The sternards, on the other hand… There were five of the great beasts, each one a tower of muscle and fur, their chests platted with heavy scales that ran under their bellies and crested their blocky heads, running from the tips of their big black noses to the ends of their stubby tails. They loomed over their handlers and made the dober-shepherds, the same height but sleek and lithe, seem small.
'Recruits.' Bayard's voice rang through the silence. The instructor stepped out in front of the group, into the centre of the semi-circle made by the stablehands and striders. 'Riders do not pick their companions, at least not in whole. Whether or not you walk out of here with a strider at your side is not up to you, but to the stablehands and companions beside them. Your test starts now.'
The recruits scattered.
Subria took one stumbling, half-step forwards before her gaze caught on the companion standing at the end of the curving line, apart from the others.
Erebos growled, too low for Subria to hear, but she felt it, running through her blood, turning it cold.
No other human noticed, but the ruc-pard did.
The blue-grey animal swung its gaze to Subria.
Her heart froze. The animal was huge, taller than the sternards, but where they were mountains of muscle, the 'pard exuded danger and death. Its blue-grey coat shone under the lights, gleaming in shades of silver and violet, while its black hairless tail swished from side-to-side. Wicked claws were sheathed at the end of its six long, muscular legs, and unbidden came the memory of how they looked soaked in blood, how they tore flesh.
The animal gaze caught Subria's, deep and dark, pulling her forwards—
Erebos hissed, the sound jerking her out of the 'pard's gaze.
Air shuddered into her lungs, and she spun away, staring blindly in the opposite direction, fighting the memory of a dark, dead forest and blood. It rang in her head, the sickening crunch, the hot, metallic scent.
Erebos hummed, his tail wrapping tighter around her bicep. The prick of his claws bringing her attention back to him.
His forepaws were propped on the leather pad over her shoulder, lifting himself upright on his forepaws while the rest of him remained draped around her neck.
She concentrated on breathing, on Erebos's tail wrapped around her arm, his paws kneading her shoulder, the rustle of his wings. She focused on all of that, using it to push the darkness away, behind the thin shield of denial. Prayed it would hold.
Instructor Bayard was watching her, the older woman's expression considering. Subria imagined the dark gaze peeling back the layers of her skull, peering inside and prying out her nightmares.
She looked away, caught a glimpse of Doctor Temple disappearing down a dark corridor, and fell into huge caramel eyes set in a broad blunt face. Subria forgot about the scent of blood and decay, about the ruc-pard, and saw only the honey-coloured sternard.
Her feet moved of their own accord. One moment she was in front of the lift, the next she was surrounded by the musky scent of fur and the warmth radiating from the sternard.
'This is Yaara.' A woman Subria hadn't seen spoke. 'But I don't think you two need an introduction.' The handler grinned at Subria's outstretched hand, the one she didn't remember lifting.
She snatched the limb back.
'Sorry,' she said, forcing herself to look at the woman, even though everything in her itched to stroke Yaara's big, hairy nose.
It wasn't just rude to touch another's companion without permission; it was dangerous. She knew that well enough; Erebos wasn't shy about sinking fangs and talons into those stupid enough to forget. Like she'd just done.
And yet, she couldn't help reaching out again, wondering if Yaara's fur was as soft and deep as it looked.
'I just…' Her attention drifted back to the sternard, and she heard rather than saw the smile in the handler's voice.
'I get it, kid, but you're safe enough with this girl. She wouldn't hurt a fly.'
Her breath caught in her chest as the sternard reached back, dipping her great blocky head, angling it so Subria's hand slipped behind her ear. The breath left her chest, and her heart stopped as her fingers sank into Yaara's pelt. It was softer, warmer and thicker than… than—
Yaara butted her in the chest.
From somewhere far off, the handler laughed and said, 'Breathe, kid.'
Subria took a deep, shuddering breath, the sweet, warm scent of Yaara's fur soaking the air.
Erebos slid out from under her hair, a sleek shadow resting his forepaws on her bicep, his double wings half-mantled, his neck arched and all four eyes locked on Yaara.
Subria held her breath, thought the handler did the same.
The sternard rolled big brown eyes, almost as big as Erebos's head. The strider could eat the little flyer in one bite and pick her teeth with the shards of Subria's bones, if she wanted. The only companion more dangerous than an angry sternard was the blue-grey ruc-pard in the corner, the one whose gaze she could feel boring into her back.
Carefully, Subria started to pull away, feeling the loss in her bones as keenly as the embarrassment for letting herself get carried away, for not thinking. If Erebos decided to attack—
The flyer crooned and, quick as a linch-adder, leapt from Subria's arm to wrap himself around Yaara's head and rub his jaw between her ears.
She snapped her mouth closed. 'I think he likes her.'
'Yeah.' The handler grinned again. 'Well, congrats, kid. That's got to be one of the fastest bondings I've ever seen, although I will admit, when that flyer came out from under your hair, I thought we might have a problem—'
Pain exploded in Subria's ears.
CHAPTER THREE
Subria dropped to her knees.
She had no breath to scream. There was only the pain in her head, drilling through her ears in a high-pitched whine, digging through bone and skin until it reached
