Chapter 16

It had been the day Commander Rudolf declared war upon the remaining elves and their newfound leader, Frost.

Pembroke dropped down from a branch and rolled beneath a cluster of ferns. His hand rising absently, reaching up as antennae, but he brought it down before it breached the curling fronds. He stayed motionless like an Artic wolf.

Listening.

It was harder to track creatures without the full range of his reindeer senses, so Pembroke cupped his hands around his small human ears.

The sounds of a panting animal passed on Pembroke’s left.

The elf was slowing down, though strong like a deer in human form, it too required the Toy-Maker’s dust.

The smell of elf mingled with Kahani disgusted Pembroke.

With the elf there, crashing through the forest of his Namesake—the whole land suddenly felt desecrated.