“Patience,” Kreya breathed.
She’d learned to wait over the years. Hated it. Always hated it.
But she could do it, when she had to, listening to her heart beat, the river gurgle, the birds call out a warning from above. The glass eyes swept over them again, and she saw her and Zera’s reflection, distorted in the curve of its pupils.
At last, the stone fish slipped back into the water and submerged itself up to its eyeballs.
Clamping her hand onto Zera’s wrist, Kreya retreated slowly back through the trees until she could no longer see the river or its deadly inhabitant. Only then did she allow herself to take a full breath.
“You know, a few decades ago,” Zera said, “you would have handled that differently.”
“A few decades ago, I got Jentt killed.”
“Yeah, and now you freeze at danger. Are you sure you’re up for this?”
Kreya checked her compass. “North. This way.”
“Not that I’m not having fun. Really, this is fabulous. Love the scenery.”
They picked their way through the forest, keeping the sounds of the river to their right. Every so often, the underbrush would clear, and they’d make faster progress, but then they’d soon be back to climbing over logs and wading through ferns.
“Still sure this is a good idea?” Zera asked.
“Still sure neither of us has a better one.”
Catching her breath, she scanned the greenery up ahead.As the mist moved between the trunks, Kreya thought she saw a hint of openness. She led the way toward it, and Zera followed, muttering under her breath.
She spilled out onto a trail. All the greenery had been trampled, the soggy ground churned up, and the nearest branches broken. A shiver of unease crept up her spine.
Zera strode ahead, walking in large strides. “Much better.”
“Be ready with a speed talisman.”
“You want to jog through the valley?”
Kreya continued to scan the trees. “I want to run from whatever made this trail, once it notices us.” If it hadn’t noticed already. With this much thick foliage, it was possible they were already being hunted, and they wouldn’t know until it was too late.
Zera displayed her talisman. “Ready.”
Alert, they continued on. Kreya wasn’t sure what was more draining—the hike itself or the constant state of wariness. She wondered how long they’d be able to maintain this pace, and how long they had until the sun set. She didn’t relish the idea of being in the valley after dark.
Ahead of her, Zera halted.
Kreya stopped. She rose onto her toes, trying to see beyond her. She listened, but the sound of the river drowned all other noises.
Zera continued, and Kreya crept after her, emerging into a clearing. Lying across the mossy rocks was the body of a river lizard. If she’d thought the stone fish was large, this could have eaten that monstrosity for lunch. It was roughly the size of Kreya’s tower, supine, with jaws that could have broken her home in half.
Luckily, it was dead.
Its torso had been ripped open, and it had been stripped of half its flesh, but that didn’t make it any less alarming to behold.In fact,it makes it worse. Because it begs the question: what killed it?
They crept around it.
The kill looked recent, which meant it was possible that its foe was still nearby. The last thing they wanted to do was be that predator’s dessert.
As they passed by its rib cage, Zera paused.
Kreya saw her eye the exposed ribs. It was tempting. Such bones were rare, due to the difficulty of collecting them, and the strength they held... “We can’t linger,” she whispered. But she stopped beside Zera, staring at the exposed bones.
