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Something came through the sands at me, something small and red, with six jointed legs and a pair of sickle-like jaws gaping

wide to bite. It darted forward, horrifyingly fast, bulging black eyes fixed on me as it lunged.

A spear flashed through the air, striking the ant creature square in the head and pinning it to the earth. It lay there, legs

still working, jaws clenching and unclenching weakly, as three more ant creatures scuttled out of the sands, crawled over

their dying brother, and came at me.

Rhyne plowed into them, the massive horn on his face catching two and flinging them back. The third was crushed under the

bulk of the rock beetle as the huge insect trampled it, leaving it squashed and broken in the dust. I gasped, staggering back

a pace, as Kysa leaned down, yanked her spear from where it had impaled the first giant ant, and then held out a hand to me.

“Get on! Hurry!”

I leaped forward, grabbing her outstretched hand, and she lifted me onto Rhyne’s back.

Looking around frantically for the others, I saw Halek scramble onto a large boulder as several ants swarmed the place he had been standing.

Raithe finally released his shrieking sand dragon, letting it go as he drew his sword, whirled, and sprang onto the rock with Halek.

The unfortunate sand dragon tried to run but was instantly covered in a half dozen ants.

They crawled all over it, sinking curved mandibles into its flesh, until the dragon collapsed with a final shriek.

From atop Rhyne’s back, I gazed around in horror. The ground was vanishing at a rapid pace, replaced by swarms of giant ants

that scuttled forward, gnashing their jaws. Rhyne swept his great head around, catching several and flinging them away with

every toss, but there were always more. Halek and Raithe stood back-to-back on the rock, stabbing at and kicking away the

ants that tried to climb up, but they would be overwhelmed in seconds.

“Kysa, get us out of here,” I gasped, as the swarms around us grew thicker. “Grab Halek and Raithe and fly us away!”

“I am working on it.” Her voice was far too calm for what was happening. She stabbed an ant crawling up the rock beetle’s

leg, then shouted an order to Rhyne. The rock beetle immediately put his head down and charged, scything through the ranks

of ants like a giant wedge, knocking them aside. We drew alongside the boulder just as the carpet of ants swarmed up to cover

it, and I held out my hand to Halek and Raithe.

“Jump!”

They did, Halek leaping first and grabbing my arm as he landed half on, half off the side of the rock beetle. Raithe stayed

where he was a second more, cutting down another ant to give Halek time to get away before leaping and landing gracefully

behind me. Halek kicked and clawed himself onto Rhyne’s back, gritting his teeth as I dragged him up in front of me. Below

us, the sea of ants tried to latch on to Rhyne as he barreled through, but their jaws scraped off the rock beetle’s carapace

or were knocked aside by his horn.

“Hang on,” Kysa warned, as Raithe’s arm curled around me from behind, sending a ripple of heat through my stomach. “I don’t know if Rhyne will be able to fly with this many riders, but we’ll have to try. Rhyne, up!”

Behind the saddle, the rock beetle’s shell split open, translucent wings unfurling from his carapace. With a drone that rang

in my ears and made my teeth vibrate, the huge beetle rose into the air. For a moment, he wobbled in midair, as if adjusting

to our weight. I looked down and saw a writhing, squirming carpet of ants climbing over each other as they tried to reach

the hovering rock beetle. Thousands of curved jaws gnashed in our direction, thousands of black, bulbous eyes glared up at

us, making my stomach turn and my skin crawl with fear.

The buzz of Rhyne’s wings sounded labored. He drifted above the carpet of ants swarming frantically below, but couldn’t seem

to climb any higher.

“There are too many of us on him,” Kysa muttered, as Rhyne sank a little in the air. Closer to the sea of jaws and skittering

legs. “Cut the saddlebags, we have to lessen the weight.”

I drew my knife, but suddenly, from the carpet of ants below, a chitinous red body flew at us through the air. I caught a

split-second glimpse of an ant with long, backward-jointed legs like a cricket. It landed on Rhyne’s back, drawing a yelp

from Halek and a bellow from Rhyne, before Kysa spun and knocked it back into the squirming carpet with her spear.

“Stalker ants,” she muttered, as Rhyne dropped a bit lower, wings buzzing frantically. “Get ready,” she called back to us.

“Don’t let them land. If they start clinging to Rhyne, they’ll pull us down into the horde.”

“Kysa Tal’Rahhe!”

A shout echoed over the wind, followed by the drone of wings, and two rock beetles identical to Rhyne appeared through the

curtains of sand. A pair of riders in familiar chitin armor peered down at us from the insects’ shiny backs.

“We heard the fire jaws were swarming,” one of them called, dropping his mount to hover beside Rhyne. “The hive mother sent

us to warn you, though it appears you already know.”

“I am aware,” Kysa said dryly. “Perhaps you can take Rhyne’s passengers before we all drop into the swarm?”

The other warrior nodded. “Quickly,” he added, holding an arm out to me. “Before the rest of the stalker ants arrive. The

hive mother is expecting you.”

“Go, Sparrow,” Raithe whispered behind me. I took a quick breath and leaped off Rhyne, grabbing the warrior’s forearm, just

as another chitinous red body flew through the air and landed on the back of the beetle with a hiss. The warrior gave a shout,

releasing my arm, and I grabbed desperately for the saddle straps as the huge ant darted forward.

Raithe landed above me, eyes gleaming as he slashed his blade across the insect’s face, making it reel back with a furious

shriek. The beetle we were on let out a bellow and veered away, trying to shake off the unwanted passenger. I clenched my

jaw, clinging to the saddle straps, and below me the living red carpet swarmed after us, chittering with hunger and rage.

The beetle rider managed to turn and drive his spear through the stalker ant’s body, shoving it off his mount. With a shriek, it plummeted back into the swarm. Raithe reached down, grabbed my wrist, and yanked me onto the rock beetle’s back. He was shaking slightly as he pulled me close.

The warrior gave his mount a command, and we soared over the horde. I glanced back and saw Kysa and Halek following us, leaving

the swarm behind, and felt Raithe slump against me in relief. I had the strange musing that this was the second time we had

been attacked by rather large insects who wanted to kill us, and I wasn’t sure which incident was more horrific.

“I guess that makes us even,” I whispered to the iylvahn behind me, and felt his soundless chuckle against my back.

“I suppose,” he murmured. “Though I hope saving each other from giant carnivorous bugs isn’t going to become a regular thing.”