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Anyone else might have given me reassuring words, but he simply locked his eyes on mine and stayed perfectly still.
I supposed that was his way of offering reassurance. I took what I could get.
The pod almost soared right over our heads, but it stopped short at the river. It turned and moved slowly away, presumably following the course of the river's flow.
A buzz was followed by a loud explosion and what sounded like a gush of water.
"I guess they found the tracker," I whispered.
J'avet responded with a barely perceptible nod. "Yes, I think so." He seemed disappointed. Presumably he'd wanted the Iri distracted for much longer than they were. That would have been good, but it couldn't be helped.
We waited while the pod passed over the trees a few more times, back and forth in a pattern that suggested they were searching for something. Or someone. Okay, us.
Gradually, they moved away, before they set down roughly where our pod crash landed.
"When they don't find bodies, they might come looking," J'avet said. "We need to move." He let go of my hand and led the way further in the forest.
The pace was faster now, but nothing I couldn't keep up with, since the forest itself slowed us down. I would have been happy with that any other time. Today, though, I would rather push myself than get caught out here.
"We're lucky this forest is damp," Rayax remarked.
J'avet cast him a look over his shoulder.
"If it wasn't," Rayax continued, "any explosions might set it on fire."
"That's a good point," Brinley said. "I don't fancy running from a forest fire."
"Me either," I agreed.
"Quiet," J'avet hissed. "We don't know how far their sensors can reach and what sound they might detect."
Anything he might have said was drowned out by the sound of an explosion behind us.
"There goes the pod," Tarvun said.
"It was never going to fly again anyway," Brinley said with a long sigh.
"Do we have an escape plan?" I asked.
"We'll find one, now be quiet," J'avet snapped.
That didn't fill me with much confidence, but I'd have to roll with it, like I had with everything else so far.
"We should split up," Rayax said. "Half of us can lead any Iri in the wrong direction. The others can keep going."
J'avet stopped and nodded. "Rayax, Edie and Tarvun, you're with me. Brinley, you'll need to find us another ship. E'rel, you'll need to make sure it works. Navor and Hamit, keep them safe."
He all but cut off the last word and turned around to continue walking. I barely had time to give Brinley a hug before I hurried after him.
"I'm surprised you didn't send me with them," I said.
"I'm not letting you out of my sight," he said without glancing back. "You'll get yourself killed."
"I think we both know by now that isn't true," I retorted. "For example, I'm still alive." I waited, in case I'd jinxed myself, then nodded. "See?"
"For now," he replied. He stopped mid-step and turned his head slowly to one side, then the other.
I heard it too, a moment later.
