look at me..."

Wrecker wheezed, weakly opening his two amber eyes to gaze up at the raptor. He narrowed his eyes, pressing even harder upon his snout and hissed, leaning closer to his open orbs.

"Good..."

The other raptors, some in which were drenched in his blood, clicked and clacked with glee, hungry to have their pound of fresh meat, ripe for the taking. He turned to his right, eying the other raptors nearby, then dipped his head with only one order.

"Kill him."

Wrecker's eyes widened as he noticed two raptors quickly approaching his neck. But all he could do was prepare for the pain. And prepare for the end.

An gruesome end he'd have to wait for.

I barged into the area with a violent roar, swinging my horned frill into the two unlucky raptors. I felt their bodies struck my skull hard, and only watched both feathered bodies fly head-over-heels into the muddy, grassy ground afar. Without stopping, my tail collided with two other raptors nearby, and my horn slashed yet another who attempted to attack from my blind side.

Stepping over my injured friend, I let out yet another tremendous roar at the contenders and struck another raptor down, hard.

"Get away from him!!" I snarled at them, positioning myself better as I protected my friend. With enough time to check, I lowered my head to face the herbivore beneath me and whispered.

"Wrecker?"

The poor herbivore lifted his gaze to me, his eyes widened with shock.

"Three-horn?"

"Are you okay, Wrecker?"

"I'm..." He paused, before nodding, "Yes...but what are you-"

"I'm not leaving you..." I replied, nuzzling the club-tail beneath me with a soft purr, "Not for freedom, not for peace, not for anything greater in the world. Never again."

Wrecker appeared shocked from my response. Even from the nuzzle itself, he didn't know what to say, or how else to react. But with a grateful coo, he lifted up to my face and licked the underside of my chin, aided with a hopeful smile.

"Thank you..."

"Look at you..." the voice of the nearby raptor spat hideously, "Come back for a rematch?"

I lifted my head, narrowing my eyes and growled back to him.

"You are truly an utter disgrace to your kind," Greyfang hissed angrily, "Always running away from your problems... wonder you're a failure..."

"Well, I'm not running away anymore!" I snapped, turning my claws to face him better, "I'm not afraid of you, or anyone! If it's a fight you want, Greyfang, then fight me, not him!"

"Oh I intend to-" He hissed, before freezing as the strongest earthshake tore through the ground beneath us all. Most of the pack spun around in confusion as the earth rippled and bulged, cracking the foundations of the soil some places, and turning others into muddy pits of doom. The ground shook for a couple seconds before pausing, and in the distance another violent explosion took to the skies, turning the heavens into a dark red nightmare. But that didn't change anything, and just as quick as it had stopped, the tension began.