Jun frowned and adjusted his shell armor yet again. Damn, but it had become too small too fast, clamping around his back and shoulders. “Gone where?” Sunia glanced up, a weary look on her face. “Look, I wouldn’t have asked you if I could go myself and fetch Aima. But what about them?” She gestured at the four smaller children, mock-fighting on the floor of the cave, the colorful armors they wore clanking against each other. “You are the oldest of the Stray Clan, Jun.” “Hey, I didn’t ask for it.” To be the oldest, responsible for the younger ones. Then again Sunia had always been like a mother to him. He’d do anything for her. He avoided her bright gaze and stared at the cracked bowls stacked on a rock shelf. “Where is she?” “I wish I knew. At the pond, perhaps. She might be in danger, she’s so small. Will you go, Jun?” The pond. At dusk. Like most of the dangers of the dunes, water lizards were more likely to appear as day began or ended to hunt. The bird attacks intensified then too, though birds seemed to follow their own schedule.
