Bune grabbed the Bicorn's reins, wrestling the thrashing beast. "Easy! What in the nine hells has gotten into you?" The creature was foaming at the mouth, eyes rolling back in its head, desperate to put distance between itself and Zac.
"Hurry up!" Marchosias roared, his patience snapping. "We are wasting time!"
Zac scrambled to his feet, dusting off his new robes. "Okay, okay! Maybe it just doesn't like the smell of the new detergent!"
He tried again, approaching more cautiously this time. He was ready to dodge. Even without fear, he had a healthy respect for physics, and he didn't want to be squished by some horse before he had a chance to be properly squished by Skarg.
He reached out.
The reaction was instantaneous. The Bicorn didn't just buck; it threw itself against the stall bars in a frenzy, shrieking in terror as if Zac were made of liquid fire.
Marchosias barked, "Enough."
A stream of silver fire erupted from his mouth. It wasn't a chaotic blast, but a focused lance of annihilation. It struck the Bicorn mid-thrash. There was no scream, no blood. Where the silver flame touched, matter simply ceased to exist. In a blink, the Bicorn was gone, erased from reality. All that remained were four smoking hooves standing in the straw and the smell of ozone.
Silence fell over the stable.
Bune stared at the empty space where a horse used to be. He sighed, a long, mournful sound from both heads. "Sir… that was one of the good saddles."
"I do not care," Marchosias snapped, lowering his hand. Smoke curled from his fingertips. "Get a non-defective steed. This is taking far too long. Bring out the mare in stall four. She's old, she shouldn't be jumpy."
Zac was still processing the fact that Marchosias had just kaiju-blasted a heavily armored demon horse into absolute nothingness when Bune returned leading a heavy, grey mare. The butler didn't wait for Zac to try mounting on his own. He scooped the human up with four clawed hands and unceremoniously dumped him into the saddle.
"Apologies for the delay, Captain," the Left Head called out. "Just a minor glitch."
The moment Zac's butt hit the leather, the 'glitch' became a catastrophe.
The mare shrieked, a sound that vibrated in Zac's teeth, and launched herself into the air. Zac grabbed the pommel, holding on for dear life as the beast bucked with the force of a tectonic shift.
"Whoa! Easy, girl! Easy!" Zac yelled, which was about as effective as asking a hurricane to calm down.
Bune tried to grab the bridle, but a flailing hoof caught him square in the chest, sending the two-headed butler flying backward into a pile of hay. Around them, the other stalls erupted into chaos, bicorns stomping and snorting, infected by the panic radiating from the mare.
"What are you doing, Avatar?!" Marchosias roared over the din.
"NOTHING!" Zac screamed back, his knuckles white as he clung to the saddle horn. "I AM ACTIVELY DOING NOTHING!"
In the corner, the massive black warg, woke up. The scent of panic and prey triggered an instinct deeper than sleep. With a snarl, it launched itself across the stable, a black blur of muscle and teeth. It slammed into the bucking mare, jaws clamping onto its throat.
The impact sent Zac flying. He hit the stone floor hard, rolling to a stop just in time to watch Goremaw tear the bicorn's throat out in a spray of black ichor. The warg didn't hesitate; it began to feast immediately, the sounds of tearing meat echoing in the suddenly silent stable.
Zac looked up, panting. Marchosias sat frozen atop his own steed, his expression one of stunned silence. The Captain looked completely baffled.
Bune picked himself up from the hay, dusting off his tailcoat. He marched over to the carnage. "Goremaw! Stop eating that bicorn! Bad warg! Shoo! You've already got your food!" He pointed imperiously at the pile of ribs in the corner.
The mini coup-sized wolf gave a defiant huff, licked its bloody muzzle, and slunk back to its corner, though it kept a hungry eye on the fresh kill.
Bune turned to Marchosias, wringing his hands. "Captain, I am mortified. I will get another. The chances of two being skittish in a row… I will have strong words with the breeder. Unacceptable."
Marchosias didn't answer. He swung his leg over his saddle and slid to the ground with a heavy clank of armor. He walked slowly toward Zac, his eyes narrow, calculating.
Zac looked up at the looming wolf. 'Oh my hero,' he thought, a little thrill running through him despite the carnage. 'Save me, wolf daddy. Pick me up and carry me away from the scary horses.'
Marchosias reached down, grabbed Zac by the scruff of his robes, and lifted him effortlessly. But instead of carrying him away, he marched over to his own mount, a massive, battle-hardened stallion that had stood rock-steady through the whole ordeal, and plopped Zac into the saddle.
Zac frowned. "Uh, wait, I don't thi-"
The third bicorn lost its mind.
It didn't even have time to scream. It reared, eyes rolling back in pure terror, muscles bunching to throw the human.
Schwing.
Marchosias's longsword moved faster than thought. The blade was a blur of silver. It passed an inch from Zac's nose.
There was a wet thud.
The bicorn's head hit the floor. A split second later, the body collapsed, legs folding, with Zac still sitting in the saddle. He rode the dead beast down to the ground, landing with a jarring impact. A fine spray of black blood splattered across his cheek.
Silence. Absolute, heavy silence.
Zac sat on the dead horse, blinking. He looked at the severed head a few feet away, then up at Marchosias. The wolf stood with his sword extended, the blade dripping. He wasn't looking at the dead horse. He was looking at Zac with an expression of dawn-breaking revelation.
"Bune," Marchosias said, his voice terrifyingly quiet. "Lock the keep down. Right now."
Bune's heads looked at each other, then at the Captain. "But… why, sir? There is a battle. The front lines…"
Marchosias turned to glare at the dragon, his eyes burning with a fierce, possessive light.
"The battle can wait," he growled. "Ose didn't just send us a liar. He sent us a treasure."