A Breath of Snow and Ashes
Chapter One
An Interrupted Conversation
The dog sensed them first. Dark as it was, Ian Murray felt rather
than saw Rollo's head lift suddenly near his thigh, ears pricking.
He put a hand on the dog's neck, and felt the hair there ridged with
warning.
So attuned as they were to each other, he did not even think
consciously, "Men," but put his other hand to his knife and lay
still, breathing. Listening.
The forest was quiet. It was hours 'til dawn and the air was still
as that in a church, with a mist like incense rising slowly up from
the ground. He had lain down to rest on the fallen trunk of a giant
tulip tree, preferring the tickle of wood-lice to seeping damp. He
kept his hand on the dog, waiting.
Rollo was growling, a low, constant rumble that Ian could barely
hear but felt easily, the vibrati ... read full excerpt from Breath of Snow of Ashes ebook
