He bent his head and rubbed one cheek against his foreleg before straightening and arching his neck. His tail swished behind him as he pretended innocence and indifference.
Caia stretched her muzzle out toward the blanket still draped across his back, moving stealthily and silently.
Her teeth were closing on fabric when he skittered out of the way with a victorious whinny. Caia's grab missed and she bit down on air.
She reared her head back, giving him a disgruntled look before trying to nip his flank.
He jerked out of the way just in time. He spun and showed her his teeth, a warning to not get ahead of herself, Eva figured. He'd let the normal horse play with him, but his patience had an end.
It seemed biting was that line in the sand for him.
"My blanket, please." Eva held her hand out for the blanket, keeping it there even when he tried to ignore her.
The mythological stared away from her.
"I know you can still see me." Horses had binocular vision. They didn't see so well directly in front of their nose or behind their tail—one of the reasons they tended to kick first and ask questions later—but they had excellent peripheral vision.
Seeming to understand her thinking, the mythological turned until his rear was pointed in Eva's direction.
Caia watched the entire exchange with a baffled expression.
Eva growled under her breath and stalked to one side, starting to move around the beast. He turned with her again, lining his rear up with her.
"You're being childish," she snapped.
He stomped his back hoof.
"Kick me and I will geld you." It was a mostly empty threat.
He seemed to know it too.
Eva bared her teeth. "Alright, then Jason can be your caretaker."
The mythological whirled, alarm in his horsey expression.
"I thought you might see it my way," she taunted.
There was a deep laugh behind her.
Eva whirled, defensive, as her heart pounded. Seeing no one there, she glanced up and blanched, fear curling around her insides.
Perched like giant birds on the boulder she'd camped next to last night were two mythologicals—one winged and the other wingless. They had to be Covath's people, a group now known to the Trateri as the Tenrin. Their forms were that of men, but broader and more powerful, their features slightly blunter. The wingless one was the color of the deepest night with a slight opalescent sheen to his skin that reminded Eva of starlight. He seemed to glow with an inner light even during the early light of morning.
Despite the differences that separated him from human-kind, he had an otherworldly beauty to him. Had he been human, Eva would have been tempted to use the word handsome.
His nose was slightly flatter than a human’s, his mouth filled with sharp lower and upper canines. Dark black hair brushed his shoulders, feathers interspersed throughout as if his body hadn’t been able to decide between the two. He wore a loincloth, his only nod to modesty.
His companion was similarly attired. Unlike the wingless one, he had some type of bone protrusion sticking out from his forearms. A natural weapon. Like the first, he had dark skin, although he lacked the sheen that made Eva think of a jar with fireflies locked inside.
The Tenrin were nocturnal, which made her wonder what two of them were doing here, in the first hours of day.
A challenging snort came from the mythological behind her, his head raised as he stomped a foreleg.
"I wondered why the Battle Queen sent out a summons last night," the wingless one said, his gaze heavy and his words holding a touch of sharpness. "It seems I need wonder no more."
He sprang from the boulder, easily landing as if the fifteen-foot drop was no more than a foot. He straightened and Eva fought the urge to back up. He was tall, even taller than the Trateri.
This close she could see the muscles corded in his body. He could easily break her in half and she doubted there'd be much she could do besides scream.
