He shook his head. “No. This is something different.”
“Is it dangerous?”
“I don’t know.”
The blob slouched toward us, more tumbling over its own body than slithering. Niveus backed up and stomped his front feet, but the creature was undeterred. Its clawed tendrils stretched out toward us, occasionally stabbing the ground to pull its girth faster across the ground. The claws left deep impressions in the hard-packed soil.
Cassian wrenched up his sleeve and drew out one of his scales. He threw the plate at the creature. The scale sank into its body without slowing it down, and when the thing passed over the spot, it left the scale on the ground. It also left a glistening streak on the ground, like what a leaking car would leave on the road.
I leaned back against Cassian’s chest in a futile attempt to draw further away from the blob. “Maybe we can outrun it?”
As though it understood me, the creature shot forward, its clawed tendrils slamming into the dirt to draw its body faster across the ground. Cassian took up the reins again as Niveus made a full retreat, his front hooves barely dodging the sludgy pooled edges of the thing’s gelatinous body.
Niveus wasn’t fast enough to dodge one of those sharp tendrils. The shining point stabbed into his front left leg, drawing blood. Our steed stumbled back, dislodging his leg from the creature’s grip. Its tendril dripped with his blood until the creature flung its limb about, throwing life fluid everywhere, including on itself.
Cassian leaned forward and narrowed his eyes at where the droplets had landed on the creature. Niveus flung his head and snorted, dancing on one hoof as blood poured from his wound.
“That’s…” I heard him mutter.
Hope revitalized my heartbeat. “Do you know how to kill it?!”
“I’m not sure, but we’ll try something!”
He pulled on the reins just slightly, and Niveus, against the pain, shot leftward into the trees. I yelped and ducked to avoid being swatted by a low clump of needles. Niveus darted through the woods like it was an obstacle course, leaping and bounding over dead logs and mounds of dirt, and diverting from wild animal trail to another.
But even I, untrained rider as I was, could tell our steed wasn’t going to last long. The blood was coming out too fast, leaving a trail that the creature followed. The hideous monster used its claws like ski poles, propelling itself forward and chomping at our heels.
We had gone a mile when I smelled the sweet scent of fresh water. The trees parted ahead just as the creature swiped its claws at Niveus’ hind legs, missing him by a hair-length. A shimmering stream presented itself to us, with all the glistening beauty that only pure nature could provide. Green grass grew along its banks, and flowers dotted the white-sand beaches.
I wanted to enjoy the view, but our dilemma spoiled it. As did the frigid waters, as Cassian guided Niveus into the swift river. The horse threw up droplets of water, drenching us in the chill stream. Cassian stopped in the middle of the water and turned Niveus so that we faced our foe. The waters rushed up above the horse’s knees, and I shivered at the chill that surrounded us.
The creature had paused at the edge of the stream. The pooling edges dipped into the water and were taken away by the current. The creature swayed to and fro, trembling with what I assumed was fury.
Niveus adjusted his footing and misjudged his strength. His injured leg buckled, and he toppled forward. My inexperience meant I was thrown forward over the saddle and neck, and into the rushing waters. Cassian’s hand grabbed my hand before I tumbled downstream while Niveus found his footing again.
The creature shot up before it dove headfirst into the waters. The thing swam straight for me.
I screamed and clutched onto Cassian’s hand with both of mine. He clenched his teeth and yanked me out of the water and back onto the saddle in front of him.
The thing wasn’t so fortunate. The rough waters tore its body apart, and it was a puddle of thrashing ooze by the time it came within a few feet of us. Even those were scattered, and much of the creature was swept away.
“Stay here,” Cassian commanded me.
My shivering self was only too glad to obey as Cassian hopped down and scooped up some of the bits in his palm. I clutched onto the horn and craned my neck. “What was that thing?”
He tilted his hand and let the stuff run out into the stream, where it was swept away with the rest of its body. The thing left a faint stain on his palm. “Paint.”
I blinked at him. “Paint? You’re sure?”
“That is its most basic composition,” he assured me as he grabbed the reins and trudged upstream. Niveus turned his face away, but Cassian stroked his horse’s nose. “Don’t worry yourself. Your injury must be very grave for you to have faltered.”
Niveus bobbed his head and snorted.
Cassian carefully led Niveus to the shore opposite where we had approached, and the pair climbed out. They stopped in the shade of the trees, and Cassian held out his arms to me. “Niveus needs some rest and a little less weight.”
I managed a shaky laugh as I slipped into his arms, and he set me on my feet. “I must weigh a lot more with these wet clothes.”
Cassian drew off his coat and draped the cloth over my shoulders. “Can you stand?”
