Chapter 51: A Suitable Place for Camp

"I have a bad feeling about this," Leah said.

"I can't imagine why," said Justin.

"Look," said Olorus. "Holes in the wall here, too."

They had been traveling for at least eight hours straight since the spider-scorpion attack, stopping only once for Leah to heal the wounds on Justin's leg and Olorus's arm. Justin had been too anxious to be amazed at the way his flesh had fused together like molten metal under her touch. The pain was gone now, leaving only a jagged, whitish-gray scar and a torn, bloody pant-leg.

It felt as if the cave were taking them in circles. The tunnel was less like a meandering river and more like a knotted string. Justin's sense of direction had become so skewed that he could have sworn they were currently traveling beneath or over the same spot they had been in an hour before.