Beasts of Prey by Ayana Gray

Author:Ayana Gray [Gray, Ayana]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780241532546
Google: FiRkzgEACAAJ
Publisher: Penguin Random House Children's UK
Published: 2021-09-27T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 17

Tricks and Truths

Ekon had known what he was seeing from the moment he’d looked up, but somehow hearing it confirmed aloud made it worse.

Never in his life had he seen a spiderweb so big, and he didn’t want to know what sort of creature—or creatures—had made it.

“I think we should turn around.”

“For once, we are in complete agreement,” said Koffi. She started walking backward, as though afraid to turn away from the eerie web. Ekon felt the same way. The air around them seemed to be cooling, thinning. It wasn’t right for it to be this temperature, not when it had just been sweltering only minutes ago. Ekon had turned to run when a voice sounded from above.

“Children shouldn’t wander in the jungle.”

Koffi yelped, and instinctively, Ekon tensed, bracing himself for an attack. His stomach swooped as he noticed one strand of the giant web vibrate like a plucked string, and then something large skittered down a tree to his immediate right. A scream rose in his throat.

The creature eyeing them had the face and torso of an old, bare-chested man, complete with thinning gray hair and wrinkles etched deep into his features. Two blank white eyes stared back at them like cold milk, unblinking and unmoving. But that wasn’t what frightened Ekon; it was what followed after the creature’s torso. Where two human legs should have been, instead there were eight long, stilt-like legs that weren’t human at all. Each one was bent at the knee and ended in a bare brown human foot. Ekon fought a shiver. The odd tracks suddenly made sense, and he understood why they’d gone in strange directions. The creature leered, as though it could hear his thoughts.

“Humans.” Its whisper was like a snake slithering over dead leaves. “It has been many years since Anatsou has seen humans, and now they come to see him. Anatsou is delighted.”

Ekon stepped back. “What are you?”

The creature threw his head back in a laugh then, letting his airy cackles echo off the trees around them. Ekon shuddered when he saw his yellowed teeth were pointed, like fangs. “Anatsou is a maker of mischief and magic, a trader of tricks and truths. Humans will never know what Anatsou is.”

“We’re sorry to disturb you.” Koffi’s voice shook with every word. “We aren’t looking for any trouble. We’ll leave—”

“Ah, but they are looking for something.” Anatsou stopped laughing as his head turned to Koffi at an unnatural angle. “The human girl is looking for her bag of treasures. Anatsou has two bags of treasure that he found this morning, all by himself.”

Ekon shivered. This creature, this thing, had come while they were unconscious. Knowing that disturbed him, and he felt . . . violated.

“Those are our bags,” Koffi said carefully. “They belong to—”

“Anatsou knows who the treasure bags belong to,” the creature said. “Anatsou wanted to play a little game. He wanted to know if the humans would follow his funny trail to come find their lost treasures. Did the humans like Anatsou’s game?”

Ekon frowned.

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