The Culling Trials (Shadowspell Academy #2)(38)

“Are they as smart as horses?” I asked, sinking down into my game face. It was not easy. Glee kept bubbling up in my gut.

“Smarter. They can reason, to an extent. They have the intelligence of a chimpanzee,” Wally said.

Chimps were smart enough to truly interact according to my education from the Animal Planet channel. “Do they know sign language?”

That question stumped Wally. “I don’t think so? But I suppose it’s possible.”

“What would it take to have one of these as a pet?” I wondered out loud. I could already see an alicorn in our back field, giving Whiskers a run for his money. I didn’t bother to suppress a grin.

“These aren’t pets,” Pete said, scratching his bare chest with one hand, his other hand covering his man bits. “Unicorns can be domesticated, but no one has ever domesticated an alicorn.”

“But they’ve been ridden?” I asked as the danger of the situation finally began to seep in, dulling the previous joy and excitement.

“Yes,” Ethan replied. “Rarely, but they have been ridden. It’s why they’re part of the trials.”

“Fair enough.” I pushed out a breath and shook out my hands. “If it’s possible, it’s worth a try.”

“I vote we let the farm boy go first, seeing as he is rather overconfident,” Orin said.

“You guys always vote that I go first, and it hasn’t had anything to do with the farm before,” I grumbled, not waiting for everyone to agree. They’d probably just shove me toward the herd, anyway.

Besides, this time, I wanted to go first. I wanted nothing more than to breathe in the smell of these fantastic creatures, to hop up and go for a ride.

Getting into the right mindset, I didn’t approach the herd as slowly as Ethan might’ve, and I didn’t keep my hands up and out like a teller in a bank robbery. Those two actions would’ve unconsciously relayed nervousness in the lines of my body, something an animal would pick up on immediately. Instead, I approached the fabulous horned creatures like I had Whiskers when I’d newly acquired him: with respect but no fear. The good news was, these creatures didn’t weigh as much as the two-ton bull, and they had half the number of horns. I was already ahead of the game.

I approached the nearest of the alicorns, a smaller beast a little removed from the rest of the herd. Its head shot up and its eyes pinned to me, its white wings tucked into its sides. They’d have a whole language with those wings, I just knew it. Pity I didn’t know the words that went with it.

“Easy now,” I said, not unlike Rory had said to me the night before. I slowed my advance. “Easy.”

It huffed through its nose and shook its head, its mane sparkling in the sun.

“Good lord, you are striking,” I said, unable to help it. “Congratulations on being the most awesome of beasts. You won the genetic lottery.”

It lowered its head minutely, tracking my advance as the other alicorns watched us.

“But I can tell you’re not amused. Maybe you don’t want to be here,” I said softly, changing my trajectory. “I get it. I’m a stranger. A stinky stranger with blood and sweat and wolf smell on me. I think you’re too low on the totem pole to take a chance on letting me ride you. I hear you.”

I backed up and did a slow perusal of the herd. This time I chose the largest, an alicorn stallion, with a proud bearing, jet black coat, and light red eyes. With his solid frame, robust chest, and muscular physique, this animal would fetch a pretty penny at the livestock auction. Stud fees on him would be enormous. He held his wings a little looser than the first alicorn I’d approached, their tips at a slant from his body.

You need to learn their body language, I noted to myself.

“Hey,” I said, and this time I did put out my hands, but not to demonstrate my lack of a weapon. In fact, I turned to show him the knife on my hip. An intelligent animal would know that humans were the top of the food chain. They wouldn’t trust us. It was better to show you knew that.

At least, I hoped it was. I’d be shipped off to the unicorns if not.

I bowed my head a little, submitting. He was the boss here, and I respected that.

“I’d like to ride you,” I said, knowing the intention of the words would color the positioning of my body. “My friends need a ride too. The shifters put you here. Hopefully with your blessing?” I paused, because that’s what you did when you asked a question to an animal that couldn’t understand you or answer, right?

My boot squished in sparkly poop as I continued my advance, and I wasn’t even sad. The glittery residue would be a good conversation starter.

“If you didn’t form some sort of peace treaty with them, you probably would’ve charged me already, I think.” Two steps closer and the fantastic beast lifted his head. A tremor ran through his wings, and he held them a little away from his body, bristling. Another step, ten feet away now, and he lowered his head, pointing the foot-long weapon in the center of his forehead at my face.

“Yeah, I hear ya. That would hurt.” I kept moving forward, moving through a small tingle of fear shaking my limbs. “But I’m not going to hurt you.”

He stamped his foot, ears pinning back, and blew a loud snort that cut the air like a bugle, sharp and shocking. Challenge accepted.

“Only the biggest, baddest, assholes try to ride you, right? Try to force you into submission?”