He lay there, in a cold sweat, praying he was not discovered. And as he waited in the night’s silence, he expected to hear the man jumping down, coming back and grabbing him.

A moment later, to Aidan’s surprise, he felt movement and heard the horses walking again. He was flooded with relief, and he thanked God he had the cover of darkness. He let out a deep breath, and vowed not to move again all the way until they reached Andros.

Hour followed hour, Aidan resting as comfortably as he could with the carriage jostling, and slowly he found himself drifting back towards sleep. His eyes heavy, he was nearly dreaming again—when suddenly he felt something moving against his leg.

Aidan lay there, frozen in fear, wondering. It moved again. Something was in there, in the hay, with him. Something alive. Could it be a snake had found its way into the hay?

Aidan knew he should stay still, but he couldn’t help it. He slowly lifted the hay, just enough to see—and he saw a sight that he would never forget. There, beneath the hay, were several dead animals—a dead deer, three dead fox, and a dead boar, all bound by their paws, bound together with coarse twine. Yet that was not what stunned him; there was one other animal, bound to them, too, that lay there, bloody, wounded: a small dog. Aidan was even more stunned to see it move its paw.

It was no ordinary dog, Aidan could see right away, but a Wood Dog, a wild breed that lived in the woods, nearly twice the size of a normal dog and rumored to be a fierce animal. This one had a white coat, short hair, a thick muscular body, a long, narrow jaw, and piercing, soulful green eyes which stared up helplessly at Aidan. It lay on its side, breathing hard, clearly in pain, moving its paw limply. It was, Aidan was pained to see, dying. Aidan saw the gash across the animal’s leg and saw it look at him with a look of desperation. It was a plea for help.

Aidan’s heart broke. There was nothing he hated to see more than a wounded animal. He immediately recalled the banner of his house, a knight holding a wolf, and he knew it was also his family’s sacred obligation to save any animal in need. Obligation or not, he could not let any animal suffer.

Aidan recalled that Wood Dogs, despite their tame appearance, were even more dangerous than wolves. He had been cautioned not to go near one. And yet as Aidan studied it, he did not sense it wished to harm him; on the contrary, he felt a connection to this animal. He burned with anger that it had been treated this way, and he knew he could not let it die.