I stepped on top of Arthur and pushed his face with my nose. His head lolled back and forth limply.

I barked for help. “Woof! Woof!”

The lake was vast and empty. I cried and yipped, but Arthur wouldn’t wake. I looked at him and sniffed his neck. He was a boy I’d met in a castle on my way to find Merlin. I’d convinced him to come with me. Now he was dead.

I sat down on the raft and howled. My throat hurt so much, but the pain couldn’t match what I felt in my heart.

The sun was shining—and everything was lost.