Warlord

excitement and tension was starting to build.
    "Ander, just how dangerous are ehats?" I asked as the teams started to wrap thin cloths over the horses'
    eyes. The horses had been stripped of their tack, except for their headgear. The riders were going bareback. Keir was searching for a cloth thin enough for his eyes as well.
    "Very," Ander said.
    "The teams will harass from a distance, Lara, trying to get the creature to spray them." Joden sounded reassuring. "They use the lances to kill from a distance, since arrows can't pierce the wool and hide." Marcus had come up to us. "The scouts have found a place for us to watch this hunt. We need to leave now to be in position."
    I mounted Greatheart, and looked back to catch Keir's eye. But Marcus got us moving, and my last glimpse was of Keir mounting his black and gathering his team.
    No wonder they'd replaced the castles on the chess board with ehat figures. The animals were as big as castles.
    Huge, in fact, with thick dark wool that dangled from their bodies in long shaggy strings. The horns were massive, wide and sharp, and stuck out from each side of the beast's forehead. One sweep would easily knock a horse from its feet and impale the rider. I swallowed hard from the image in my head.
    "They're young." Marcus spoke softly. He was laying next to me on the rise, in the tall grass. We'd crawled here, he, Joden, and I, to watch the hunt. Ander and Yveni were down with the horses, keeping watch.
    "How can you tell?" I asked softly. The animals had their heads down, eating the grasses. I couldn't make out their eyes, since the thick hair hung down over their snouts. The horns seemed to go on forever, and I couldn't take my eyes off the tips.
    "If they were older, one would watch as the others grazed," Joden answered. "They'd also stay closer to gether."
    "Why bother?" I asked. "What can harm them? Besides men?"
    "Cats," Marcus replied. "A cat can pull one down."
    A cat? I frowned, looking out at the hulking beasts, and opened my mouth to question Marcus, when a group of riders appeared, and charged the nearest animal.
    I'm sure that the other groups charged as well, but whether by accident or plan, Keir was in the group closest to us. I had a clear view and I almost wished I didn't.
    It was one thing to hear that Keir would be riding bareback and weaponless, with no armor, but it was another thing entirely to see it. He looked small and vulnerable, and I sucked in a breath as he and the other riders with him galloped toward the ehat.
    They swept around the animal at a full gallop, yelling and waving their arms. Some threw stones, more to annoy than to hurt, since they seemed to bounce right off. I could see Rafe and Prest in the thick of things, trying to anger the beast.
    The ehat raised its head from the grasses, its nostrils flaring as it took in their scent. It had a short, stubby tail that fluttered in annoyance at being disturbed. Even at this distance I could hear a deep growl, and then the animal snapped its head to the side, sweeping its horns at the nearest rider. Dearest Goddess, it was fast.
    Far quicker than I'd assumed it would be. I must have spoken out loud, because Marcus agreed. "They are, Warprize. It's tricky, it is. They need to be close enough to anger, but far enough to avoid the horns or being trampled." Joden nodded in agreement.
    The other teams were also moving, but I watched only Keir as his team circled yet again. My heart stopped as Keir charged right into the ehat's face, and the black reared to paw at the sky, neighing a challenge.
    The ehat's head came down with a terrific snort, and it stamped, as if preparing to charge. But Keir and the black had already moved off, to join the others circling back behind the animal, beyond the reach of those horns.
    "That's done it," Joden said.
    "How do you—"
    "The tail." Marcus pointed.
    I looked in time to see the stub of the tail stand straight up, and a thick stream of yellow ichor shoot out at the riders. Keir was missed, but others weren't so lucky. Prest seemed to be dripping in the stuff.
    "Two left," Marcus commented.
    "They can do it three times?"
    Joden nodded, gesturing off to one of the other groups. "Looks like Prest took a full hit to the head." I couldn't tear my eyes away from Keir. The ehat he faced was fully aroused now, stamping, and spraying out at anything that moved. I watched as everyone was sprayed, including Keir. As soon as it was certain that the animal had exhausted its