[GlacierDragon]

The adventure continues. I wonder how on earth you thought you could end this in five more chapters. That's simply impossible.

...maybe not that impossible...

more chapters than planned sounds good ...verry good rawwwr this fanfiction is yummy and I'm going to print it out when it's finnished

hehe it's fabulous that you've uploaded the story finally YAAAAAAAAAAY!!!

Thank you.
Really? I've yet to print it out for myself. If you do though I would go with the one at deviantART because it has some minor changes which make it slightly better than this one.

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Chapter 26

Vechk’s experiment hadn’t needed to travel all the way to the Sligs’ birthing complex; she’d caught the scent she needed already. It had drifted to her gently on the wind, and her instincts told her that it was the right one to follow.

She set off straight after picking up the trail. If what she could smell was correct, there were two of the creatures travelling upriver.

Odd, she told herself silently. I thought I was after four?

No matter. She would settle with two if there was no other option.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Though they’d had to slow down and alter their rout in order to avoid Mudokon village, the Sligs were rapidly closing the distance between themselves and their targets. Blege had managed to banish his conscience to the far reaches of his mind, so no longer did he worry for his former comrades.

No one had spoken for hours. The ceaseless buzzing of their mechanical limbs was driving Blege insane, and it took all of his self control to force himself onwards. He’d never run so far for so long in his life, and every part of him from his scrunched up tail to his hunched over back was aching. If he wasn’t terrified of being shot instantly he would have demanded a rest long ago.

Soon the sun began to set, the sky turning a striking array of colours as time wore on. The Sligs took no notice of this natural beauty, and even if they did they wouldn’t have appreciated it. After all, how could they? All compassion had been beaten out of them when they were mere Sliglets.

Eventually the sun disappeared and darkness engulfed the land once more, but still they marched forwards with as much determination they could muster. Blege had already began to tire, but the others seemed to have limitless amounts of energy stored within them. No one even mentioned the prospect of stopping.

Then without warning the leader stopped dead in his tracks, his arm outstretched to the side. In an instant everyone else had also stopped, including Blege, though he’d been taken by surprise. The sudden cease of sound was almost as deafening as before.

Very slowly the leader inched forwards, peering intently at the ground. In a few seconds he found what he was looking for: the remains of a recent camp.

Blege saw the badly covered up remains of a fire; the ashes were still smouldering. Whoever had been here must still be close by.

“I think,” the leader hissed, “we will soon find what we are looking for.”