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"Wow" L nudgedin awe "The Pool of Phaedra" I was finally here My lips trembled and I felt tears prickle behind ettin’ all watery are ye?" L teased

I gave her a little push and she laughed I don’t knohat I would have done without her Impulsively, and so unlikeAt first she tensed with surprise… and then tentatively she put her ared ave rinned at her and then walked around her, following the tug of e of the lake Behind it grew a blue plant, the colour of the lake itself, vivid and alien, the sweet s up out of it

"The Somna Plant?" L asked fro for it

"No’it all," I whispered, reaching for ht be able to plant this to grow more crops Mayhap they can withdraw its properties and discover other uses for it"

"Alcheettin’ the dalanced around warily now

I frowned as I carefully pulled the plants out by the roots and wrapped the the plant into my pack just as carefully

L exhaled shakily "Well, I don’t be wantin’ to alarht be hittin’ a spot o’ trouble on the way back down"

My heart thu me dizzy "Trouble? What trouble?"

She shook her head, her eyes narrowed in frustration "I don’t be knowin’ yet Soift, as ma calls it, has a warped sense o’ hu look at the Pool of Phaedra, L and I hurried back into the woods I trusted that L had been paying attention to the route we’d taken, and as I followed her, having taken note just in case, I saw that she had I shouldn’t have expected anything else

We were both tense and anxious as we h the Arans All I wanted now that I had the plant was to get back to Silvera and Haydyn as quickly as possible

As the wood creaked and cracked around us, ould co our heads, our eyes wide as we studied the landscape around us There would be nothing We’d look at each other, ain, our departure faster downhill that it had been going up

Dusk passed into dark and still we strode through the woods, desperate to get back to L’s ho for the perfect place to bed down for the night When , and still L hadn’t stopped, it was al L to just choose somewhere already, when the hair on the back of rowl sounded from my left and I drew to an abrupt halt L heard it too and spun around to look at me Her eyes flicked to the direction of the sound "Mountain dog," she told ht it up, aiht be cohtened but needing to see for ht of the large dog merely metres froh, with little bald patches here and there Its sharpfroot to be takin’ this oin’ Its pack can’t be too far behind it"

Just as the dog ed with perfect ai’s flesh It whined and collapsed mid jump I exhaled in relief and turned to thank L only to yell out to her as another dog lunged out of the woods and onto her It took L down, its jaws cla to reach for her crossbohich had fallen out of her hands, and keep the dogs teeth off of her

I acted without thought

With the hunting knife in hand, I leapt on the dog, plunging the blade deep and up into its belly It jaws lashed out atme by an inch, before it whined and slurabbed the top of her ar’s blood stained her trousers

Her own stained her jacket, where the dog had ripped it open and tore into the muscles of her shoulder It was deep She swayed a little and I reached to catch her In her usual gruffness L batted o"

When she took off at a run, I followed, anxiety gripping ht now When that dissipated, I needed to get her home to Sarah as soon as possible

Finally L drew to a stop, the pallor of her skin worryingly pale So white I pulled out the cloth the Somna Plant rapped in and put the plant back into the pack With a briskness L couldn’t argue with, I re a tourniquet up over the aound It would stem the flow of blood but that was it Hastily, I put her shirt back on as she lolled in ary biscuits on her and so over her, trying to keep her awake

Chapter Twenty Seven

I’d never been so thankful indown theweaker by the hour, eren’t as quick as I would have liked in getting her back hoht on this trip I was glad I’d paid attention to the route we’d taken, for L orryingly disorientated the rest of our way back to her ho her conscious, I feltwoain And with my old deter for food or rest, until I had her back to Sarah I wasn’t letting anything happen to the girl who had savedin return

As if she sensed us, the door to the shack flew open, and Sarah rushed to arden path

"What happened?" Sarah’s eyes blazed orry

"Mountain dog," I bit out, reliefme weak Thankfully Sarah took hold of L and carried her the rest of the way into the house