Tova's snort denied the charge. Legend said that bond-beasts could speak to the Seekers and Keepers, but it wasn't true. It was simply that, having been with Tova almost since birth, Ashyn could read her Tova as well as she could read her twin sister.
When she turned back to the forest, Tova raced into her path and planted himself there again. He lowered his head and a noise bubbled up from his deep chest. It took a moment for Ashyn to realize what the noise was. Tova was growling. At her.
Something's wrong here.
She rubbed down the goose bumps on her arms. Tova whined in apology. When she moved forward, though, he stayed in her path. She stepped
left. He lunged to block.
"Bring him to heel," the governor said.
A Hound of the Immortals did not obey commands like a common dog. Ashyn would never dream of giving him one. Instead, she knelt, coming to eye level with him.
"I need to go into the forest, Tova. No matter how horrible it feels, this is our job. Our duty. Yours and mine."
He laid down in the path.
"Tova, please."
Again he whined in apology. But he would not move.
"Faiban," the governor snapped. "Help the girl move her dog along."
The young guard looked at Tova and shook his head. "It's a Hound, sir. We aren't to interfere."
The governor strode forward. Tova stayed where he was, growling. The governor grasped Ashyn's elbow. He only seemed to be trying to get her attention, but he startled her and she yelped. Tova sprang and his teeth clamped on the governor's arm.
The governor reeled back. His sword arm swung up, as if in self-defense. The blade flashed. Tova let out a howl and dropped.
Ashyn saw the governor pull back his sword, his eyes wide with shock. Blood flecked from the blade and oozed from Tova's rear leg. Ashyn crouched beside him. The sword had cut to the bone. Someone pressed a scarf into her hand. She looked up to see the village healer.
"Thank you," Ashyn said.
Healer Mabill helped her bind Tova's leg. Tova tried to walk but lurched and whimpered until Ashyn made him stop, and he collapsed at her feet.
"I need to take him back," Ashyn said. "He'll be fine tomorrow. Hounds heal quickly." Even as she spoke the words, she knew what the others would say.
"We can't delay the Seeking, child," Healer Mabill whispered. "It always takes place on this day, when the veil between the worlds is thin. Someone will need to go back for help while we push on."
Ashyn wanted to argue. Moria would snarl and spit like her wildcat. That's why she was the Keeper, and Ashyn the Seeker. Like Tova, Ashyn's world was ruled by duty. That duty lay with the spirits waiting for peace.
"I'll run for help," Faiban said. "I'll tell them to come for the hound, then rejoin the search."
The governor shook his head. "We need all the guards." He turned to the bard, who'd joined the group to soothe their difficult task with music. "You go. Hurry to the village and then run back to us."
The bard--a portly man who likely hadn't run in twenty summers--stared at the governor.
"We can spare you," the governor said. "If you do not go, we must bind the hound and hope someone in the village hears its howling. I know the Seeker would not want that."
The bard nodded with some reluctance and took off back toward the village as fast as his thick legs would carry him.
Ashyn tried simply to leave Tova on the path. But as soon as she'd start walking away, he'd limp after her. So, for the first time in his life, he had to be bound. Ashyn knelt and explained it as she tied him, but he kept lunging against the rope until he collapsed in pain and exhaustion.
Even then, Ashyn looked back to see him trying to crawl after them, and it took Faiban and another guard to keep her moving forward. When he began to howl, the tears started.
"He'll be fine," Faiban whispered. "He's a good, strong dog. But we can't do this without the Seeker."
Duty over self. The spirits over Tova. She only hoped he understood.