Sasha looked intently at her friend. She was staring at Legon in an odd sort of way. Not in a bad way, but almost lovingly.
“Sara,” she said.
Sara looked at her and she saw longing in her vibrant green eyes. “We should get Legon down and clean him up, and look for injuries,” Sara said in a timid voice.
That timidity was odd for her. Sasha studied Sara carefully, looking at her in the ways of the Jezeer, trying to place her sudden change.
“I suppose so, but I don’t think that he is hurt,” Arkin said.
How would he know? Legon and the Iumenta had moved so fast that they wouldn’t have noticed him getting cut or something. Yes, Sara was right. She started toward Legon. When Keither passed her walking to Phantom, the horse shied away from him. The constant mental contact affected the horses, and she wouldn’t say that they were smarter but they knew a thing or two about their riders. This was made apparent in towns and co-ops. Their horses responded to people as their riders generally felt, even if they didn’t show it. Ghost, for example, had no reason to fear men; she never acted oddly around them until they started networking their minds. Arkin told them that making a connection with your horse was a good thing to do so that they would understand each other better. It wasn’t possible for them to communicate the way people did to each other or even the way they did to one another, but emotions could cross the rift. Arkin facilitated most of the links so that the horses could come to know their riders. After about of month of this, Ghost had become increasingly apprehensive of large men. Not necessarily fat ones but ones with big muscles. Sasha hadn’t figured out why until she felt Sara’s emotions one day in a town. It wasn’t that Ghost was frightened of the men, but rather that Sara was, and Ghost picked up on it.
Now Phantom was shying away from Keither because Legon thought of the boy as clumsy. Sasha tended to agree, but this wasn’t the time to ostracize him. She sent calming thoughts to Phantom, who stopped moving. Keither came up to his side and patted him lightly.
“It’s ok, Phantom. I wouldn’t drop him. Remember, there is muscle under this fat. How do you think I walk around?”
He worked himself under Legon and began to hoist. Sasha looked at Arkin, who should have at least offered to help. What was wrong with him?
“So, you need help?” she asked, now giving Arkin a stern look. Keither answered with surprise.
“No, I don’t. He can’t weigh more than either of you,” he said, and then corrected, “Not that you’re heavy. You’re not at all. Legon should be close to two hundred pounds but he can’t weigh more than one ten. Arkin, are you doing anything to me?”
“No, I’m not. He is an Elf now, and they are made of different stuff than the rest of us.” He paused but forestalled questions. “We will wait until he is awake before I explain. Forgive me, but I don’t want to repeat myself.”
Keither had Legon off the horse and was carrying him over his shoulder to the center of camp. He placed him down on the ground. He still resembled his old self but was clearly different. Even with his eyes closed, Sasha could see that they were larger and almond shaped. His face looked more slanted with higher cheek bones. It almost resembled a sculpture, as if someone had taken a masterpiece and then superimposed Legon’s characteristics on it. The result was wondrous. He still had the same short brown hair but now his ears tapered at the top. His skin seamed to almost glow, but she knew it wasn’t; it was just healthy and without blemish, like a baby’s. His figure was the exact same as it was before. He was still large with plenty of muscle, far more than the Iumenta had. She wondered if he would thin out over time. Overall, she had to admit she had never seen anything so…beautiful in her life. Though she would be sure to tell Legon that he was handsome and leave out the beautiful part.
She knelt down and inspected his body for injury. There was none. She knew he had been hurt before he had changed, but the injuries were gone now. All that was left was dirt and blood from the