Page 141 of The Last One
Roo!Roo!The dog snuffles at the ground, more excited than before. She smells us.
Good dog.She’s achieved what she’s been trained to do.
Bad dog.That means finding us and hastening our deaths.
The clanking and clomping near—but the snuffling dog will find us first.
Jadon’s eyes bulge with dread. Leaves now protrude from his chin and cheeks—he’s half man and half oak. Leaves poke from his forehead, but his eyes… Still bright blue, still human.
“Close your eyes,”I think at Jadon.
His eyes snap shut.
Did he actually hear me?
Veril squeezes his eyes shut…pressing…disappearing behind a facade of leaves.
I guess enchanting people takes more effort than enchanting cottages and dying forests.
The bloodhound trots over to stand before me. On the other side of Veril’s concealment, she’s blurred and gauzy. Drool hangs like strings from her mouth. She sees me through the evolving enchantment. I can’t tell if she sees Veril, Jadon, or Philia—or if she cares to. Right as she tilts her head back to howl again…
I hold my finger—which is still my finger and not yet a twig—to my lips.Shh.
The dog stops and cocks her head.“It’s you!”
I blink at her.“Do we know each other?”
Jadon commands the dog in his mind.“Go away! Shoo!”
“Daisy!” a soldier shouts.
The dog pants, pleased with herself, happy to see me.
Affection swells within me—Daisy is a cutie—but she needs to leave.
I shush her again.
“What is it, Daisy?” that same soldier asks. “What did you find?” He comes to stand on the other side of the log. His skin is as brown as tree bark, and his eyes are the same green as the moss on this trunk. His armor looks like it was made only yesterday.
“Why does she keep doing this?” another man whines, coming around to our side of the log. His flame-red hair bleeds into his bushy beard.
“Because alerting is her job,” the moss-eyed man answers.
I flick my hand at the dog.“Move back, please.”
Daisy backs away and dips her head.“Why can’t I come closer?”
I flick my hand again.“Because I need to hide.Move back a little more, please.”
Daisy takes another step away from me. She pants with excitement.“How’s this?”
I can’t see Jadon, but I can hear him thinking,“What the fuck is going on right now?”
How much longer can this enchantment last?
There are two columns of men on horseback. I count…one, two…five…fourteen total.
The cords in Veril’s neck pound against his skin.
