Moon and Mirage rested until they were back to near peak condition. Then, the horse and rider returned to the crater.
The turtle was no longer there.
A frown formed on Moon's face, the scene before his eyes didn't line up with the turtle's earlier behavior.
A massive hole had been dug into the ground at the center of the basin. Moon stared at it. There had been a hole before, he remembered that much, but it had been small, barely worth noticing. This one was wide enough to swallow the massive turtle whole.
"Did it give up and run? Or is this a trap?"
Moon gritted his teeth, turning it over in his head.
The turtle had never once tried to flee. Not in the first fight, not in the second. Both times it had stood its ground and met him head-on. If it wanted to escape, it had plenty of chances before now.
Which led Moon to the conclusion that it was still down there, waiting.
