Rick and Jonah, along with Henry, were all members of the Geller family. The two remaining team members were the elf twins, Hannah and Claire Adeah—an archer and the team healer. As the healer, Claire was always the most important team member to protect. Her ability to cleanse Jason’s afflictions made it doubly true. For this reason, she was in the most guarded part of the formation as they made their sluggish way through the marsh.

“What’s that?” Jonah called from the front.

The others looked as he pointed out ahead. The trees grew closer together, and streamers of webbing, thick as an arm, were draped through them like party decorations. It wasn’t any kind of pattern, but wild and scattered. It was thickly laid out, to the point of being hard to find a passage through.

“Trap weavers,” Hannah said. They had already encountered several, most of which had been pinned to trees by her arrows.

“Trap weavers are careful,” Rick said. “This doesn’t look careful.”

“I think Asano might have provoked them,” Henry said. “This whole area is riddled with his scent.”

“I don’t think going through that is a good idea,” Jonah said.

“We have to,” Rick said. “He hides, we chase; that’s the game. If we refuse to go somewhere, he can just wait there and time us out.”

“That’s not a fair condition,” Jonah said.

Hannah looked at him like he was an idiot.

“There’s five of us,” she said.

“I’m just saying,” Jonah said sullenly.

“Hannah,” Rick said. “Your eyes are the best. Find us the clearest path.”

The webbing proved to be very widespread.

“How did he get trap weavers to do all this without getting caught by them?” Claire wondered.

“He’s tough to pin down,” Rick said. “He may need shadows to teleport, but he can keep doing it, over and over. In a place like this, he's a ghost.”

As they headed into the web-strewn trees they were plunged into shadow, the canopy above them low, but thick. They were moving slower than ever as they picked their way through the webs.

“I don’t like this,” Henry said.

“We just need to get a good look at him,” Hannah countered. Her bow was always at the ready. She was not worried about the obstructions, and was prepared to fire from her short bow at a moment’s notice.

“Can you burn through these webs?” Rick asked Henry.

“Trap weaver webs don’t burn easily,” Henry said. “I’d blow through my mana and barely make a dent.”

Around them was eerie quiet. Only the buzzing of insects accompanied the squelching of their feet in the mud, so a sudden new sound arrested their attention.