Kalus paced nervously, trying to resolve an irresolvable conflict within
him. Sylviana had said the night before that she could never leave this
place, that she was somehow protected here from the perils of the
outside world. Every instinct and emotion he possessed told him not
leave her. But the Mantis..... He had no way of knowing that even now
the question was being rendered academic.
Hearing Akar's deep growl, followed by a scream, he rushed wildly
back toward the frontal chamber. Fearing the worst he drew out his
crude stone knife. But at the thought of the Mantis it began to feel
very small and useless in his hand. He turned the bend of the enclosure.
Though the creature he found there was not the one he expected, the
danger was equally great. An enormous woolly land spider, too primitive
to understand the markings above the cave's entrance, stood
motionless on the ledge just beyond it, peering into the shelter with
cautious uncertainty. Searching for a home, food had not been its main
objective. But Kalus knew it could change its mind at any moment, and
was quite capable of devouring them all.
'Sylviana!' he cried desperately. 'To the shaft through which
I entered..... Quickly!'
But the girl, seeing the real-life manifestation of her darkest
imaginings, could not find it within herself to turn and run.
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