The little group set out, with Doran flying ahead to show the way. Kethro got bored with being a hawk and changed back to dragon form to fly with him for a while. The plainsmen seemed unbothered by the appearance of a second dragon. Serali, though, had decided to ride with them. She was curious about them, and she hadn't ridden in some time. She summoned Orison, and swung up easily onto his bare back.

"I am Kesego," said the plainsman, with a kind of half bow. "That is a very fine horse. But how is it that you could make him appear out of nowhere?"

"It's magic. The horse was a gift from a very good friend, and the magic a gift from my teacher. The horse is a spirit that moves between the worlds," she said. "Magic lets me summon him here."

"Ah. They say that the first ancestor of our horses was such, but not only a spirit, she was also a wind goddess, so our horses are the wind's kindred."

Serali smiled. "Orison is no god. But he is a very fine horse."

She enjoyed talking with the handful of plainsmen who were herding the cattle. And watching them work with their horses was a pleasure, it was like watching some kind of dance, or moving artwork. The horses were some of the most graceful she'd ever seen, and the men rode them without spurs or bits. They had saddles, and halters, but they directed the horses with only the gentlest of nudges. Orison had been trained to leg commands, so she rode him easily enough bareback, but she didn't think she could ever equal the natural grace of the plainsmen.

Serali had forgotten how Kethro felt about horses. She was reminded on the very first afternoon, when she saw Kethro dive down to land ahead of them and then vanish. Moments later a large blood bay stallion came racing across the grass. Serali laughed and turned Orison to race with him, but with the burden of his rider the palomino couldn't keep up and she soon fell behind. She pulled Orioson back to a canter and grinned after the still-running Kethro. The she heard hoof beats behind her and Kesego came flying past her. He was riding a spotted mare, and she ran like she really was kindred to the wind. They caught up with Kethro, despite the weight of the rider, and started to pass him. He whinnied and ran faster. They raced neck and neck for some time. Kesego shifted his mare to crowd against Kethro's side and turned him, bringing them around in a long arc back towards where the others were still guarding the cattle. Kethro skidded to a halt a hundred yards or so before reaching the herd. The mare halted next to him. He whinnied and shimmered into human form, the whinny shifting to a laugh as he did.

"That was a very fine race!" he said to the startled plainsman. "Your horse is wonderful!"

Serali came trotting up on Orison's back. As she halted next to the mare she suddenly realized something. None of the plainsmen's horses had startled at her presence. The mare ought to have been unwilling to run by Kethro's side, whatever he happened to look like. "I think you all must have very wonderful horses indeed," she said with some surprise. "We all smell of dragon, they ought to be panicked, but they're not."

"My wind-sister trusts me," said Kesego. "If I show no fear, she will not be afraid either. All our horses are thus. But you," he looked at Kethro. "You were a horse, and now you are a man, and I think before that you were a dragon. What are you truly then?"

"Truly I am a dragon," he said. "But I love horses. They are amazing. I could almost wish to have a horse I could ride myself. Serali has told me that it is unlikely, as horses fear dragons. But if yours do not..."

"We do not sell our brothers and sisters," said the plainsman.

"Ah. That is a shame," said Kethro. "But ah well. I shall merely have to enjoy running as a horse myself."

"I could wish I might learn the trick of becoming a horse. Perhaps as much as you wish you could ride a horse. Perhaps more."

"I'm not sure if humans can learn it," said Kethro. He looked up at Serali.

She shook her head. "I have no idea. I know human mages have spells to do it, but they require years of training, and none of those spells can be cast quickly. Though..." she remembered Ariel and how easily she'd changed from raven to human. And she had been a dragon too. "I have known one human, or rather half human, who could, so it may be possible. Or it may not, I don't know if the gift came from her non-human blood or not."

"I see," said the plainsman. Then he gestured at where the herd was still moving along. "We should go and catch up with the rest."

"Yes." Serali turned Orison and started to trot after the herd. Kethro blurred back into equine form and trotted after her.