The Cad's words only confirmed what most of the women had already figured out, though Ted and Lucille both looked suddenly stunned and terrified at the news.  The others, of course, were<span style="font-style: italic">already</span>terrified.<br/><br/>When he ordered them to run, some did, and some didn't.  Zeena, already at the back of the group, turned and was swallowed into the darkness; Marie darted after her immediately, notching an arrow as she went, and a few steps behind her went the Retriever Rachel, abandoning her charge Ted.<br/><br/>The others seemed too stunned to run off immediately, or perhaps too smart to run off in the same scattered fashion.  Onyx made frantic gestures at everyone to gather around her, and Mina moved to pull Ted closer.  Lucille joined them, but Janessa bravely stayed at The Cad's side, waiting for him to move on his own... knowing that, unlike Ted, he was smart enough to do so without being told.<br/><br/>However, Tia was still apart from the others, and as she moved toward the way they'd come into the clearing, she was brandishing her crossbow at the darkness of the trees around them all.  As she was moving, she noticed the five others grouped together...<br/><br/>"You idiots!  Not<span style="font-style: italic">so</span>close!"  She shouted.<br/><br/>It was as though the predators had been waiting for her to speak.  Out of the darkness of the trees, something shot by at blinding speed.  Shiny and glistening, a wet-looking strand impacted with Onyx's face --- and with a muffled shriek, she was snapped off the forest floor and drawn up and into the darkness of the trees before anyone could even fully register it.  Her weapons had lifted off with her, and hadn't even hit the ground before the other women screamed, in time with terrified screams from off in the darkness as the three runners apparently met the attackers as well.  Then, more glistening strands flew at the group from several directions...<br/><br/>With incredible precision and efficiency, the three remaining members of that central group were hit by sticky strands and jerked apart.  Little Lucille and Mina went flying, flailing helplessly for something to grab onto; Ted fell to the ground and gripped a root or something, but lost hold and was hauled almost straight upward.<br/><br/>"Gods!"  Tia shrieked, firing her crossbow blindly into the darkness, though she<span style="font-style: italic">was</span>rewarded by a high-pitched cry of some sort.  A moment later a strand of glue shot at her in response, but struck her weapon and snapped it out of her hands.  She yelped, staggered, and as she looked around in a panic, seemed to realize The Cad and Janessa were still standing there staring.  "R-<span style="font-style: italic">run</span>, you<span style="font-style: italic">idiots</span>!"<br/><br/>Then something else shot out of the darkness... a much larger mass, gooey and spattering drops as it flew.  Tia had a moment to see it coming... and then it slammed her onto her back against the fallen tree, spattering around, glueing her there a foot above the limp deer, leaving her legs kicking frantically and reducing her screams to muffled sounds.<br/><br/>It was odd that Zeref Cadester had not yet been targetted; however, whether it was because of his unusual scent, or perhaps because he was considered more of a predator than prey, the attackers had apparently decided they'd bettered the odds enough now.  Less than thirty seconds had passed since the first girls had run, and already only two humans remained... the shapely, dark-skinned Janessa, and The Cad himself.<br/><br/>Finally a ball of glue came flying at him, straight on... only to have it miss as Janessa instinctively pulled both of them down to the ground.  A moment later she was hauling him to his feet, and was thrusting him toward the trees in the direction the other three girls had run off.  Even as she was doing so, The Cad would see some of their attackers for the first time: they skittered into the clearing from the far end, standing on eight legs, their torsos the same size as his own.  Three, five, seven of them appeared, covered in coarse black hair and with legs that were thin but longer than his own.  As a group they converged, some surrounding Tia, the others going for him and Janessa...<br/><br/>Then the dark-skinned woman was shoving him toward the exit with even more desperate strength, shielding him from them as they charged, their venomous fangs bared to bite...