Caden and Buck saw their chance and retreated, leaving the mythological to battle it out with the red back as they regrouped.
The red back let out a furious bellow. She twisted to latch onto Sebastian's foreleg. The Kyren wheeled out of reach, his wings giving him lift.
Caia galloped between the tents, a scream announcing her presence as she thundered toward the red back.
"Caia, no!"
The mare ignored Eva to scream another challenge as she galloped full tilt at the beast. She stopped in front of it, the abrupt movement causing her to nearly sit on her haunches.
Eva forgot Caden's orders, starting for Caia as the mare reared, trying to punch the red back in the head with her hooves.
A hand caught Eva's arm.
"You can't go there. You'll only get in the way," Gawain advised.
Eva removed her arm from his grip, barely resisting yanking it out of his hold. As much as she appreciated that he was trying to help, it was a struggle not to snap at him for interfering.
No way could she sit back while Caia risked her life.
"Horses are prey animals. They don't have the same defenses as a red back or humans who can wield weapons," Eva explained with a patience she didn't feel.
Eva had only herself to blame. This was what came of Caia spending time around Sebastian. The Kyren had put thoughts in her head. Now the mare considered herself part Kyren with all the fearless recklessness that entailed.
Gawain aimed a skeptical look toward where the mare was striking out at the red back with her hind legs, Sebastian on the other side nipping at the beast's back quarter.
The red back whirled to face him, forgetting the mare on her other side.
"She certainly doesn't look like prey to me," Gawain said.
Caia's head snaked forward, her flat teeth clamping down on the beast's back leg.
Eva couldn't help but flinch, having been on the receiving end of a bite before.
A pain filled yelp came from the red back.
For a moment, Eva forgot the danger of the red back. Forgot the beast had come here in pursuit of blood.
She couldn't help but remember the reason for the red back's presence. How the red back came to be so far from her territory.
Regret at the beast's pain filled her. Sorrow at the red back's impending death.
There was no way out for the red back. She wouldn't make it out of camp alive. Caden and the rest wouldn't allow it.
Sebastian dove through the air, snapping Eva out of her thoughts.
Kill or be killed was the law of the land. As unfortunate as it was, the red back's fate was sealed the moment she stepped past the camp's borders.
Sebastian's front hooves smashed into the red back's skull. Not hard enough to kill but enough to disorient her. The beast made a low moan of pain that stabbed at Eva's heart.
The beast stumbled, shaking her head to clear it.
Caden appeared out of nowhere. Naked as he was, he should have seemed vulnerable. Incongruous next to the ferocity of the beast. Instead, he resembled one of the ancient warriors from the fables Eva grew up on as he thrust his sword into the red back's side.
A conqueror.
Van moved in from the other side. His chest was bare like Caden's, only unlike Caden, he'd been wearing a loin cloth when the attack happened. Wasting no time on greetings, Van stabbed the red back's other side with his spear.
The red back turned away from him, limping in a circle as she tried to escape.
