It seemed that they stumbled and slid down the slope more than they ran.“I never thought I’d miss that cranky dragon,” Welly panted, running beside Heather. “But fleeing on foot from Morgan and her nasty flock is not going to be easy.”“Well, at least it’ll be night soon,” Heather offered. “But there sure aren’t many places to hide out here.”As at last they neared the bottom, Merlin raised a hand to halt them. Below were clustered gray shapes. They might have been boulders or tuffets of grass, but they moved.Heather peered into the thickening dusk. The shapes were animals, large and shaggy, with great back-sweeping horns. She’d seen pictures of something like them once. Deer? No, not plain deer. Reindeer.The four walked down slowly now. The animals milled about but didn’t flee. Then Heather saw that a man was riding one. As they reached more-level ground, the bearded man directed his reindeer toward Merlin.“You need swift mounts,” he said simply. “Take some of my herd, some to ride and some as cover.”“How…?”
