Raised From The Wild-Chapter 244: The Summit

Apollo could not continue because thick vines and bushes blocked the way. He lifted his two front hooves in the air and continued neighing. Then it looked at Vasquez and snorted.

"Cut the vines!" Marx worded what Apollo cannot say.

Vasquez got off his horse, took out his folding knife, and started cutting through the vines. His knife was very sharp. Though it wasn’t long like a sword it cut like a sword.

Soon, Vasquez made an opening big enough for one horse to enter.

"It is a tunnel but it is just around two meters long." Vasquez stepped back to allow Marx to peep.

"Let’s go."

He led Apollo inside the tunnel. Amaya and Artemis followed while Vaquez and his horse who he called Toffee went last.

At the end of the tunnel, a huge plateau greeted their sight.

Princess Amaya gasped in surprise. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Marx froze.

Vasquez’s mouth formed a big O without making any sound.

Before them, was a herd of white horses lazily grazing on the ground. Amongst them were a pair of horses whose upper body was that of a human and the lower part was that of the horse. There was a pair of little half-human, half-horse walking beside them, one was taller than the other.

"Is that a tayho?" Amaya asked in disbelief.

"A what?" Marx asked Amaya.

Amaya thought for a while.

"A centaur. It is tayho in Lireyan language." Amaya explained.

Apollo and Artemis neighed happily then they started prancing toward where the family of four centaurs was standing.

The female centaur extended her slender hand to Apollo and then to Artemis. She was greeting them.

Two white horses broke off from the herd and walked slowly toward Apollo and Artemis. They rubbed noses and blew air into each other’s nostrils.

"Looks like Apollo and Artemis are siblings and those are their parents."

The two pairs of horses started running and when they were far enough they galloped around the plateau.

The plateau was more than three square kilometers. In the middle was a lake. Amaya suspected that Mount Paraiso was a volcano but the one they were standing on didn’t look like a crater of a volcano at all.

The female centaur raised its arm and pointed to a gigantic tree beside the lake. She was telling them to go there.

Amaya hesitated. Her horse ran away and the lake was not that near. Anyway, she has been on horseback for a long time. It was only right for her to use her legs.

Vasquez wanted to offer his horse to her but before he could say anything Amaya had already started running.

"Marx, let us race toward the tree." She shouted.

Marx shook his head and sighed. Amaya was acting childish. Marx started running while Vasquez mounted his horse and followed behind the two humans who looked out of place in the grazing ground of the white horses.

The centaur family watched the two humans with interest. They walked leisurely toward the tree.

Amaya and Marx arrived at the tree at the same time. While Amaya was fast, Marx was also fast and his strides were bigger compared with that of Amaya.

Amaya was panting. She realized it was a bad idea to run when the air was thin. She seemed to be lacking air even when she was still wearing the goggles.

The humans and the half-humans were finally face to face with each other. Amaya was mesmerized by the centaur’s very thick and long eyelashes and their big eyes. All four centaurs have dark brown skin both on the human part and the horse part. The hair of the two adults reached below the shoulder. They have six limbs and while their sturdy legs were very strong, their pair of hands were slender and looked weak. The female centaur did not have breasts on her human body but she had two teats under her horse belly.

"You must be very special for my two horses to take you here. You are the first humans to enter our abode. Not even Father has been here."

The three humans were surprised to hear the horse speaking in Ra-Iyan dialect. Most words in Lireya were similar to that of Ra-iyan so Amaya understood the Centaur.

"You have a father?" Amaya asked curiously even though she knew that they had a father.

"Yes, he created us but he is already dead!" The female centaur said in disgust.

"You have other brothers and sisters?" Marx probed carefully.

Amaya glanced at Marx. How could he speak in Lireyan? He was not fluent though. He spoke as if he was following someone. He must be using a translator.

"You mean animals like us who are half humans?" The centaur’s was bitter.

Marx nodded. The half-human half-horse was very smart.

"Yes, there are a lot like us. We are the oldest. Some are younger than us so we watched some of the other mutated animals grow."

"What kind of animals were they?" Marx probed further.

"Snake, bull, wolf, tiger, ape, spider and horse. I almost forgot, there was also an eagle but it was cross-bred with a lion and human."

The centaur was studying Marx who was listening intently to his mate. Were they here to experiment on them?

"What is your purpose for coming here?" A big hoarse voice assaulted the three humans’ hearing. It was unpleasant to the ears. He looked at the three of them in a hostile way.

"The horses brought us here. We only intend to explore the other side of the mountain." Amaya spoke gently. She felt that the centaur was dangerous.

Amaya looked around. She tried to divert the topic. "This is a nice place. I don’t see any wild animals."

"No. Our race is the only one who can survive here. When others accidentally wander here, they will be gasping for breath and blood will flow out from their ears." The female centaur answered gently. She trusted these humans especially the two good-looking ones in front of her.

Marx understood. It was because the air pressure was too high which could result in the eardrums being ruptured.

"Were you the one who raised Apollo and Artemis?" Amaya asked.

"Yes." Was the brief reply. The centaur was very smart. She could deduce that Apollo and Artemis were the names given to the two horses who left their abode a few full moons ago.

"I like Apollo and Artemis. Can we take them home?"

The male centaur roared.