“Seletha,” she whispered into the morning air. The fire sprang like a river into the grass before her, pooling and growing. Her spell lashed it together, lifting the fire higher into the shape of a large horse. She slowly drifted her hands downward, magic flaring across her palms. The fiery form solidified, growing muscle and bone. When her hands reached her sides, the creature was whole and the summoning complete.

The horse lowered her head and raised one bent leg, her way of bowing. She snorted, plumes of black smoke blowing from her nostrils. Qurrah pulled his robes tighter about him, fighting against the fear that always filled his gut at the sight. It wasn’t the supernatural aspect of the creature that bothered him. Before their first ride, he had admitted to Tessanna his fear of horses. It took all his willpower to sit atop the magical being without panicking.

“The Gods’ Bridges are close, Seletha,” the girl said, gently patting the horse’s head. “Think you can get us there by nightfall?”

She clomped a hoof and nodded.

“Good. Let’s go, Qurrah.”

“Of course,” the half-orc said. He had ridden Seletha twenty times since fleeing the confrontation with his brother. He had hoped to get over his fear. But of course he hadn’t, and Tessanna struggled to hold in her laughter as he placed a hesitant hand atop Seletha’s back.

“You’ve always been so good at mounting me, silly,” Tessanna said. “Surely you can mount a horse without too much difficulty.”

The half-orc rolled his eyes and then climbed atop the giant beast. The two rode atop Seletha bareback, one of the other reasons Qurrah tried to ride as sparingly as possible. By nightfall, his legs and back would ache and he’d swear any hope of producing children was lost to him.

Tessanna arced back her head and levitated herself onto Seletha’s back, both legs bent and tucked on the right side.