Dragon Soul - The Ancestor Gods Saga Book 1

18. A Risky Plan

Spider darted through the trees, using his athletic ability and his cunning to keep ahead of the raging man who stormed behind him. He had put quite a distance between them, taking the narrowest routes through the trees, which caused the larger man difficulty. However, he could still hear the man behind him. He did not try to mask his pursuit, he was charging through the forest, crashing into anything that got in his way. Spider flinched as he heard what sounded like a tree branch being ripped from a trunk.

He had no idea who the man was or why he was after him. Spider had many enemies, of that he was well aware, but he knew the faces of them all, and they were not the sort of enemies who hired others to do their dirty work. Generally, they were not able to afford such a luxury, but it was always possible that one of his enemies had been owed a favour by this thug and had decided using that favour up on Spider was a good solution.

Whatever reason the burly man was chasing him, Spider had no intention of letting him catch up to him just so he could learn what he wanted.

He knew the forests well. Had spent hours upon hours walking them, discovering the secret places, the hidden ways. Even so, he barely understood a quarter of this vast expanse. The forest sprawled for miles upon miles and the deeper you went, the denser it became, and it was said that strange creatures lurked at its heart. Not just the fey, who liked to keep away from mortals, but other things. Things people had never seen before. Dangerous things.

The only dangerous thing Spider was concerned about right now was the man chasing him. He hurried through an open section in the trees, feet splashing in a shallow stream. He had lost his way for a moment, too caught up in running to note where he was going, but now landmarks were springing out at him again and he recognised where he was. This part of the forest the trees were sparser due to the rocky ground. There was a slight incline leading to a stony hill atop which no trees grew, and some said witches had once held their magical meetings there.

Going that way would leave him exposed, but if he turned and went to the west, he would find he was heading back into the denser trees and amid them was a great split in the ground, a fissure that had been created thousands of years before when the world had rumbled in its growing pains. Trees, bushes, and other plants had grown up and around the edges of the deep cavity in the ground and masked it from sight. When Spider had first come across it, he had nearly walked straight into it without even realising it was there. He had climbed down its walls and discovered a graveyard of animal bones. The remains of those that had failed to notice the fissure until it was too late. Now he hoped to lure his pursuer straight to that pit and lose him in its cavernous depths.

He climbed atop a fallen tree to get his bearings and to determine where the man was behind him. He could not see him, but he could hear his puffing and roaring. He was dogged, that was for sure. Spider would have expected to have outrun most men by now. He was exhausted from his mad dash and if he had to keep this up much longer, he was not sure how much his legs could take. Yet, giving up was not an option.

He could smell the man. He smelled like burning logs. He seemed to char the wood of the trees as he passed them by. Spider was not the quickest witted of souls, but even he could surmise there was something not quite right about the man, and he did not care to find out what precisely that was.

Jumping from the fallen tree he moved on, picking the trickiest of routes, trying to forget about the nagging ache in his legs and back, or the sudden sense of fatigue eating into every muscle. The fissure was not far, and he had to get there.

Birds startled as he ran. He heard sounds in the undergrowth, sometimes he thought he heard voices. He was creeping into the land of the fey and he would not be surprised if he disturbed them as he raced on. He did not expect help from the fey, he would be happy if they just left him alone. There was no knowing what such creatures would do to a passing mortal if the mood took them.