Prompt: Among discarded Courser barding, a glint catches your eye. Horned beetles with gemstones fused to their chitin armor clash against one another in combat. They are small enough to pocket – or eat as a crunchy snack, if you’re so inclined…

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Leaving the alcove behind, Eike began to follow his marked trail back to the well-trodden path. From there he would either continue deeper or find a new direction to follow. With each marker he passed he untied the thread from the plant or stalagmite with the intentions of reusing the thread and making it last longer.
As he came up upon a ridge of stalagmite he had passed earlier, he realized he could see something hiding among the stalagmite that could not be seen from the other direction. He had to approach the stone pillars anyway for upon one was tied one of his strands of thread. As he drew closer he realized it was a set of abandoned courser barding. A surprising sight for a trail less followed and it intrigued him.
Chitter chitter.
A noise caught his attention and so he moved to get a better look, glancing inside the armor at the small creatures skittering about. Small beetles that shimmered under his lamp light. Gems even smaller than the beetles themselves were imbedded into their chitin shells. Red, blue, yellow, all glittering the flicker light of the lamp’s flame. They clash together in what must have been a glorious battle for creatures so small.
Looking through the contents of his bag, the gray black courser found a small jar with holes in the lid, prepared for something small and alive such as this. Using the jar the courser scooped up the beetles, as many as he could grab before they skittered away into the brush, and shut the lid. Adding it back to his pouch, Eike continued on his way, following the trail of thread once more.