Beside him stood a tall woman wrapped in layers of brown shawl. Her hair was grey and tied up with a piece of rawhide, and she had a strong, hard chin. She was smiling, but her face was careful. It was as if smiling was something she was choosing to do for now.
Fillan was chattering away to them, showing them Kevin the Ant. Brann stood slightly back, her face unsure.
Coll and Rieka exchanged looks. Rieka’s expression was as worried as Coll felt. What should they do? They had to get back to Cub. Could they do it without being seen?
But as he thought that, the woman lifted her head, turned and stared straight at them, though Coll was sure they’d made no noise.
Fillan followed her gaze and waved. “Coll, Rieka! Look! People!”
The man turned. Rieka cursed, and she and Coll stepped forward.
“Evening!” said the man. He had a soft voice, slightly lilting, with an accent Coll didn’t recognise. “Well met. We saw your camp, and your fine Construct, and thought we should say hello. Hello!”
Rieka nodded politely. “Hello.”
Coll said nothing. He fought the urge to hide his prosthetic hand behind his back, but the man didn’t seem to pay it any attention. Instead, he smiled at Rieka.
“Your Construct’s a beauty,” he said, gesturing to Cub. “And Fillan here tells me you’re the one who fixed his Ant!”
Rieka didn’t answer. The man chuckled and turned to the woman. “Reckon this is a cautious one, Mrs B,” he said.
The woman nodded. “Doesn’t like surprise guests, Mr B,” she said. Her voice was low and soft.
“Reckon not,” he agreed. He clapped his hands. “Well then, let us introduce ourselves! I’m Dolen, and this here is my wonderful wife, Namir.” He grinned. “We’re the Beetles.”
He stepped to one side, and Coll saw that behind them, half hidden in the dark, was the strangest Construct he’d ever seen.
It was a beetle. Its body was split into three parts – a flat head, a large rounded body and a smaller round section at the back. It had six legs, like Fillan’s Ant, but the legs were much thicker and stronger. The body was black and hard, like a shell, and covered in thousands of tiny neat dents. It was about half the height of Cub and perhaps a little longer.
“We’re not here to challenge your territory,” said Rieka quickly. “Really, we’re just passing through; we didn’t mean—”
Dolen tipped his head back and laughed. “Territory? By the moon, girl, who would want to own the Glass Lands?” He shook his head. “We just came to say hello is all. Check you was all right, see if you needed help.”
“Why are you here?” asked the woman, Namir.
Rieka and Coll didn’t answer. “We’re looking for Wolf!” said Fillan.
Rieka swore under her breath.
Namir frowned. “Wolf? The Construct? Why?”
Coll sighed, but there was no point in denying it now. “Two Constructs,” he said. “Wolf, and one calling itself Dragon.”
“Hmm,” said Dolen. “You’re a long way into the Glass Lands for that. This is a dangerous place…” He and Namir turned to each other. He seemed to be asking her something, and after a second she dipped her head slightly. Dolen beamed. “Reckon we can help,” he said.
“You’ve seen them?” asked Rieka. Her voice was cautious. “Where?”
Again there was a long pause. “East,” said Dolen at last. “But the going is hard, and slow. If you want to catch them, there’s a better route. We’re heading that way ourselves.”
“We’re fine on our own,” said Coll.
But Namir shrugged. “The east route is very hard,” she said. “You don’t want to try it. And you’ll need water. We can show you.”
Coll bit his lip. Beside him, Rieka was tight-faced.
Dolen grinned. “It’s late,” he said cheerfully. “We need our shut-eye, don’t we, Mrs B? We ain’t as young as we used to be!”
“That we’re not, Mr B,” agreed Namir.
“So we’ll say goodnight,” said Dolen, “and you can decide in the morning. How’s that?”
Coll nodded. “All right.”
The Beetle crew clambered up the side of their Construct, to a little cockpit just behind the head.
Dolen waved. “Goodnight!” he called. “See you in the morning!”
He smiled again. His smile was infectious, and Coll found himself smiling back. But as the Beetle turned, Dolen and Namir exchanged a glance. And it seemed to Coll that, just for a moment, their smiles faded and in their place was something else.
Something wary.
“Well, I like them,” said Fillan.
They were on Cub, a little later. Beetle had settled a hundred metres away and its crew, Dolen and Namir, had made camp. Their small fire glowed faintly green in the strange air of the Glass Lands, and Coll could smell cooking.
“We can’t trust them,” said Brann. “Constructs aren’t nice to each other. What are they doing out here? What do they want?”
