Snippet #1427982

Ray watched as the woman named Ivory and her Pan examined his cougar. He inclined his head to their comments, and then the others began introducing themselves. Ezekiel. Ivory. Kasper. Br'nard. Bricana. Jinx. Alyss. All of them powerful names, and as each spoke, the forest seemed to get denser with every passing second. He examined the minds of the pure animals carefully, to see if they could sense anything that would be pontentially dangerous to them. They weren't quite at ease, yet weren't panicking either. He took that as a good sign and stepped forward. "Raymond," he said, his voice seemed unaturally loud in the silence. The shapeshifter, Alyss, had shifted into various forms and finally settled into what appeared to be an eagle. The cougar beside him shifted impatiently. He pressed some of his calm unto her. The dark circles under each and every man's [or woman's] eyes seemed to grow until their eyelids were nearly dropping. He was tired as well. Even if they didn't care much for his "transportation," they would have to accept it unless they planned on walking there, or in Alyss' case, flying.
"If we are to make camp soon, we must leave immediately."
He called with his mind, gently touching that of the roan mare's. She hesitantly stepped into the clearing, obviously frightened of the cougar and fox. The spotted panther also strode into the clearing, touching his nose to the cougar's before turning back around. A few more wild horses, three Bays, and a small Pinto stallion, were coaxed by his mental request. He deemed- with all these animals, they would all fit. He didn't dare to call back any more animals- their absense would be noticed by the witch's spies. He gestured to the animals, impatient to be moving, nearly swaying on his feet.
"It's safe," he muttered warily.