l2

        Lyar had been searching for the wher for three sevandays straight and it was beginning to take its toll on Dane and Lyar. The canine was becoming slower and less quick to complete commands and the heat of the days were starting to give Lyar a fever. But the worst was the snow that was soon to start to fall, with the sun and the snow the heat and the reflecting sun from the snow would make travel for the two impossible. Luckily the sun was setting and the coolness of the night was enough to keep them going, as they walked Dane would whine softly but still kept walking. She could tell by the gait in the canine that he was in pain, she stopped them cart and stepped down. The small fever caused her to stumble as she walked to the canine; Dane wagged his tail as his master knelt by him. Kese chirped a slow and quite chirp.
      "I know you two are tired, I am too and like this if we found the wher we would be no match for him. We must find shelter somewhere other than sleeping in the cart,” said Lyar as she scratched Dane behind the ear. She stopped and slipped the straps off the canine, she struggled as she picked Dane up for her strength was being sucked away by the fever. She set the canine in the cart and went back to the straps; she was about to strap herself in when she heard the gallop of a runnerbeast. She turned to see Deme riding a runner, he stopped and the cart and slipped off.
       "Hey you don't look so good...anyway I just heard that there is going to be a blizzard tonight. Since you have no hold I've got you a room at a hold nearby. It's a real small one, it only has a man, woman and their son" said Deme as he took the reigns from her hands and hocked them to his runner.
        "Is there a reason why I am going?" asked Lyar as she stepped into the cart and sat next to Dane who licked her hand happily.
        "I don't want the best wher catcher in the southern continent to get sick and loose their ability" answered Deme as he sat in the cart and flicked the reigns.
       "That's just like you, wake me when we get there" said Lyar as she lay down and began to drift of when Dane snuggled up next to her. She thought a smile and finished drifting off to sleep. As the cart took a sudden stop the jolt awoke Lyar and Dane, she sat up and looked around to see a hold to their left. She then saw that Deme had unhooked his runner and was riding off; she slipped on her cloak and placed the maps and thorns in the secret pockets in the cloak. She stepped down and was followed by Dane; she pulled the cart to the hold and placed it under a rock that was jutting out. She then entered the hold to be met by the woman.
        "You must be Lyar, we've been expecting you. Your room is straight ahead and the first door to your left,” said the woman as she hurried to the kitchens. She followed the woman’s directions and came to her door, she pushed it open and left Dane enter first. He sniffed around the room for a bit, when he sat down Lyar new that it was safe. About a turn ago the hold that she had stayed at had traps in all the rooms, so since then she lets Dane sniff it out. The fever was now becoming harder to ignore, Lyar shook her head wearily and slipped into the furs with her boots and cloak still on. Kese followed her example and flew to the furs and fell asleep. Dane saw his master slip into the furs and thought that something might be wrong. He leapt up onto the furs and was about to lick her awake when he smelt a strange heat coming from her face, he sniffed harder and jerked his head back. He didn't like this smell; he pulled the furs up to her chin and bounded out of the room. He began to bark as loud as he could, which was pretty loud; a woman came running with an annoyed look in her face. She grabbed a broom from the floor and began to try and quite Dane, he bit into the broom and began to pull her into the room. When the woman saw the feverish look upon Lyar's face she let go of the broom and ran to the furs. Dane let go of the broom and lightly leapt up onto the furs and lay down at the other end and began to watch the woman as she looked at his master. Dane yawned and knew that with this woman here his master would be all right; he laid his head on his paws and fell asleep.
        Dane was enjoying his sleep when he smelt a watch wher; he snapped up and was on his feet. He stepped off the furs and began to sniff around for the wher; the scent became stronger as he neared the window. He reared up on his hind legs and looked out the window to see a wher walking around outside, he growled at the wher. The wher just kept walking around as if waiting for someone, suddenly a boy walks into view and greets the wher as a friend would. Dane knew that he would need to watch this boy and make sure his wher didn't hurt his master while she lay in bed. He dropped back onto four legs and returned to his place on the furs, just then a man walks in with a black bag and holds out his hand to Dane. Dane sniffed it then stopped and the man nodded and patted him on the head, he then felt his master's forehead before he reached into his bag and pulled out a thorn. Dane gave a soft growl but loud enough for the man to hear.
        "It's okay, this thorn is good" said the man as he held it out to Dane, he sniffed it and the thorn smelt like the thorns that his master used on the whers. The man then jabbed the thorn into Lyar's arm, her feverish brow began to soften. "Protect her,” said the man as he patted Dane's head and walked out of the room, he then gently closed the door so that Lyar could sleep and so that the antidote could do its job. Those words rang in his head like bells; he looked out the window to find that the wher and the boy were gone. He looked back at his master and knew that her would have to protect her from the two that he had seen outside.

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