The Lycan Rebirth (The Flux Age Book 3) by Steven J Shelley

determined.
    “Can you find a way to safety?” Florence asked her. She nodded. Wilson and Miss Garvey joined them as they began a light jog to the south. It seemed as though they’d taken care of all the aquilans on foot. There were still plenty in the air to worry about. Fortunately the further west they traveled, the more impenetrable the canopy became. The aquila might still be tracking them, but there was little chance they could mount a successful attack unless they received major reinforcement. Florence hoped that was a matter of hours, not minutes.
     
    The party passed through a thick, hot valley at around noon. Florence couldn’t quite believe that only half a day had passed since their ordeal began at dawn.
    Deeper and deeper into the jungle they marched. Florence didn’t allow herself to germ back into human form, and probably wouldn’t until the danger had well and truly receded.
    The valley, choked with stifling heat and cloying vegetation, eventually spilled into a steep-sided gorge. Florence hurried her charges through this section as they were partially exposed to aerial attack.
    Beyond the gorge more jungle beckoned, only this time it was quite swampy. Flies and other biting insects tormented Florence as she followed Emmaline’s footsteps through the mud. She almost bumped into the diviner when she stopped suddenly.
    At first Florence couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary. There were muddy tufts of grass, a thick grove of reeds, several pools of brackish water. Then she saw the long black shapes in the reeds. Spiders legs. As she watched, slightly horrified, five large spiders squeezed themselves from the reeds. Three of them were jet black with shiny abdomens. The other two were brown and shaggy with hair. Florence resisted a strong urge to vomit.
    “You see, we have already fooled your eyes,” the nearest black spider said, its speech punctuated by an odd clicking noise. “Do not doubt that there are more of us waiting to strike, if necessary.”
    Florence noted this one’s sheer size - it more than doubled the next largest. Could this be Gustav Almasy, leader of the arachne? She’d glimpsed him from afar at Yasmin Silver’s masquerade ball but never got a chance to speak with him.
    “I recognize your domain, spider, and mean you no harm,” Florence said formally. She wasn’t sure how to address this creature, and still wasn’t certain whether they’d made the right decision in coming here. One thing she did know - they were now at the mercy of the arachne nest of New Providence.
    “Then why do you draw an entire aquilan army toward us?” asked the large spider. Its tone was without rancor but somehow made Florence feel intensely guilty. She decided it was time for some honesty.
    “My name is Florence Underwood, formerly of the Lycan Society. I have been recruiting lycans on New Providence so that the Society can one day continue its pledge to protect humans. We were attacked by the aquila and driven here. I’m sorry if our actions have put your kind in harm’s way.”
    That familiar clicking sound resonated from deep within the spider’s fearsome maw. Was the thing scolding her or simply laughing.
    “Allow me to be candid in return, lycan,” came the creepy reply. “My respect for Mother Aurora is the only reason every single one of you is not dead.”
    “Then surely we should work together for our mutual benefit,” Florence pointed out. “The Mother could only approve were she here right now.”
    The arachne considered Florence for several tense seconds.
    “Relations between lycan and spider have never been good,” the spider retorted. “Your kind exterminated several arachne nests during the Dark Ages. We are not simply a mindless nest of spiders, lycan. We have kept records of the past and they speak ill of your kind.”
    Florence looked closely at the arachne leader. She sensed immense intelligence, the kind that could achieve miracles in certain diplomatic