Riders (Riders, #1)(86)

“I think we should go one at a time,” Daryn said. “That’s probably safest.”

We’d agreed on the hike down that she and Jode should lead the horse training. Daryn had some riding experience from a few summers at camp. Jode had ridden, too. And Bas already had a good rapport with Shadow.

I looked at Marcus, and we silently bonded over the soup-sandwich that was about to happen. Neither one of us was looking forward to this.

“Okay, Bastian. Let’s start with you.”

His smile was immediate. Sebastian backed up a few steps. A second later, Shadow came out of the darkness, swirling at his side.

Watching her materialize never got old. Neither did watching her. She was beautiful. All leggy and springy. So deep black, a fog of darkness that lifted from her hooves and mane. She was completely unreal. But Bas stood there, scratching her wide forehead like she was just a regular horse.

Shadow’s attention moved around the group, taking us in, but she stayed with Bas. Really calm. Right beside him, though she wasn’t even bridled. She had no tack on her at all. She was just a sleek, stunning horse. I wanted Jode’s bow, but I’d have killed for that mare if she hadn’t belonged to Bas.

“Gideon, your turn,” Daryn said.

“I’ll go last.”

“Okay. Jode?”

“All right,” he said. “I have to warn you, though. My horse is spirited. I’ve only seen him once, but it was memorable. Best you all be on the alert.”

Awesome. My stomach already felt shaky. Jode had experience with horses, and if he was nervous about handling his mount … my situation was not looking great.

Jode stepped away from our circle and his eyes fluttered closed for a beat. A whirl of light sprang up from the earth beside him, brilliant slashes that wove together to form a pure white stallion—the light-positive version of Shadow, except much thicker and broader.

Jode’s horse had barely formed when he spotted Shadow, laid back his ears, and charged.

Shadow lowered her head and let out a sound unlike any I’d ever heard a horse make before. Part shriek. Part roar. All terrifying.

Jode’s horse stopped, his thick muscles bunching, his legs locking, but he slid a few feet, gouging long treads in the damp grass before he finally came to a halt. He tossed his head and snorted, steam rising from his nostrils like a cloud into the chilly morning air.

Shadow wasn’t having any of it. She stood really still, like Bring it. I am so ready.

Jode’s horse swished his tail a few times, then made a lazy turn and trotted over to Jode’s side. Suddenly he seemed hugely bored, looking around him at the steep walls of the fjord. At us. Just super unimpressed with everything. Even Jode.

“Did Shadow just lay down the law?” I asked, trying to interpret horse behavior.

Sebastian grinned. “Yeah, dude. Without even moving.”

“Mares,” Jode said dryly.

“Females are stronger than men in all species,” Daryn said as she slowly approached Jode’s horse with her hands out. “I’m surprised you guys haven’t figured that out yet.”

I pretty much had.

Jode’s horse watched Daryn with intelligent eyes, his neck bent in a high arch. The stallion’s coat was the kind of blinding white that seemed to glow from the inside, putting off a halo of light, like the moon.

Daryn extended her hand as she reached him. The stallion sniffed, moving up her arm. Then he got a whiff of her hair, which made her laugh.

“Hey, big guy,” she said. She scratched behind his ears, looking totally at ease.

I wasn’t totally at ease. You could’ve bounced a quarter off my stomach. This whole nature special that was happening was going to go south in a hurry once my horse showed up.

“Does he have a name, Jode?” Daryn asked.

“I haven’t given it much thought,” he replied.

“He’s so pretty. Almost like a lantern. What about calling him Lucent?”

Jode grinned. “Brilliant.”

“Good boy, Lucent.” Daryn patted the stallion’s broad neck, and then turned to Marcus. “Ready?”

His eyes slid over to me. It was early stages in the two of us getting along, but I was already pretty good at reading his mind. Since he barely talked, that was how you understood him, by his eyes or his posture. We all became good at it, but I’m completely fluent in Marcus.

At that particular moment, what he was thinking was, I’m only doing this because I want to see you do this.

He stepped back from the circle, rolled his shoulders, and then bowed his head.

Seconds passed. I was beginning to think he couldn’t reach his horse when a pale flicker of movement stirred on the grass in front of him. Movement like gray leaves, spinning in an eddy of wind. As it grew into a small tornado, I realized I was looking at ashes. They solidified into longer threads that formed a hoof, an ankle, legs. On up until the horse was fully formed, as real and solid as me.

Like Shadow, Marcus’s horse was a mare. Smaller than Shadow, though. Much smaller than Lucent. She was compact and lithe. Perfectly proportioned. Just by looking at her, I had a feeling she’d be fast. Her coat was a color I’d never seen before in a horse. Pale, pale gold.

She stood, looking from me to Sebastian to Daryn. Then Shadow and Lucent. Making the rounds. Sizing everybody up. Then she saw Marcus, and that was the end of the rest of us. She was all eyes for him.