Ethan slipped away from the convoy, casually peeling off the five or six masks he'd been wearing. Stretching out, he turned and sprinted back the way he came. A few minutes later, panting, he lifted the flap of the tent and stepped inside.
Thump!
He crashed head-first into something and nearly bounced off.
"Ouch…" came a soft cry.
Sitting on the ground was Clara, clutching her chest with a pained expression contorting her face.
"Uh… I'm… I'm sorry!"
Seeing exactly where she was rubbing, Ethan instantly understood what he'd collided with. That elasticity…
Clara glared at him, then stood and silently moved behind Nora Vance, pointedly turning her back to him.
Nora, arms crossed, addressed Ethan coolly. "That Pincer-tailed Sand Badger Alpha… you took it down?"
The creature had stood seventy or eighty meters tall—its collapse had been clearly visible even from Uncle Jed's position.
