Chapter 379: One Way Out

Chapter 379: One Way Out

Jin’s thighs objected when he got out of bed.

His shin stung where the dressing pulled, but the scrape was clean. Lucian had recovered his usual expression by the time they reached the pen, though he made Jin carry breakfast while he checked Kite’s claw.

Glitch stood, stretched, and walked across to his feed without favouring either foreleg. Jin watched him turn before examining the small scrape again. It was closing, but he replaced the covering where the plates might rub.

Nobody needed persuading to eat.

They checked the quarry shortly after dawn. Glitch detected no movement, and the boys inspected it anyway. The blocked fractures remained firm, the floor showed no fresh tracks, and nothing occupied the alcoves.

Then they assembled the barrier.

Okonkwo’s mesh was close-woven and reinforced, intended to separate beasts in transport. They checked its openings and seams before securing a drop panel across most of the mouth. The side edges ran along taut lines fixed to sound anchors. A weighted lower bar would drop against the stone sill, where a drawline could hold it tight without anyone approaching to pile stones on top.

Before setting it, they compared the openings with the narrow cracks the marten had used. They rejected one frayed section and folded sound mesh over a rough corner where the rock might cut a line. Lucian pulled against each fastening while Jin watched for movement.

It took longer than either wanted. Neither suggested leaving a doubtful anchor merely because the animal might be returning to its ledge.

They tested the drop twice. Lucian pulled the release, then the locking line. Jin tried the bottom and sides with both hands.

Nothing lifted far enough to offer an opening.

They closed the remaining strip on the right with fixed mesh and an access flap. A second panel formed an enclosed pocket outside that flap, with a separate outer closure. They could enter the pocket, secure it behind them, and only then open the way into the cave.

"One shut before the other opens," Lucian said.

They tested that with Glitch too. He fitted with his head lowered, though he disliked waiting between the closures and nudged Jin impatiently.

"You only have to do it once more."

The carrier went inside beforehand, closed, beside the entrance. They placed one lamp where they could reach it later, and Jin kept the other. Lucian carried the capture net in his pack.

Finally, they rolled the main barrier up, leaving the cave mouth open.

Jin looked at the shaded entrance. It still smelled of the lizards. He couldn’t make it inviting, but they might make the alternatives less appealing.

They found the marten near its sunny ledge after seven.

The first approach sent it through a familiar crack and out through an unfamiliar one. Jin swore quietly as it appeared farther east, then marked the opening.

Lucian looked over his shoulder.

"Still towards the quarry."

"I’d like it to stay above ground for some of the journey."

"Ask nicely."

Jin almost smiled. They waited instead.

Flicker found the next emergence. From there, they worked along the upper bench in stages, allowing the marten to move between patches of cover instead of chasing it back into the same cracks.

Kite remained west of it. Glitch followed the lower route, blocking descents when the ground allowed. Jin moved with him while Flicker changed perches ahead.

At each interruption, they stopped and located the animal again.

The old worked stone nearer the quarry offered fewer deep gaps. By the time they reached it, Lucian had moved ahead to the release cord while Jin stayed behind a spoil ridge.

Kite crossed low over the marten’s uphill route.

It froze beneath a bush, watching her shadow. Glitch advanced along the lower edge, closing the track back towards the broken benches.

The animal moved east, then stopped at the quarry lip.

Beyond the exposed apron stood the cave.

It raised its head towards the opening. Jin watched its nose work and remembered how thoroughly it had examined the carrier.

*You don’t have to like it. Just choose it.*

Kite passed again, covering the open route to the west. The marten darted between two stones, paused once more, and finally slipped into the shade.

Lucian waited until its tail disappeared beyond the threshold.

The mesh fell. Its weighted bar struck the sill, and his second pull secured the lower edge.

Something hit the barrier from inside almost immediately.

The mesh bowed and held.

Jin reached the mouth in time to see the grey shape retreat into darkness.

They checked the closures before using the entry pocket. Jin went through with Glitch while Lucian secured the outside behind them. Only then did Jin open the inner flap. Once they were in the cave, he closed it again for Lucian’s entry.

Kite came through with her tamer and settled on a low ledge near the entrance.

The process felt painfully slow with the target somewhere beyond their lights. Jin preferred that to seeing it vanish between their feet.

Jin switched on the waiting lamp and directed it across the middle of the chamber. He kept the other light moving carefully over the recesses and uneven floor.

The marten showed itself beside the tilted slab, then disappeared into an alcove before Lucian could change position.

Glitch followed the sound with his head.

"Left side," Jin told him. "Close the low route."

The drake settled between the recesses and the back of the chamber. A small movement registered through the ground, then stopped.

They waited.

Jin adjusted one lamp. Its beam caught a tail beneath the right-hand wall just as the marten slipped behind another projection.

Lucian lowered the net rather than lunge too late.

Jin moved a pace closer to the wall, clearing his partner’s reach. There was room to work, but not room to forget where everyone stood. He waited until Lucian nodded before changing the light again.

"Again," he said quietly.

The animal tested the packed stones behind the slab. They held. It doubled back across the dark edge of the chamber, paused beneath Kite’s ledge, then abandoned a climb when she spread her wings above it.

Flicker shifted on Jin’s shoulder.

He followed her gaze towards the nearer left recess. At first he saw only rock. Then a shadow moved against the direction of his light.

He turned the beam slowly.

The marten broke cover.

Glitch blocked the deeper route. Lucian had moved clear of the entrance and waited beside the open crossing with the net ready. The right-hand alcove was the animal’s remaining cover.

Jin aimed at the ground between them.

He waited for the marten to commit, then formed the small pressure patch under its next landing.

Its stride shortened abruptly. It stumbled, catching itself before its chest struck the floor.

Jin released the pressure.

Lucian’s net closed over it before it recovered its next bound.

The marten twisted furiously. Lucian held the gathered edge low, shifting his grip when the line pressed his bandage. He kept his hands beyond its snapping jaws.

"Carrier."

Jin fetched it from beside the entrance.

Together they gathered the net into a loose enclosure and secured its open edge around the carrier doorway. Jin checked the corners before raising the door. Lucian eased the net forward, leaving the animal a single unobstructed route.

It went inside.

Jin lowered the door, engaged the main latch, and fastened the secondary catch. He checked the frame for trapped netting before they loosened anything.

Only then did they draw the net away.

The marten crouched at the back, breathing quickly. It shifted onto all four feet when Jin’s light reached the vent. He could see no injury, but he watched for another moment before lowering the lamp.

Lucian sat back and laughed once, in disbelief.

Jin found himself laughing too.

"Don’t," he said. "I’ll drop something."

"Put it down, then."

He already had. That made them both worse.

Glitch lifted his head, plainly waiting for an explanation. Jin reached over and rubbed the ridge beside his horn.

"Good work. All of you."

Flicker puffed her feathers, and Lucian offered Kite his wrist.

Then the quiet sound of the marten shifting inside its carrier reminded Jin where they were.

"Clock’s still running."

They checked the door once more, then recovered the borrowed barrier and lines. Nothing else needed to be caught, dismantled, or argued into moving.

Jin lifted the carrier level in both hands and followed Lucian towards the waiting hauler.