band of them. Whether they’re here or not will not matter if your faeries are pursuing us, and you know that.”
“But it will make a difference if we are forced to evade even more fairies if they catch scent of a unicorn mare,” I snarl.
“There’s only a minor chance of that happening,” he counters.
Steph places a hand on my chest as I lunge for him, drawing me up short. Looking up at me, her warm brown eyes meet mine, the calm within them making me quiet in turn.
“Look, it’s all right. No matter what we do, there’s going to be some kind of potential danger, and if he says that it’s unlikely that we’re traveling through at the same time as one of these bands… well, I believe him. He’s been pretty on point about everything else.”
I grunt, unconvinced, but draw her hand up to my mouth and press my lips against it.
“I am sorry, ahandral. I know I promised that you could walk for a time, but I think it would be better if we hurry through this part of the forest. I am not too worried about hogwals…”
“Demi-hogwals,” Grimsal corrects with an impish grin. “A hogwal would be pretty offended if they heard you lump them together like that.”
I narrow my eyes peevishly at him but continue, “But I prefer to avoid any chance of encountering another fairy.”
Steph nods unhappily and climbs onto my back without protest the moment I shift back into my fetch form. My muscles, stiff and achy, protest a little, but I ignore them. The moment I am certain she is ready I streak down the path at a full gallop. With the darkness around us I’m unable to see the dark puffs of Grimsal’s progress, but I can hear them and am assured that he’s keeping up well enough.
As I race down the forest trail, I am able to ignore the oppressive darkness and even the flickering movement in the brush of either wildlife or the demi-hogwals that Grimsal spoke of. It does not matter much to me because in this form I can outrace them without effort.
Yet, after a while, a sensation begins to creep over me from behind us like a darkness spreading over me attempting to swallow my light. Desperately, I increase my speed so that I practically feel like I’m flying through the forest, my legs eating up the ground. As that darkness spreads I am all the more aware that night is coming upon us, and I’m filled with a new dread. The fairies use the cover of the night for their hunts. If they are after us, they will use this time to strike now that we are away from the protection of the naga’s forest.
A stir of magic runs over me, carried on the air. It sends a cold tremor through me, the magic pricking me like a thousand tiny blades. The wind rushes around us, and then I hear it, my ears turning back toward the sound as I dodge trees at high speed, my sides heaving with exertion. A wild laughter rises around me as the trees moan and shake.
They are coming. The hunt is upon us.
I know that Steph feels it too because she’s leaned forward, urging me on with whispers, pleading with me to hurry, her own breaths coming in sharp little pants as she looks frequently behind us. She’s just as aware of their presence and is terrified. I can feel her fear quivering between us through our bond; I can feel it in the tension of her body and scent it on the air.
Little is faster than a unicorn, but we can be overcome by other races. My ability to outrun a fairy hunt is questionable, but I will run with every bit of breath within my lungs and energy in my limbs. I will fly before them to the safety of the elf kingdom.
I bare my teeth and bellow my challenge, my head stretching out, my horn glowing as bright as a star. The trees bend and branches snap behind me. I can hear their ghostly hounds baying and the viciously hungry snarls.
My tail flagging out behind me, I round another corner and then see it in the distance… The silver pillars that mark the southern boundary of the Lorandral kingdom. It is still far, and Steph cries out as something sails past us with a terrible roar. I rear up defensively against it, Steph clinging to my neck,