Aertis was pacing and the King, still in his wolf form, was frantically sniffing the ground. They had both detected it, the strange smell that was mixed up with Lyria’s scent. It was unfamiliar, not just to Aertis but to Wallace. That troubled her.
And yet it also felt faintly familiar, as if she had caught it before.
Before she could contemplate that further, the King shifted back into his human form. Immediately, he barked orders to the assembled group. “Spread out, now. I want the entire territory searched for any trace of that scent,” he pointed to where the wheel marks were still undisturbed in the mud. “Aertis,” he added, “I want to speak with you.”
She waited as the others around her shifted and ran off, their heavy paws and heavy breathing growing faint as they disappeared into
