Blackfeather Woods down in the river to pray

The trip home was twice as fast as the pace they'd set when they left, draining Anansi's stamina at record speed and making his legs feel like rubber by the time they reached the woods. Unbeknownst to him, the time away from home and the arduous trek up and down the mountains had made him stronger; he was able to go much farther before losing his breath now, and thin muscle was beginning to pad his stringy little figure. To him, however, it all felt just like the first day.

His paws hurt. His legs hurt. His lungs hurt. He didn't want to run anymore, and didn't understand why Maegi wasn't slowing down. As they dipped into the shadows, the boy could almost swear that even his whiskers were sore. If there hadn't been a reason to continue following in the form of Sobek's scent, he might have retreated to Wolfskull to sleep for a week, but the other boy's call of ENA drew Anansi's attention. When he caught sight of Sobek, his exhaustion and his sore muscles faded into irrelevance.

Anansi's figure was cast low but wriggling with excitement as he went for his brother, rapidly waving his tail and ducking his head low while fanning the air with his tongue and soft whines.