Page 22 of Sohut's Protection

How could something frail coexist on the mountain with a spined creature close by?

He felt like continuing if only he could answer that question alone.

Readjusting his satchel, his ears perked as he continued on his way.

He was walking for a few more meters when he spotted another bone.

This one looked like a thigh bone and it was cracked in several places.

Possibly, it was another victim of the spined creature or the same one. He wasn’t sure.

Frowning down at the bone, he touched the earth beside it.

It was soft. Soft enough to make him believe the bone had been buried and that made him frown.

Tuli sometimes buried animal bones, so he didn’t know why this occurrence particularly struck him as strange.

Still frowning, his gaze searched the canopy above.

He was either walking into a spined creature’s territory or something else was amiss.

For a few moments, he considered turning back.

He could tell the Gori they’d lost their creature. He could even bring one of the tym bones as proof; they wouldn’t know the difference.

If it was any other hunter, that’s what they would do.

But…he wasn’t any other hunter…and that was the difference.

There was a thrill building inside him, a sort of dangerous excitement, and the farther he walked, the more it grew.

He was either going to discover something big or he was going to pay with his own blood.

The latter option should worry him more—only, it didn’t.

5

She was flat on her stomach and covered with so many vines and leaves, she could feel their weight on her back.

She’d been the one to string the vines and leaves together to resemble a ghillie suit—only, it was more like a blanket. It’d been part of her preparations should a situation like this ever occur and boy was she happy she’d gone through the trouble to do it now.

Fully covered by vines and leaves, she was sure she was as camouflaged as an anaconda in a marsh.

Heart beating hard in her chest, Cleo watched as the alien moved slowly through the undergrowth.

It was like the motherfucker knew exactly where she was.

He was heading right in her direction.

Lying flat on a ledge a few levels above the jungle floor, her eyes tracked the blue alien as he headed up the mountain.

Through the leaves, she spotted something in his hands.

A bone, one that looked suspiciously similar to the bones she’d scattered.

Obviously, her warning didn’t work.

Motherfucker.

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