»I tell you, beast had big eyes - could see everything.«

»And big ears - could hear your heartbeat,« the mare in the stall next to Lyl'ra's, the first one from the entrance, cut into her neighing.

»Fangs so sharp - could cut through your scales,« whinnied another mare in a mock, tired of hearing the story over and over again.

»We heard you, many times, Lyl. Beast moved silently at night; you wouldn't know until it bit into your throat. It did not, did it, Slyph?«

»No,« neighed the scalehoof mare, enjoying her owner's care. »Beast was true to her word. Curious about our owner, way he takes care of us.«

»Sylph is too trusting; beast was dangerous,« Lyl'ra insisted, frustrated that the others didn't believe her and made fun of her.

»Very dangerous,« the older mare nodded, much to her surprise, reeling from the rush of pleasure of having the dirt cleaned from all the folds of her scales covering her back. "True to her word, but deceitful."

"Sometimes I really wish I understood you," Scoresby laughed, continuing to clean his mare's scales. "Or not? I hope you're not bad-mouthing me?"

Just a jest, the scalehoofs in the stable knew, but they couldn't help but pity the humans. The Big Runes didn't do them well - beast humans and other two-legged creatures, too. The runes spoke a tongue every creature learned to understand, each representing a meaning, an intent - but not the humans.

They saw but did not hear. Instead of enriching their tongues with the meaning of the Great Runes, they changed their language in their image, ignoring the intent behind them altogether. Quite ironic, when the Word Tongue they spoke, or the Eleaden Standard as the humans called the language, not a language suited for most beasts, monsters, and animals to voice, was full of intent and therefore allowing it to be understood by all kinds of creatures.

Pitiable, it truly was. While the animals, beasts, and most of the monsters, retained their own unique tongues and gained the capacity to understand others, the humans, Terr'dens, and other races lost theirs while remaining deaf to what the rest of the world was telling them.

Of course, the humans themselves didn't regard it as their loss. After all, they weren't able to talk to the beasts in the first place. Instead, they saw it as a win. The new language allowed them to communicate with other races and even nations of their own race.

Naturally, there were exceptions to their inability to hear the meaning.

Some, like their stable keeper, learned to listen to the scalehoofs' tongue; the man learned to understand them. But as with many, it was out of necessity for his work, something the Great Runes granted him and failed like many before him to truly hear. He understood their neighting, but not the meaning behind it.

Those who did were truly rare - and at the same time not so much.

»No, we are not,« Sylph'ra whined in response to Scoresby's question about whether they bad-mouthed him, to which the old man smiled.

Stolen novel; please report.

"I see, good."

While much of it came from her body language, without realizing it, he understood the intent in her whine to some degree.

»I envy you, your owner,« neighed the stallion in the stall across the aisle. »Mine comes only when there stuff to haul.«

»Better than mine. Her whip bites sharply,« one of the mares remarked.

»Bite of a beast sharper, kills,« Lyl'ra argued. »Why not ride around forest? Like when Liam's female rides with us.«

»Shorter, faster,« Sylpha explained for the hundredth time.

»But dangerous. Still feel the presence of the beast. Almost like beast prowling right outside the door.«

"W-well," came a low, gruff, yet feminine voice from behind the stable door. "That's because I'm here."

Lyl'ra shook herself from her head to the tip of her tail. »Swear I can still hear the beast, terrible.«

However, none of the present scalehoofs answered her, their eyes and attention fixed on the stable door.

"Please don't be afraid of me," came the female voice again, and this time Lyl'ra froze, realizing it wasn't just her imagination. "I didn't come here to hurt you, only to talk to Scoresby; he's a human; he should be inside. Can I come in?"

»No!« Lyl'ra bellowed, retreating to the back of her stall.

»Show yourself, beast.«

»Let us see you.«

At the neighing of the other scalehoofs, the beast emerged from behind the door, staying standing on the threshold, with the young beast-human peeking in curiously from behind it.

»The beast! That the beast!« Lyl'ra's loud, frightened neighing echoed through the stables' interior.

»She not lying. Female a beast.«

»Human too.«

»Sharp eyes.«

»Big ears.«

»Show your fangs.«

The beast obeyed, revealing its teeth in a grin.

»Not too big. But sharp, dangerous.«

»Truthful, though,« Sylph'ra pointed out. »If says it won't hurt, it won't hurt.«

A brief, heated debate ensued among the stabled scalehoofs as to whether to let the beast in. There were many of them, and there was only one beast. That, however, didn't mean the danger wasn’t there. The beast might be as fast as Lyl'ra described it, too much for the scalehoofs to handle. But just as well, the beast might be truthful as Sylph'ra claimed and had come to speak to the human.

»Tell human talk to beast outside,« one of the stallions suggested, and Lyl'ra immediately agreed.

»Yes, talk outside. Outside the city.« A bit ridiculous, she knew, but the safest way. Sylph'ra was foolish to think otherwise. The beasts could not be trusted. They were cunning, looking only to do harm. Her family was gone because of them, killed on the road, with her the only survivor. No, for the beast not to be dangerous meant to be far from it - as far as possible.

»How make them talk outside?« Silly Sylph'ra argued, but much to her frustration, Lyl'ra had no idea, and neither did the other scalehoofs. Humans didn't understand them.

But little did they realize that the beast did, and it was listening.

"Don't worry. I don't mind talking outside," the beast spoke, turning her attention to the old human, who was silently watching the reaction of the scalehoffs to the beast with great curiosity the entire time.

"G-good morning, Mr. Scoresby. I… can we talk outside? The scalehoofs are not comfortable in my presence."

"Yes, I've noticed - morning to you too, Korra. Quite a shame, if I may say so, though. The stable keeper said he could use someone else around here who could understand them."

Hearing that, Lyl'ra's legs almost buckled under her. Beasts tend to them? She must have been asleep, having a terrible nightmare.