Eldred wrapped his trunk around the horse’s ribs and slammed it to the ground again.
“Until I can’t no more, me!” Eldred trumpeted, ruffling the horse’s mane with the breeze. Bending a forelimb back, Eldred proceeded to kick the prone horse in the chest.
Lidia the mouse winced as something inside the horse made a cracking sound. The horse was clearly dead. And yet, Eldred continued, stomping up and down like a happy cat on a quilt. A huge foot slammed down on the horse’s skull, and something popped out. Scurrying over, Lidia retrieved the tooth. The mouse watched Eldred pick the horse up one more time and toss it against the street sign. Pausing, Eldred trumpeted his fury, and the mouse darted forward.
“Eldred, that’s enough,” squeaked Lidia. “You’ve beaten him plenty. You gotta stop.”
Eldred breathed heavily and looked down at the mouse. The elephant’s face drooped, and he ducked his head.
“Sorry, Lidia,” said Eldred. “You know elephants never relent.”
“I know big guy,” replied Lidia, holding the tooth in one hand and patting the elephant’s trunk with the other. “But we’ve still got a long way to go, right?” Lidia pointed to the street sign.
“Old Town Road,” read the elephant, nodding.
“That’s right, squire,” came a wheezing voice, “and if you wanna get to the end, I’d appreciate havin’ all my bits and pieces, eh?”
Elephant and mouse looked over to where the horse was shakily rising to its feet. A bit worse for the wear, the undead thing still looked structurally sound, and its eyes had regained some of their fiendish red light. It clacked its jaws together a couple times, then looked pointedly at the mouse.
Lidia scurried over and replaced the tooth.
“That’s better,” clacked the horse. “Now, hop on up ‘ere, squire,” said the horse to Eldred. “And I’ll take you along the avenue until I can’t ride no more, right?”
Every muscle in the elephant’s face contorted, and Lidia groaned.
“Until I can’t no more, me, you useless sack of glue,” growled Eldred.
“Easy for you to say,” complained the horse. “You ain’t carryin’ a three-ton bag of peanuts on you!”
Eldred trumpeted and charged the horse.
“Oh, not again!” squeaked Lidia, and darted forward.