She held up a hand as she edged closer.
His head dropped, his lips peeling back to show her his teeth—his very sharp, very pointed teeth.
Eva stopped, feeling lightheaded again. "Oh boy."
He could do a lot of damage with those.
Caia reared, letting out a scream of challenge.
"Enough, Caia. He's simply showing me his very interesting teeth. Weren't you, mythological? I know you weren't threatening someone who is trying to help you out of the kindness of her heart. That'd be rude."
Caia crashed back down to all four legs, glaring at the mythological.
The mythological's lips dropped down to cover his teeth as he regarded her with wary interest.
"I'm not going to hurt you." And she'd really like it if he didn't hurt her either.
He held Eva's eyes as she waited expectantly, trying to channel a calm she didn't necessarily feel.
She lifted an eyebrow at him.
He didn't move for several long seconds before he gradually shifted just enough to present his side to her.
Eva held his defiant gaze for a moment longer before releasing a breath and moving within range of those wicked sharp teeth, fully realizing the danger she was voluntarily stepping into.
She didn't let that stop her as she reached for the netting. It was unexpectedly sturdy, and not made of a material she recognized. It almost felt like vines instead of fabric or metal, except it defied the properties of any plant she knew. Untangling it wouldn’t work. It would need to be cut to free the mythological.
"I'm going to have to use a knife," she told him in a crisp, no-nonsense tone. "Don't get all panicky and stomp me to death. Unless you want to be stuck like this. Wingless and grounded."
The mythological let out a defiant sound as he shot her another baleful look.
"I'm not the one who managed to get my wings caught." Eva didn't wait for him to decide whether or not to eat her. She started sawing at the netting, working carefully.
It was sturdier than it looked and didn't part easily. She stepped back and eyed the net with frustration. It was stubborn. She'd give it that. Too bad she was more stubborn.
She muttered insults and curses at the vine-like rope as she picked along the different sections to see if she could find a way to release it that didn't involve hours of work.
She found a spot where several of the strands joined. If she cut it, maybe the net would come undone by itself. Only one way to find out.
Eva started sawing.
She was only halfway through the rope when the mythological raised his head. Caia did the same seconds later, her ears rotating. Both of their ears were pinned flat against their head in the next second. The mythological’s lips curled back, flashing those terrifying teeth again.
Whatever they sensed wasn't good.
Eva sawed faster.
Please don't be a beast. Eva reconsidered. Or another mythological.
She didn't hold a lot of hope her prayer would be answered. She’d never been particularly lucky.
"Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up," Eva chanted as she worked through the netting. She got the first section undone, and as she predicted several pieces fell away, but not all of them.
She hurriedly found the next place where the sections came together and started on it.
The urge to flee was hard to ignore. Unfortunately, she couldn't do that. Not with the mythological still hampered as he was. His injured leg meant he couldn't run, and without the use of his wings, he couldn't flee to the sky either. Eva couldn't bring herself to abandon him.
Not like this, helpless against whatever attacked.
