"What is THAT?" Ilios asked me the minute I walk up to him, leading Koto with me.
"A hippalectryon, dummy. You don't remember monster class?" I said jokingly, struggling to keep a straight face, "As of today, she chose me as her Rider. She can talk to me."
"Horses can't talk. That story is fake. We cannot just teach Imera and Nychta animals can talk. They'll go crazy!" he said. It sounded like he was trying not to scream at me, like I was a little kid who brought a puppy home. But that's not all different from this situation, I guess.
"Your brother does not believe. Should we make him?" Koto said quietly, with a trace of a laugh in the words.
"Why not? He needs to learn to believe!" I told her, laughing the whole time.
"Why are you laughing? Have you started the Evolution?" he asked me. I could hear the worry in his voice, and I felt kinda bad.
"No, I'm just talking to Koto! You believe me, right? I don't think he believes us, Koto!" she clucked, and got in Ilios's face. Then she snorted right in his face. It was hilarious, especially his expression. He recoiled and almost fell backward, but I caught him.
"Do you believe us now, Ilios?" I asked him, watching him closely.
"Fine. I believe you. Now can we have lunch? You guys have been gone for over two hours!" he said, happy to stop being embarrased by a chicken horse and his sister.
"Fine." I said, and Imera and Nychta started throwing bread at us. We caught some and joined the fight. Once both sides were out of ammo and the camp was cleaned up, I threw some rabbit I hunted the day before into a saucepan with water, and once the meat started boiling, I threw in some of the vegetables we harvest from our little garden. They don't taste very good, but it's better than heading to Dasos every day for produce.
The soup turned out great. It had rabbit, carrots, and onions. While we ate, Koto ate grain and drank tons of water. After we ate, we all went to practice something. Nychta practiced with his sword against a tree. Imera practiced with her spear. Ilios practiced swapping from shooting his bow to attacking with a spear. I picked up my sword, put on a dark cloak, a dark hat covering my hair, my tall boots that go halfway up my shin, put a knife in each boot and walked over to Koto.
"Wanna go for a flight?" I asked her.
"Why not? Let's go!" she said happily, lifting up her wings and letting me on. Once I got on, Koto burst out running, then soared out of the cover of the trees. The sky was beautiful, with barely any clouds. The horizon was deep orange, with it lightening into pinks and purples. Above us now was a clear deep blue.
I saw Desos in the distance, and we flew towards it. As we reached the edge of town, I urged Koto to land. She did a steep nosedive, scaring the heck out of me, but it was fun.
"Take me a little closer, please." I asked her, and felt her run even faster. She slid to a stop right outside of the wall, under cover of the trees but close enough I can get inside and get the information I need.
"I'll call if I need you Koto. Don't leave, ok?" I tell her, then I walk off into the darkness.
YOU ARE READING
The Evolution Solution
FantasyFengari and her brother, Ilios, are members of an ancient family. They are in a world of ancient beasts and magical people. But, their family is cursed. The only way to save themselves and their family forever is to find the cure. It's a shot in the...
