Tevorac woke early that morning to the sound of Zoromon’s voice. “Hello, Tev. Goodness, you’re a light sleeper.”

She smiled a little and waved.

“Azvalath’s out doing…well, whatever he does when he can’t sleep,” said Zoromon. He looked at whatever he was holding. It looked big and heavy, but he didn’t seem to be having trouble. “Want to get on a horse?”

Sudden apprehension filled her. After that fall the day before, she was nervous.

“I’ll be right with you. It’ll be fun, don’t you think?” Zoromon offered his arm. “What happened yesterday won’t happen every day. Promise.”

Tev grabbed his arm and pulled herself up. She kept her hand on him until they were outside in the dawn light. Then she could see shapes, but little detail. She cursed herself for being so nearsighted, then wondered how it would be possible to steer a horse with her vision. Don’t run into shapes, she supposed, and made herself giggle.

She remembered that the horse she had been on previously was red, but Tev could not pick her out from among the many animals tied and penned around the camp. She could scarcely tell what some of the animals were from a distance. She pointed to a pen where she saw many smaller animals moving about.

“Yes, I see the goats. We’re going over here. See? Ayhoshki’s here. Say hello by blowing on her nose,” said Zoromon.

Tev laughed, then blew on the mare’s nose. Ayhoshki blew back. Zoromon set down what he was carrying, and Tev recognized it as tack. With his guidance, she saddled the mare. She had some trouble tightening the girth strap, but after a few tries, she got it.

“All right,” said Zoromon. “Pokey’s a smaller horse, so I think you can mount by yourself.”

She put her foot in the stirrup and pulled herself up. It was easier to use that foot when she wasn’t wearing a shoe too big for it, she thought. Thank goodness they had managed to dry her wet boot. Ayhoshki shifted beneath her. Tev looked down at Zoromon. He had untied Ayhoshki and replaced the lead with reins, which he handed up to her. She took them gingerly.

Ayhoshki started at a walk. Tevorac directed her as best she could. Zoromon walked alongside them. “You know, Ayhoshki is like a mother to the other horses. Especially Sakhal, my black stallion. She might be a tough teacher, but she really does care. And I think she cares about you too.”

Tevorac smiled.

“I can actually talk to animals,” said Zoromon. “She says she’s sorry you fell off yesterday. She also wants to know why you don’t speak. In fact, I’d like to know as well.”

She responded with only a grunt.

“See, you can make noise. But not words? Why not?” Zoromon asked. “I’m not meaning to be insensitive. I’m only curious.”

A violent tremor seized her all of a sudden. Her hands contracted. Ayhoshki halted, then tossed her head up. A harsh ringing filled Tevorac’s ears. She squeezed her eyes shut and saw a pale woman.

Tevorac…let my power protect you…

Her eyes snapped open. The ringing grew sharper. She was only dimly aware of Zoromon’s voice. He sounded concerned, but she could not make out the words. What she did perceive – in detail she had never seen before – was a dog trotting up behind Zoromon. She locked eyes on it. The dog’s expression was one of pure joy, but her gut screamed danger. Tevorac remembered the pale woman.

Right when Zoromon turned around and saw the dog, Tevorac focused her entire mind on the creature and threw it backwards without even touching it. It scrambled away in a bewildered panic. Her eyes rolled upwards. She had a pounding headache. The ringing in her ears had intensified to a sound she could not describe as anything from this world. No, it sounded to her like the infernal roar of the Reverse, hungry and wanting…

How did she know what that sounded like?

That sound was all she heard as Zoromon helped her down from Ayhoshki. Someone else came and took her by the arm. Azvalath, she recognized. An uncanny sense of déjà vu made her head spin. Since her first encounter with him, Azvalath had always felt familiar to her. It was ridiculous, impossible. She had no idea who he was. She had no idea.

As she followed him through the blurred haze of the camp, she remembered the story she had told the day before, the little lightningfisher. She remembered how the pale woman had whispered the story to her many times. But she wasn’t real. Only an imaginary friend. That was what Tev had told herself all along.

She heard Zoromon run up beside them and was aware of them talking, but she could not make out the words until the cacophony in her ears finally subsided. When they stopped, she took in her surroundings. There were tall shapes all around them. Trees, she corrected. Zoromon had left. Azvalath was beside her, and he was close enough that she could see him in more detail. When she saw the necklace that he wore – a lightningfisher tooth – she startled.

Azvalath must have noticed her response to it. “This necklace keeps evil spirits away,” he told her. “It was my friend’s before she died.”

Tev’s head rocked back and forth. Images flashed through her head that she could not explain. Her eyes rolled. She saw dead trees splattered with blood, then jaws in the dark, so many teeth…

She had hoped that reverting to her true form would relieve the turmoil in her mind, but the swim in the bluehole had done little to clear her head. Tevorac fell to her hands and knees. She retched and heaved, but nothing came up. Azvalath grabbed her by the shoulders. “Tevorac, look at me. Listen.”

She wiped her mouth and looked up.

“You’re not a human, I know. But there’s a human soul in you. Sothyrion told me. I think I know whose soul it might be. We want to see if we can draw her out for a bit, so Zoromon’s getting Sakhal,” said Azvalath.

Right then, Zoromon returned leading his black stallion. “Azvalath, are you sure it’s her and not…something else?”

Azvalath looked down. “Well, I’m not entirely sure. But you said she used telekinesis, and there’s only one other being I knew who could do that.”

Sakhal lowered his head to greet Tevorac. She shied a little from the horse, then extended a cautious hand to pet him. Don’t be afraid, she told herself. Her fingers touched the horse’s dark face. A sense of profound relief filled her. It was as if a huge weight had been lifted.

She looked over and saw the pale woman sitting beside her. She gave Tev a warm smile. Tev smiled back and looked up at Azvalath and Zoromon. Zoromon looked perplexed. Azvalath was holding back tears. No one spoke.

Eventually, the pale woman’s image faded. Tevorac felt heavy again, but her head was clear. It almost made sense now. The pale woman had been the friend Azvalath had mentioned, and she had been restless to see him. Tevorac took a deep breath and stood up.

“How are you feeling?” Zoromon asked.

She gave him a thumbs-up, then looked at Azvalath. He was crying. “It really is her,” he choked.

Tevorac felt a bit uneasy, but she refocused herself on the sense of relief. They started back toward the camp. Azvalath was still sobbing quietly. She had always hated to see others upset, so she put her hand on his shoulder.

“Hey, Tev. I think you did great on Ayhoshki,” said Zoromon. He was clearly trying to distract them.

Tev smiled. As strange as they made her feel, she had come to believe that these two were not bad company.

When they arrived back at the camp, everyone was up and bustling about. “Tev, want to help us take down the tent?” Zoromon asked.

Tevorac thought about it for a moment. It didn’t sound terribly appealing. She prodded Azvalath and signed a suggestion to him.

“She wants to know if she can take Sakhal,” Azvalath interpreted.

“Are you sure you can handle him? He’s not always good with people he doesn’t know well,” said Zoromon.

Tev nodded.

Somewhat cautiously, Zoromon handed her Sakhal’s lead. “If you can, find him somewhere to graze.”

She held Sakhal while they headed off to take down their tent. The black horse sniffed the ground, then dug into the snow to find the grass beneath. He tore up a huge mouthful. Tev listened to him chew it and found the sound rather amusing. It was somehow less objectionable than hearing humans chew.

She stood there for a while and let Sakhal graze. The horse busied himself quite well as he rooted for grass and did not give her trouble. At one point, though, he stopped and raised his head. Tev turned toward what he was looking at.

“Hello, odd duck. Sorry I can’t remember your name.” Machli strolled up and petted Sakhal. “Those two are treating you well, I hope?”

Tev nodded slowly.

“If anything happens, come to me. Understand?” Machli patted her shoulder. “Why don’t we get this horse something more substantial to eat? I have red oilseed to spare. A mercy that stuff still grows in this cold. And some pemmican for you.”

That didn’t sound so bad, she thought. Tev followed Machli, Sakhal in hand, over to Machli’s tent. Machli went around to the back, then came back with a bucket of red oilseed for Sakhal and a strip of pemmican for Tev. She took a bite. It was better than Zoromon’s pemmican. Tev signed thank you, but Machli didn’t understand her.

Sakhal looked up from his bucket and pinned his ears. Tev turned around and saw why. A white horse stood tied to a picket nearby. Its ears were also pinned. The white horse stamped its hooves and neighed.

Machli paused from her packing and went over to the horse. “Daichen, boy, you know better. Perst, would you mind taking Daichen for a walk? He’s a little hot.”

Perst came into view, untied Daichen, and walked away with him. Tev and Sakhal both sighed in relief and went back to their food. She heard Perst whistling nearby, but did not focus on it.

She left Sakhal to his feed and helped Machli pack, if for no other reason than boredom. Machli handed her a heavy wooden crate. “Go put this on the cart over there, would you?”

Tev started toward what she assumed was the cart, based on its size and dimensions. Then she noticed Daichen approaching. The white horse had gotten loose from Perst. The way he moved toward Sakhal reminded her more of a stalking predator than a horse. Tevorac stopped. Every fiber of her being screamed danger.

Without any provocation, Daichen lunged and bit Sakhal’s neck. The black horse startled, kicking over his empty bucket. Before Tev could grab his lead, the two horses were locked in a fierce brawl.

Without coming to look, Machli called to Tev. “Don’t try and stop them. Let them settle it or you’ll get hurt.”

Tev’s heart pounded. She looked at the ground and saw blood. The stallions reared up and kicked each other. Sakhal fell backwards. Daichen planted his hooves on top of Sakhal and rushed to bite him again. Even without an ability like Zoromon’s, she knew Daichen’s intent was to kill. She would not let that happen. Not if she could help it.

She lifted the heavy crate up higher and hurled it. It hit the white stallion and sent him sprawling. She grabbed Sakhal’s lead and ran with him in a panic. Behind her, she heard Machli screaming, then footsteps running after her. She didn’t turn around until Machli grabbed her. The lead slipped from her hands. Sakhal bolted. Machli screamed at her. “Have anything to say, little pest? No one hurts my horse!”

Tevorac tried to struggle free. When that didn’t work, she punched Machli in the face. Machli barely recoiled before punching her in return. Everything went black.