Page 68 of Morel Dilemma

“You are magical,” she remarked. “I think that dog is pretty smart.”

“Not him,” Bixtok said and pointed into the woods again. “Hunt magic!”

After issuing another suspicious glare at Jildarin, the copper-furred hound bounded through the trees. The white fur around her muzzle might have suggested age, but the dog moved fluidly and with great enthusiasm. If not for the bright-green vest, it would have been hard to see her once she was deep in the undergrowth since the copper-colored fur blended into the forest.

“We think the morels are likely to be found in the areas that were burned earlier this spring by dragons,” Rylana called, waving to charred trees visible near the clearing. The undergrowth had already grown back, but the blackened trunks would take a long time to recover, if they ever did.

Bixtok waved an acknowledgment but jogged in the direction the hound had charged off. It hadn’t been toward the burned area.

“I guess I can check over there myself,” Rylana said.

Jildarin sighed again. “Perhaps I was premature in assuming this plan would work.”

Baying came from the forest.

“She’s already found something!” Bixtok called.

Rylana and Jildarin trotted in the direction of the deep bays, picking their way over logs, around berry bushes, and between ferns that left their trousers wet. A thorny vine snagged the hem of Jildarin’s white chef’s coat, and he glowered in exasperation at it. The entire bramble burst into flame.

“You’re a little moody this morning,” Rylana remarked.

“I find human clothing tedious at times. A bramble would never dare assault a dragon.”

“Only because your scales are hard, sleek, and snag-proof.”

“They are superior.”

“You could go naked, if you like.”

Jildarin’s expression grew thoughtful as they clambered through the undergrowth. The hound was visible ahead, her snout pointed into the crevices of a log as her whip-like tail wagged enthusiastically.

“I’ll warn you that naked humans aren’t quite as snag-proof as naked dragons,” Rylana said. “Skin isn’t as tough as scales, and, as a male, you have various protruding… bits that would be vulnerable.”

“You refer to what the goblins call the zerg stick.”

“And ogre melons, yes.”

“Those bits do seem sensitive and vulnerable.”

“I imagine so.”

When they reached the log, Bixtok was kneeling beside the wagging dog, who, in her excitement, had forgotten all about that threat that Jildarin represented. Bixtok dug into matted fir needles and moss in one of the crevices and pulled out something covered in grime. Metal glinted as he wiped away the dirt.

“That is not a morel, enchanted or otherwise,” Jildarin stated.

“No, but it must be another magical treasure.” Bixtok grinned as he kept cleaning it. “Something grand!”

The dog spun a circle, ran toward Rylana, then ran back toward her handler. She hopped onto the log and ran back and forth on it. All the while, her tail wagged. Perhaps she had gone prematurely gray—white—and was younger than she looked.

“Your dog is very energetic,” Rylana said as Bixtok doled out little cubes of meat from a treat pouch on his belt—an act that caused the dog’s tail to wag even faster as she gulped them down.

“Willow can hunt all day if need be!” Bixtok held aloft the prize, a large copper bracelet with what looked like a ruby embedded in a design on the top. Its size suggested it had been made for a troll or maybe even an ogre wrist. “Pixies must have stashed this here ages ago. Long before their kind grew afraid of being hunted by the trolls, orcs, and humans in the area and retreated en masse to the safety of Tranquility. This could be centuries old. And it must be magical!”

Jildarin sighed.

“We have plenty of time to find the enchanted morels.” Rylana patted his arm.

“Do you want it, ma’am?” Bixtok asked. “Normally, if a treasure we locate isn’t on the missing list with a hunter’s fee paid to the log-inspection unit—that’s how we fund our dog food, kennels, and the salaries for the handlers—we put it in the lost-and-found. But those rules are for inside the borders of Tranquility. Out here, if you find something lost, then it’s fair to keep it.”