Controlling the Goddess, page 46
part #2 of Chronicles Of KieraFreya Series
She cast Creature Identification.
Creature: Ashen Rengal (Lv 8)
HP: 382
Resistances: None
Weaknesses: Poison, Dark, Electric, Close-range attacks, Long-range attacks
Poor creature. No natural defenses to help it survive in the wild.
But somehow it has survived, hasn’t it? KieraFreya corrected.
Chloe snuck toward the horse, crouched and poised as if about to jump. Even with her Sneak ability, she could only get within a range of a few feet of the horse before its ears pricked up.
The horse turned lazily to meet Chloe’s eye with a placid expression that said, “Really? You realize I’m eating, here?”
“Easy now, horsy…” Chloe cooed, slowing down and taking baby steps toward her target. She reached to the ground, ripped out some grass, and offered it to the horse. “What do you say? Yummy grass, right?”
She was within inches now. Her heart was thumping in her chest. She crouched even lower, preparing to jump on the creature, when it suddenly whinnied loudly, turned, and sprinted off down the knoll. The horses nearby also galloped off, slowing only when they were sure their pursuers had gone.
“Dammit!” Chloe shouted. It made no sense to her. She had a level 5 in the Saddler skill. How could she not have wrangled a level-8 rengal?
“Oh, man. I’m so sorry,” Veronica said.
Chloe turned and saw Veronica’s smug face. “You did that on purpose.”
She shrugged. “You got me. You think I’m really going to let you win this competition? Why don’t you let someone else win for a change? You’ve got your terror…dactyl…daxil…thing. Can’t you just settle for that?”
“That’s different. That’s not a horse. You just don’t like to lose.” Chloe smirked. “But you better get used to it, girl. If you want to run with the big girls, you’d better learn to keep up.”
Chloe started off in the direction of the horses she had disturbed. “If you want, you can come with me, and I can teach you how a real saddler rides.”
“Oh, I bet you can.” Veronica winked, leaving Chloe unsure if she had made an awkward joke or she was genuinely trying to flirt with her.
Chapter Sixty-One
When they got to the horses, Chloe let Veronica go first.
She wasn’t sure whether this was because Veronica’s words had sunk in, or because she genuinely wanted Veronica to learn new skills, but she showed Veronica the best ways to approach the animals.
Unfortunately, that didn’t mean Veronica took to the task like a duck to water. Several times she managed one leg on a horse before it bucked her off.
A few times the horses just bolted, Veronica’s footwork a little too heavy to sneak up successfully on them even though her own Sneak skill had increased.
They rolled up and over the hills, always having to chase the herd after a horse shot off into the wilderness. The effort was exhausting, and a few times they passed their own party members, who had been torturously close to taming their own beast before the herd had sprinted past and scared them all into fleeing.
“Oh, this is hopeless!” Veronica cried.
“You’ll get there,” Chloe said. “You just need to find the perfect horse for you.” She raised a hand to her brow and scanned the field. “How about that one?”
“Are you kidding? That one looks like it’s got bendy straws for legs.”
Chloe chuckled. The horse did have a certain weedy quality to it.
“Or that one?”
“Too big,” Veronica said. “You think I can get that bucko when I can’t even grab one half its height?”
They turned when they heard the sound of galloping behind them, both ladies crestfallen to see that Huk was riding an average-sized chestnut with a white star on its forehead. He leaned forward, clutching its thick neck, and yelled, “Whoa!” as he drew nearer the girls.
“Please don’t tell me you won the competition,” Veronica said, dismayed.
Huk laughed. “Okay. I won’t.” He leaned conspiratorially toward Chloe. “But I did…”
Veronica threw her arms in the air.
“How did you… But… What?” Chloe said, flabbergasted.
“Turns out your toffee is actually a pretty useful creature when it comes to wrangling horses. You know natural creatures have an affinity for other natural creatures, right?”
“He’s a toffet.”
“Right.” Huk laughed, pointing back over the hills, where they could make out the massive bulk of Blueballs. He walked casually toward a horse with sunset orange fur and hugged its neck.
Tag (or it may have been Therese, it was hard to tell from this distance), took the opportunity to jump on top of the pinned horse, stroking its neck and calming it down as Blueballs let go and watched the pair ride off down the hill.
“Now that’s a party trick if I’ve ever seen one,” Chloe muttered.
Another set of hoofbeats, and Chloe sighed as Ben trotted up the hill on his brand-new silver mount.
“You too?” Veronica whined.
“Of course,” Ben replied. “I’m a ranger, remember? Saddling and taming wild creatures is an affinity of mine. I would’ve been a hell of a lot quicker if everyone hadn’t kept scaring the horses away, though.”
His horse whinnied, as if in confirmation.
“You two still struggling?”
Chloe was about to say that she was helping Veronica and that Chloe would need no help at all when the time came, when she saw Veronica’s face and decided against it.
“A little bit. I’m not sure what it is, but I just can’t find my mojo. Veronica has been trying to help, but…”
“Sometimes the wind doesn’t blow in our favor,” Veronica finished.
Chloe smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder.
“Well, in that case, we’ll leave you to it. Me, Tag, and Gideon are setting up for some practice laps of the field. Y’know, technically, these guys don’t class as our steed until we’ve leveled up our relationships to Friendly, Admirer, or Loyal. Now it’s a race to see who can make the horse love them the fastest.”
Ben turned to go. “My money is on me.” He winked, trotting back toward the others.
Chloe and Veronica continued their search on foot. Chloe offered to walk Veronica back to the others, but she dismissed the idea. “I want to prove I can do this on my own. You’ve trained animals by yourself, I need to take that step, too. I’m not having a toffee fight my battles. That’s not who I am.”
“I get that,” Chloe replied. “I admire it, too. Not a lot of people in the world want to put in the work and get the accomplishments themselves. Too many people do the easy stuff and don’t learn the skills they’ll need to leave a legacy.”
Chloe’s head bowed. Veronica might have thought Chloe was talking about the horses, but she was thinking about her life back home. How she had glided along and taken the easy route the whole time. Living for the weekend. Sponging off her parents' wealth.
She never knew putting in the hard work and reaping the rewards would feel so fulfilling.
“And, it’s toffet, by the way. Toff-ET.”
“Okay, okay.” Veronica smirked.
When they came to the next horse, Chloe stood back and let Veronica try everything they had practiced so far.
“Just be careful, quiet, and patient,” she encouraged.
Veronica flapped a hand to tell Chloe to hush.
Veronica snuck slowly, her tread making the grass crunch. The horse turned its head with curiosity.
Veronica paused, hardly daring to breathe.
Come on, Chloe willed.
She crouched, found a chunk of vivid green grass, and tore it from the ground. The horse’s ear twitched, but it continued to watch her curiously.
She took a few more steady steps forward. The horse turned its head away.
Oh, crap, Chloe thought.
The sentiment was reflected in Veronica’s demeanor, her tense shoulders slumping as she lowered her head.
“Veronica, look,” Chloe whispered, a smile on her face.
The horse had come to Veronica, its large nostrils causing her hair to blow about as it sniffed her head. Veronica stood up slowly, wondering what was going on, but choosing to take advantage of the situation while it lasted.
She tucked her hands under the horse’s chin and began to stroke its face. The horse nuzzled into her hand affectionately, giving a soft neigh.
Veronica laughed, unable to help herself. She wasn’t sure what had just happened, but now she walked carefully to the horse’s side, her previous anxiety gone. Her memories of falling off the other horses were obliterated by this friendly creature who seemed just as determined to make Veronica his friend as she did him.
And then her leg was over, and her hands were tangled in his mane. Veronica raised a fist and cheered, the horse rising onto back legs and causing her spare hand to hold on even tighter to his mane.
With a few minor instructions from Veronica, the horse trotted closer to where Chloe was watching with a brimming grin on her face.
“I don’t know what happened.” Veronica laughed. “One minute it didn’t care, the next it did.”
“You relaxed,” Chloe said. “The minute you thought you’d lost it, you relaxed. Animals respond better to calm than tension. The more scared you are of them, the more scared they are of you. But with this one, you’d given up. Your fear had gone, so it felt ready to partner with you.”
Veronica’s eyes sparkled. She looked happier than Chloe had ever seen her.
“Go. Take him for a spin and meet me back with the others,” Chloe said.
“Don’t you need help with yours?”
Chloe grinned. “I’ve spotted my target, and I’m pretty confident that he’ll soon be mine.”
Veronica rolled her eyes, leaned forward, and instructed her horse to walk straight ahead. The horse obliged, and pretty soon she was back with the others, each celebrating and comparing their horses, trying their best to raise the relationship levels of their steeds with treats, strokes, and rides around the field.
Chloe, meanwhile, stalked closer to her target.
She had spotted him while Veronica was in mid-crouch, a great black beast with white streaks on either side of its barrel that looked like lightning marks.
The beast had appeared for barely a second in a small copse of trees and then disappeared back into the shadow from where it had come.
Chloe glanced around, praying the horse hadn’t run away while she had been praising Veronica.
Where are you, buddy? Come to mama…
And there he was, trotting out of the trees with a grace like nothing she had ever seen. Sure, the others had gotten their horses before her, but damn her if she wasn’t going to catch this beauty.
Chloe scrolled through her menu and found her current steed, hovering briefly over his avatar.
Was it wrong to use her old steed to catch herself a new steed?
Probably not. They all remained in the same place, didn’t they?
Besides, they’d each have their own uses in the long run.
Chloe hit the summon button and saw Sir Wingsalot soaring toward her from the far side of the field. The creature squawked loudly, making Chloe half-regret her decision as the horses that heard the call stomped and neighed warily.
All except her black prince.
As Sir Wingsalot swooped toward her, she jumped into the air, the terrordaxil diving beneath her so that Chloe could straddle his back. “Onward,” she shouted, pointing toward the horse.
At first, she thought Sir Wingsalot was going to ignore her, the bird barely turning. Then, as the horse bolted from the trees, Sir Wingsalot gave chase.
Chloe sped toward the stallion, the beast almost matching her impressive speed. Wind whipped her face, bringing stinging tears to her eyes. The closer she got, the more impressed she was with his form, the lightning bolts a blur on either side.
“Hold steady,” Chloe whispered to Sir Wingsalot. They were close now, almost directly above him. Chloe prepared to jump.
The horse took a sharp right angle just as Chloe was about to leap. She halted herself halfway through her movement and was managed to scramble awkwardly back onto Sir Wingsalot. From afar, she could see her friends watching her as Sir Wingsalot helped her adjust and shoot back after the beast.
“He’s a tricky one,” KieraFreya said. “Are you sure you wouldn’t like a small pony, or maybe a malnourished mare?”
Chloe grinned. “Shut up, you.”
They tore across the field, the other horses making way for the chase. Chloe and Sir Wingsalot managed to catch up a second time as the beast hit a stretch of wide-open plain.
“This time…” Chloe said, unaware her tongue was poking out of the side of her mouth—a habit she had picked up from concentrating as a child.
Inches away now, and Chloe launched. No messing about, she just pounced onto the horse’s back.
The horse gave an almighty neigh. Chloe clung to his neck for dear life, gripping his barrel with her thighs as tightly as she dared. Her strength skill was high, which meant she could not be easily shaken off.
Not that that stopped the horse.
He went wild, bucking and ducking his head. Chloe was reminded of mechanical bulls she had ridden at carnivals and fairs, gripping a small knot of rope tightly as the thing swirled around and a sadistic carnie toyed with the levers and controls until she was thrown off.
Only there was no knot or lever on this horse, only Chloe’s arms around his neck, and her legs gripping his ribs.
“Shhh…” Chloe crooned, whispering soft words of encouragement. “It’s okay. Don’t worry, I’m not here to hurt you. I just want to honor your beauty. You know you’re a beautiful beastie, right?”
The horse began to calm, or maybe he began to tire. Either way, the bucking became less aggressive. Soon he calmed enough that Chloe could release a hand and stroke his mane, clicking with the side of her tongue and continuing to whisper sweet things.
The horse stilled, turning his head back to get a better look at his rider. Chloe saw the notification appear.
New steed acquired: Black Ewing Stallion (Lv 29)
Relationship: Friend
Chloe let out a deep breath of relief, unable to believe she had managed to tame the beast. Although in her mind, horses didn’t quite have the same taming caliber as scoopers or terrordaxils, this one had been one hell of a catch.
“You’re a beautiful boy, aren’t you, buddy?” Chloe continued stroking his mane, scared to stop in case he began bucking again. She was sure that that wasn’t how Obsidian worked, but she wanted to be certain the horse was calm before passing him commands. “I wonder what we should call you?”
Her hand grazed the lightning bolts on either side of his body. “Hmm…how about ‘Conductor?’”
“No,” KieraFreya replied.
“Why not?”
“It’s a stupid name.”
“And KieraFreya isn’t?”
“Let’s not get personal.”
Chloe tapped her chin. “Okay, what about…Rod?”
“Huh?”
“Like ‘lightning rod?’”
“Nope.”
Chloe threw her hands in the air in frustration. The horse jittered beneath her.
“Sorry, boy. Calm…calm…What about…Shocker?”
“Nope.”
“Flash?”
“No.”
“Bolt?”
“No. Wait, that one isn’t too bad.”
Chloe sighed with relief. “Bolt it is, then. What do you think of that, buddy? You like ‘Bolt?’”
Bolt whinnied and nodded his head.
“Good. It’s settled, then.”
She tapped her heel on Bolt’s side and set off back toward the KieraSlayers, grinning when she saw the stunned expressions on their faces. She wasn’t sure if it was because of the horse, the terrordaxil following in the air behind them, or a mixture of both, but in any case, they were impressed.
Chapter Sixty-Two
They swiftly crossed the plains on their newfound steeds.
The hills on the other side rose and dipped, eventually growing rockier as the grasses turned to stones. The farmland made way for boulders and ravines, and only a couple of times did the group have to defend themselves from a predator.
Combat atop a steed was tough, the party learned. Though some of them took to mounted combat a little easier than others, most struggled to swing their weapons while sprinting and bouncing along on a horse’s back.
Still, they each began their journey in their brand-new Mounted Combat skill.
When a bear sprinted after them all, Huk and Tag acted as the diversion, leading the bear around a large boulder with a jagged top. The others kept their distance, working with magic, arrows, and any weaponry that could be thrown from afar.
Chloe was pleased with their progress, keeping an eye on her map and ensuring that they were heading in the right direction. They passed through another sleepy town and some more rain and eventually began to see the landscape change even further.
Mountains lay up ahead, great towering things that bit the sky. The rock became intermingled with small marshes which eventually led to large bogs that littered the roots of the mountains.
A couple of times, the path disappeared altogether, and the horses made a fuss of trampling through the foot-high dark water. It had a strange smell of things turned old and left to rot.
The rain had started again and became a constant companion to their journey. It tried its best to dampen their spirits, while the KieraSlayers did all they could to try to keep smiles on their faces.
“You know, if I wanted to spend my days in the rain, I’d have picked up that job application mom offered me years ago,” Tag said, looking comical considering his disproportion to his steed.
He had taken to calling his horse “Whiffer” after discovering the smell that accompanies the back end of a horse.
“What job would that have been?” Therese asked.
