Cassie's first thought when she woke up was that it must have rained during the night, because her face was damp. A warm breeze blew in her hair. Her half-awake brain managed to think, didn't I put my oilskin up? before she opened her eyes to see the jaws of the dire dog from yesterday hovering over her head. She stared at the dog. The dog's vein-streaked yellow eyes looked into hers.

"Magnus?" she whispered, then more urgently, "Magnus? Magnus?! Magnus, please wake up, help--" she stopped as the dog growled. Saliva dripped on her face.

"Good dog," she whispered. "You're a good dog, and I taste terrible, you know? I taste terrible, and you will make Magnus sad, he's a good friend of mine..."

"I wouldn't say that," Magnus said reflectively from his seat near the fire. Cassie turned her head. Past one hairy, clawed foot, she could just about see him. He appeared to be poaching eggs.

"Magnus," she said, with all the calm and patience she could muster, "could you please call this dog off me?"

"All right, dog, come on over here, I have a bone for you," Magnus said. The dog hesitated for a moment, then lumbered over to where Magnus had pulled out what appeared to be a whole raw leg of beef. It settled down with it, giving Cassie and Magnus occasional suspicious glances. Cassie slowly sat up and wiped the drool off her face.

"The dog caught up with us in the night," Magnus said serenely. "I think he's actually been told to look for you."

"Maybe they think I'm travelling with Angus rather than you," Cassie said uneasily.

"Maybe," Magnus said. He scooped up his poached egg with a pair of spoons, and placed it on a bed of toast and lettuce. "We'll take him with us for now. You should probably hurry with getting ready, the dog is easier for the cultists to track than we are."

"You know how I said ditch Magnus before he becomes suspicious?" Angus said mildly during Cassie's morning ablutions.

"I couldn't! And now if I do I'll get eaten by a freaking huge dog!"

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"You're right; that may be marginally worse than what Magnus would do to us," Angus said thoughtfully.

"Marginally?!"

"Magnus is mean. If you get a chance, just run. If you don't stop for around three days, you may manage to lose them."

"Do I get some godly stamina from you that would allow me to do that?" Cassie asked.

"Alas, no."

"So... we're dead?"

"Look on the bright side, we're--"

"Dead already, yes, I know," Cassie said, sighing "I'm not quite sure that's a bright side."

Magnus's crows popped round to say hello multiple times that day, and each time Magnus picked up the pace. The dire dog was able to handle this well; Cassie far less so.

"The cultists will catch up to us if you don't hurry up," Magnus told her.

"It's okay," Cassie wheezed, her hands on her knees. She lifted them to her head, and winced. "It's fine. You long legged people go on ahead. I will be fine. I'll hide in a tree or something."

Magnus glanced at the dog, then sighed and sat down on a log. "We'll rest for ten minutes."

Cassie collapsed onto the mossy ground in their small clearing. The sky above was cold but bright. Despite the decaying leaves clinging to the branches overhead, and the damp bone-chilling cold seeping into Cassie from the ground, it was a beautiful day. The forest was quiet, as it had been all day--the dire dog scared away most of the wildlife. The dog was sitting down now, slowly wagging its tail with an occasional thump on the ground. As she looked up at the sky from her position on the ground, gasping for breath, Cassie's perceptions turned, and she felt like she was clinging to a rock, staring into a blue abyss. She turned her head, and saw Magnus sitting on his log, upside down like the first time she saw him.

"I did thank you for saving me, didn't I?" she asked.

"Probably," Magnus said, shrugging. "If you can talk, you can walk. We'll move slower to begin with."

"Ugh," Cassie said under her breath, and got awkwardly to her feet. The dire dog whined. Cassie turned to face Magnus, and saw the cultist creeping up on him. She opened her mouth to warn him, but the cultist saw her and lunged to get to Magnus first. Cassie flung out her hand, and Angus unfurled in her, taking over her tongue.

"Stop!" they yelled. The cultist froze. Magnus glanced behind him, took out a dagger, and slit the cultist's throat. He then turned to Cassie.

"Shit," the Trickster said. The two had finally merged. Cassie was dead.