“He’s not evil. He’s angry that I killed you. Of course he’d be mad,” Torin says, gently petting the horse’s face while the horse stays clamped to his arm. “It’s okay. You have to understand Riley was destroying?—”
The horsethrowsTorin, and I watch as he crashes into a flowering bush that he flattens. The horse is obviously not satisfied since it charges Torin, who is doing nothing to defend himself besides slowly standing up and remainingfar too calm.
“It’s okay, you’re okay. Riley is okay. I promise,” Torin says while the horse charges him.
I rush forward and jump in front of Torin, causing the horse to immediately stop. He throws his head, displeased he can’t flatten the man I love as Torin wraps me up in his arms. “Talk to him.”
“He’s a horse! He doesn’t understand!”
“Do you really think he doesn’t understand? The connection between the two of you might have been nearly severed and has been strained, but you two have been together since you were created.” Torin squeezes me tightly while the horse rears uneasily. “He was still fighting to protect you from inside that hourglass. Think about how much you longed for him and how much comfort it brought. He’s finally free and you can begin repairing that rift in your bond.”
I can hear him, and he’s making a whole lot of sense, but the horse rearing and striking out in front of me as it prepares to chuck my partner into the next realm makes me feel a bit less reassured.
Torin takes my hand and opens my palm before holding it out to the horse, literally aiming it directly at the mouth of the angry beast. He’s going to bite it right off, sever it from the wrist. I try to close my fingers, but Torin forces my hand flat and lays it right against the muzzle of the beast. The horse hesitatesthen presses against my black-stained fingers while I feel him breathing me in.
“See? It’s still your rider. He might be a bit sassier than the last time you saw him. And he seems to have a very strange fear of horses, but I’m confident he’ll get over it,” Torin says, still talking to the horse like the monster could possibly understand what he’s going on about. All I understand is that the horse is now sniffing me over, deciding which part would be best to eat first.
Torin seems to think being sniffed isn’t enough because he slides my hand up the beast’s face and over the large flat cheek.
“He’s not so bad, now is he?” Torin asks me.
“He’s pretty terrifying.”
“Nah, he’s just a sweet little horsey.”
“He threw you across the garden. He chomped down on you and prepared to rip out your flesh. Oh, and he was going to stomp you into a pancake.”
“Horses can feel fear,” Torin says.
“Well, I hope this one feasts on it because I have plenty to hand over,” I grumble.
“It’s not so scary, is it?” he asks, wrapping me up in one arm and using the other to draw my hand down the creature’s neck. “See? You’ve already calmed him right down.”
“He’s so cute!” Mickey exclaims as he comes rushing over without a care in the world. “Is this your horse, Riley? Oh my gosh. He’s adorable!”
He waltzes right up and starts hugging the thing while I watch in horror.
“He’ll eat you. He already threw Torin across the garden,” I say.
Mickey freezes mid-hug. “You probably could have mentioned that earlier, but ah well. He seems to like me. You do like me, don’t you?”
The horse pretends Mickey doesn’t even exist. He seems to think only two things exist: Torin for him to destroy, and me.
“You’re so dirty. You need a bath,” Mickey says. “I’ll send my crew off to get supplies to brush your new pony!”
I groan. “Please don’t.”
“On it,” Tommy says, and off he goes while I gawk at these traitors. Won’t they just let me suffer in peace? The horse is free to frolic and exist, and I should be free to hide from it.
“Come on,” Torin encourages, taking my hand. The horse immediately shoves between the two of us, separating us so it can eat me and then flatten Torin into a pancake.
I dash over to Torin as the horse stares at us like he’s confused why I would willingly go to such a villain.
“Torin, make it stop looking at me.”
“Refraining from calling him an ‘it’ would probably be the first step to forming a bond,” he says. He pulls me over to the stable, and of course the monster follows us.
Torin wanders around until he finds a bucket that he fills with water while I stare at the horse that hasn’t looked away from me. It almost makes me feel guilty for not wanting to be near him. Seeing that I’m staring at him, he steps up to me, and I have to force myself not to back away. He seems to notice and stops walking. He lowers his head as he watches me, like he’s trying to appear less tall, but the instant Torin comes close, his head shoots back up and his ears flicker back.
