I contemplated biting Belenus to get his hand away, but I stopped when I saw Steren crouch. She reached out with one nail and cut a symbol like an X with a Q's tail and a dot at the top into his cheek. 

"You get to live, but remember that's because we aren't the murderers here," she growled, and my neck hairs prickled in response. "You tell Carwyn we're coming for him, and I won't rest until his innards slake my thirst and satiate my hunger." She stood, and I watched the blood begin to trickle down the man's cheek.

"Do you ride?" Belenus asked. I nodded and was about to explain that I'd only ever ridden on trail rides with my aunt on her horses when he cut me off. "It does not matter. Cadeyrn, please follow Ardhal." He tugged at my pack while Faolán and Steren began checking their saddles. "We shall be riding hard and fast. Faolán warded this glade from being entered or spied upon, and he will be lowering them as we leave. We must be at the camp by sunrise. Take this off." 

"But I need it," I said. I couldn't help feeling panicked at being left without my few connections to my reality. Yet, Belenus' smile was kind and understanding, so I reluctantly surrendered. To my relief, he tossed it onto the back of the broad saddle and fastened straps over it snugly. "Oh, that works, I guess." Feeling more than a little chagrined at my misunderstanding, I stared up at the massive horse beside me. 

His black coat gleamed in the torch, and I couldn't find a single speck of white anywhere on him. His eyes were greener than new grass, and when he looked at me, I swore there was more than the usual animalistic intelligence in their depths. I was a specimen under a microscope, and Cadeyrn was the scientist. There was no doubt in that at all. I suddenly felt like I should be asking permission to ride him, like just climbing in the saddle would be a grievous affront.

"You don't mind if I ride you, right?" I asked and stroked his neck. The trio behind me whispered plans. He blew a breath directly in my face, and then he lipped my shoulder gently. "Guess not."

"I see you figured out he is sentient. It is a shame regular humans cannot initiate mental communication." Belenus stepped back and offered me a wry grin. "We can speak with them in our minds, but unfortunately, you shall have to make do with his body language. Here, mount." He crouched down a bit and made a step with his hand. I drew in a breath, now entirely nervous about riding a horse that could have telepathic conversations, raised my left foot to the stirrup, and stepped into his palms. Then, I was practically flying up and barely had time to swing my right leg over.

"Get your seat. I must adjust your stirrups," Belenus said. I nodded wordlessly, finding a comfortable position. "Cadeyrn and I have been through much. He'll keep you safe."

"He's yours?" I asked softly. The stallion tossed his head before lipping Belenus' braid. Gathering the reins, I did my best to adjust to Cadeyrn's broad back. Yes, my aunt, Lisa, had owned a variety of horses when I was growing up, but never one remotely close to the battle charger I found myself astride. I was going to be sore, no doubt about it. I wished I'd gone for boots instead of sneakers, but the stirrups' leather was well worn and accepted the rough tread with ease.

"Not mine, per se. We're just good friends," Belenus patted the stallion's massive neck, earning a snort of air.

"So, I'm just following y'all right?" I asked.

"Correct." Faolán's voice came from the direction of the unconscious man. A quick look showed he had apparently put some spell on the man, because the soldier was now staring off into space with an absent grin on his face, completely unbound. "Bliss spell. He will recover in an hour. Then he will be off to tell Carwyn everything."

Steren adjusting some stirrups drew my attention. The tack of her mount was far more showy than the plain leather of the other two mounts. "We're stealing his horse?" I squeaked. I shouldn't have cared, but my gut twisted a bit. 

"His men stole my sister," Belenus brusquely retorted. "Now, it's barely a crescent moon. Your eyes won't see much once we leave the torchlight. Cadeyrn will keep up. You hold tightly." The stallion sidestepped under me before I could nod. I loosened the tension in the reins, letting him know I was only holding them for personal comfort. Steren was maneuvering her mare behind me, and then, with no visible signal, Cadeyrn plunged into the dark forest after Ardhal. 

It was three breaths before the torchlight was gone, and I couldn't even see my hands. The darkness swallowed me, and I raced further and further from my home. In the safety of the wind and the void of the night, I finally admitted to myself that the possibility of me going home was growing smaller and smaller.

Honestly, I don't think I fell asleep, but I definitely had become entranced by the never-ending inky velvet, the cool wind stinging my cheeks, and the powerful, graceful thunder of the horses' flight. When the faintest of silver pierced the void, it came like a jolt and nearly made me tumble from the saddle.

"Moon!" I croaked, then felt foolish when Faolán gave a soft laugh from beside me. 

"Yes, Madam Grace, the moon," he said. 

I blinked and wondered dumbly how such a small sliver could light up so much of the night. The grass we had been galloping through was like a sea of disappearing shadows. Sometimes there was a glisten of silver, and then nothing but emptiness. I didn't have the wherewithal to make sense of it. Cadeyrn slowed to a trot, and the discolored shadows of the others fell into step with us.

I tried to make out the elf, but only the gleam of his eyes was visible in the scant light. "We were about to stop. You hadn't spoken since we left the glade, and you'd begun to go limp." 

"I told them you weren't fainting," Steren said from behind me. Even the sounds of the air were clearer, almost cleaner. I could pick out her breath even over the huffing of the horses. "But Cadeyrn was concerned your legs were relaxing." 

"Sorry, boy," I said. Cadeyrn's posture under my legs and saddle changed. I instinctively prepared for a buck or rear.

"Lord Cadeyrn prefers King, Sir, or Lord," Belenus called back to me. "He wishes to remind you that he is not like the mute horses of your realm." 

"I am sorry, Sir," I said and instinctively reached to rub his powerful neck. I caught myself.

You're gonna offend him. My inner voice sneered, stirring the anxiety that the adrenaline had kept at bay. If he doesn't like "boy" what makes you think he'll like scratches?

"About three inches up on the right side of his mane is his favored spot," Faolán said, and he brought his companion up even with me. I wondered briefly if he could read my mind from that distance. Cadeyrn slowed to a walk.

"Do we need to stop for a moment?" he asked. I gave an experimental wiggle of my foot in the stirrup. "Grace?" 

"I can manage," I said, shook myself, and adjusted my seat as much as possible. "I think. How much farther?" I asked, feeling more than just disoriented.

Everything around me was oddly measured. My depth perception was muddled by the glow of the moon and stars and the voids of the never=ending shadows. Deep in my stomach, the insecurities that somehow I was messing up began to stir, and I was suddenly hyper-aware of my posture, my face, and my grip on the reins.

"Depends on if we take the short trek through the meadow or if we head for the forest on the other side," Belenus replied. I tried to mask my anxious gasp as a yawn, hoping that they'd believe it was exhaustion. It took me a moment to realize I was shivering a bit. 

From behind us, Steren called, "I think our human needs to take the short route!" 

"But it's exposed," countered Faolán from ahead of me. My cheeks and ears burned despite the numbness the wind had caused. I'd hardly been in this realm for a few hours, and I was already a burden and a joke. 

Are you surprised? Really? My inner doubt practically scoffed. I gritted my teeth and swallowed hard at the tightening in my chest that always heralded an impending emotional spiral. They'll take the short route, out of pity for you, and you know how that always goes in the books. All of the attention on me made me uncomfortable, and I didn't like the idea of stopping in the middle of a meadow. What if there were more of those shadewolves? Wouldn't we be easy to track in the open air at a walk?

"I can make the long route!" I managed to choke out, though my throat was dry and tight. "I don't want to put us at any more risk than I already have. My exhaustion isn't worth all of your lives." I wasn't sure if elves usually turned to look at someone so quickly, but Faolán's eyes glowed through the moonlight. It felt as if he was reading my very soul. 

"Are you sure?" Faolán asked. 

"Yes, I can make it." I nodded firmly. Still, I had to wiggle my toes and scrunch my face to return feeling to both. 

"Then we take the long route," Belenus confirmed from ahead. As if there was some unspoken cue, Cadeyrn sped up. 

The gait I had become accustomed to in the forest was nothing like what he burst into. The horse king beneath me was no longer a graceful rock. I couldn't help but yelp, and my bare minimum riding skills were out the window. All I was able to do was hang on. The wind was daggers at our new speed, and I had to curl down to hide my face.  The realization that Cadeyrn had outstripped our party came a little too late. The emptiness of the meadow was replaced with trees again, and the darkness engulfed me. My eyes burned, my chest tightened, and all I could do was pray not to fall. 

If it wasn't for the biting wind around me and the heat of Cadeyrn's heaving body beneath my thighs, I would have felt like I was floating in emptiness. In the abyss of the trunks and brush, he slowed a bit but continued his pre-meadow gallop. Sight was as impossible as it had been during the sprint. Still, I lifted my head to look around, and I realized that the others were indeed gone. I couldn't hear or see anyone. 

"Cadeyrn, I can't see or hear the others," I panted. My already pounding heart fluttered, and my head spun. It reminded me how I felt when my brother had convinced me to have an edible before going to Busch Gardens for Howl-O-Scream and roller coasters. I tried to pull on the reins, but he shook his head and almost ripped them from my grasp. Then, the bushes beside me crunched and thudded.

I screamed.

"It is me," Belenus called, and the sound of his mount's hooves echoed in front of me. Cadeyrn slowed to a trot once again. "The horses caught the scent of a group in the meadow almost as soon as you said to take the forest. Cadeyrn had to get you into the trees in case they were closer than we thought." 

"Where are Faolán and Steren?" I chanced to ask. The belated fear slammed into me. 

"Scouting to see if there are enemies," Belenus replied. "They'll meet us ahead." 

"Oh my God," I groaned and squeezed my eyes shut. It was just like a damn book.

Don't be dumb. In books, the human has some preordained destiny or hidden powers. You're literally the opposite. My thoughts only increased the fear, making me shake. I clenched the reins in my grip, determined not to cry. I tried to steady myself by counting each rock of my body. I reached seventy-eight before anything happened. The trees rustled again, and more hoofbeats joined ours.

"It was just trappers." Steren's amused voice called out behind me. Another crunch of trees and limbs, followed by more hooves, revealed Faolán's arrival. 

"But better safe than sorry," she finished.

"Agreed," Faolán said, but the knowledge did little to calm my nerves.

The world beyond my nose was still invisible. The sliver of moonlight didn't pierce the trees, and none of my companions or their mounts seemed to need light. My growing panic was harder and harder to keep in check.

"Grace, it is only about a half an hour ride," Faolán said from somewhere to my left. I wanted to be upset that he was singling me out, but panic had placed a vice grip on my chest. "Madam Grace?" 

"Uh-huh," I replied. "Half an hour. Let's go." As if he had been waiting for my cue, Cadeyrn broke into a gallop.