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Only the Kornwolf and the Kornböcke, as he learned they were called, traveled with theh terrain The road itself was little different on this side of the Atlantic Bridge, though it was rutted in places froe of cart wheels The wolf trotted far ahead, sniffing the road and pausing at the crest of each hill to peruse the horizon, seeainst the return of the soldiers who had passed earlier The stag followed behind, aloof as ever, and if Oliver paused to glance its way, the ani coldly at hi, yet he never felt threatened by these strange creatures

They had saved his life, after all He had no idea why, but they had put theht was not as co as he would have expected, for it reainst him and his co that Frost and Kitsune had both survived, Oliver had asked a nuods that had intervened on their behalf and that they were only a few aly infinite nuewarht his inquiries to a halt She threw back the hood of her fur cloak and glanced at Frost, her jade eyes strangely wide

"Remarkable as it seems, there is a question Oliver has not asked," she said, more than a hint of exotic accent in her voice that he had not heard before "Is our destination much farther?"

The winteras he regarded her "I’d thought you were healing?"

Oliver sa pale Kitsune seemed Her hands were at her sides but they seeht lose her balance, there on the road

"Healing, yes But not healed I need only a little tilanced away as she uttered this admission

Frost scanned the land around the, who had stopped but took no notice of thenize the presence of anyone else on the train Oliver decided that he did not like the Kornb&ouardless of what it and the others had done, he could not help feeling that the stag thought them beneath its own station

"At our current pace it will be another hour, at least, before we enter the doen"

A pained look rippled across Kitsune’s face

Oliver scratched the back of his head, unsure if the thought that rose in his mind would be welcome But the way Kitsune trembled, he could not remain silent

"I could carry you"

All trace of one from her Kitsune smiled softly at him but shook her head "You are weakened yourself, Oliver, and did you not hear Frost? It’s an hour’s walk"

He shrugged lightly and gestured to her "Well, I couldn’t carry you like this Butas a fox"

The wind tousled his hair and blew up dirt from the road Kitsune stared at him and he felt himself hushed by her beauty, by the clash of delicacy and viciousness in her Those jade eyes so often see, but now there was only tenderness there

"Iit’s just that Frost is ice, and if he carried you--"

"I could carry you both in a stor toward the sky, "but I aet"

"We dare not risk it," Kitsune rasped, her voice like a little growl in her throat, without taking her eyes away fro"

Her words trailed off but the inquiry remained in her eyes

Oliver nodded "Of course We all need to rest, soestion would offend you"

She arched an eyebrow but without any trace of a s to puzzle it out, Kitsune reached up and raised her hood The fur rippled across her back and along her ar froely fluid metamorphosis that Oliver kneould never cease to astonish hiun case-- which he had retrieved, along with its arove-- then took off his parka and tied it around his waist as tightly as he could Despite the sun, the breeze was cool, but the effort of their journey would war across his back once ain

Ahead of them, on a rise in the Truce Road, the Kornwolf howled low Oliver frowned and glanced at the Harvest god, but the wolf did not seem alarmed, only ie flashed through Oliver’s mind of her trapped in that cherry tree, and the way its branches had captured and violated her He shuddered as he crouched to pick her up In his arms, the foxwhat Kitsune had in mind In a moment she had wrapped herself around the back of his neck like soainst his skin The extra weight was not going to make the walk any easier, but he felt sure he could handle it

"Are you sure about this?" Frost asked, a e," Oliver replied