“What’s going on?” I ask, stopping by her side.
“I saw a bright reflection,” she says, returning her attention to the tree. “That’s why I stopped. Look at that.”
I focus my eyes on the tree twenty feet in front of us. The lower branches have all been cut off the trunk. A web of black rope secures the upper limbs in place. In the lower half of the trunk, six steel stakes like the Hunters use are anchored in the bark. Parked at the base of the tree is a sap transport that seems to be brand new. Steel tubes lead from the ends of the stakes to a small opening in the top of the transport.
“Have you ever seen anything like this?” I ask.
“No,” she replies, shaking her head. “I’ve seen a stake stabbed in a tree, but never tubes and a transport.”
After Tela scans the hills around us, she walks to the transport. I follow close behind her with my eyes peeled to our sides. When we stop in front of the transport, Tela bangs the tip of her spear against its side. Based on the dull thud and slight echo, it seems to be about half full.
“Where would they get all this?” I ask.
“Raids on Travelers. Hundreds of old transports stolen by Murkovin over thousands of Eras are scattered across the Barrens. Constructs use the tubes for a variety of tasks, and those are Hunters’ stakes. They probably cut off the ends to feed the tubes. All of this could have come from the attack that killed Miel.”
“It seems kind of elaborate for Murkovin,” I say.
“They’re not stupid,” she replies. “They just lack purpose.”
I whirl to a grunt behind me. Jerking up my spear, I knock a steel tip away from my face. A Murkovin elbow slams to my jaw and knocks me to the ground. Before Tela or I can react, another beast pounds into her back. She staggers forward and falls on her knees beside the transport.
I start to swing my spear up, but the Murkovin stomps his foot down on the shaft. A third beast roars in from my side and thrusts his lance at me. Releasing my grip on my weapon, I try to roll out his reach, but his spear gouges my shoulder.
The Murkovin behind Tela jabs a weapon at her skull. Dipping her head under the point, Tela blindly rams her spear backwards. The point slices into the creature’s stomach, releasing a stream of blood. As Tela jumps to her feet, she yanks her spear out of the collapsing beast.
The other two Murkovin snap their heads to Tela. Lowering her body in a crouch, Tela grips the shaft of her weapon with both hands. When the two Murkovin lunge their spears at her, I spin my body on the ground. My fists hammer against the back of one’s knees while my feet strike the other one’s shins. As they stumble from the blows, Tela catapults out of her coiled position. She smacks the shaft of her weapon into the gut of one and then batters the steel to the other one’s face.
“Run!” she shouts.
Tela grabs the back of my shirt and drags me to my feet. A surge of pain from the wound in my shoulder shoots down my left arm. Leaving my spear behind, I sprint away from the tree with one hand clamped over the gash. Directly in front of us, three more Murkovin charge over a hill.
“This way!” Tela yells, slashing to our left.
As I try to follow her, I slip in the dirt. I crash to the ground and glance at the tree. Two of the three Murkovin we fought are in pursuit. The one Tela wounded is still writhing on the ground behind them. The three who came over the hill are bearing down on me but still thirty yards away. I leap to my feet, churn my legs, and gallop behind Tela up a steep hill. She slows her pace to check over her shoulder.
“Keep going!” I shout. “I’m right behind you.”
As soon as she crosses over the crest, she incinerates into the beams. Desperate for the light rays to appear in my vision, I fly over the top of the hill. The moment I hit the downslope, I jam on my brakes. Less than ten feet in front of me is the edge of a cliff.
I slide across the dirt until stopping just a few inches from the ledge. A sheer face of rock plummets below me to a ravine that’s twenty feet deep and twice as wide. Tela’s body is sprawled face down at the bottom with her mangled limbs at her sides. On the far wall of the canyon, fresh blood is splattered on the rocks. Since she went into her blend going over the crest, she never would have had time to stop and must have slammed into the far wall.
The ravine is too deep for me to jump into, so I frantically look up and down the canyon. Far in the distance to the north, the gorge shallows while gradually rising to the hilly terrain. I rifle in that direction at the same time the five Murkovin storm over the top of the hill. Zeroing in on the blooms of light, I blow forward into the beams.
Skimming along the edge of the ravine, I keep an eye on the height of the sides. After less than thirty seconds of traveling, I decide they’re low enough for me to jump over. I suck my particles out of the light and leap over the edge.
When my feet hit the ground, I lose control and tumble across the dirt. Another bolt of pain seers through my shoulder. Rolling to a stop, I look back at where I just came from. Two shapes of light torpedo along the ledge of the ravine. I spring from the ground and fire into
