largest spike, one that seemed to be on the end of a scorpion’s tail. Then, along its spine reminded me of a porcupine with a line down its back of needle tipped quills, that at the moment were all laid flat. I also had a feeling they wouldn’t stay this way for long should it suddenly get pissed off. But then Lucius saw me looking and commented,
“Its tail is quite poisonous, along with the quills along its back that can be fired but…”
“Oh goodie, the added fear to the journey will make it go all the quicker and much more enjoyable,” I quipped, making Lucius inform me,
“As I was saying, it is why it is contained in metal,” he continued, making me say a quick,
“Ah.”
“Yeah, ‘ah’ indeed… now I will lift you so you can put your right foot in the stirrup before swinging your left leg around,” he told me, nodding towards the arched metal ring that was strapped and attached to the large saddle that was clearly big enough for two. It was also beautiful, like most things in this realm, as the white leather was intricately decorated with embossed Elvish symbols that were interwoven in elegant vines. As for the rest of the creature, its feet were like large horses’ hooves, that stamped in the dirt impatiently, kicking up the burnt orange dust.
However, its head was another thing entirely, as it looked like a human man had been shifting into a lion before being caught frozen between the two forces. It had the flat black nose that followed down into the snarling mouth of a beast, with three rows of deadly looking teeth that I wanted to keep as far away from my body parts as possible.
Its eyes, however, were a greyish blue and were shaped like a man’s, along with a long forehead and ears that were tucked under a coarse fur that made up a flaming red mane. It was unnerving the way those knowing eyes looked at me, as they seemed far too intelligent to belong to an animal the Fae race used as transport. Hell, but I half expected him to speak and tell me to lay off the donuts as I was hoisted up into the saddle.
I also wished I could have said that I had been graceful in this ‘mounting of the beast’, a million Pip jokes not withstanding at that terminology. Yet graceful and the name Amelia Draven didn’t usually go hand in hand unless I was swinging a blade at someone’s head. Which meant that I overcompensated in my ‘swinging leg’ and nearly went sliding right off the other side in a heap. Of course, I would have done, had it not been for Lucius saving me while mounting the beast himself and using my sliding leg as leverage to do so. which also served its purpose in pulling me back upright at the same time.
“Smooth, cowboy,” I commented, making him chuckle behind me before whispering in my ear,
“I know… in fact, one may think that I had planned for your clumsy infliction to strike and counteracted its failure with a graceful move of my own.” I looked back over my shoulder at him to give him a pointed look, knowing that I would find him smirking down at me.
“Yeah, yeah, cocky much?” I grumbled, at which he laughed before wrapping his arms around me and taking hold of the reins that were attached to the harness around the creature’s head. Then he made a clucking sound as his tongue hit the roof of his mouth, which told the beast to move forward with the rest of the herd that had already started to move.
“What did you say this creature was again?” I asked, not recognising it the first time from any books, but then when he said the name again, something twigged in my memory bank.
“It is known as a Manticore.”
“The Man Eater?!” I shouted, a little too loud considering I was currently sitting on its back.
“A little louder there, sweetheart, and I fear he might take it as an invite,” Lucius teased. As for me, I refrained from retorting with a sarcastic, ‘well that’s all we need, a ride that eats us at the end of our journey,’ just in case it could understand us. But then suddenly that old Persian fable my father used to tell me came back and had me reciting some of it aloud.