Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo (z-lib.org).mobi

my heels and toes. My miserable night in the woods had left me with a pulsing
headache, and I was dizzy from lack of food, but I wasn’t about to complain. I
kept quiet as he led me up the mountain and then off the trail, scrabbling over
rocks until my legs were shaking with fatigue and my throat burned with thirst.
When Mal finally stopped, we were high up the mountain, hidden from view by
an enormous outcropping of rock and a few scraggly pines.
“Here,” he said, dropping his pack. He slid surefooted back down the
mountain, and I knew he was going to try to cover the traces of my clumsy
progress over the rocks.
Gratefully, I sank to the ground and closed my eyes. My feet were throbbing,
but I was worried that if I took my boots off, I would never get them back on
again. My head drooped, but I couldn’t let myself sleep. Not yet. I had a
thousand questions, but only one couldn’t wait until morning.
Dusk was falling by the time Mal returned, moving silently over the terrain.
He sat down across from me and pulled a canteen from his pack. After taking a
swig, he swiped his hand over his mouth and passed the water to me. I drank
deeply.
“Slow down,” he said. “That has to last us through tomorrow.”
“Sorry.” I handed the canteen back to him.
“We can’t risk a fire tonight,” he said, gazing out into the gathering dark.
“Maybe tomorrow.”
I nodded. My coat had dried during our trek up the mountain, though the
sleeves were still a little damp. I felt rumpled, dirty and cold. Mostly, I was just
reeling from the miracle that was sitting in front of me. That would have to wait.
I was terrified of the answer, but I had to ask.
“Mal.” I waited for him to look at me. “Did you find the herd? Did you
capture Morozova’s stag?”
He tapped his hand on his knee. “Why is it so important?”
“It’s a long story. I need to know, does he have the stag?”
“No.”
“They’re close, though?”
He nodded. “But …”
“But what?”
Mal hesitated. In the remnants of the afternoon light, I saw a ghost of the
cocky smile I knew so well playing on his lips. “I don’t think they’ll find it
without me.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Because you’re just that good?”
“No,” he said, serious again. “Maybe. Don’t get me wrong. They’re good
trackers, the best in the First Army, but … you have to have a feel for tracking