Josh considered going back up and walking around the lava field but it was quite expansive and he could not be sure the glass arrows would be on the other side of the cavern wherever he ended up. Mavis' instructions were quite clear and he did not want to chance losing his progress out of convenience.
"She said not to go in the caves..." he said to himself and determined there was quite enough space straight through. There would be no reason to flirt with any of the caves or their inhabitants.
As he began to go down, he stopped at the sound of an engine in the distance. Was it Dee? Or did Cannon and his dusters ride as well in search of him? Or was there something worse than either of those options? Was there something else out in the vast desert that posed an unknown threat?
Willing himself forward, Josh pressed on with his hands tight around his grandfather's staff, keeping a slow pace and watching the holes on both sides. He caught movement from within constantly and he knew Mavis's warning was true and not a means to keep him scared. He thought he could see glowing eyes inside the dark places and even perhaps the makings of pointed faces. Animal in nature, he thought, and recalled Anson's skull trophy. What did he call the creature?
More of them flew out behind him, going from hole to hole, leaving Josh to just miss catching sight of the tricksters. They definitely toyed with him. He did manage see the tails at least. White and scaly. Snipes. That's what they were.
Josh picked up his pace and hurried through the rest of the cavern, ignoring the movement and sounds of wings. One of the snipes flew too close to the back his head and caused him to stumble in fear. His grandfather's walking staff slipped out of his hands and rolled to the left, lost in the shadows. "Damn..."
Silence met him as he stood, keeping an eye on the staff, while at the same time seeing if he could determine his chances of grabbing it before being chased the rest of the way out of the cavern. Would the snipes follow? Were they confined to their dens or to the cavern?
A thought came and Josh whipped his pack around, unzipped it, and found the thin tent poles inside. In seconds, he had a makeshift instrument to use as an extended arm. He pushed the end of the tent poles into the shadows and much to his delight found that did not break the rules Mavis had set for him. It took some trial and error plus patience but his efforts eventually rolled the staff out of the shadows and into his possession again. All the while, the snipes became more active and dived at him from time to time.
He exhaled and wished he had some water when small footsteps drew his attention. A snipe had moved out of its dark hole and stared at him with wide black eyes. Wings of scaly feathers stretched out and flittered. Its mandibles opened like a four-petaled flower, revealing small pointed teeth and a red tongue. The mouth snapped and more of the creatures moved out. Hundreds. Far too many for Josh to handle if they attacked as one.
He reached for something else in his bag and found an unopened granola bar, unwrapping it and looking it over. It had smooshed a bit but still edible. He pulled a piece off the end bit into it, chewed, and then tossed it at the curious snipe. It regarded the bar piece but did not take the so-called bait. Josh took more pieces and tossed more back and away from him. The snipes flew from hole to hole but not one dropped to check on the offering.
Josh nearly sat down and waited, tired of the constant trouble he came against in recent days. "Get on with it," he told the snipes as they grew more curious and interested in him.
"No!" Walter ran awkwardly on his long limbs from the other end of the cavern, forcing the snipes to explode in a flurry of scaly fury. "Run!"
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