Misery loves company

We were barely on the road, and I was already feeling uncomfortable with the unwanted guest. I wasn’t sure if it was me not being used to someone travelling by my side, or if the guy was just sus. Honestly, could be both.

I wasn’t the kind of person who’d interrogate others about their life, but I could smell the bullshit from afar. Just like Horse was sensitive to malicious intents. He could react to danger before I’d even noticed there was any.

As I started to think more about it, he didn’t react to Horse at all. Since Horse was a cursed beast, many would find their first meeting with him shocking. His body was very similar to that of a griffin but with wings glued to it, while his neck and head were more horse-like.

A very bizarre combination, but it wasn’t me who came up with it.

More eye-catching was the serpent's skeleton on him, going from the head to the tail; I wondered if it had been with him from birth, but I’ve never found out. Add to it the black and green feathers, red eyes glowing behind the bone head like wisps, and you had a creature you most definitely didn’t want to meet in the middle of the night.

Despite his atrocious appearance, Horse was a rather well-behaved and intelligent creature. Never had a problem with him. Best companion I've ever had. The only thing he could do to be perfect was cooking, but it was not possible with his anatomy.

But I’ve heard when there’s a will, there’s a way, so fingers crossed.

“Are you not afraid of him?” I asked the man.

He looked at me surprised. “No, why? Why would I?”

“I’m usually met with a different reaction. People don’t find him friendly and stay away from making any contact with him.”

“I’m familiar with cursed beasts so seeing one is not something special for me. Although, he looks unique, especially with that skeleton on his back.”

“How is it that you know them?”

“They had a nest near my hometown. I used to go there quite often as a kid.”

This guy had to have a screw loose to even think about doing something so stupid and dangerous. Their mere name should tell you to be careful around them. They were still wild creatures of unknown origins, and not that easy to tame. I wouldn’t say that I tamed Horse, but we created some kind of bond over time.

“That was pretty irrational.”

“Yeah, but it was fun.” He smiled so radiantly that I couldn’t help it but felt uncomfortable.

“Yeah...” That was all I could say to sum it up.

“Are you usually travelling by yourself?”

“Why are you asking? Want to replace Horse and harness the carriage?” I said to myself. “Yeah, for the most part.”

“Mhm.”

I expected more questions to come but he decided to shut his mouth after that one. My mind truly couldn’t handle this weirdo. There was something wrong with him. Probably the pure craziness radiating from him.

“Why are you in hurry to Calena if you don’t mind saying?” I asked curiously since it was the first time I’d been met with such a request.

“I received a letter about my friend's poor health. It’s worsening and she may not be able to survive the week, hence I’m in hurry to see her one last time.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” I couldn’t not feel bad after learning that.

“It’s alright. It was predictable, since she’s never exactly been a picture of good health. But lately it became bad enough she’s been pretty much bedridden.”

“Has she seen a doctor or anyone?”

“Oh, way more than one but none could do anything.”

“Useless idiots, aren’t they?”

He shrugged. “It is what it is, I’m afraid.”

“We should reach Calena next afternoon if we will have a short night break.”

“So tomorrow? I thought it would take longer.”

“We're taking a shortcut. People usually go through villages since it’s safer, but it takes an additional day to reach the city. Since I don’t want to waste my time, I go this way.”

“Oh, right.”

There was still plenty of time before the sunset, we could travel quite a distance. Horse was going faster than your usual horse and was a lot sturdier, but had to rest too. He didn’t sleep so he usually watched over me and the carriage. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to sleep in the woods. The part where we were in wasn’t inhabited, hence I couldn’t count on any creature’s help.

Me and the stranger engaged in a bit of small talk. Dude hadn’t introduced himself yet, but why should I care? Unless he stole from, then I’d have to look for him, but I highly doubt that’ll happen. Besides that, other than being somewhat annoying, he was okay.

He definitely wasn’t from here. As weird as it sounds, he looked way too exotic for a man from the woodlands – ebony thick hair, sun-kissed skin, nicely groomed facial hair and bloody manly features.

Holy cow, this guy won a lottery. I wanted to look that manly too.

It would drastically increase my confidence—not that I’ve never had any. In this case, would anything even change? Zero times something equals zero anyway. Unless you used addition instead of multiplication, then it would make sense. I’ve never been good at math, but the multiplication table is still haunting me to this day. I've dreamed of 2xy, I kept constantly forgetting. And the minus before it. Yes, yes, the damned minus. Now I will have nightmares again...

“Hey, are you there?” The man said snapping his fingers in front of my eyes.

“No, I’m not!” I raised my voice and pushed his hand away.

“Geez, no need to be so mean.”

For the rest of the journey we didn’t say a word.

As nightfall was on the horizon, we were getting close to my usual camping spot in the middle of the forest. Now I recalled I left something there last time, but I couldn’t remember what it was. Never mind, if I forgot about it then it probably wasn’t that important.

“You don’t mind sleeping like that?” I asked the man while giving him a spare sleeping bag.

“I don’t. I used to do that quite a lot actually.”

Camping lover, huh? Didn’t look like one.

We lit the fire and went to sleep, accompanied by the cicadas' sounds. We had to move at dawn to reach Calena by the afternoon so it was better to not stay awake half of the night. I was too tired to even do that so didn’t have to worry about that. About the other guy – not my damn problem. He could even throw a party for local bugs as long as I could sleep.