and end up dead as a result. Eva didn't consider herself a throwaway, so she figured the rule didn't apply to her.
As long as she kept the presence of the knife to herself and Hardwick, she felt it was safe enough.
It wouldn't be particularly effective against a trained warrior, but Eva could attest to its sharpness, having accidentally sliced her fingers a time or two. Perhaps it would give her enough time to escape if what was behind the boulder wasn't a horse at all.
Caia followed reluctantly, making it clear she didn't like this plan but was too loyal to abandon Eva to her deserved fate.
Eva stepped around the boulder and came to an abrupt stop, the small blade hanging forgotten in her hand. She made a strangled, wheezing sound.
Because what stood in front of her wasn't the horse she'd been expecting. Nor was it one of the goats or other grazing animals the pathfinders kept in their keep and the surrounding lands.
No, this was something else entirely.
A mythological. Proud. Fierce. Slightly terrifying as he glared balefully at her.
He had the form of a horse, but with wings folded against his back and two lethal looking horns jutting from his brow.
He was the color of deepest night, even the sun's full power did nothing to relieve the utter darkness of his coat.
Had he been a horse, he would have been one the most gorgeous specimens Eva had ever seen—with the exception of Caia.
He wasn't, though. He was a mythological—a feared beast, capable of killing and eating her.
Eva had seen a creature like this once before—under the cover of night when Shea had bargained for safe passage on her journey to the Badlands.
That experience had done nothing to prepare her for now. Coming face to face with a mythological wasn't for the faint of heart in the best of circumstances. Doing it alone? With only Caia at her back?
It made her lightheaded from terror.
Eva fought the urge to take a step back. Showing fear would be the worst thing she could do right now, even if fear was the sensible emotion to feel.
The beast shifted as a low groan of pain escaped him.
The movement brought Eva out of her shock. He was injured.
With the fear pushed aside so she could think again, she could see what she'd missed earlier. He favored his right leg. The wings she'd thought folded against his back were in fact ensnared in some kind of mesh net. Blood trickled slowly from them.
The injuries were likely the reason he hadn't taken off as soon as he sensed her, like so many of his brethren did whenever a Trateri got too close. The winged mythologicals often stood as silent sentinels along the mountains and cliffs. Always watching and waiting to see what type of new threat the Trateri might bring.
Eva stayed where she was, knowing he likely wouldn't welcome her rushing to his side, even if that was what she wanted to do.
Her wrist throbbed abruptly, while the skin across her shoulder blades twitched in sympathy as well.
Her aches and pains of the morning finally made more sense. It hadn't been the night outside or her work helping Brighid birth her foal. It’d been his pain she was feeling. It was rare for her to pick up such feelings—especially given the distance separating them. Usually she needed a much deeper connection before she felt an animal's pain as if it was her own, but perhaps with such a creature, things were communicated differently.
The mythological shifted again, his wings straining as if he was trying to take flight. Fresh blood ran down them in rivulets.
The net had some kind of thorns in it which dug deeper every time he tried to use his wings. It was meant to cause pain in addition to hobbling him. A collar made from the same material wound around his neck, the end broken as if he had yanked hard enough to snap it.
"Your wings are caught. I need to remove the net from them. Please don’t eat me."
Eva took a single step forward and waited. No reaction. Alright, then. She eased forward another step and then another.
This was a bad idea. Likely the worst one she'd ever had.
She held up a hand as she edged closer.
His head dropped, his lips peeling back to show her his teeth—his very sharp, very pointed teeth.
Eva stopped, feeling lightheaded again. "Oh boy."
He could do a lot of damage with those.
Caia reared, letting out a scream of challenge.
"Enough,