Page 17 of Moonmarked

Lie.

How in the world was this dog going to be okay when he just now was able to sit up a little better as he watched me?

“Do you, um…” I closed my eyes and tried to chase the tears away, but one slipped from the corner sneakily. “Do you maybe…”

My voice trailed off and I stood up almost absentmindedly and went back to the baskets full of nuts to look for this big wooden ladle I thought I’d seen over the walnuts. It was there, and I grabbed it, went to the water and filled it up. My hands shook, but I somehow managed not to spill all of it until I made it back to the cage, to the dog that had now eaten almost the entire second piece of meat and looked even more alert.

“I figured you’d be thirsty,” I mumbled like an idiot, but the ladle didn’t fit between the bars of the cage. It was too wide. “Oh, fuck. Hold on, let me?—”

The dog moved.

I looked to the side to try to find something smaller,but the dog actually stood up on all fours. I froze in place, the scream stuck in my throat as I watched him swaying from side to side until he managed to keep his balance. He was on the skinnier side, but not too skinny, and his fur was lighter around the back of his body, and even his tail was swooshing a bit from side to side as he steadied himself and locked eyes with me again.

Big and wide and a chocolaty golden brown—beautiful.I didn’t move an inch, didn’t blink at all, only waited…

The dog came closer and lowered his head, pressed his muzzle between the bars of his cage and stuck out his long pink tongue to drink the water I’d brought him.

Surreal.It was so fucking surreal to watch him eating and drinking, faster by the second, and when he was done, he stepped back again, sniffing the place where the meat had been before he ate it. Behind him at the edge of the cage were his feces, and it looked old. Very old. Which made me wonder about the last time this dog had eaten.

To be caged like this and to be used by a sorcerer as if you were a thing to exploit—what a fate. What a cruel fucking fate.

I stood up, dropped the empty ladle, took a couple of steps back. The war in my mind was bloody, and as I spun around in a circle slowly to take in my surroundings, I already knew which side would win.

There was nobody here. The sorcerer would have come out by now if she’d been inside this house. We were all alone, this dog and I.

Something came over me. It rose from the tips of my toes to my head. There was no way in hell I could leave this dog here and walk away. There was no way I could run now—to hell with it all. Even if these people thought itwasnormalto put dogs in a fucking cage and use their life force to do fucking spells, I didn’t.

So, I stepped closer to the cage again, where the dog was still walking in circles, sniffing the air, licking the bars of the cage, moving with even more grace than a moment ago.

“Don’t eat me,” I blurted, unsure if he could even understand English or any language at all. Unsure if dogs of Verenthia were the same as dogs on Earth. “I’m going to open this cage and set you free, but don’t eat me, okay? Just…just run. Go away. Be free.Don’teat me.”

I might have said the same thing another three times, but I thought the dog got the point when he sat on his hind legs in the middle of the cage and just looked at me.

“Right.” I cleared my throat, squatted down to inspect the lock on the bars. It was old and worn, thick rusted iron, very similar to locks back home. I tried it with my hands, just in case, but it didn’t give. Then, I scanned the yard for anything I could use to try to break it, heart racing, my blood rushing, my mind working better than it had the past day—the food. It had done wonders for me, the food and the water, just like it had for the dog.

Just inside the fence on the far right, I saw something wedged into the dirt—a wooden handle with a rusted farming blade still clinging to it. Not sharp enough to slice anything clean, but heavy enough to break something if I hit it hard enough.Hopefully.

With brand new energy rushing through my limbs, I ran to it and yanked it free, nearly falling backward from the effort. But I felt great, and even if it was for this small thing, I had a plan and I knew what the right thing to do was—free the dog from the cage—and that alone was enough to keep me moving. I ran back to the cage, clutching the bladelike it was a Lightsaber while the dog watched me with those unblinking eyes—curious. That’s all I was able to gather from the way he watched me. He was curious.

Curiouswas perfectly fine. I kneeled by the lock and positioned the blade’s edge underneath it, gripping the handle with both hands.

One hit.

Nothing.

Second—still nothing.

On the third, I whispered again absentmindedly, “Don’t eat me,” more to myself than to the dog, then stood and slammed my foot against the handle.

The lock cracked open with a loud snap.

The door of the cage swung out just a tiny bit with a weak screech. My heart took a long pause as I watched the dog slowly rise on all fours again, then move closer to the open door, sniffing the air, licking the bars again like he wanted to be sure he wasn’t being tricked or something.

My instincts moved me, and I stepped back, now suddenly terrified. The cage had actually opened, which I only now realized Iwasn’texpecting to actually happen. I thought there would be magic and spells and stuff besides that lock, but the door was actually open.

And the dog pushed it back all the way with his muzzle, then stepped outside.

Once again, my entire body froze in place. I looked at him and he looked at me, and he was there. Outside the cage, barely five feet away from me, and even though his size hadn’t changed, he looked way bigger to me now that he could actually hurt me. Jump me and bite me and kill me any way he pleased.

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