Exhausted, Rowan pushed himself onward. Aching, exhausted legs protested his efforts. His shoes dragged at his feet. Red sores traced the straps of the flipflops, with blisters blooming where his foot bones and the sides of his feet met the straps. Every step brought sharp pain. Sticks and sharp leaves poked through the sides and caught between his foot and the shoe, but there was no time to stop and free them. He ran on, hoping they would fall out with time. I should’ve changed shoes.

A stitch tugged at his side. He wanted to put a hand to it, but refused to let go of the hand trowel. Sucking in air, he followed blindly after Kaidu.

How long have we been running? Hours? He grimaced and gasped in a deep breath. I ran for soccer, but never this long. Never in flipflops, either.

Behind them, ants skittered dryly over leaves. Their chitin exoskeleton crackled against underbrush, claws scraping over roots. Tireless, the ants churned after them, perpetually the same speed. Occasionally, the largest one paused to shoot fire into the air. Small blazes popped up behind them, leading a burned path through the woods.

Kaidu charged on ahead of him. Aside from slightly-reddened cheeks, he showed no sign of exertion. Obstinately, he continued to wear the fur-trimmed white coat, even as it caught in the brambles, despite the heat of the forest.

Rowan glared at him. He’s got to be exhausted, right? I was in soccer, and I'm tired. He’s just faking it.

Ahead, the forest opened up into a clover-filled meadow. Rowan surged ahead, delighted. Finally, out of this damn forest!

“Wait!” Kaidu shouted.

Rowan burst out into the sunshine, arms out, a smile on his face. Soft grass and clover welcomed his weary feet. At last, no more sticks to catch in my shoes or brambles to tear at my legs!

Buzzing blasted out at ankle-height, power-tool loud. Startled, he jumped and barely pulled his legs up in time to dodge a bumblebee the size of a small bird as it wandered through the clover. The bee’s stinger glinted in the light, easily an inch long.

Rowan scanned the clover ahead for more bumblebees, pulling his legs high in case.

“Rowan, stop!”

“And get eaten by the fire ants? I've already seen the bees, you just have to avoid them, it's no big deal!” Rowan shouted. Ahead, the grasses and clovers thinned, revealing bare ground. He sprinted for it, darting around bees along the way. No bees! I’ll be able to run faster if I don’t have to watch the clover as I run!

“If you'd just stop and listen—”

The ground crumbled under Rowan’s feet. Sparse grasses gave way as the sandy substrate collapsed. He lunged backward. Sand flew out from under his feet, too loose to provide a stable platform, and the lunge turned into a flop. The air whooshed out of Rowan as he struck the ground. More and more earth gave in, sloping downward into a funnel behind him. Rowan clawed his way toward the edge, only to watch the edge fall away. Gritting his teeth, he pushed harder, faster. Sand streamed past him, slipping past without offering a grip.

Kaidu appeared at the edge of the hole. Smug, he looked down on Rowan.

Rowan reached out. “Kaidu! Help!”

He crossed his arms. “I told you to wait. There’s ant lions in the meadows here.”

Rowan glanced over his shoulder. In the deepest part of the collapsed earth, a scaly, hairy head emerged from a hole. Huge, black-tipped mandibles cast a shadow over him, jagged and sharp as blades, easily longer than his torso. Razor-thin hairs swirled around the mandibles, whooshing as the ant lion turned its head. Beady black eyes focused on him. A bulky body surged out of the hole. It navigated the sinking earth with practiced ease, scurrying toward him.

“Kaidu, dammit, help me! You can be smug later!” Rowan shouted.

Kaidu reached down and offered a hand. Half-swimming, half crawling through the loose sand, Rowan pushed for the edge. He grabbed onto Kaidu’s arm with one hand, gripped the edge with the other, and pulled himself up, out of the ant lion’s pit.

Halfway up, the earth gave way under his arm. He had a single moment to stare into Kaidu’s shocked eyes, and then his weight fell entirely on Kaidu. Kaidu stumbled forward to catch himself, a step too far. His foot slipped over the edge. He toppled onto Rowan, and Rowan tumbled into the sand.

“Dammit!” Spitting sand, Rowan pushed Kaidu off him. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

He glared at Rowan. “I was going to, but you wouldn't stop and listen.”

“What, stop and listen? With the ants on our asses? Why didn't you just spit it out? I mean, how long were you going to take to say, ‘Stop! There’s deadly monsters in that meadow!’”

Kaidu’s face flushed red with anger. “You—”

The ant lion chittered, close behind them. Exchanging a glance, they both shut up and swam against the sand, clawing their way toward the edge.

The sand clung to their limbs and dragged them down, simultaneously refusing to allow them forward. Struggling as fast as he could, Rowan glanced around and found himself staying completely still. As a small consolation, Kaidu fought the sand right beside him, moving no further than he did.

A shadow hung over them. Rowan peered over his shoulder, already wincing. Big enough to eat them whole, the ant lion let out a bellow.

Kaidu drew out a straight razor. Rowan brandished his hand trowel. They were less than toothpicks against the massive ant lion, not even long enough to reach through the chinks in its chitin.

Rowan swallowed. We’re fucked.