Spotted Eagle Mountain I have always been a fortress.

There it was, that feeling again. The discomfort of being watched that made his hackles prickle, akin to the nip of a flea in a place one couldn't quite reach. Venamis, distracted by this unsettling, found himself unable to concentrate on the importance of his hunt.

He paused in his tracks, an inky lobe shifting atop his crown in attempt to locate whatever creature might have followed him. Was it a bear, perhaps, that hungered for his flesh? Ven had never seen such a beast, though he'd heard tales of their ferocity. The boy held his breath then, hearing nothing but the sound of his own rapid heartbeat.

Rolling a shoulder, uncertain, the spider pressed on along the mountain trail with a new purpose: if someone saw fit to pursue him, he was going to make sure they did not rob him of the meal he so desperately required.