Why had they not claimed the shelter as their own, or at the
very least, made short work of both the girl and her wolf companion?
Searching among the shadowy back reaches of the cave, he found his
answer. There in the darkness, packed together in thick, faintly
luminous clusters of yellow-green wax, lay several large deposits of
sebreum, self-synthesized food of the giant praying mantis.
'So that is why she is so well fed,' he scoffed, though deep
inside he trembled. 'She has been living from the labors of another
creature's food supply.' It also explained why no predator, no
smart predator at least, had ever dared enter the cave. He knew that
somewhere just outside it, in plain sight for all to see, the massive
creature had left its unmistakable mark of possession---the jagged
outline of a pyramid, burned into the rock by the acidic secretions of
special glands in its throat. It was a mark none would dare question,
and to trespass in such a place meant certain death.
For the Mantis, though not the largest, was without question the
strongest and most widely feared monarch of the Valley. Its triangular
jaws could sever trees in an instant, and the sharp rows of teeth on the
instep of its foreclaw could tear even the thickest hide to ribbons. He
also knew that it must soon return to claim the shelter, and would not
hesitate to kill them all if it found them still lingering near its
jealously guarded treasure room.
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