He spotted them about the same time as they spotted him, yet it was clear that the startle was greater for the duo than it was for Kelec. He too came to a halt - for the third time, this was turning out to be quite the jarred start to his new life - and watched with intrigue as a tall bay horse froze between the trees ahead, guarded by a very impressive, very protective.. well, not dog exactly. There had been canines living side by side with his family and he knew them well enough, as he knew the wolves of the wild, the foxes and the jackals of the southern deserts. This creature was something else, something more basic than that. Like the purified form of a hound, with all the intensity of a dying star. Quite frankly it was impressive, and the face of the hybrid brightened in admiration of the magnificent beast.

His attention was torn towards its larger companion however as a deep and rough, albeit somewhat frightened sounding voice cut through the air. Eyebrows flew up towards the hairline in astonishment, and without thinking Kelec moved forward, intrigue and excitement clearly visible in his entire being. Ice blue eyes ran like clear water over the frame of the equine, taking in the similarity and the difference between them, touching upon the horn and the metallic marking on the flank...

"Amazing" he said, more to himself than to the horse and quite indifferent as to whether he would understand or not. "I thought... But apparently not. Seems the legends were wrong after all."

A warm smile broke out on the lips of the red-haired, and after a calming breath he straightened the back and attempted to meet the gaze of the unicorn - quietly hoping that it -he?- wouldn't have been scared off already.
"I am Kelec, a centaur" he presented himself and gestured with the hands towards his chest, forming the words overly clearly in case his speech would be less easy to understand for the other than the horse's were to him. "I mean no harm - do not be afraid."

Letting the arms fall to the sides the young stud mulled over the situation for a moment, then slowly allowed the knees to bend beneath himself and sank down onto the ground, legs folding neatly below the heavy body to make himself seem smaller, less intimidating. His gaze lingered on the odd pair hopefully as he fingered a string of beads that hung from one of the many braids in the hair, thoughts almost visibly spinning within his mind.

"I didn't know I could understand equine tongue" he finally said, head tilting as he studied the glass-horned bay curiously. "While we certainly knew that your kin possessed more intelligence than the average animal, we never mingled with you, and never did you make any attempts at communicating with us. The legends claim that you are mute, but apparently that isn't true..."

As he spoke the centaur began searching the pockets of his vest with long fingers, a practiced dance that after a minute produced a slice of cured meat. He held it out by the tips of his fingers, gingerly offering it to the way flame-beast - prepared to let go quickly should it decide that a hand looked tastier than dry deer.