"Well," Kazuo said, as he dismounted headed into the cave to get a piece of juicy ass,"If whatever took these people was something that could be tracked, wouldn't there be more tracks in and out of his cave. Other than ours? And wouldn't there also be some sign of a scuffle? I mean Sleeping Beauty over there was still asleep when Shela found her."

"I dunno. Seems like some magical bullshit's going on. I don't care where we go, but we should stick together, least until we're out of this forest. That way at least if somebody vanishes, we'll see who did and maybe how." By the end of his spiel, Kazuo had returned with a hunk of meat about the size of two fists pressed together. With practiced ease he gets on top of his horse again and began to cut off scraps of meat and pop them in his mouth.

Vaeri remained silent throughout Derrix's question and Kazuo's reply. She had no idea about all the details. She was just going to sit in the wagon until something was decided.