"First, I need one of you to ride the demon horse," Caden said.
*
Eva didn't watch theothers leave, already focused on the Kyren mares. They whickered a friendly greeting as she approached. Eva pushed away more than one questing nose looking for a treat in her pockets.
"Sebastian, you need to get those who can fly to safety. Send them as far from here as you can," Eva said. "The herd lands would be best."
In their state, they won't be able to travel the mists to find the herd lands,Sebastian said.
Eva bit her lip. The herd lands would be best, but she'd settle for anywhere but here for now. "Take them as far as you can then. Fallon's people will help you if you find them."
Eva sensed his disquiet. He didn't want to leave her or the mare.
You’ll die if you stay.His voice was faint and whisper-thin, almost making her think she’ imagined it.
Eva was prepared for the worst, but that didn't mean she'd go down quietly. "Not necessarily. Equine births are fast. I assume yours are similar. If luck is on my side, then I can deliver the foal and we’ll be gone before Vincent’s people ever get this far."
It was a gamble, but the best plan she had.
Sebastian nuzzled the mare again, his ears rotating in distress.
Eva sensed the quick communication between them and also Sebastian's reluctance. She waited. There was nothing more she could do. He had to make this decision for himself.
I will come back as soon as I can,he promised.
Eva nodded even though he wasn't really speaking to her.
With one last look at the mare, Sebastian flared his wings and called to his small herd. They answered.
He waited as the first took flight and then the second.
Unlike the Kyren Eva had seen in her dreams, these were not graceful, their heavy pregnancies making their ascent difficult.
Eva watched with her heart in her throat as the last made it into the air.
She looked down to find the remaining mare's gaze on her, her eyes clouded with pain but her neck still held at a noble angle.
If she'd been human, Eva would have named her queen, because that's what she looked like.
"Well, my friend, it looks like it's just you and me now," Eva said softly.
*
The first order ofbusiness was to lead the mare as far away from where she'd been imprisoned as possible.
It sounded easy, but the mare was slow, having to stop every few steps to pant. Her sides heaved and her coat was flecked with sweat.
Eva kept one hand on her side to let the mare know she wasn't alone.
They came to a slight rise, the ancient trees closing in all around them. They'd made their slow laborious way to the opposite end of the cenote where the branches were thick and heavily interwoven, blocking the sky from view.
"Wait here, I'm going to see if I can find a better spot," Eva said.
The mare's only response was a high, sharp whinny.
Eva slipped through the vegetation, her senses poised and alert for any signs their enemy had neared.
She found a small grove, the surrounding trees silent sentinels. Their bark was black and the leaves on their crowns the lightest green Eva had ever seen. The grove was filled with a soft carpet of long grass. It'd be the perfect place for a birth, not easily seen even if you knew what to look for.
