Morning came early for Nelson and the twins. He hated mornings, but he knew he had to get a move on soon. If they waited too long, the serpentines would wake up and be on the prowl. He woke the twins and made Atraas cook them some breakfast. As soon as they had finished, he had them back on what little path there was.

Everything seemed normal at first. Birds sang when they flew overhead, frogs and fish moved about in the waters and bugs kept bothering them. Then suddenly everything was silent. Nelson halted the group with a single gesture of his hand. He was pretty damn sure something wasn’t right, but he couldn’t see anything.

After a while, he had them continue. Nothing large had moved, so he assumed there was something else the creatures were hiding from, perhaps just a snake or a large fish. Whatever it was, it had been big enough to spook the wildlife.

“How much longer do we have to go?” Inleet complained as she dragged her feet behind them. “My feet are