Li froze behind a circle of trees as the approaching sound grew even louder, and Iona took his lead. In the forest, they seemed to blend like they were part of the nature even in their artificial human forms. He could hear quite clearly the loud conversation that drifted over to them, the voices getting louder and louder by the second.
"I swear the damned mutt was around here!" Li recognized this as Faye's voice, but without any of the careful and polite reservation she had before when she was in the presence of strangers. "He simply vanished from my heat sense. That simply does not happen."
"Perhaps you are tired, Faye." Launcelot's voice. "Come, look at how you sweat. You have exhausted your strength."
