[i]The situation had been planned out by the horror. It had set a trap.

The monster was well used to how Crual moved now. It had needed only to see it a few times to get the hang of figuring out where he'd pop up and when. It chucked the stone it had been holding right into the spot where the ranger's head was to appear, disguising the throw as being a part its turning around to face the elf. At the same time its tail darted along the ground towards Crual, though judging by the distance it wouldn't reach its target in fast enough to get close before the arrows came. Such was its formidable timing that the rock would be set to connect just before the arrows were loosed. Even if his transportation wasn't the kind that could get one transmuted to death with solid objects, there would still be the matter of getting physically creamed by a rock hurled from a beast that could tear a major league pitcher clean in two.

But... 

The creature knew as well as any general that even the best laid strategies can go awry. That would be why, likely unnoticed by the ranger, that the web the Magna Pater had just torn free was no longer on the ground where it had been tossed. The ground which was littered with the countless, innumerable shadows of rocks, bones, and who knew what else. [/i]