Free Neverwylde by Linda Mooney

the Terran, he spotted Jules plucking bunches of the blue, edible food growing from the heavily-laden foliage.
    “What do you think entered those apartments?”
    Kyber shook his head. “I have no idea.”
    “Could it be eye worms? To me, those are the only creatures we’ve encountered small enough to fit. I mean, everything else we’ve fought have been big suckers.”
    Jules walked up and began parceling out what he’d gathered. Kyber bit into the tasteless fruit.
    “Can’t be eye worms,” Massapa intervened.
    Fullgrath looked at him. “Why not?”
    The black-furred Seneecian with the brown streaks continued filling up his water bag. “I doubt eye worms would have tried to poke holes in the walls.” He looked up. “When those worms exploded from underneath the bone pile when we first discovered it, I thought they might be what disturbed the bodies, but not anymore.”
    “He has a point,” Kyber said. “The scratches could have been made by them, but not the holes. If they were capable of punching holes, they would have done so the first time we retreated into the apartments. Remember how they tried to breach the outer doors and walls to reach us inside?” He slowly got to his feet. “We need to keep moving. After we retrieve our weapons, the way down will be faster.”
    The others agreed, and stuffed the remainder of the fruit into pockets and pouches.
    They found the stairs leading to the small opening and, beyond it, the temple at the planet’s surface. Fullgrath elected to go first and ducked through the doorway. After a moment, he stuck his head back in and motioned for them to come on. Kyber remained behind, watching the gardens in case something should try to attack their rear, before crawling through the portal.
    At first glance, the maze-like passageway appeared no different from when they had been there. Not until Jules paused. “Hey, guys? Don’t move.”
    Everyone froze in place, watching the young navigator, who pointed to one of the nearby towering walls. He didn’t have to explain his cautious tone of voice. The damage done at waist-level to the carved glyphs spoke for him.
    Massapa, being the closest to the mutilation, went over and touched the marks. “It feels fresh.”
    “It looks like the same kind of hole in the apartments,” Jules observed.
    “We can’t be sure,” Kyber told him.
    “Well, one thing’s for certain,” Fullgrath interjected. “ I don’t remember seeing those holes when we came through here the other day.”
    Gaveer stared at him. “You cannot be certain. Our circumstances were different then. Our attention was on finding a route out of the temple.”
    Fullgrath faced him. “I think I would have remembered seeing those holes.”
    Kyber saw the two men were on the verge of becoming riled. An altercation was not something they needed. He stepped between them.
    “If you wish to make this a physical debate, wait until we return to the apartments,” he told them in a dark voice. Grabbing Gaveer by one of his shoulders straps, he gave the Seneecian a shake. “Lead us on.”
    Gaveer gave him a caustic glare. After another glance at Fullgrath, he set off through the narrow corridors toward the entrance to the temple.
    “Whoa. Wait up.” Fullgrath trotted up to the brown-furred alien. Pulling the extra tube weapon from his pocket, he handed it over. At Gaveer’s surprised look, he shrugged. “In case we meet a wall of those nasty eye worms, you’re going to need more than two fistfuls of claws to fight them off.” Without waiting for Gaveer to respond, Fullgrath pushed ahead, reestablishing point.
    As they had in the narrow corridor leading from the nonagon to the forest, they moved in single file. Their footsteps were almost inaudible on the stone floor as they advanced. When they reached the outer temple, they stopped in surprise.
    “What happened here?” Jules half-whispered.
                Kyber bent down to examine the smears. The dead eye