Caia stamped a foot as if demanding they stop wasting time so they could get moving again. It was the sort of oddly intelligent behavior Jason had come to expect in the mare.
He started toward her only to stop as he noticed a Kyren passing over them, flying low to avoid the storm clouds above.
"Kyren," Jason breathed.
"What?" Brisa asked, not understanding.
"There's a Kyren up there."
Which meant there was a Kyren close by. All they needed to do was get the Kyren's attention. Jason's steps stalled, his gaze fervent as he turned to stare at Brisa.
"What is it?" she asked.
"You can speak to them. You can ask them to help us."
Jason mounted and rode over to Brisa, holding his hand down to her.
"They might not listen," Brisa warned.
"We have to try."
Eva deserved nothing less.
Understanding filled Brisa's face as she reached up to take Jason's hand. He lifted her onto Caia behind him.
"Caia, time to catch a Kyren," Jason told the mare.
Caia surged forward with powerful strides, her speed increasing until she was galloping flat out. Jason didn't even try to steer her, knowing any attempt would result with them on the ground.
Eva always said Caia knew her way better than any horse she'd ever ridden. She had an instinct for finding her footing that required trust from her rider.
Jason didn't try to slow the mare from her breakneck speed, his gaze locked on the piece of sky where the Kyren had disappeared.
Somehow, they managed to make it out of the canyon and up a steep embankment filled with boulders.
Caia barely paused as she leapt over obstacles without caring what was on the other side.
Jason's stomach shot to his throat at more than one near miss.
Ahead, the Kyren flitted in and out of view as they pursued him. Sweat covered Caia's withers and sides when they finally rounded a hill to find a quartet of Kyren waiting on the other side.
At their arrival, the Kyren lifted their heads. Time seemed to skip, the moment stretching as their wise eyes found Jason's.
Of the four, Jason recognized two of them. The blood bay with the broken horn that Eva had called Polaris and the chestnut she'd referred to as Danyon, who'd looked at Jason like he was a pile of shit he'd stepped in by mistake.
Caia slowed and then stopped, her breathing labored.
Danyon spread his wings, preparing to take off.
"Wait, please!" Jason called.
The Kyren looked back, his face grumpy as if he couldn't believe the human's audacity. Jason didn't care. What use was pride, given what was at stake?
Brisa leaned around him to get a better look at the Kyren. At the sight of her, they paused. Two of them drifting closer as Danyon snorted unhappily. The two approaching curled their lips at the smell of blood. They poked their noses against Jason and Brisa, searching out the scent.
Brisa let them. She was far braver than Jason, not flinching as the Kyren's sharp teeth strayed dangerously close to vulnerable areas. He'd seen what they could do with those teeth. It wasn't pretty.
Then again, Brisa probably understood the dangers better than him, being part of the sharp teeth crowd herself.
