4

"I don't think so," Jax frowned at me, "These tunnels feel fresh. Something is digging them."

"How many digging creatures does Calen know of on this planet?" I wanted to keep my voice down.

It would be better to keep our voices down for the time being. Jax understood, and passed the question along. I didn't have to wait long for an answer to come back to me.

"There shouldn't be anything that digs on this side of the planet," Jax looked at me tensely.

"Crush whatever is digging around in the walls," My intent turned lethal, "Try not to disturb where we are going to climb back up. If Calen brought an earth ability user let him know to do the same."

Jax nodded, and passed the message along. Whatever was in the walls could become a problem when we headed back up. We wouldn't have time to be quiet on the way back up. That is if we had the chance to go back up once Vernon made his move. I didn't want to know what was climbing around in the cliff, but it was safe to assume that it wasn't something friendly either way.

I kept anchoring the rope to the wall as I descended. The others did the same. The wall shaking when Jax killed one of our hidden friends came too close. It drew quiet cussing from most of the people repelling down the wall with us. They never complained at Jax since he was doing what was in everyone's best interest.

We had to go slower because of the risk of Jax shaking the wall. Forcing us all to pull out the night vision glasses Calen had provided, and strap them onto our heads so we could actually see what we were gripping as we continued down the cliff face. It really was a good thing that night vision wasn't as bulky as it had been in the past. I ignored the cold as it bit at my fingers. This planet was fairly warm, but that didn't stop the cold from seeping into the rock.

I shook the chill out of my fingers as I glanced down. Glad that we would hit the bottom soon. I pulsed out my telepathic energy. Finding a cave in the cliff that we could use to take a short rest before rushing into the fight that would be coming next.

"Jax," I glanced down, "Did you notice it too?"

"Yeah," Jax responded quietly, "I noticed it before you."

"Pass the word along," I pointed toward the rest of the group, "We'll need to take a break after being on this cliff for so long."

Jax nodded, and passed the word along. I got the impression that he was used to acting alone. He never asked for help when we were hunting. Even putting himself in danger a few times. My muscles made quick work of the last few feet between us, and the opening.

I hung out over the empty space for a few seconds as I checked for anything inside that might be hostile. Dropping down on the outer edge of the opening, and placing another anchor right on the edge of the opening for when we decided to descend the rest of the way. After that all I had to do is wait. The others all made their way into the opening of the cavern quietly. It was easy enough for me to pull people into the opening as they slid down their ropes.

Pulling them in one by one while sitting at the back of the cavern. My muscles tensed up slowly as more, and more people pushed into the small cavern. There were ten of us total. Calen, and his two guys. Vernon with his three guys, and the three of us.

I tapped my foot casually as I tried to keep myself calm. There were too many people in here right now. The space wasn't that small. It was big enough that even Wyatt could squeeze in here with us if he wanted, but that was it. Savannah came over to sit next to me.

She didn't touch me in any way, and it felt odd to have her there, but she was one of Wyatt's bonded just like me. For some reason that was enough to ease my tension a little.

"Don't get too comfortable," Calen glanced our way since we were the only two sitting at the moment, "We're only resting here for an hour." he looked around at each of the people here, "Remember to stay alert. We may be hidden here, but that doesn't mean we're safe."

Savannah nodded seemingly in agreement with him. She knew more about the spiders than I did so I trusted her instincts on this. Even if Vernon did plan to leave us behind to die there was no way he wouldn't leave himself a way out. The way in would be safer then the rest of the nest as well. Vernon wanted to be in charge of the settlement.

Not dead. I didn't know why he seemed to think he'd be able to do better then Calen. Sure we'd come here thinking it was one of the less prominent off planet guilds, but that was mostly due to a lack of advertising. Guilds had to look safe, and alluring to bring people in. A place where you could have an adventure.

This place didn't do any of that advertising. They didn't charge a membership fee either. It was rare for guilds not to charge an entrance fee. Guilds were expensive to keep running after all. Most of the food had to be shipped in from earth since plants from earth had a hard time taking root in the unusual soil.

I was good at keeping track of time so I knew when that hour was up. Almost as well as if I'd been watching the clock. I stood up calmly, and made my way to the ropes. Locking myself back onto the rope I'd been using before. Looking down the last fifty or so feet before we hit the ground level.