The two at her side pretended to ignoreEamon’s internal struggle, but, like her, they held themselvestight in anticipation.
“It probably wouldn’t be too far off the areawe’re searching so as to further allay suspicion,” Eamon finallyadded.
The three exhaled in relief before bending tocompare notes and observations. The hunt was on, and if there wasanything Shea had learned in her time with the Trateri, it was thatthey loved a hunt, whether of man or beast.
They decided their quarry had been comingfrom the north and a little to the east since most of the scoutshad been sent north and slightly to the west. After discarding someof the more mountainous paths and the ones with little probabilityof beast activity, they were left with four strong possibilitiesand a remaining three that held an outside chance.
“That’s still too many,” Eamon said, lookingat their work.
They all sat back, disappointed. Even if theywere right, it wouldn’t help them unless they could narrow theirsearch to a smaller area. While Eamon and the others were convincedof Shea’s theory, there was very little possibility other scoutswould be.
Searching outside their designated area wasdangerous. If they failed, it could be seen as a sign ofinsubordination, leaving them open for challenge. If Eamon lost achallenge then he’d be stripped of his rank, and they could all bepunished. It wasn’t a happy thought.
“We could split up,” Phillip offered. “Eachtake a separate route.”
Eamon was already shaking his head. “No,that’s not going to happen. If they were set on by beasts, I don’twant any of us out there alone trying to save them.”
“How about groups of two?” Buck said.
Eamon bent his head in thought.
“That might work,” he said. “I still don’tlike it, though.”
“It’s probably our only option,” Shea saidsoftly. “If we narrow the search any further, we risk eliminating apath they could have taken and missing them entirely.”
Eamon nodded in agreement, though hisexpression in the flickering light made it clear he didn’t like it.Shea sympathized and knew that he’d blame himself if anybody didn’tmake it back to the rendezvous alive. That was the burden that camewith being in charge, and it was one she didn’t envy him.
He unhooked one of the oblong canisters fromhis hip and handed it to Buck. “Alright, but if you find him or getinto any trouble, shoot one of the firebugs into the sky for help.I’ll pair up with Shane, and we’ll take the three that are thefurthest northeast. You two take the rest. When you’re done, meetat the fork in the river that we passed this morning.”
Back at the horses they mounted and togethertraveled through the shadowy valley, with the white cliffs nearlyglowing in the moonlight.
Buck and Phillip angled away. Buck lifted onehand in farewell, his dark figure disappearing quickly into thegloom. Shea watched them go, praying that this theory of hersdidn’t get them all killed. Her horse followed Eamon without anyurging from her, and they rode in silence as they made their way tothe closest route Shea had marked off as theirs.
Hours later Shea was kicking herself foropening her mouth. They were halfway through the second path andstill no sign of their quarry.
Shea stopped her horse suddenly. Somethingwas off.
“Eamon.”
No questions asked, he pulled his horse to astop, looking around alert for possible danger.
Shea’s horse moved under her and tossed itshead. Patting its neck in wordless comfort, she paid closeattention to any details that might tell her why her senses werescreaming danger.
This happened every so often when hersubconscious recognized a threat. She’d learned the hard way to payattention to these little warning signs and let her consciousnessrelax enough to find that detail that could explain why the skin onher neck was trying to crawl its way down her back.
Nothing on the ground seemed amiss. Therewere no sounds she would classify as overtly threatening either. Nobeast screams or growls or soft, nearly silent movements in thedark.
So what was it? Why did she feel like she wasmissing something?
A thin almost barely perceptible glint ofmoonlight caught her attention, and she looked up, noticing thefine, nearly invisible threads spanning from one canyon wall to thenext. She looked down, suddenly able to see the anchors in therocks and the bushes that seemed to be bound in a filmy white.
“Spinners,” she hissed.
Eamon curse was soft but heartfelt as helooked around seeing what she did now that he knew it wasthere.
Spinners were giant insects with broad flatheads that contained four eyes and fang filled mouths under shortsnouts. With four legs and a set of arms complete with hands, theyspun webs that had a hallucinogenic coating to make their preyeuphoric and lethargic. This kept their prey content andincapacitated enough to stay put in the web while the spinnerstopped by now and then to have a nibble. When breeding, they laideggs in their live food so the babies would have something to eatimmediately upon hatching.
“We won’t be able to take the horses anyfurther,” he said darkly.
