Into the Forest Shadows by J.A. Marlow Read Free Book Online Page A

gave her hope that the daylight might last a while
longer.
    Ayden stopped and pointed through the angled
hole. "Look at the mountains. "
    Through the break she could barely see the
tops of the tall mountains that ringed the wide peninsula the
humans had access to. Along the tree-line a white haze obscured
some of the mountain slopes. Even from a distance she could see it
move and change shape.
    As if alive.
    "It looks thick," Kate said, trying not to
shudder.
    "It is. And it's building and starting to
descend. We don't have much time," Ayden said.
    He left the circle of light and headed back
into the shadows. Kate glared at the threatening white substance,
wishing she could extract revenge on it for her lungs and sore
feet.
    Kate took a deep breath and plowed on behind
Ayden. With the vision of the gathering fog she concentrated on
walking as fast as possible.
    The shadows continued building. Kate's eyes
alternated between watching where her feet were going and searching
for moving shapes. She didn't like the thought of some unknown
creature following them, but she'd now seen the moving forms twice
in one day. Low to the ground, moving smoothly from one shadow to
the next.
    She would ask Grandma about it when they
arrived. Maybe the creature causing the shadows wasn't as
threatening as it felt like.
    Kate pushed her way around a stiff-leaved
bush, pulling her cloak tight around her to keep it from catching.
Ayden's head disappeared as he dropped to the ground.
    She stopped, looking down at him. She
laughed, "Did you trip?"
    Something large and dark flew straight at her
head. Kate shrieked and dropped to the ground.
    Her head jerked up to see one of the large
beetles she'd occasionally seen around Grandma's orchard. It
circled around and came back at them, its wings making a fluting
singing noise.
    That was scary enough, but the sight of
several more joining the first made her heart drop.
    Ayden jumped to his feet, dragging her up
with him. He pulled her back the way they'd come. At the sound of
singing wings in flight they ducked down. She felt a small tug
against the hood of her cape. She swung her basket up over her
head, feeling it hit something hard.
    Ayden pulled her to her feet again and
plunged through the undergrowth.
    "Are we heading back to the shuttle?" Kate
yelled.
    "No questions, just run!" Ayden yelled back
at her.
     
     
     
    CHAPTER SIX

    The singing wings came back for another pass.
Ayden shoved her into the middle of one of the bushes with the
stiff leaves.
    Kate tried untangling her cape from the
leaves as Ayden dove down next to her. The beetles flew over the
top of the bush, their red and black iridescent legs touching the
top-most leaves.
    Kate looked up at them. "I didn't think they
minded people."
    "They don't, unless you step in the middle of
a hive," Ayden said.
    Kate shuddered. "We did that?"
    "I didn't see any burrows, so it may have
been only the very edge of one," he said, as the beetles took
another pass at the bush.
    One of the beetles landed on the trunk of a
nearby tree, whipping his wings so fast that the singing turned
into a shriek. Kate put her hands to her ears to block out the
horrible sound.
    "Great, what do we do now?" Kate asked.
    "We find a way around it. A little hard
considering I didn't see exactly where the hive is located. And I
don't want to make a mistake and fall down one of the burrows and
be eaten alive," Ayden said.
    She glared at him. "You're just trying to
scare me."
    He glared right back at her, "Tell me one
animal that doesn't protect its home and its young."
    Kate couldn't help a hard shiver going
through her. She peeked out from under the bush. No beetles, but
they had to still be out there. Lurking in shadows, just waiting to
pounce the moment they emerged.
    "We can't stay here all night," Kate
murmured.
    "Trust me, I know that," Ayden said
testily.
    A shape in the canopy flew through the
branches. Before Kate could point to it a mass of beetles converged
on it.