The Culling Trials (Shadowspell Academy #2)(37)

We made headway up the path as a unit, stepping over downed wolf bodies that were thankfully still breathing. I was immensely proud of our crew, and in the back of my mind, I took note of who was doing the most damage and how. I cataloged Ethan’s spells and what they did, Orin’s strength, speed, and fighting prowess, noticing how he moved and struck, and Wally’s complete ease with wounds and possible death. Of course, there was Pete’s determination and seeming lack of fear once he was in honey badger form. Most of all, I stored information about how the shifters had designed this trial, and what that said about their house.

I didn’t know if I would ever need this information, but old habits die hard in a country girl. These silent calculations had helped guide me on the farm, telling me how to best wrangle certain animals and how to sweet talk the people into giving me a good deal. It had taken me a few trials in this crazy magical world to get back to basics, but now that I was a little more comfortable, I was there again. “They aren’t following,” Orin said a few minutes later, as calm as a spring day. I really wasn’t looking forward to his house.

Without warning, for the second time, the scene changed dramatically. Trees dissolved and the slope of the mountain flattened out into a springtime field cut through by a sparkling stream. Breathing hard, still holding my now-bloody knife, I looked around and took stock of the new situation.

My stomach flipped in giddiness and a smile pressed up my cheeks.

“Yes!” I said, throwing a fist to the sky. I couldn’t help it. This was what I’d been secretly hoping for all along.

Not far away grazed a herd of actual freaking unicorns, robust and all but shimmering with muscle, built just like normal horses with one important exception. A long horn protruded from each of their foreheads, colored a tarnished gold, just like in the fables. Their brown or black manes seemed pretty standard, but when their tails swished in the sunshine, the light caught a glimmer of gold.

“Ah-mazing,” I said, excitement running through me.

“They fart rainbows,” Ethan said dryly as he pushed toward the herd.

“Shut up! They do?” I practically danced after him.

“No.”

“Your attitude is not going to ruin this for me,” I said.

“I’ve never seen a guy react this way,” Wally said, jogging after us. “It’s refreshing that you are so secure in your masculinity as to be giddy over a unicorn.”

“Wait, you guys.”

Pete stood in the buff, pointing to a second herd behind us. Similar to the first, this group had two large differences: size…and wings!

“Ohmygod, ohmygod!” I jumped in place and clapped, not caring who saw me. “I didn’t even know unicorns could have wings! This is such a great day. The best. I could die now and die happy!”

Wally’s head tilted to the side as she looked at me, as though she were sussing out a secret.

I tried to tone it down. I did, but I just couldn’t.

“Those are ten times harder to ride,” Pete said. “Especially for me and Orin, since we smell like predators. We’d have to ride those to get the gold.” He shrugged. “But we’ve already won two challenges. Just getting to the end, riding a plenty-hard-but-not-impossible unicorn will still be a win.”

Ethan was already walking toward the winged unicorns, his expression set. I followed him without a second thought. This wasn’t about the money. If I had a choice between riding and flying, it was flying all day long.

“Why ride a unicorn when you could ride a winged unicorn?” I said excitedly.

“Alicorn,” Wally said, jogging to catch up to me. “The winged variety are called alicorn.”

“Good to know.” I sidestepped a pile of poop much like horse poop, but for one crucial difference. “Their poop glitters?!”

“Yeah. It’s really annoying to clean up. If you get hit with it, the glitter sticks for days, then everyone knows you got hit with unicorn dung,” Pete said dourly, looking between us. “Who grabbed my clothes?”

Ethan slowed about fifty paces from the alicorn herd, his focus intense. The rest of us swapped identical oops expressions.

“No one grabbed my clothes?” Pete demanded. “Seriously?”

“Do you always expect people to pick up after you?” Wally asked, no remorse.

“It’s a fair question,” Orin said. “I think your mother did you a disservice there.”

Pete’s mouth dropped open. He looked at me imploringly, and I barely kept from audibly siding with Wally and making him feel like everyone was ganging up on him. Pete’s clothes had been the last thing on my mind when he’d changed, and he certainly hadn’t mentioned it, either before he changed, or when in animal form.

I shrugged. “Sorry.”

“Sorry? How the hell am I going to ride one of these without clothes?” Pete demanded. “I can barely ride a unicorn with clothes, and those were the tamed ones without wings!”

“This might be a little awkward for you, Pete, but I think you’re about to find out how to ride one without clothes,” I hurried forward. This time, the guilt was alive and well. He had handed me his sweats, but I’d dropped them back in the savannah.

“Approach slowly, but without fear,” Ethan said softly, and I got the impression he was talking himself through it. “If the one you approach tries to nip or bite, dodge, back away, and give it another moment to adjust. Keep your hands out and up, showing them you are not trying to hurt them. If it tries to gore you with its horn, you’ve lost its trust. Choose another. Assuming you don’t have a new hole in you.”