Sunborn Rising by Aaron Safronoff

overjoyed that she was no longer the only Arboreal who’d seen them.
    The oily, thick pool spread fast, and Barra hastened her pace. She didn’t have much of a plan, but she thought that she could at least distract the Kudmoths, maybe get them to chase her. She’d outrun the tiny terrors before and she was confident she could do it again.
    Oblivious to the darkening branch below, Plicks was still busy cleaning himself when he saw Barra reveal herself. His face twisted up in confusion as he watched her arch her back, raise her tail, and recoil onto her haunches.
    Baring her teeth, Barra hissed, and the slow-flowing Kudmoths became still all at once. Thrashing the nearby foliage with her tail, Barra created a threatening rush of noise ten times bigger than she was. She whip-snapped the bough twice, announcing a challenge. The Kudmoths clicked back at her in a cascade of flipping wings. Knowing she had their collective attention, she bolted through the hole in the trap and ran. The shadowy pool rapidly sublimated into a dark sentient cloud that followed after her.
    Seeing the opening, Tory dropped down near Plicks. He grabbed the Kolalabat in one arm and leapt away. Free hand and feet interchangeable, Tory tore through the treescape like they were falling sideways. When he finally looked back to see if they were being followed, he saw only leaves and branches waving at them.
    Barra swept up and down the boughs with fluid grace, a rush in her heart pushing her farther and deeper into the Middens. She started off so fast that she had to lag a bit to make sure the insects stayed on her trail. Confidence built up inside her as she went. Even when she stumbled or misjudged a jump she turned it to her advantage, taking the acceleration with her, racing onward.
    Flashing through the treescape, Barra realized the Kudmoths could keep up with her every move. Suddenly fearful, she regretted bringing them in so close. She hoped she’d given Plicks and Tory enough time to escape.
    She started back toward the trapwillow net, slinging herself around a branch with her tail. Barra charged headlong into the black cloud. The Kudmoths only had time enough to form a weak mesh, and Barra broke through easily. But the Kudmoths didn’t give up. Instead, they were incensed by the closeness of their prey, and they flew even faster than before.
    When Barra saw the trap area ahead, the muscles of her arms and legs were burning and tightening up. She’d run farther than she’d thought, and now, she was running rigid. She dashed toward the almost invisible mesh, spotted the hole, and jumped. But fatigue sapped the burst from her legs, and she didn’t get the height she needed. She stretched out mid-air, trying to bend herself around the strands. She couldn’t avoid them all. A portion of the net was ripped away with her, tangled in her fur. Landing awkwardly, her ankle twisted, and her chest listed forward. The roughness of the bark gripped and tore away tufts of her fur, but she kept running. Behind her, the cloud was thinner, but still intact and gaining.
    Driving hard for a group of dwellings she knew well in the crush of dens, Barra pushed for a second wind. She was scared, and saw no sign of Tory or Plicks as she stole occasional, furtive glances into the treescape. She hoped they were out of harm’s way, but still, seeing either would have given her some confidence. Not looking again, she decided she was alone and focused on the maze of dens ahead. A deformed roof porthole marked her usual entrance. The connections among the dens had formed from generations of collapse and regrowth, and Barra figured the Kudmoths couldn’t know them as well as she did.
    She dove in without hesitation. The Kudmoths followed.
    The first den—like the rest in the crush of the Middens—was stretched, and strange, with thick and crooked branches growing up around everything. But Barra didn’t stop to look around. Sliding beneath what must’ve once been a