They followed the imprints left by the walking ship, venturing deeper into the oppressive heat of the jungle. Each step took them further from the beach’s relative openness, every vine and twisted root a fresh reminder that Elle was very far from home. Elle’s hair clung to the back of her neck, sweat trickling down her temples. The air felt thick enough to drink.
Behind her, Ashra kept pace, never quite letting her slip from his field of vision. When she’d lag, he slowed a fraction. When she’d try to surge ahead, he matched her steps. Though he didn’t touch her, the weight of his constant vigilance was bothersome. It was quite like he expected a beast to spring from every cluster of leaves, or for her to try something else impulsive.
Minutes stretched in silence, heavy as the humidity. Elle gritted her teeth against the gnawing fatigue in her limbs. The humming insects and faraway calls of strange birds grated on her nerves. Finally, unable to bear the quiet, she glanced over her shoulder, voice laced with frustration. “How did you and your band even get past the Winding Waves enchantment? That magic should have kept you out.”
Ashra’s jade-and-gold eyes flicked to her but offered no response. He continued scanning the canopy with a sharp, watchful gaze, as though quite possibly the answer to her question lay somewhere in the shifting shadows.
Her temper sparkled. He was ignoring her again. The princess was powerless, overheated, and strung tight. Something inside her snapped, and she lashed out in a moment of reckless pettiness. A hand raised quickly to pinch the back of his arm, longing to see him flinch.
Faster than she could blink, he caught her wrist in midair. Surprised, Elle jerked free, breath catching at his speed. Her brows immediately knitted together. His mouth curved, that flicker of dry amusement returning.
“Please keep your hands to yourself, Princess,” he said, the polite edge in his tone making it feel all the more condescending.
She stiffened, cheeks ablaze. “Or what?” she challenged, shoulders tense.
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He didn’t hesitate. “I’ll tie you up again,” Ashra replied, voice quite calm like he was discussing the weather with her. “And we both know how you felt about that.”
Her anger surged; immediately, images of her struggles and the burn of the campfire and rope flashed through her mind. She remembered too vividly how the ropes bit into her flesh. “Bastard,” she muttered, opening her mouth to spew a sharper retort.
But the undergrowth hissed. A dull rustle built from behind a wide-leafed fern. Both of them froze. The hairs on Elle’s nape prickled as the hiss sharpened into a scrape like summertime beetles on bark.
Suddenly, a pack of giant wolf spiders emerged, each the size of a large dog, gleaming black carapaces skittering across tangled roots. Their many eyes glimmered in uncanny malice. They spat out thick white silk layers of webs in rapid spurts, the sticky strands streaking through the air.
Elle’s eyes widened. She threw herself sideways, hair whipping across her face, as a wad of silk splattered on the ground where she’d just stood. And from above, something far larger plummeted to the forest floor. Thump! A massive snake and its scaled body was easily thicker than a grown man. It struck with terrifying speed, jaws unhinging around one of the wolf spiders. The unfortunate arachnid released a keening screech as needle-sharp fangs pierced its exoskeleton.
A nauseating crunch filled the humid air. Elle’s heart slammed against her ribs; revulsion and fear twisted in her gut. Her entire body screamed move. She scrambled to her feet, raw adrenaline pumping through her veins. Out of the corner of her eye, Ashra darted among the roots, evading more webs that whizzed past in sticky lines.
The remaining spiders scattered, some shrieking in fury, others scuttling away from the snake’s lethal coils. The monster reared up, swallowing its meal in one greedy gulp, a grotesque bulge traveling down its lengthy frame.
Elle spared no time to think about Ashra as she ducked behind a thick trunk, lungs laboring in the stifling heat. This was madness, absolute madness. Leaves shook wildly as another web zipped overhead. Her pointed ears twitched, catching all sorts of bizarre sounds and the faint sound of Ashra cursing under his breath, the ring of steel as if he was drawing a blade she couldn’t see.
Shaking, she pressed her back to the tree. The jungle roiled with hisses and spit, the eerie chitter of spiders, the massive snake thrashing in its feeding frenzy. In that instant, all her bitterness, her anger, her sense of betrayal—none of it mattered if she couldn’t survive this.
