I bolted frantically after Violet, my legs pumping like pistons as I tore after her. Samuel raced alongside me, his body surging in and out of the undergrowth. Violet’s shouts were disappearing in the distance, and I could no longer see her or her captor in the canopy.

What the hell?

Running, I pulled the handheld from my pocket, and pulled up Violet’s signal. I felt relief wash over me as it focused in on her dot, moving away from me rapidly. I kept the handheld on, and pushed after her, leaping over downed logs and weaving among trees.

Sweat was pouring down my face as I ran, and my breath was coming in ragged gasps. I was in good shape, but I wasn’t going to be able to run like this forever. I needed to pace myself if I was going to have any energy to deal with whatever had grabbed her and ripped her away from me.

And if whatever it was hurt her… a surge of panic hit me, giving me a burst of energy that I poured into speed.

I tried to wrap my head around what I had seen grab Violet, but everything had happened so fast. It had swung through the trees, using vines to carry her away.

My heart lurched at the thought of some unknown creature. If it bit her, and was venomous, I doubted any of the medicines I had brought would save her. Not to mention she was still weak from her last bite. She might not last long.

Though if whatever took her was going to eat her, it wouldn’t waste time. It was likely dragging her back to its lair.

Fear fueled another burst of speed in me, and I raced through the trees, barely having time to register them before having to react. My pace was relentless, even Samuel was having trouble keeping up.

I continued to run, leaping and dodging obstacles. The problem with running so fast, however, is that unless the environment was perfectly level and flat, it would eventually force me to slow down.

Which is essentially what happened—only it didn’t slow me down—it flat out stopped me. I miscalculated a step, and when the spongy ground gave more than I expected, and I went flying through the air into a chasm. I fell, maybe ten feet, before hitting the ground.

I lay there for a second, sucking in air and staring up at the sky. The chasm wasn’t big, probably five or six feet wide, but it was long. I took inventory of my body, making sure nothing was broken, when the ground at my back heaved.

Surprised, I shifted on my side, and froze as I realized that there were coils after coils of writhing serpentine bodies under my hand. Huge silver pythons, to be exact, writhing in a massive ball that had just happened to break my fall.

The ball shifted, jerking me off balance, and I realized that it was a mating ball. This was incredibly dangerous. I needed to get out before they managed to trap me inside. Just then, I noticed the handheld perched precariously on one of the coils a few feet away. I scrambled over to it, the undulating mass quivering under my feet. The handheld tipped on an angle, then fell in between two coils.

Without thinking, I leapt on one and jammed my arm between the two up to my shoulder. My fingers stretched blindly into the void of space, and I felt the brush of scales against my fingers. Behind me, I heard a hostile hiss, and I froze. I kept reaching, my other hand fumbling in the front of my pants for my pistol. The hissing intensified, and I could feel the python’s cool breath on my back.

I leapt to the side at the last possible moment, and fired at the snake’s head. The first bullet went wild, but I adjusted my aim, and unloaded the clip into the wide ebony eye. The snake collapsed. I felt the familiar touch of my handheld with my other hand, grabbing it and snatching it out before I lost it.

Above me, Samuel was barking. I risked a glance up, and saw that there was a tree that had collapsed, forming a bridge. One of the branches was only a few feet over my head. Running as best I could as the mass of hissing snakes shuddered beneath my feet, I planted one foot on the side of the chasm, using it to push off and leap toward the branch.

I caught it, and began pulling myself up. The hissing below me was loud in my ears, but I ignored it, focusing instead on my tenuous grasp as I pulled myself up the tree. Once I was on top of the log, I crossed quickly over to Samuel, and knelt down next to the dog.

I wiped the sweat off my brow, and pulled the handheld out of my pocket. Violet’s dot had stopped. I paused, waiting to see what would happen. Then, the dot began to head back toward me.

Violet had escaped whatever had grabbed her, but I needed to hurry to her in case it was chasing her.

We took off running, heading toward the dot as it headed toward us. She was still several kilometers away, but that was nothing, provided I paced myself.

I had already formed a stitch in my side from the mad dash earlier. While it was important to get to Violet, I knew I wouldn’t get there if I kept tearing through the forest like a mad man. I checked the handheld again as I jogged, correcting my position slightly. Violet’s dot was moving much quicker now, and I was worried she was being chased.

As our two dots neared each other, I slowed down, pulling my gun. I topped a crest, which dipped down into a deep valley. The mist was thicker here, more difficult to see in. I pulled my gun and ordered Samuel to heel. The dog pressed in tightly to my leg as I slowly entered the mist.

It coiled on the ground and in the air, touching everything it could. As I walked, it parted under my feet, forming little eddies in the mist that swirled violently before slowly settling back down, clinging to the earth like a white blanket.

The mist that hung in the air was thinner, almost like gauze had been pulled over my eyes. I saw something moving in front of me. At first, I thought it was Violet, and I opened my mouth to call her over, when the mist parted partially.

A woman stood, her feet shoulder-width apart, a gun in her hand pointed at the ground. She seemed to be watching something ahead of her. She had brown hair, was slightly taller than Violet, and wearing some sort of black outfit that was skin tight. Her back was to me, and she hadn’t noticed me. I held my hand in front of Samuel, an order for him to stay, and held my gun loosely in my hand.

Who was she, and what was she doing in The Green? Could she be a Matrian scientist, gathering up samples for study? If so, she was in really deep—Alejandro never let anyone stray farther away than a day’s walk from the boat or camp. Anything more than that risked certain death, in his eyes.

I turned my gaze to where she was staring. The mist hung in the air, casting shadows. Eventually, it roiled as something moved through it. I heard her before I saw her, the sound of her crashing through the undergrowth at her full running speed. Something was definitely chasing her.

The woman moved, pulling her gun up, training it on Violet. I swung my gun around, my heart in my throat. Whoever she was, she was going to hurt Violet.

She squeezed off a shot before I managed to shoot mine. I heard the sound of Violet crumpling on the ground, her body collapsing.