"Found you."
The words echoed through the orchard as trees crashed down in the distance. The Snark was coming, and we needed to run.
But Astro grabbed my arm, pulling me sideways off the path.
"Not that way. It's tracking our scent. We need to mask it."
"How?"
"The tethered wolves. Their essence confuses tracking magic."
He dragged me back toward the forest of trapped souls. Back toward the very prison we'd just escaped.
My instincts screamed against it, but another tree fell behind us, closer now. The Snark was gaining.
We plunged into the dense cluster of tethered wolves, weaving between their still forms and glowing cords. The air here felt thick, heavy with stolen essence and fading dreams.
"Stay close," Astro whispered. "Don't touch anyone. Don't look at their trees."
Too late.
I'd already seen him.
Kael.
The rebel wolf from the Den of Judgment. The one who'd argued that survival demanded blood. Who'd attacked the young wolf Ori before we'd stopped him.
