CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Two days later they caught sight of a Hoon hunting party. They crouched silently in the brush while twelve Hoon passed by, oblivious to their presence. Riley noticed that the Hoon were armed with at least a short sword or bow.
The next morning, Kris drew their attention to something. “What’s that?” She pointed.
The clearing they had camped in gave them a view of the sky. A dark column of smoke rose from the jungle they had marched through the previous day.
“A signal of some kind,” Riley guessed.
“Do you think it has anything to do with us?” Brian asked.
“We’d better assume it does. They may have come across our trail. It’s hard to hide passage through this stuff.”
They stopped at another small clearing for lunch. Shar climbed a tall tree to look around.
“More smok
