BOOK TWO PREVIEW

We’d formed a tight cluster, Ambrose, Glooscap, and me in the lead, the others close behind us, the braying mule lost somewhere behind us in the dust. The late day sun shone hot on my back, causing a lather of sweat. As we drew closer, the stones began to form clearly. Some were stacked atop one another, others lined up in rows, and still others lay on their sides as if they’d been toppled haphazardly. There had to have been hundreds of them. The closer we got, the more they reminded me of Stonehenge. And amongst them appeared two rust-coloured shapes moving about, the sun reflecting dully on their shiny, hard bodies. Scorpions. But not garden-variety scorpions. Giant scorpions the size of our horses.

They skittered around, working together to corner something or someone. Their stingers darted back and forth above their heads. They thrust and snapped their monstrous claws in the air, eagerly priming to catch something. A third emerged to join the first two. Then I spotted their prey: a short furry black creature. Only it wasn’t an animal on all fours like a bear or cougar. No, it was bipedal, like a monkey or chimpanzee, moving nimbly with human-like gracefulness.

I couldn’t say what exactly it was, only that if we didn’t get to the scene in the next minute or so, I was certain the scorpions would kill it. The others must’ve realized it too, because they rode with a newfound urgency and burst of speed. As huge and alien and menacing as the scorpions were, I was beginning to get used to these types of weird things on that new world, namely giant insects. We’d had our fair share of encounters.