Longer than two men were tall, and wide enough to hardly get his arms around it, there was no way they would ever be able to haul it back through the jungles. Especially with the slavers hunting for them.

It had to be slavers. Dinosaurs would not be carrying torches.

It was with these thoughts that Cade turned to survey the legionaries. Counted them. Realized one was missing. Caught by the slavers … or lost.

But that didn’t matter. Not when he saw Amber and Quintus, bedraggled, weary, and in worse condition than even the legionaries were.

“Cade,” Amber said, falling to her knees in front of him. “You’re okay.”

Cade drew her close, wrapping her in his arms. She had been the last to emerge from the jungles, staggering in just as he’d turned away from the craft.

“We followed you,” Amber whispered. “Quintus and I. His squad came too, but…”

She shook her head.

“Why?” Cade asked, brushing mud from her cheek. “Why come?”

“We saw the slavers from the orchards,” she whispered. “So many of them, ship after ship.”

Her voice was halting as she caught her breath. “We made a show of force outside the tunnel. They thought it would just be us teenagers, but they didn’t expect the Romans. So they turned back. Decided to hunt in the jungles like they always do. We knew they’d follow you. So Quintus and I disobeyed Marius and came after you to warn you. We’ve been on your trail ever since. As have the slavers. At least a hundred of them. We were lucky to reach you before they did.”

“And Quintus’s men?” Cade asked.

“Captured,” she said. “Quintus and I were lucky to escape—if he didn’t know the jungles so well, I’d be captured too.”

“Thank you, my love,” Cade whispered. “If you and Quintus hadn’t followed us … I don’t know what might have happened.”

She took a deep breath, taking a hold of herself.

“The slavers at the keep offered Marius the world—food, weapons, armor. In exchange for us. The old contenders. The slavers said the emperor is offering a reward for our capture. But Marius wouldn’t take any of it, and the slavers decided to follow the tracks of your expedition instead. The men chasing us won’t give up easily.”

Amber stood, though shaky on her feet. “We need to move,” she announced. “The slavers will be right behind us.”

The Codex did not translate for her, but her meaning was plain. Soldiers, tired though they were, levered themselves back onto their feet, gratitude stamped across their faces.

“Where would you have us go?” Atticus growled, pointing to the moons above. “I have already lost one man to the darkness.”

Cade stood beside Amber, presenting a united front. “If we push ourselves, we can be at the tombs by morning,” he said.

“What then?” Atticus asked. “Say we find the remnants we are looking for. Are we to race them all the way back to the keep, overloaded with your so-called weapons of the future? We should scatter and make our way back to safety. They cannot track us all.”